A Great Concierge MVP Example You Can Copy

In the pod the other day I mentioned a founder who used a powerful interview-plus-Concierge MVP combo to understand customer problems and needs.

Here’s the short version:

A guy wanted to build an AI tool for homeowners. It would act like a trusted, personal contractor: a manager for your home. When anything happened - window breaks, AC goes out, stove is rattling - you’d message the tool and it would diagnose the problem, find a trusted contractor, schedule an appointment, haggle on price, handle payment, then send you a bill with a 15% service fee.

The idea was solid, but the way he validated it is why we’re here.

Before he had a product - before he’d even decided to actually pursue the thing - he went door to door in neighborhoods where he thought his customers might live and tried to sell the service without the AI.

He started by asking:

“Hi, I can fix anything in your home. What have you been dragging your feet on because you don’t know exactly who to call to fix it?”

Eventually, he honed the question to:

“What have you tried to fix in your home over the past month that, for some reason, still hasn’t gotten done?”

Customers gave him answers or showed him something - the chimney, the HVAC, a crack in the ceiling they were worried about, a tree that looked dead and might fall on the car.

Then he asked about their process - what had they done to figure out whether they should cut down the tree?

Finally, he sold:

“I can get that tree looked at this week. Want me to handle it? I’ve got a company we trust. I charge 15% on top of their fee, but I’ve already negotiated their price so my fee ends up being negligible.”

Then he found a tree person, ran the exercise, and solved the problem. He saw what could be replaced by AI and which problems had the highest margins.

This is the classic Concierge MVP we talk about all the time, but I’ve found it’s helpful to see examples of founders absolutely nailing it.

So….What’s the version of this test for your business?