The Simplest Way to Think About Problem Interviews (B2B SaaS)

Customer development frameworks are dense. For B2B SaaS founders, here is the simplest way to think about it. A problem interview is a conversation where you collect specific past stories from operators about how their team currently handles a workflow.

Stories Beat Opinions

If you ask a B2B operator "would you use a tool that helps with X," you get an opinion. Opinions are cheap. If you ask "walk me through the last time your team did X," you get a story. Stories carry data - tools they use, handoffs that break, who owns what, where time leaks.

Three Questions That Almost Always Work

One: walk me through the last time your team did X. Who was involved, what tools, what handoffs?

Two: where did things get slow or break?

Three: what do you currently pay for or hack together to make this work?

Each is a story prompt. None mention your product. They put the operator back in their team's actual workflow.

B2B-Specific: Ask About the Buyer

Late in the call, ask "if your team wanted to buy a tool to help with this, who would have to approve it and what would they ask?" The user-buyer gap is the most common B2B SaaS surprise. Surface it early.

What Counts as a Good Interview

Not one where they say they would buy. One where you walked away knowing something specific you did not know - a tool you had not heard of, a handoff you had not mapped, a procurement constraint you had not anticipated.

How Many Do You Need

Ten to fifteen. After five you suspect your assumptions. After ten patterns appear. After fifteen you can summarize the team in three sentences.

The Mistake Most B2B Founders Make

Pitching to validate. As soon as you describe your product, the operator switches to politeness. You walk away feeling validated and learning nothing. Hold the no-pitch line until the very end of the call.

Just Start

Send one polite message today. Ask for thirty minutes. Bring three questions. Listen. Write down what they actually said. The simplest way to think about B2B problem interviews is the same as most founder skills: you learn them by doing them badly the first three times and noticeably better the fifth.