Customer Persona

Who this is for

Founders who can describe their product in one sentence but need three paragraphs and a lot of hedging to describe who it's for.

What you'll actually decide

Which specific person you're building for, described precisely enough that it changes decisions — what they do all day, what they currently use instead, what would make them switch, and what would make them churn.

What first-time founders get wrong here

Writing a persona that no real human fails to match. "Small business owners aged 25-55 who value efficiency" excludes nobody and therefore guides nothing. A persona is useful in proportion to how many people it rules out.

The first 10 questions

This is where the conversation starts. Each answer shapes what gets asked next.

1. 01Who is the person this product is primarily built for? Describe them as a specific human, not a demographic bucket.
2. 02What do they do for work, and what does a typical day look like?
3. 03What's the problem they have that your product addresses — and how often do they feel it?
4. 04Have you spoken to real versions of this person? What did you hear that surprised you?
5. 05How does this person currently solve the problem — what tools, workarounds, or habits do they use today?
6. 06What would they need to believe to try your product? What's the skeptical version of this person thinking?
7. 07What does success look like to them — what metric, feeling, or outcome do they care most about?
8. 08What does this person fear or resent about solutions like yours — the things that make them hesitate?
9. 09How does this person find out about new tools and make buying decisions — who do they trust, where do they look?
10. 10Give your persona a name and a one-line description that captures who they are.

+ 8 more questions across discovery, validation, and the creative brief — each one adapting to what you've already said.

Related marketing project types

• Name Your StartupChoose a name you can defend, spell out loud, and actually own — working from positioning criteria rather than word games, with live domain checks on the shortlist.
• Competitive PositioningMap your competitive landscape, find the position that's genuinely yours to own, and build the case for why your approach beats the alternatives for the customers who matter most.
• Competitive MapTurn your Competitive Positioning work into a shareable visual — a 2×2 map so you, your team, and your investors can see exactly where you stand and why your position is defensible.