{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"Book","@id":"https://readstacks.com/books/the-mom-test-rob-fitzpatrick/","url":"https://readstacks.com/books/the-mom-test-rob-fitzpatrick/","name":"The Mom Test: How to Talk to Customers and Learn If Your Business Is a Good Idea When Everyone Is Lying to You","shortTitle":"The Mom Test","author":{"@type":"Person","name":"Rob Fitzpatrick"},"isbn":"9781492180746","numberOfPages":7,"wordCount":3140,"timeRequired":"PT12.5M","datePublished":"2026-05-16T22:00:00Z","dateModified":"2026-05-16T22:00:00Z","publisher":{"@id":"https://readstacks.com/#organization","@type":"Organization","name":"Read Stacks"},"workExample":[{"@type":"Chapter","@id":"https://readstacks.com/books/the-mom-test-rob-fitzpatrick/chapter-1-the-mom-test/","url":"https://readstacks.com/books/the-mom-test-rob-fitzpatrick/chapter-1-the-mom-test/","name":"The Mom Test","position":1,"wordCount":403,"timeRequired":"PT1.5M","abstract":"The opening chapter names the central problem that drives the entire book: when you ask people whether your idea is good, they almost always say yes — not because the idea is good but because saying yes is the polite move in conversation.","datePublished":"2026-05-16T22:00:00Z","dateModified":"2026-05-16T22:00:00Z"},{"@type":"Chapter","@id":"https://readstacks.com/books/the-mom-test-rob-fitzpatrick/chapter-2-avoiding-bad-data/","url":"https://readstacks.com/books/the-mom-test-rob-fitzpatrick/chapter-2-avoiding-bad-data/","name":"Avoiding Bad Data","position":2,"wordCount":467,"timeRequired":"PT2M","abstract":"Chapter 2 catalogs the specific failure modes that make customer conversations produce bad data. Fitzpatrick names three categories. Compliments are the most flattering and the most useless: \"I love this idea,\" \"this is so smart,\" \"everyone needs this.\" A compliment carries zero information about future purchase behavior.","datePublished":"2026-05-16T22:00:00Z","dateModified":"2026-05-16T22:00:00Z"},{"@type":"Chapter","@id":"https://readstacks.com/books/the-mom-test-rob-fitzpatrick/chapter-3-asking-important-questions/","url":"https://readstacks.com/books/the-mom-test-rob-fitzpatrick/chapter-3-asking-important-questions/","name":"Asking Important Questions","position":3,"wordCount":466,"timeRequired":"PT2M","abstract":"The third chapter raises the stakes. Even when you avoid compliments and fluff, most customer conversations still don't produce decision-quality data because they don't ask the questions that actually matter. Fitzpatrick distinguishes between \"comfortable questions\" (the ones easy to ask and easy to answer, which…","datePublished":"2026-05-16T22:00:00Z","dateModified":"2026-05-16T22:00:00Z"},{"@type":"Chapter","@id":"https://readstacks.com/books/the-mom-test-rob-fitzpatrick/chapter-4-keeping-it-casual/","url":"https://readstacks.com/books/the-mom-test-rob-fitzpatrick/chapter-4-keeping-it-casual/","name":"Keeping It Casual","position":4,"wordCount":477,"timeRequired":"PT2M","abstract":"Chapter 4 makes a counterintuitive recommendation: don't hold formal customer-research meetings. Formal meetings — scheduled time, agenda, expectation of a \"pitch\" — distort the conversation. The customer arrives knowing they're being recruited as a customer, performs as a customer, gives the founder what they expect…","datePublished":"2026-05-16T22:00:00Z","dateModified":"2026-05-16T22:00:00Z"},{"@type":"Chapter","@id":"https://readstacks.com/books/the-mom-test-rob-fitzpatrick/chapter-5-commitment-and-advancement/","url":"https://readstacks.com/books/the-mom-test-rob-fitzpatrick/chapter-5-commitment-and-advancement/","name":"Commitment and Advancement","position":5,"wordCount":424,"timeRequired":"PT1.5M","abstract":"Chapter 5 introduces the most action-oriented framework in the book: every customer conversation should end with either commitment or advancement, not with hopeful niceness. Commitment means the customer gives up something of value — time, money, reputation, a specific introduction — to demonstrate that they…","datePublished":"2026-05-16T22:00:00Z","dateModified":"2026-05-16T22:00:00Z"},{"@type":"Chapter","@id":"https://readstacks.com/books/the-mom-test-rob-fitzpatrick/chapter-6-finding-conversations/","url":"https://readstacks.com/books/the-mom-test-rob-fitzpatrick/chapter-6-finding-conversations/","name":"Finding Conversations","position":6,"wordCount":438,"timeRequired":"PT2M","abstract":"Chapter 6 addresses the question every founder reading this far is asking: how do I actually find people to have these conversations with? Fitzpatrick is realistic that this is the hard part. He divides the search into \"cold\" and \"warm\" channels.","datePublished":"2026-05-16T22:00:00Z","dateModified":"2026-05-16T22:00:00Z"},{"@type":"Chapter","@id":"https://readstacks.com/books/the-mom-test-rob-fitzpatrick/chapter-7-choosing-your-customers/","url":"https://readstacks.com/books/the-mom-test-rob-fitzpatrick/chapter-7-choosing-your-customers/","name":"Choosing Your Customers","position":7,"wordCount":465,"timeRequired":"PT2M","abstract":"The final chapter shifts from how to talk to customers to which customers to talk to. Many founders inherit a vague sense of their target market — \"small businesses,\" \"creative professionals,\" \"marketing teams\" — and conduct conversations across the entire space without specializing.","datePublished":"2026-05-16T22:00:00Z","dateModified":"2026-05-16T22:00:00Z"}]}