Here are five ways that you can reach out to initiate customer discovery interviews: introductions, meetings, on-line forums, cold emails, and cold calls.
Craig Stark's insight:
It can be difficult to refrain from entering "pitch mode" and jumping to a solution presentation during this process.
I have set up meetings for #custdev purposes only to have a Founder dive into "product- land and feature-it is", thus killing the opportunity to learn from the interview steps.
Cold e mails work if you can relate to your target contact immediately and with the guarantee that you aren't going to pitch them.
Read paragraph 2 again.
This is where working with a partner allows for a buffer and lets a more organic conversation develop.