Finding People to Interview

What is finding people to interview?

Finding people to interview (researchers call it recruiting participants) means getting 10 to 15 strangers who have your problem to give you 20 to 30 minutes of their time. It is the step where most founders stall. They write a great question list, send 5 messages to friends, get 2 polite calls and decide the market is “lukewarm”.

Here is why it deserves its own method: recruiting is a numbers game with a clear funnel. Messages sent turn into replies, replies turn into booked calls and booked calls turn into the people who actually show up. Once you track that funnel, you know exactly how many messages to send, and you stop taking silence personally.

When should you use it?

• Right before problem interviews, jobs-to-be-done interviews or any test where you need real people on a call.
• For B2B, it is the same work you will later do in sales, so treat it as practice for finding buyers.
• For B2C, it works best when your customers gather somewhere: parent groups, hobby communities, local business networks.

Skip it if you already have a list of customers or waitlist sign-ups. Email them first, because people who raised their hand reply far more than strangers.

How do you do it, step by step?

1. Write a 2-line description of who you need. Describe what they do instead of their age or job title alone: “Owners of physiotherapy practices with 1 to 5 staff who handled at least one patient no-show in the last month.” This line goes into every message and keeps you from booking the wrong people.

2. Set up a recruiting tracker. One Google Sheet with columns: name, channel, date contacted, replied (yes/no), booked, showed up, fits the profile, notes. After 30 messages you will see which channel works and drop the rest.

3. Start with second-degree contacts. Message 20 to 40 people you know, asking them to forward the message rather than take part: “Hi Sam, I’m researching how small physio practices handle no-shows. Do you know anyone who runs one and would talk to me for 20 minutes? I’m not selling anything. Forwarding this message is perfect.” Warm intros convert best, so this is where your first 3 to 5 calls come from.

4. Post in 2 or 3 communities where those people gather. Read the group rules first and ask a moderator if research posts are allowed. A post that works: “I’m a founder researching how [group] handle [task]. I’m looking for 5 people who [did X in the last 3 months] for a 20 minute call. No pitch. I’ll share a summary of what I learn here afterwards.” Promising the summary turns a request into a contribution. See Facebook group insights and industry forum research for where to look.

5. Send short cold messages on LinkedIn or by email. For B2B, search LinkedIn by job title plus location, send a connection request, and once they accept, send a 2-sentence message: “Hi Priya, I’m researching how clinic owners deal with no-shows and would love 20 minutes of your experience. No sales pitch, promise.” For small businesses, use the contact email on their own website. Subject line: “Quick question about no-shows at [clinic name]”. Send 1 follow-up after 4 days, then stop.

6. Screen before you book. Add 2 questions to your booking page or reply: “When did this last happen to you?” and “How do you handle it today?” Anyone who answers “never” or “not sure” gets a kind thank-you and no call.

7. Make showing up easy. Send a Calendly link with 20 to 30 minute slots, a calendar invite with the video link inside, and a reminder the day before. Offer a thank-you that fits: a €10 to €20 gift card or coffee voucher for consumers, a copy of your anonymised findings for business people.

What does a worked example look like?

Say Maya, a hypothetical founder, is researching how HR managers at companies with 50 to 200 staff plan cover for parental leave. She needs 12 interviews in 2 weeks.

Her tracker after 10 days:

She reaches 14 interviews. The table also tells her something about her future business: HR people answer peers and communities, and they ignore cold email. That shapes her later sales plan too, so she keeps the sheet.

Which free tools help?

What mistakes should you avoid?

• Asking for “feedback on my startup”. Nobody wants to grade your homework. People DO like talking about their own work and frustrations, so ask about that.
• Writing long messages. Anything over 5 sentences gets skimmed. Who you are, what you’re researching, how long, no pitch, done.
• Recruiting only friends. They are kind, they know you and they are rarely your customer. Use friends for intros instead.
• Offering big rewards. A €100 voucher attracts people who want €100. Keep it small or give your findings instead.
• Spamming communities. One post, rules followed, then you reply to every comment. Groups remember who took without giving.
• Booking anyone who says yes. An interview with someone outside your profile costs you an hour and gives misleading answers.

How do you know it worked?

Our rule of thumb: you have 10 to 15 booked interviews within 2 weeks, at least 8 in 10 people match your profile, and at least 8 in 10 booked calls actually happen.

If you sent 100 messages and booked fewer than 5 calls, that is information too. Either the message is weak (rewrite it and test 20 more) or the group is hard to reach. Hard-to-reach customers will also be hard to sell to, so take it seriously when you pick your beachhead segment.

What should you do next?

Run your problem interviews while the slots are fresh, and keep the tracker: it becomes the start of your LinkedIn outreach list later. If recruiting feels lonely, the Fe/male Switch startup game for women gives you an AI co-founder to plan each validation step with.

FAQ

Should I pay people for customer interviews?

For consumer interviews, a small gift card is fair and raises show-up rates. Business people can find cash odd, so offer your anonymised findings or a donation to a charity they pick. Large payments attract the wrong people.

How do I find people to interview if I have no network?

Start with communities: subreddits, Facebook groups, Slack and Discord groups of the profession, local meetups. Give before you ask by answering questions there for a week. Then cold messages with a clear “no pitch” promise fill the rest.

How many messages do I need to send to get 10 interviews?

It depends on the channel. Our rule of thumb from the funnel above: warm intros book about 1 call per 5 messages, cold LinkedIn messages about 1 per 12, and cold email less. Plan for 80 to 120 messages across channels.

Updated 26 October 2026 · Written by the Fe/male Switch team

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