The Mom Test (Part 1): The Ultimate Questioning Framework That Even Your Mom Can't Fool

"If I built an AI app that could do X, how much would you pay for it?"
"Maybe $10–30."
"What do you think of the idea overall?"
"Pretty sick — I think there's a real chance you could take it to market."

You walk away brimming with confidence, only to discover three months later you haven't made a single dollar. Strange — everyone said the idea was great, you built the product, so why can't you sell it?

The problem isn't your sales skills or the product itself. It's the way you asked the questions — you were leading them straight to the answer you wanted: your idea is awesome and I'd pay a lot for it.

Nobody likes to be the one who rains on your parade, especially when it's something you clearly care about (the fact that you brought it up is already a signal that you do).

The Mom Test is designed to solve exactly this problem. By never mentioning your idea, asking for specific facts, and digging into the details, you can get even your mom to inadvertently reveal what she truly thinks.

Why Do People Lie to You?

• They don't want to hurt your feelings
• They think it's what you want to hear
• They're doing it "for your own good"

All of these are possible reasons, but the root cause is that "you mentioned your idea."

The moment someone senses your ego is on the line, their protective instinct kicks in automatically.

Bringing up your idea in a conversation sets an expectation that you need support, and makes the other person feel like you're looking for praise or validation.

Even if you explicitly ask them to be honest and "not worry about your feelings," the conversation will still drift toward what they think is best for you.

These "well-intentioned lies" will have you confidently marching in the wrong direction.

Now that we know the problem, how do we avoid it?

"Mining" for Unguarded Truths

Four key principles:

• Talk about their life, not your idea
• Ask for specific facts from the past, not hypothetical futures or opinions
• Uncover the cost and motivation behind the problem
• Talk less, listen more

Think of it like a detective working a case. When interviewing people connected to the crime, a good detective brings zero subjective bias. They ask for concrete facts — the sequence of events, the specific details — and use those to find clues and understand the suspect's motive.

Talk About Their Life, Not Your Idea

"We suspect your neighbor XXX might be involved. Do you have any impressions of him?"
"He always seemed off to me — it could easily be him."

A question loaded with assumptions naturally keeps the focus on the suspect, which causes the person being interviewed to adopt the same bias.

The same principle applies in customer conversations. Mentioning your idea is essentially saying: "I think this idea is great — you agree, right?"

Let's apply this to the topic of "preparing for job interviews":

"Can you walk me through how you typically prepare for an interview?"

Good question. This lets you directly observe the user's full preparation process, so you can discover:

• Problems the user hasn't even noticed themselves
• Points of inefficiency
• What tools they use and who they interact with
• How your product might fit into their life down the road

Learning from what users actually do also helps you avoid their self-perceived understanding and get at their genuine motivations and thoughts.

The best approach: never mention your idea during the conversation.

Ask for Specific Past Facts, Not Future Hypotheticals or Opinions

"You said your neighbor seemed off — can you be specific about what he actually did?"
"When he took out the trash, he'd walk it over and hand it directly to the sanitation worker. Who does that instead of just tossing it in?"

This makes it immediately clear that "seemed off" amounted to nothing more than an unusual trash-disposal habit. We can confidently conclude this lead is not worth pursuing further.

Applying the same idea to "preparing for job interviews":

"The last time you couldn't find a mock interview partner, how did you handle it?"

Good question. It pulls the person away from vague generalities (like "I run into this problem all the time") and back to a specific past incident.

"Did you try any other approaches?"

Good question. It helps you understand the workarounds users are currently using, the cost and time they invest in them, and how satisfied they are with what they have.

If they never even tried to find a solution, they probably won't buy your product either.

"If there were an app that let you practice mock interviews online and also review your resume, for $99 a month, would you use it?"

Bad question. Of course they might say they'd use it — but that doesn't mean they actually will.

Everything about the future is an overly optimistic lie.

Uncover the Cost and Motivation Behind the Problem

"Not being able to find a mock interview partner — does that actually cause you any problems?
"Hmm, not really. As long as I have a quiet space to practice out loud by myself, I'm fine."

Some problems exist but simply don't matter.

"What kind of impact does this problem have?" or "Why did you bother dealing with it at all?" helps you distinguish between:

• A minor annoyance that's "a bit annoying but livable"
• A real problem that "costs people dearly"

It also gives you a great pricing signal, letting you anchor your price to the actual "value" of solving the pain.

Talk Less, Listen More

"So your app is kind of like Speak and Duolingo, right?"
"Yeah, but we can also do X and Y..."

In a moment like this, you'll feel a strong urge to "correct their understanding." Don't.

Your customer is about to give you a much deeper look into their worldview. Letting that learning opportunity slip away is a real loss.

Beyond that, it's very easy to slip into Pitch Mode — constantly talking about how great the product is and what problems it solves.

If you find yourself doing most of the talking in the conversation, that's a clear negative signal.

• You're not learning anything about the user's life
• You're exposing your inner desperation to sell
• Anyone will say your idea is great if you're annoying enough about it

You can't learn anything unless you're willing to shut up for a few minutes — even if you have something incredibly clever to say.

Embrace Bad News and Keep Moving Forward

The ultimate goal of The Mom Test is not to hear the answers you want — it's to find the truth.

A lukewarm response is far more valuable than enthusiastic praise.

"Hmm, it's okay I guess."

"This is awesome! Let me know when it launches."

If you have an exciting new idea but find that almost nobody cares after talking to a few potential customers — congratulations. You just saved yourself countless hours of building and selling something nobody wants.

Discovering that your hypothesis was wrong is deflating, but it brings you closer to the truth and to a market that actually exists.

Armed with everything you now know, go find the real pain points your customers have (you may have already uncovered them in those conversations). Let's keep moving closer to the goal.

The next post will continue with more concepts from The Mom Test — how to use "Keep it Casual," "pushing for commitment," "customer segmentation," and more to understand what you should be doing before, during, and after a customer conversation.

Stay Tuned.

Quick Test:
A home workout app. The original question:
"What do you think is the biggest barrier to going to the gym?"
Is this a good question or a bad question?