Interviews are a method I use to perform research for FinOps for Startups. These dialogues can range from more casual talks to more formal interviews (ie with a prepared list of questions and a pre-defined goal).
Notes from interviews
When I take notes from interviews, I like to write in bullet-point form and jot down quick ideas or phrases. These may be incomplete thoughts, and incomprehensible to anyone else trying to parse the notes for themselves, but they’ll trigger my memory to a topic or though I had during the interview.
Processing Notes
At some point after the interview (this can be immediately after, or several day/weeks/months later) I’ll process these notes. This means reviewing the raw notes, highlighting key information, and summarizing important points in my own words in the Processed Notes section.
Interview methodology
Typically, I think about interviews as falling into two different categories: casual or formal.
Casual interviews
Typically these are done with people who are already in my network and I already know pretty well. There’s very little prep work needed for these interviews and I just let the conversation go where it goes.
Formal interviews
These are conversations where I’ve done a bit of prep work, or I want to dive deep into an individual topic. These can be with people from my network, or new people who I have been introduced to. Often, I’m seeking out specific people or roles for these more formal interviews, and the interview notes may contain both the questions or topics I want to cover as well as notes from the call.
Attribution
I attribute interview notes to the interviewee by name and title, and include a link if one is provided.
Some people choose to have their name redacted, which means I’ll conduct the interview on background.