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Theia User Research Interview Guide

Date Created: October 25, 2025 Purpose: Validate demand for strategic CFO-type consultancy/platform for event venues Target Interviewees: Eric Fuller (3 venues), Jacob (50-75 shows across 12 venues)

Interview Objectives​

Primary Goals​

  1. Validate Pain Points: Confirm that venue owners struggle with cash flow forecasting and decision-making across multiple events
  2. Assess Willingness to Pay: Determine realistic monthly retainer range for fractional CFO services
  3. Understand Current Process: Map existing manual workflows and data fragmentation challenges
  4. Test Value Proposition: Gauge reaction to Tyler's dashboard prototypes as potential solution

Success Criteria​

  • Clear articulation of current pain points worth $5K+ monthly to solve
  • Enthusiasm for predictive analytics and automated recommendations
  • Willingness to share historical data for model training
  • Interest in becoming pilot customer at discounted rate

Interview Flow (45-60 minutes)​

1. Current State Assessment (15 minutes)​

Opening Context: "We're exploring a strategic consultancy that acts as a fractional CFO for venue operators, eventually becoming an automated platform. Before we show you some concepts, help us understand your current situation."

Core Questions:

  • Walk us through your biggest challenges in managing [number] venues/shows simultaneously
  • How do you currently decide which events deserve more marketing attention?
  • When do you typically know if a show is underperforming? What triggers cancellation decisions?
  • How many different ticketing platforms and data sources do you juggle?
  • What percentage of your time goes to gathering vs. analyzing data?

2. Decision-Making Process (10 minutes)​

Key Areas to Explore:

  • How do you allocate marketing budgets across shows?
  • What historical data do you leverage (e.g. food and bev historicals), if any?
  • How often do you miss opportunities to save underperforming shows?
  • What's your current process for cash flow forecasting?
  • How do you predict F&B revenue from ticket sales?

Follow-up Probe: "If you had perfect information, what three questions would you want answered every Monday morning about your events?"

3. Prototype Demonstration (15 minutes)​

Tyler's Dashboard Walkthrough: Show Electric Zoo Weekly Report and Sponsorship Visibility examples; Plus possibly the Excel Model Prototype

Reaction Questions:

  • What's your immediate reaction to having this level of visibility?
  • Which metrics here would be most valuable to you?
  • What's missing that you'd need to see?
  • How would this change your weekly workflow?

Key Value Props to Test:

  • "Imagine getting alerts when a show needs intervention 3 weeks out instead of 1 week"
  • "What if you could predict final attendance within 10% accuracy at 6 weeks out?"
  • "How valuable would automated recommendations be (e.g., 'Spend $10K more on Facebook ads for 70% capacity' or 'Cancel now to minimize losses')?"

4. Economic Value & Pricing (10 minutes)​

Pricing Discovery:

  • "Think about the cost of one bad decision - a cancelled show that could've been saved, or overspending on marketing for a sold-out show. What does that typically cost you?"
  • "If a strategic CFO-type person could improve your event portfolio performance by 20%, what would that be worth monthly?"
  • "Ballpark - no commitment - what monthly retainer range makes sense for this level of strategic support? Consider we'd start very hands-on, gradually automating."

Service Model Testing:

  • Initial phase: Weekly calls + custom dashboards + recommendations ($X/month)
  • Mature phase: Automated platform with real-time alerts ($Y/month)
  • "Which model is more appealing and why?"

5. Partnership Exploration (5 minutes)​

Pilot Program Pitch:

  • "We're selecting 2-3 venue managing companies as development partners"
  • "You'd get heavily discounted or free service for 3-6 months"
  • "In exchange, we need access to your historical data and weekly feedback"
  • "Are you interested in exploring this?"

Data Requirements:

  • What systems could you give us API access to?
  • How far back does your historical data go?
  • Any concerns about data sharing with proper NDAs in place?

Key Metrics to Capture​

Quantitative​

  • Number of venues managed
  • Number of simultaneous shows
  • Average show capacity and ticket price
  • Current "blind spot" percentage (shows they don't closely monitor)
  • Hours per week spent on reporting/analysis
  • Cost of recent preventable failures

Qualitative​

  • Emotional reaction to current pain points
  • Excitement level about proposed solution (1-10 scale)
  • Primary decision-making frustrations
  • Most valuable potential features
  • Concerns or objections

Interview Techniques​

Best Practices​

  • Start with open-ended questions before showing prototypes
  • Use Tyler's actual industry experience as credibility builder
  • Listen for emotional language around pain points
  • Push for specific dollar amounts and examples
  • Don't oversell - let them convince themselves

Red Flags to Watch For​

  • Satisfaction with current manual processes
  • Unwillingness to share data
  • Focus only on cost, not value
  • Less than 20 shows annually (might be too small)
  • Expecting fully automated solution immediately

Post-Interview Assessment​

Go/No-Go Criteria​

Strong GO signals:

  • Willing to pay $5K-15K monthly for strategic CFO service
  • Clear pain around missed opportunities and blind spots
  • Excitement about predictive capabilities
  • Ready to start pilot within 30 days

NO-GO signals:

  • Max willingness to pay under $2K monthly
  • "Nice to have" but not urgent problem
  • Satisfied with existing processes
  • Unwilling to share historical data

Follow-Up Actions​

If Positive Response:​

  1. Schedule deep-dive of their existing systems within 1 week
  2. Draft pilot agreement terms
  3. Begin data integration requirements doc
  4. Create custom demo with their venue names

If Lukewarm Response:​

  1. Thank them and keep in contact quarterly
  2. Ask for referrals to other venue operators
  3. Document specific objections for product iteration
  4. Consider different market segment

Key Soundbites to Listen For​

Pain Validation:

  • "We're flying blind until the last week"
  • "I have no idea which shows to prioritize"
  • "We've cancelled shows that probably could've worked"
  • "I spend all my time gathering data, not analyzing it"

Value Recognition:

  • "This would change everything about how we operate"
  • "I could finally be proactive instead of reactive"
  • "This is exactly what we've been looking for"
  • "When can we start?"

Remember​

This is exploratory research, not a sales pitch. The goal is to validate whether this problem is painful enough that venues would pay meaningful money to solve it. Be prepared to hear "no" or "not really a problem" - that's valuable data too. Tyler's credibility from his venue operations background is your biggest asset - lean into it.