021: No, getting customers is the wrong goal

Asking how to get customers for a startup is asking the wrong question. In this episode, Mike explains why pursuing paying customers is the wrong first step, introduces the concept of People in Pain™ as the first signal that your startup might ever get a customer and sets a ridiculously low bar for evaluating your startup idea. In this episode: (00:00) Hook: "Can I show you how to get customers? No. Because nobody can." (00:51) Intro: welcome to the Nascent podcast (01:28) This is episode 21 -- customers are the wrong goal (01:41) Why "focus on the customer" doesn't apply to startups with no customers (02:36) Embrace having no customers -- you have no commitments (04:00) Trying to get customers is often a huge waste of time (04:19) Metaphor 1: Can your airplane generate lift? (05:50) Metaphor 2: Can you get a bat to hit a ball? (08:02) Every customer starts as a Person in Pain (08:31) Search for People in Pain and quantify their Pain in dollars (09:24) People in Pain are invisible (10:32) CTA: who are the People in Pain you're searching for? (10:56) Payoff: reject the wrong question, embrace the right one Nascent frameworks referenced: - People in Pain™ -- the first signal a startup might have a customer; every customer starts as a Person in Pain - Doubtful vs. possible -- the binary assessment: is success for this startup idea doubtful or possible? - Knowledge-creation project -- what a startup actually is; the knowledge does not yet exist and must be created by the founder Let's connect: - Newsletter: nascentstartups.com - Work with Mike: nascentidea.com - LinkedIn: linkedin.com/in/mikevladimer - YouTube: youtube.com/@Nascentidea - Spotify: https://open.spotify.com/show/5BtFtYF6nVUkLu7d7VVnSY - Apple Podcasts: https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/nascent-podcast/id1728760830 - Twitter: https://x.com/NascentIdea - Contact: [email protected] Stop chasing customers. Start searching for People in Pain. If you can find people with expensive Pain, there's a possibility your startup could succeed. If you can't, the chances are doubtful -- and another project would be a better use of your time.