The Mom Test - Chapter 5: Commitment and Advancement

In the previous chapters, we learned how to have proper customer conversations — avoiding compliments, digging into specifics, and not pitching too early. But here's a question that kept bugging me: How do I know if a meeting actually went well? Chapter 5 answers exactly that. And the answer is brutally simple: a meeting went well only if it ends with a commitment. Outline In this post, I'll break down Chapter 5 into the following sections: There's No Such Thing as a Meeting That "Went Well" — Why every meeting either succeeds or fails, and how compliments trick you into thinking you're making progress. Commitment and Advancement: Two Sides of the Same Coin — The two key concepts of the chapter and why they always come together. The Currencies of Commitment — The three types of commitment (Time, Reputation, Money) and how they escalate in seriousness. The Spectrum: From Zombie Lead to Committed Customer — How to read the signals and know exactly where you stand with a potential custome