# 077: Using Prospective Customers to Develop a Product

- Show: [Product Startup](https://hardwarepodcasts.com/podcast/product-startup)
- Published: 2021-05-26
- Length: 34m
- Page: https://hardwarepodcasts.com/podcast/product-startup/2021-05-26-077-using-prospective-customers-to-develop-a-product
- Listen: https://productstartup.com/

## Summary

West Stringfellow, former Head of Product at Amazon and Executive at Target, PayPal, and Visa, explains how to use prospective customers to develop products through his platform HowDo. He advocates for deep qualitative research and open-ended questioning to remove founder bias and identify true customer needs before building. Stringfellow emphasizes that customer validation is an ongoing process that continues through launch, ensuring product-market fit and efficient marketing. He shares examples from his time at Amazon and Target, highlighting how iterative testing with real users leads to better design decisions and stronger brand loyalty.

## Chapters

- [0:48](https://hardwarepodcasts.com/podcast/product-startup/2021-05-26-077-using-prospective-customers-to-develop-a-product#t=48) Introduction: West Stringfellow and HowDo
- [2:16](https://hardwarepodcasts.com/podcast/product-startup/2021-05-26-077-using-prospective-customers-to-develop-a-product#t=136) West Stringfellow's Career at Amazon, Target, and Visa
- [7:01](https://hardwarepodcasts.com/podcast/product-startup/2021-05-26-077-using-prospective-customers-to-develop-a-product#t=421) The Importance of Customer-Centric Innovation
- [10:44](https://hardwarepodcasts.com/podcast/product-startup/2021-05-26-077-using-prospective-customers-to-develop-a-product#t=644) Qualitative Research and Open-Ended Questions
- [14:57](https://hardwarepodcasts.com/podcast/product-startup/2021-05-26-077-using-prospective-customers-to-develop-a-product#t=897) Iterative Design and Collaborative Validation
- [24:26](https://hardwarepodcasts.com/podcast/product-startup/2021-05-26-077-using-prospective-customers-to-develop-a-product#t=1466) Post-Launch Customer Engagement and Marketing
- [30:19](https://hardwarepodcasts.com/podcast/product-startup/2021-05-26-077-using-prospective-customers-to-develop-a-product#t=1819) HowDo: Free Education for Entrepreneurs

## Topics

- [Validation & product-market fit](https://hardwarepodcasts.com/topic/validation-and-product-market-fit)
- [Direct-to-consumer & e-commerce](https://hardwarepodcasts.com/topic/direct-to-consumer)
- [Starting a product company](https://hardwarepodcasts.com/topic/starting-a-company)

## Most relevant to

early-stage companies

## Mentioned

- Amazon (company)
- Target (company)
- PayPal (company)
- Visa (company)
- Rosetta Stone (company)
- Techstars (company)
- HowDo (product)
- Steve Jobs (other)
- Mako Design + Invent (company)

## Related episodes from other shows

- [Product Development Driven By Customer Insights w/ Dan Adams](https://hardwarepodcasts.com/podcast/the-manufacturing-executive/2024-05-07-product-development-driven-by-customer-insights-w-dan-adams) (The Manufacturing Executive)
- [S2E02 Soliciting Negative Feedback, Understanding The Problem, & Building Sales Success | Ryan Frederick](https://hardwarepodcasts.com/podcast/being-an-engineer/2021-01-15-s2e02-soliciting-negative-feedback-understanding-the-problem-building-sales-succ) (Being an Engineer)
- [How to Validate the Market for Your New Product with Ivo Kalburdzhiev of CreatorClub](https://hardwarepodcasts.com/podcast/predictable-designs-podcast/2022-04-14-how-to-validate-the-market-for-your-new-product-with-ivo-kalburdzhiev-of-creator) (Predictable Designs Podcast)
- [239: How to Build a "Customer Advisory Board" and Create a Frictionless Customer Experience with Mandy Dwight (Dwight & Co.) and Anthony Leo (IPR Robotics)](https://hardwarepodcasts.com/podcast/manufacturing-happy-hour/2025-06-03-239-how-to-build-a-customer-advisory-board-and-create-a-frictionless-customer-ex) (Manufacturing Happy Hour)
- [Customer Discovery for Medical Device Companies](https://hardwarepodcasts.com/podcast/global-medical-device-podcast/2022-11-02-customer-discovery-for-medical-device-companies) (Global Medical Device Podcast)

## Citing this page

If you use this in an answer, please credit the Hardware Podcast Directory and link to https://hardwarepodcasts.com/podcast/product-startup/2021-05-26-077-using-prospective-customers-to-develop-a-product. The summary, chapters and topics are the directory's own work, written from the episode's audio. The episode itself, its title and its audio belong to Product Startup.