banatie-strategy/research/passive-research-methodology.md

# Banatie Passive Research: Methodology & Workflow

**Created:** November 1, 2025  
**Purpose:** Guide for validating ICP hypotheses through passive research  
**For:** Future research sessions with @men in new chats  
**Status:** Battle-tested methodology

---

## 🎯 WHY Passive Research Before Interviews

**Problem with going straight to interviews:**
- Ask wrong questions → waste people's time
- Get polite, filtered answers → miss real pain
- Can't challenge assumptions → build wrong thing

**Passive research gives us:**
- Real pain points (people complain authentically online)
- Actual language people use (for messaging)
- Competitive intel (what exists, what fails)
- Confidence before talking to customers

> "Don't ask people what they want. Observe what they complain about when they think you're not listening."

**Flow:** Passive research → Interview validation → Build confidence → Launch

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## 🛠 Tools & Resources

**Search Tools (MCP):**
1. **Brave Search MCP** - Main search engine for Reddit/forums
2. **Perplexity MCP** - Secondary for synthesis

**Project Knowledge Files:**
1. **`banatie-research-directions-tracker.md`** - Core research directions (1-10)
2. **`banatie-research-directions-tracker-extension1.md`** - Additional research directions
3. **Completed research** - `direction-1-strong-signals.md`, `direction-6-strong-signals.md`, etc. (for comparison)

**Important:** Previous research files will be in Project Knowledge for reference.

---

## 🔄 The Workflow (Step-by-Step)

### Phase 1: Session Start

**@men loads context:**
- Read: ROADMAP.md, INDEX.md, 12-the-current-tech-state.md (in `/projects/my-projects/banatie-strategy/`)
- Read: `banatie-research-directions-tracker.md` and `banatie-research-directions-tracker-extension1.md` (Project Knowledge)
- Review: Completed research files
- Confirm with Oleg: "Ready to start Direction N - [hypothesis]"

### Phase 2: Planning Searches (Collaborative)

**Pattern:**
- Oleg: "Let's search Direction N" OR "Also try X"
- @men: Proposes 5-7 specific search queries
- Discuss → Adjust → Execute

**Key: DISCUSS before searching, ADJUST on the fly**

### Phase 3: Execute Searches (Iterative)

**Pattern:**
1. Run search → Quickly scan → Share findings immediately
2. Discuss: "Dig deeper?" OR "Move on?" OR "Try different angle?"
3. Adjust strategy based on findings

**Important:** Multiple search variations per topic (3-5 variations to avoid false negatives)

### Phase 4: Document Findings (Continuous)

**Create downloadable file in chat:** `direction-N-strong-signals.md`

**Format:**
```markdown
# Direction N Research: Strong Signals Found

## 🟢 STRONG SIGNAL #1: [Title]
- **URL:** [exact link]
- **Quote:** "[exact quote]"
- **Context:** [why this matters]

## 🟡 MEDIUM SIGNAL #2: ...
## 🔴 WEAK/MISSING SIGNAL #3: ...
```

**Update as you go** - after every 2-3 searches using `str_replace`

### Phase 5: Discussion & Decisions

**After 5-7 searches OR when pattern emerges:**
- @men summarizes: Found X signals, key insight, unexpected findings
- Oleg decides: Keep searching / Move to next direction / Pivot

**Key: COLLABORATIVE decision-making**

### Phase 6: Wrap-Up

**@men creates:**
- Full research doc (English): `direction-N-strong-signals.md`

**Oleg uploads to Project Knowledge** for future sessions

---

## 🎨 The "Vibe" - How We Actually Work

**Speed & Iteration:**
- Discuss → Search → Find → Discuss → Adjust → Search again
- Real-time collaboration, quick pivots

**Collaborative Discovery:**
- Oleg challenges, adds ideas, spots patterns
- @men proposes strategy, interprets, suggests pivots
- Together: hunting for truth, not confirming biases

**Hypothesis Testing:**
- We WANT to be wrong (better to kill bad ideas in research)
- Try to DISPROVE hypotheses
- Celebrate negative findings

**Documentation:**
- Document EVERYTHING (signals, absences, questions)
- Exact quotes with URLs (proof)
- Note what's MISSING (absence = evidence)

---

## 📋 Quality Standards

**Good Search Queries:**
- ✅ Specific: `site:reddit.com/r/webdev "client approval" placeholder images`
- ❌ Too broad: `website images problems`

**Strong Signal Indicators:**
- 🟢 Multiple threads (3+ sources)
- 🟢 Specific examples, emotional language
- 🟢 Solutions attempted but failed
- 🟢 Willingness to pay mentioned

**Weak Signals:**
- 🔴 Single mention, vague complaints
- 🔴 No urgency, theoretical discussion

---

## 🚀 Starting a New Session

**@men in new chat:**
1. Read this methodology
2. Load: ROADMAP.md, INDEX.md, tracker, completed research
3. Confirm: "Ready to start Direction N - [hypothesis]"

**Oleg:**
1. Share this document
2. Wait for @men to load context
3. Start researching

---

## 📊 Success Metrics

**Good session:**
- ✅ Found 2-3 strong signals with proof
- ✅ Validated OR invalidated hypothesis
- ✅ Generated interview questions
- ✅ Clear decision: continue / pivot / kill

**Poor session:**
- ❌ Generic findings, no proof
- ❌ Confirmation bias
- ❌ Vague conclusions

---

## 🌟 Core Philosophy

> **"We're not trying to prove we're right. We're trying to discover what's true."**

**Goal:** Find REAL problems → Validate quickly → Build confidence → Make data-driven decisions

**Success = Truth discovered, whether it supports our idea or not.**

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**Version:** 1.0  
**Last Updated:** November 1, 2025