AMA: When your customers won’t pay, the problem isn’t the price

Hey friends 👋Welcome to our weekly AMA! Every Friday, we go live on YouTube and LinkedIn to answer real questions from founders at every stage. We’re now adding that to this podcast feed every Wednesday so you can catch it wherever you listen.This week, we dug into four questions that each hit a different flavor of the same core problem: are you solving the right job for the right person?When your market feels price-sensitive, the move isn’t to race to the bottom—it’s to find the 24 people who did pay and figure out what makes them different from everyone else. That cluster is your wedge. We break down how to build that hypothesis without running to a spreadsheet first, and why “there are no facts inside the building, but there are sure as hell hypotheses” is your operating principle.From a documentary producer wrestling with per-project pricing to a med-tech founder staring down the gap between a validated idea and an actual clinical product, the through-line is always the same: price is a signal, not the problem.We also probably spend an irresponsible amount of time talking about cold brew coffee, Muppets, and which Muppet should run JDM’s coffee AI agent. And Cameron is in Las Vegas, about to run a marathon downhill from 7,500 feet. What was he thinking?!If this episode stirs up a question for you, submit it in advance at the link below (we answer every one), or join us live.See you on Saturday for our regular episode.As always, thanks for listening.—Cameron and JDMLinks & Resources* 📅 Submit a question for next week’s AMA* 📺 Join us live every Friday at noon Pacific on YouTube or LinkedIn* Substack newsletter (tools + frameworks)* Traction Lab Venture SchoolTimestamps00:00 Introduction05:15 Q1: Are your pilots actually signal?13:30 Q2: Pricing a project-based customer22:00 Q3: Taking MedTech from idea to institution31:00 Q4: Mobile mechanic — pivot or persevere?40:00 Frivolity This is a public episode. If you would like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit zerototraction.substack.com