Where to Find People to Interview for Your Startup Idea
To find people to interview for your startup idea, go where your target customer already spends time and ask to talk: start with the people around you (classmates, teachers, parents, coaches), then reach into online communities like Reddit, Discord, and Facebook groups, and add cold DMs and cold emails once you know exactly who you’re looking for. You don’t need a network, a company, or money. You need a clear description of who you’re trying to reach and a short, human message.
Here’s the trap most first-time founders fall into: they treat “finding interviewees” as the hard part, so they wait for the perfect list. You don’t need a perfect list. You need five real conversations this week. Below is exactly where to get them.
Who am I even trying to talk to?
Before you look anywhere, write one sentence describing the person who has the problem you’re solving. Not “everyone.” A specific person.
Bad: “Students who are stressed.” Good: “Juniors at my school taking three or more AP classes who feel behind on college apps.”
The narrower this sentence is, the easier every step after becomes, because you’ll instantly recognize the right person when you see them. If you’re still fuzzy on who has the problem, back up first and read our guide on how to find a startup problem worth solving before you spend a single message.
One more thing: you are interviewing to learn, not to sell. If you go in trying to convince people your idea is great, they’ll be polite and lie to you. Read the Mom Test before your first call so you ask questions that get honest answers instead of fake compliments.
Start with the people you can reach in one day
You already have access to more interview subjects than you think. Your job in week one is to talk to the ones within arm’s reach before you go cold.
- Classmates and their friends. If your customer is a teenager, you’re surrounded by them. Ask two or three friends, then ask each of them to introduce you to one more person who fits.
- Teachers, counselors, and coaches. They talk to hundreds of students and often see the problem from a wider angle than you do.
- Your parents and their coworkers. If your idea touches adults, professionals, or a specific industry, your parents’ network is a shortcut. “Do you know anyone who runs a small business?” costs you one text.
- Older siblings and their friends. College students are close enough to remember high school problems but far enough to give perspective.
- School clubs and Discord servers you’re already in. You have built-in permission to post in communities you belong to.
This is the warm layer, and it’s underrated because it feels too easy. It isn’t cheating. Every experienced founder starts here. Aim to book three to five conversations from this list before you touch a cold channel.
Where do I find strangers who have the problem?
Once you’ve drained your immediate circle, go where your specific customer already gathers online. The key is matching the channel to the person.
| Where to look | Best for reaching | How to approach |
|---|---|---|
| Reddit (niche subreddits) | People venting about a specific problem | Search the problem, DM active posters, or post asking to chat |
| Discord servers | Hobby, gaming, and student communities | Join, be a real member first, then ask in an intro channel |
| Facebook Groups | Parents, local, and profession-based groups | Post a short, honest ask; adults over-index here |
| Instagram / TikTok comments | Teens and specific interest niches | Reply to relevant posts, then DM |
| Professionals and B2B customers | Search job titles, send a short connection note | |
| In-person spots | Local customers (gyms, cafes, campuses) | Just ask people directly; the response rate is shockingly high |
The move on every one of these is the same: find where people are already complaining about the exact problem you want to solve, and talk to the people doing the complaining. A Reddit thread titled “why is X so annoying” is a list of pre-qualified interviewees. For a deeper playbook on locating those spots, see how to find where your customers already hang out online.
How to actually message a stranger without being weird
Cold outreach fails when it’s long, vague, or obviously copy-pasted. It works when it’s short, specific, and asks for something small.
Follow these steps:
- Lead with why them. Reference the exact post, comment, or detail that made you reach out. “I saw your comment about hating group project scheduling.”
- Say who you are in one line. “I’m a high school student researching this problem.” Being a student is an advantage, not something to hide. People help students.
- Make a tiny ask. Not “can I interview you.” Ask for “10 minutes to hear about your experience.” Small requests get big yes rates.
- Do not pitch your idea. You’re there to learn about their problem, not describe your solution.
- Make it effortless to say yes. Offer a couple of specific times, or offer to just chat over text if a call feels like too much.
Here’s a message you can adapt:
“Hi [name] — saw your post about [specific problem]. I’m a high schooler trying to understand this better and would love 10 minutes to hear how you deal with it. No pitch, just curious. Free Thursday after 4, or would a few texts be easier?”
Send ten of these. Expect two or three replies. That’s a normal, healthy response rate, and it’s plenty. If you want to sharpen the writing itself, we have full guides on how to cold DM strangers without being annoying and how to write a cold email that actually gets replies.
What if I’m not allowed to talk to strangers?
Real constraint, and a fair one. Plenty of 14- and 15-year-olds can’t just DM adults online, and that’s fine. You can still do excellent customer discovery.
- Interview people inside your own school and family, which is a big enough pool for most teen ideas.
- Ask a parent to sit in on calls, or to make the introduction so the person knows you’re a real student.
- Route outreach through a teacher or club advisor who can vouch for you.
- Use anonymous surveys or group discussions where no one-on-one contact with strangers is needed.
We wrote a whole guide for exactly this situation: validating an idea when you can’t talk to strangers yet. And if talking to anyone at all makes your stomach drop, that’s normal too. Read how to talk to customers when you’re shy or nervous and start with text-based conversations instead of calls.
How many people do I actually need?
Fewer than you’d guess. You’re not running a scientific study. You’re looking for patterns, and patterns show up fast. After five or six good conversations with the right people, you’ll start hearing the same complaints repeated, and that repetition is the signal you’re chasing.
A realistic first-week target:
- 3 to 5 people from your warm circle
- 5 to 10 cold messages sent to strangers who fit
- 1 short survey posted in a community, if you can’t reach enough people directly
That’s enough to know whether you’re onto something real or talking yourself into an idea nobody actually wants. For the full breakdown, see how many customer interviews you actually need.
Where this fits in the bigger picture
Finding people to interview is the unglamorous engine behind every good startup. Founders who win aren’t smarter, they’ve just talked to more of the right people, earlier. This is the entire point of the Validate week in our program: you get a target customer, a script, and a deadline, so “I’ll find people to interview” turns into actual booked conversations before you build anything.
So pick your one-sentence customer, drain your warm circle this week, then send ten cold messages. You’ll have your first real interviews before you’ve finished overthinking it. When you’re ready to do this with a cohort and a coach instead of alone, apply to batch0 — it’s free to apply, and you only pay if you get in.