ICPs are usually self-reported, but what if you built one from a friend's POV instead?

Question

Working on an idea that requires an user to give context on another person in the most frictionless way possible.

How dating apps build a profile is a good example, but this is from the POV of someone that knows that person rather than the person itself. Self-view vs how we are perceived.

If anyone has any creative ways of sharing the 'vibe' of a person, i'm all ears. 
Philosophical thoughts about how to best define the nature of a person are also welcomed.

Andres Gomez · Answer

Coolest version I've seen: don't ask them to describe the person, ask for a story.   "Tell me about a time they surprised you".  You learn from one anecdote more than 50 adjectives.

Henry Waltz · Answer

Steal from how people actually hype their friends.   "You'd love them because..."  Frictionless and it captures vibe way better than a form.  The "because" is where the real signal lives.

CEO, New York, NY · Answer

Make it a quick this or that.   Texts back in 2 min or 2 days?   Plans or chaos?   Five taps and you've got a vibe.   People stall on blank boxes but fly through choices.

Juan Francisco Verhook · Answer

Hard part isn't capture, it's bias.   People describe others through their own relationship with them.

Test it: have 2-3 people profile the same person and look for overlap.    What's consistent across them is real signal.

CPO, New York, NY · Answer

Philosophically we are more honest describing others than ourselves.  So lean into it.  Ask the things people answers instantly.  How do they act at a party?  What do they overthink?  What would they never shut up about?

Founder & CMO, Coral Gables, FL · Answer

Self-reported ICPs are lies founders tell investors.  Your actual customer is what your friend describes: "She's paranoid about wasting time, will pay for anything that saves her Tuesday mornings".     That's real.  The gap between how someone describes themselves and how friends describe them is your actual insight.  Friends are honest bc they have no incentive to lie.

Founder & CEO, New York, NY · Answer

We're terrible describing ourselves b/c we live inside our contradictions.  A friend sees the pattern: what you actually do vs what you say you want.  They see your vibe, the energy you bring to a room, the problems you complain about, the things you brag about.  That's your true customer profile.

Student & Aspiring Founder, Washington, DC · Answer

The friction isn't technical, it's social.  People hate describing others because it feels weird.  Make it a game.  If I were setting up [your friend],  what tree problems would they pay to solve?  Turn it into gossip, not questionnaires.

Founder & GP, New York, NY · Answer

References are worthless because the person picks them.  Your actual skill shows in what your friends say you're bad at.  Build your ICP the same way, ask 5 people who know your target customer what they'd never trust them to do.   That's your real positioning.

Angel & Advisor, Coral Gables, FL · Answer

The reveal happens in context.  Nobody knows their own ICP in vacuum.  But ask someone "who do you know that would kill to have this problem solved?" and they'll name someone instantly with details.  You're not building the profile, you're triggering memory.  Make context do the work for you.

ICPs are usually self-reported, but what if you built one from a friend's POV instead?

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