At our recent “How to Validate Before Launch: Essentials for Customer-Centric Entrepreneurs” workshop, Josh Cohen, Co-CEO and Co-founder at GIANT Innovation, provided aspiring entrepreneurs with a hands-on experience in building customer-focused innovation skills. The session drew a diverse group of attendees eager to learn how to connect with customers, refine value propositions, and set their ventures on a solid path to success.

Cohen, whose work at GIANT Innovation focuses on equipping organizations with the tools to think and act like world-class innovators, introduced participants to three core competencies crucial for early-stage entrepreneurs: questioning, analyzing, and experimenting. These skills form the foundation of creating solutions that truly resonate with customers, in walking guests through these skills there were these key takeaways:

Master the Art of Questioning to Uncover Customer Insights:

• Ask open-ended questions to encourage detailed responses.
• Focus on understanding past customer behavior rather than hypothetical scenarios.
• Pay attention to emotional cues during interviews to uncover deeper motivations.

Use the Jobs-to-Be-Done Framework to Understand Customer Needs:

• Recognize that products serve functional, social, and emotional “jobs.”
• Prioritize identifying customers’ social and emotional needs for a strategic advantage.
• Develop solutions that resonate beyond functionality to build stronger customer connections.

Refine Your Pitch with the CPS (Customer, Problem, Solution) Approach:

• Clearly identify your target customer and their specific pain points.
• Highlight the problem your product addresses effectively.
• Present your solution as the ideal way to meet functional, social, and emotional needs.

Apply Innovative Thinking in Your Entrepreneurial Journey:

• Practice questioning, analyzing, and experimenting as core skills to drive customer-focused innovation.
• Use these tools to design solutions that deeply resonate with your target audience.

Josh ended the workshop with a crash course on pitching, encouraging founders to utilize the CPS approach: Customer, Problem Solution. By addressing the customer, acknowledging the problem, and offering the solution, founders can present their product as the perfect way to meet their customers’ functional, social, and emotional needs.

If you’re interested in developing your entrepreneurial skills and connecting with like-minded innovators, keep an eye out for future events hosted by the Berkley Center!