How quickly can we see results from a Bullseye Customer Sprint?

The sprint takes five weeks from start to finish. You'll have a documented Bullseye customer definition, validated positioning, and specific next steps by the end of week five. Teams typically see the impact in their next planning cycle — clearer prioritization decisions, fewer circular debates, and faster alignment on what to build.

What if every product decision your team made was grounded in what an actual customer told you?

Q: What services does How This Works co offer?

We help early-stage startups and SMBs build products people actually want through product strategy and design, workshop facilitation, and team development and coaching.

Most teams build on gut feel and good intentions. And the instinct is usually close, but close doesn't close.

A 5-person team debating who they're building for burns roughly $40K a month in misaligned work. That's not a people problem. That's a signal problem — and silence is expensive. Speed in the wrong direction is just a more expensive mistake.

A few ways to fix it. The Bullseye Customer Sprint gets you to a locked customer definition in about two (2) months — five (5) live interviews your whole team watches together, no more "I think," just "they said." Then, a Listening Cycle keeps that clarity from expiring while you build — weekly interviews, immediate debriefs, no reports nobody reads.

Build fast, build it right.

Book a 25-min intro call — no pitch, just a conversation about where you're at.

Select clients

SERVICES

What services does How This Works co offer?

An icon showing iteration and cycles on a black background - product strategy and design

Product strategy & design

Create products customers want using tested methods that turn insights into business results

Workshop facilitation

Turn ideas into action through focused sessions — from our signature Bullseye Customer Sprint to a Listening Cycle to a Design Sprint

An icon showing a series of hearts and achievement levels on a black background - team development and coaching

Team development & coaching

Build stronger teams that solve problems together through structured coaching and proven frameworks

"Skipper brings a human-centric approach to transformational change for clients, with a rare ability to empathize with diverse perspectives, leading to solutions that genuinely work for all."
– Gerard Welikala, vice president of digital transformation

"His calm, collected demeanor and thoughtful approach have profoundly shaped my problem-solving and client interactions. Skipper's mentorship is transformative."
– Brian Heltsmith, senior product designer

"Skipper excels as a workshop facilitator, guiding teams through structured and highly productive sessions. His ability to unite remote teams and foster collaboration makes him a remarkable leader."
– Snizhana Bezhnar, design director

"Skipper is highly creative and strategic, while remaining deeply focused on business goals. His leadership by example and dedication to creating a sustainable design system were inspiring."
– Melody Hammer, design director

"Skipper's attention to detail and genuine curiosity about organizational dynamics make him a standout. He builds trust with both clients and colleagues, a true asset to any team."
– Charlotte Dingwall-Fordyce, change management & transformation

Why work with us?

We help teams move from founder intuition to evidence-based conviction. That shift — from guessing to knowing — is what unlocks real momentum. We’ve conducted hundreds of customer interviews across dozens of industries. We know what to listen for, how to help your team see patterns together, and when to pivot versus push forward.

Surviving a market collapse
At Shep, we built a browser extension for business travel compliance. Our first hypothesis — small and medium businesses — failed after a year of iterations: fragmented budgets, impossible unit economics. We pivoted to enterprise. Then COVID killed 92% of business travel overnight. Instead of folding, we went back to listening. Enterprise still had duty of care problems. We retooled around safety and health notifications, piloted with Adidas and Discovery Channel, and Flight Centre acquired Shep in 2021.
Finding the customer with real stakes
Replay's hypothesis: ops managers need help building automation apps but a Bullseye Customer Sprint with five (5) discovery/user testing interviews told a different story. The customer who actually buys is an independent builder with a production app (not a test) and real money on the line — someone who needed to understand what broke and why, not just have it auto-fixed. So we shifted the Bullseye definition, validated with a Listening Cycle, and they relaunched as Replay Builder. Specificity creates clarity. Clarity creates focus. Focus creates revenue.
Listening past the CFO
A tier 1 bank-integrated fintech's pipeline had stalled — sales down 23% over 18 months. We ran a Bullseye Customer Sprint targeting CFOs at $50M+ SaaS firms. By the third Listening Cycle interview, a CFO handed us the real answer: "That's an audit problem — I kick it to my controller." Right pain, wrong customer. We repositioned for controllers at $30–$100M firms and ran 13 more interviews to confirm. Higher retention, shorter sales cycles, wider swathe of accounts.

A white pencil on top of a black fabric background to accent the text, Why work with us? from How This Works co

READY TO WORK TOGETHER?

See if our approach fits your needs

Book a 25-min call to talk through your situation. We'll be straight about whether our approach makes sense — and what working together might look like (if we work in tandem).

Book a call