Customer Discovery: Find Your Market & Build What Matters
Find Your Market. Build What Matters. Stop Guessing.
Customer Discovery at 20Fathoms is designed to help you stop guessing and start building with solid evidence.
Even the most promising ideas fail when founders confuse what they can build with what the market actually needs. This 5-week cohort gives you a structured, evidence-driven process to identify real customer demand, define your beachhead market (the specific group of customers you’ll focus on first), and build a business model grounded in reality. Through hands-on work, real customer conversations, and expert guidance, you’ll surface critical risks early. You won’t waste time, energy, or runway chasing the wrong opportunity.
APPLY HERE!
What you’ll walk away with:
Your most important customer segment (ie. beachhead market)– Know exactly who you’re building for and where to focus first.
Real customer insights – Conduct 20–30 structured interviews that reveal true pain points, decision criteria, and buying behavior.
A business model that makes sense – Align your revenue model, pricing, and go-to-market strategy with real demand.
A lower-risk path forward – Test your assumptions early and move ahead with confidence.
What you’ll experience:
An evidence-driven approach – Replace assumptions with real data from the market.
Systematic discovery – Learn a structured process to uncover what customers truly value (not just what you think they value).
Focused direction – Identify your beachhead market and concentrate your efforts where traction is most achievable.?
Early risk reduction – Surface your biggest unknowns early and test them before you scale.
Guided support – Work alongside experienced facilitators and a cohort of founders doing the same work.
Workshop schedule:
- Saturday, May 2 (9am – 4pm) — Kickoff – In Person @ 20Fathoms
- Week of May 4 (Flexible appts) — Virtual Office Hours with Julie
- Wednesdays: May 13, May 20, May 27, June 3 (4:30 – 7pm) — Virtual Weekly Cohort Sessions
How the program works:
5 cohort sessions – Interactive workshops, working time, and group discussion over 5 weeks.
1:1 coaching support – Private sessions to refine your interviews and analyze what you’re learning.
On-demand resources – Supplemental content to keep you moving between sessions.
Final presentation – Share your insights, direction, and next steps with peers and advisors.
Proven methodology – Built on the I-Corps framework used by 3,000+ ventures nationwide.
Who this is for:
*Please note: This is an active, working cohort. You’ll be expected to talk to customers, reflect on what you’re learning, and show up ready to engage.
- You have an idea but aren’t sure who it’s for
- You’ve started something but aren’t gaining traction
- You’re tired of guessing and want real answers
- You’re willing to talk to customers and do the work
About the presenter:
Julie Collins is a deep tech innovation expert and founder of The Opportunity Practice, where she helps founders and teams answer the critical question: why you, why now? With over 10,000 hours of innovation consulting experience, Julie specializes in guiding entrepreneurs through structured, evidence-driven customer discovery, helping them uncover real market needs, validate opportunities, and build strategies that actually work. Her approach is grounded in proven frameworks used across thousands of ventures, particularly in complex and emerging markets, where understanding the customer and value chain is essential to success. Julie is known for pushing founders past assumptions and into real insight, so they can build the right business for the right market.