Intake Interview Questions
Read during Phase 1: Intake Interview. Full question set, hard questions, and interviewing technique.
Core Questions
Ask these in a conversational flow, not as a rigid checklist. Group related questions naturally and adapt based on answers. Not every question applies to every startup — skip what's irrelevant.
The Idea
- What problem are you solving? Who has this problem?
- What's your proposed solution? How does it work?
- What triggered this idea? (personal pain, market observation, technical insight)
- Do you have any existing work? (prototypes, research, landing pages, waitlists)
The Founder(s)
- What's your background? Relevant domain expertise?
- Are you solo or do you have co-founders? What are their strengths?
- How much time can you dedicate? Full-time or side project?
- What's your budget/runway situation?
The Market
- Who is your ideal customer? Be as specific as possible.
- How do they currently solve this problem? (existing alternatives, workarounds)
- Do you know of direct competitors? Who are they?
- What geography/market are you targeting first?
The Business
- How do you plan to make money? (subscription, one-time, marketplace, freemium)
- Any idea of pricing?
- What does success look like in 6 months? 12 months? 3 years?
- What are your biggest unknowns or worries?
Constraints & Preferences
- Any technical constraints? (must be mobile-first, needs to integrate with X)
- Any strong opinions on brand/positioning? (premium vs accessible, playful vs serious)
- Regulatory considerations?
- Have you already spoken with potential customers? If yes: how many, what did they say, did anyone express willingness to pay?
Hard Questions
After the core questions, ask these deliberately uncomfortable questions. They surface blind spots early:
- "Why are you the right person to build this? What unfair advantage do you have?"
- "If Google/a well-funded competitor launched this tomorrow, what would you do?"
- "What's the strongest argument against this idea?"
- "Have you talked to potential customers? What did they actually say (not what you hoped they'd say)?"
- "What would make you walk away from this idea?"
Don't skip these — they set the tone for the entire process and signal that this is an honest assessment, not a cheerleading session.
How to Interview
- Ask 3-5 questions at a time, not all at once
- Acknowledge and build on answers — show you're listening
- Probe vague answers: "You said 'small businesses' — can you narrow that down? Like, freelancers? 10-person agencies? Local retail?"
- After 2-3 rounds, summarize what you've understood and ask the user to confirm or correct