The Physics of Startups

This is about VCs but also isn't about VCs. PULL can be found all over a startup - obviously with customers, but also, investors have PULL and they're trying to accomplish something specific. Rob works with founders to shape pitch decks and has fundraised - there's a hard-won lesson about what VCs are trying to accomplish, and the HUGE trap that smart, thoughtful founders building solid businesses fall into. This is an example of a broader lesson - things that look the same "when you're squinting" - are often fundamentally different, and that drives how you sell, how you build, and more. Check out Rob's full lecture: "Notes on the physics of startups": ⁠LINK⁠ Preorder Rob's book: ⁠LINK⁠----Rob's website: ⁠www.robsnyder.org⁠Connect w/ Rob on LinkedIn: ⁠https://www.linkedin.com/in/rsnyder1/⁠ Rob's (free) Substack: ⁠https://thephysicsofstartups.substack.com/⁠

Founders are inherent optimists - that's why (despite all the warnings of battle-scared entrepreneurs) we continue to start businesses. It is the cheerful burden we carry as we march into the abyss. But GIVEN THAT'S THE CASE - how can we avoid that optimism crippling our chances at finding product-market fit? In this convo, Rob discusses the cold, harsh reality of launching a startup, the risks that optimistic founders run, and how to avoid them. Also, Rob deadlifted 400lbs. Check out Rob's full lecture: "Notes on the physics of startups": LINK Preorder Rob's book: LINK----Rob's website: www.robsnyder.orgConnect w/ Rob on LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/rsnyder1/ Rob's (free) Substack: https://thephysicsofstartups.substack.com/

The Lightspeed-funded startup Rocksalt had some traction, but it wasn't clear they had really found Pull. They had sales, but there was friction in the sales calls. They were trying to decide between three different ICPs. And retention and consistent use wasn't as consistent as they wanted.In this conversation, cofounders Arjun Moorthy and Anita Moorthy join Rob to discuss how they used the PULL way of thinking to change their approach to identifying their ICP, outbound, their sales process, their sales deck, and how their product evolves.Learn more and get in touch with Arjun and Anita:Website: https://www.rocksalt.ai/Arjun LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/arjunmoorthy Anita LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/amoorthy/Email: [email protected] , [email protected]/Twitter: https://x.com/anitamoorthy , https://x.com/juicemoorthy---Work with Rob: ⁠ https://www.robsnyder.org⁠ Connect w/ Rob on LinkedIn: ⁠https://www.linkedin.com/in/rsnyder1/ ⁠Rob's substack: ⁠ https://howtogrow.substack.com/ ⁠ Preorder Rob's book - "The Power of PULL" - https://amzn.to/48KC1yv

Whatever you're doing, make time to read through Rob's latest deck: "Notes on the Physics of Startups"Access here (free): LINKWork with Rob: robsnyder.org

When someone buys something, they get a bunch of benefits and they may use a variety of different features, all of which provide an array of different benefits. After they buy, they explain what they like about our product based on these post-hoc benefits they received after they purchased it.But the benefits do not *predict* why someone buys. In this conversation Rob gets into the difference between cause vs. benefits of a purchase, and a surprising lesson from Quickbooks and Bobby Moesta.Rob's Substack post here: ⁠LINK⁠PMF Camp / Work with Rob: ⁠LINK⁠Pre-order Rob's book ("The Power of PULL") - ⁠Amazon⁠Connect with Rob on LinkedIn: ⁠LINK⁠

Rob is zooming out this week to look at what PULL means in the context of capitalism, and in particular, why it is the only system that can possibly serve people. It's taking a micro-understanding of how demand and PULL work, and thinking about its broader implications - and what this means for social entrepreneurship and alternative economic organizations.Rob's Substack post here: ⁠LINK⁠PMF Camp / Work with Rob: ⁠LINK⁠Pre-order Rob's book ("The Power of PULL") - ⁠Amazon⁠Connect with Rob on LinkedIn: ⁠LINK⁠

One of the most challenging things about identifying PULL in customers is understanding what they are telling you. In this conversation, Rob discusses the “hairball” that customers often spit out - a mix of demand, supply, history, random red herrings - and how to translate that into Demand. Rob's Substack post here: ⁠LINK⁠PMF Camp / Work with Rob: ⁠LINK⁠Pre-order Rob's book ("The Power of PULL") - ⁠Amazon⁠Connect with Rob on LinkedIn: ⁠LINK⁠

Rob's B2B Sales Call Script: LINKYou asked, Rob answered. Rob is open-sourcing his sales call script that he uses with founders and heads of sales to identify PULL and pitch supply in a way that customer's want (and actually understand and buy).In this conversation, Rob discusses common failure modes in sales calls that he sees and walks through key elements of the sales call script - from Demand to Supply.Rob's Substack post here: ⁠LINK⁠Work with Rob: ⁠LINK⁠Pre-order Rob's book ("The Power of PULL") - ⁠Amazon⁠Connect with Rob on LinkedIn: ⁠LINK⁠

Palash Soni founded Goldcast, a video-first B2B event marketing platform which was acquired by CVent in December 2025 reportedly for $300M. Palash and Rob have known each other for several years, and in this conversation they discuss the evolution of Goldcast, why Goldcast survived when better funded competitors didn't, the acquisition process, choosing the right market, the experience of being acquired, and more.--Rob's Substack: ⁠LINK⁠PMF Camp / Work with Rob: ⁠LINK⁠Pre-order Rob's book ("The Power of PULL") - ⁠Amazon⁠Connect with Rob on LinkedIn: ⁠LINK⁠

A startup is not many things - it's "one thing" - and it obeys laws of evolution. The best way to understand how the evolution works is through the PULL framework, and Rob sheds light on the continuum - from outreach and discovery to demo and onboarding / delivery. Reserve your spot in the next cohort of "The Physics of Sales." Spots are limited! https://bit.ly/4aQcuWa or reach out to Rob on LinkedIn. Read Rob's Substack post here: ⁠https://howtogrow.substack.com/ Pre-order Rob's book ("The Power of PULL") - https://amzn.to/48KC1yv Connect with Rob on LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/rsnyder1

Why do some startups take off ($25M ARR within 2 years) while others - with equally talented founder teams, with equally unique tech, with equally attractive markets, … - struggle to reach $500k, $1M or just feel like they’re pushing instead of customers pulling?Rob jumps into that question in this week’s Substack and this podcast. The answer is that PULL is not linear - it’s logarithmic - and that explains how startups can have such divergent outcomes.Rob's Substack post here: ⁠LINK⁠PMF Camp / Work with Rob: ⁠LINK⁠Pre-order Rob's book ("The Power of PULL") - ⁠Amazon⁠Connect with Rob on LinkedIn: ⁠LINK⁠

Today we’re learning from true masters of their craft - the heroes behind infomercials and “As seen on TV” product - who understand PULL more intuitively than the best marketers.Rob breaks down the “TurboPump” infomercial, which communicates just about everything a customer needs to know within 16 seconds. Lessons include:Sequencing a sales callHow to describe how your product worksHow to improve your sales calls using this approachHow to differentiate your supply vs. othersTurbo Pump infomercial: YOUTUBE https://youtu.be/MtzSgzijGyk?si=4EfpEv7MaffDvRAc Breathe Easy Humidifier infomercial: YOUTUBE ---Work with Rob: INFORob's Substack post here: ⁠LINK⁠PMF Camp / Work with Rob: ⁠LINK⁠Pre-order Rob's book ("The Power of PULL") - ⁠Amazon⁠Connect with Rob on LinkedIn: ⁠LINK⁠

There are two types of PULL out there. If a customer has either of them - and if your Supply fits - they will rip a product out of your hands. Here is how Rob defines them:COPING PULL: A buyer who is prioritizing a project right now, but their current approach is sufficiently bad that they are COPING - struggling against their current approach.BLOCKED PULL: A buyer who would prioritize a project right now if they could - but their existing options are unworkable, so they are BLOCKED.In this episode, Rob dives into the difference between the two, case studies of each, how to find them, and common pitfalls that founders run into. Substack post: “Blocked or Coping?”Rob's Substack post here: ⁠LINK⁠PMF Camp / Work with Rob: ⁠LINK⁠Pre-order Rob's book ("The Power of PULL"): ⁠Amazon⁠Connect with Rob on LinkedIn: ⁠LINK⁠

Cyberstarts (VC focused on cybersecurity) has an insane hit rate - its first fun turned $50M into $2B within 3 years investing in 9 founders. Founded by Gili Raanan, their approach (which they call "Sunrise") inverts the pre-idea / pre-product stage. Instead of choosing a market / technology to bet on, they invest in founder teams pre-product, use a network of CSIOs to identify demand, validate by selling, then begin to build the product. In this episode, Rob breaks down Cyberstarts' approach from the lens of PULL and customer demand - including why Cyberstarts' approach has an advantage over other VCs, what can be learned from both a founder and a VC perspective - and a few areas that he would approach differently.Invest like the Best interview with Gili Raanan: Spotify, transcript, Cyberstarts webpageRob's Substack post here, "Inverting the idea stage": LINKPMF Camp / Work with Rob: LINKPre-order Rob's book ("The Power of PULL") - AmazonConnect with Rob on LinkedIn: LINK

A frequent critique Rob hears of "Sell then build" is that it's fine for a 'lifestyle business' but can't possibly result in a unicorn or generational company. ...Right? So Rob dug into the histories of some of the leading tech (Microsoft, Oracle, Hubspot), Deep-tech (NVIDIA) and consumer (Nike, Starbucks) companies. ... turns out, they follow similar themes:Figure out some sort of a market need by selling and delivering somethingLearn the shape of the real opportunity by selling and delivering something that’s not quite right.Avoid attempting to (1) predict the future or (2) convince the market. At some point, benefit from demand waves or dams. (related post)This week's post: "How companies become generational" (Substack)Work w/ Rob or join the next PMF Camp: LINKSubscribe to Rob's Substack: LINKPre-order Rob's book, "The Power of PULL": LINK

Rob discusses the evolution of sales calls from the first version (often awkward, typically clunky and uncomfortable for the prospect, and not effective) to the various iterations he sees with each step improving incrementally. The discovery sharpens, then the customer targeting, then the pitch, the demo, the sequencing of calls, and the offer / conversion.This is a very practical episode and Substack for founders and early sales hires that are noticing 'friction' in their sales process and struggling to understand how to think about improving. Rob's newsletter: LINK - this week's post: "The aerodynamics of sales"Join Rob's upcoming PMF Camp: LINKPre-order Rob's book, "The Power of PULL": AMAZONRob's website: www.robsnyder.org

A lot of the advice around "understanding / empathizing with customers" or "being customer centric" advises interviews or maybe even visiting customers. But it doesn't go far enough. Rob discusses why "forward deploying" is critical - and not just visiting customers, but what to actually do when you're there. Rob discusses what to look for, and how the "calendar" and "to-do list" come into play. Great post / conversation if you've wondered how to generate a PULL hypothesis, how to understand your customer, or what to do when you do customer visits.Pre-order Rob's book "The Power of PULL" - AmazonRob's next PMF Camp starts Feb 9 - info on working with Rob ⁠here⁠. Rob's newsletter: LINK

Among the hardest parts of early sales calls is figuring out what isn't working - "Do I have PMF but I'm screwing up the sale, or do I just not have PMF yet?" Rob breaks down how he diagnoses what is going on in a sales call, and how founders can apply as they are improving their sales calls and navigating early sales. Rob's substack: LINKInfo about PMF Camp: LINK Pipeline Megapost: LINK

Discovery is very important - but it's poorly understood what exactly you should be looking for in the first moments of a sales call and founders almost always screw it up. This leads to a confused customer being grilled with random questions and the founder struggling to connect with the customer and generate interest in their product (the wrong way to think about it). In this episode, Rob discusses how to properly run demand discovery at the start of a call - using the PULL framework and a simple process that will immediately improve the quality of your calls. Rob's book "The Power of Pull" is now available for pre-order! https://amzn.to/48KC1yvPSA - next PMF Camp starts in Feb. More info on how to join here: www.robsnyder.org under "Learn more and get started"Work with Rob: www.robsnyder.orgConnect w/ Rob on LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/rsnyder1/ Weekly founder insights: https://howtogrow.substack.com/Preorder Rob's book - "The Power of PULL" - https://amzn.to/48KC1yv

Highly recommend reading this week's Substacak as the language around supply and demand is precise: LINKRob Snyder dives into how to think about Demand as it relates to AI - using both historical (Ford) and contemporary (Jump, Loveable, AI SDRs) examples. This convo should be helpful for entrepreneurs, investors and marketers thinking about AI, product positioning, categories, identifying AI-related demand. Info and work with Rob: www.robsnyder.org

If you wonder if "PULL" is relevant for your business ("But I sell into enterprise!" "I'm in B2C!" "I sell hardware!" ... " so PULL doesn't apply"), this week's conversation is meant for you. Rob and RC discuss some common examples of selling into large businesses / deep tech / hardware / B2C from a "PULL" perspective. Leave comments with questions for upcoming Substacks or to address in future podcast episodes.This week's post: "PULL is Everywhere" on Rob's Substack: https://howtogrow.substack.com/ ----Rob's website: www.robsnyder.orgConnect w/ Rob on LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/rsnyder1/ Weekly founder insights: https://howtogrow.substack.com/

PULL (Project-Unavoidable-Looking for options-encountering Limitation) is the key concept that founders need to understand to sell and find PMF. Rob has refreshed his definitions and this conversation dives into topics like:Defining PULL (when customers "rip a product out of your hands")How to use PULL in sales callsSUPER common misconceptions about customer demand (e.g., desire for a product, pain points)Understanding customers' to-do list...and a bunch more stuff.Highly recommend the blog post and the Jump blog:Rob's post on Substack: LINK (Post: "The PULL Framework, Refined")Jump post: LINK----Work with Rob: www.robsnyder.orgConnect w/ Rob on LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/rsnyder1/ Weekly founder insights: https://howtogrow.substack.com/

Rob and RC dive into three common (and self destructive) sales pathologies that Rob sees in founders: The "Helpful" founder who thinks s/he can sell by showing how helpful they are to customersThe "Smart" founder, who thinks that by impressing customers with deep knowledge (or avoiding embarassing oneself), customers will buyAnd the "Noble" founder, who is deeply focused on their mission and thinks this mission will cause customers to buyAs Rob explains, each of these pathologies are wrong because they misunderstand demand. And this episode dives into each, how to diagnose, and how to course correct yourself.Full Substack post (free): LINK----Rob's website: www.robsnyder.orgConnect w/ Rob on LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/rsnyder1/ Weekly founder insights: https://howtogrow.substack.com/

Blog post: "Strict Productivity" on https://howtogrow.substack.com/Work with Rob: www.robsnyder.orgRob and RC discuss productivity based on a foundational understanding of *what is a startup* which is the necessary foundation for doing productive things. Conversation addresses the constraint-theory approach to understanding your startup, identifying bottlenecks, and practical ways Rob sees great founders tackling bottlenecks. Also get into why there is so much performative LARPing in startup-world. ----Rob's website: www.robsnyder.orgConnect w/ Rob on LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/rsnyder1/ Weekly founder insights: https://howtogrow.substack.com/

Full Substack post "Customer Success": https://howtogrow.substack.com/Work with Rob: InfoRob's Miro: https://bit.ly/4q9JiP3Rob and RC focus on the "post-sell" part of PMF in this convo - customer success and retention. They discuss Rob's thinking on how to define success, what to focus on, and why so many founders are focused on the wrong metrics or doing customer success wrong ("Throwing the product over the wall"). They also discuss goblin mode, and practical steps for founders who want to improve customer success and retention. ----Rob's website: www.robsnyder.orgConnect w/ Rob on LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/rsnyder1/ Weekly founder insights: https://howtogrow.substack.com/

Read "The Divine Lever" in Rob's newsletter: https://howtogrow.substack.com November Bootcamp info: LINKRob and RC explore one of Rob's newest ideas - "The Divine Lever" - with its dual elements of "a causal lever" and "divine / objectively good." They discuss how these elements interact, why they interact in a way that creates valuable businesses, and how to think about each in the context of your startup.Mailbags toward the end of the episode: - How to know when to push through and when to give up?- Does it necessarily have to be true that your startup is the only one that can solve the problem for the customer?Leave a comment with topics you'd like us to cover in upcoming podcasts!----Rob's website: www.robsnyder.orgConnect w/ Rob on LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/rsnyder1/ Weekly founder insights: https://howtogrow.substack.com/

Rob and RC dig into what you should do when you have lukewarm demand or something isn't working quite like it should and you aren't sure why. Includes pragmatic discussion of how to do a Demand Audit, and the difference between several "Demand problems" and "Execution problems" (the tl;dr - your problem might not be that you don't have Demand). LinksFull post in Rob's Substack, "The Demand Audit": ⁠LINK⁠Miro Board with demand Audit instructions: ⁠LINK⁠ Info on working with Rob: ⁠LINK----Rob's website: www.robsnyder.orgConnect w/ Rob on LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/rsnyder1/ Weekly founder insights: https://howtogrow.substack.com/

Full post on Rob's Substack: LINK (Post: "Force against the status quo")Info on working with Rob: LINKRob has sharpened his theory on what exactly is demand for startups. Rob and RC dive into this, exploring how Demand behaves like a "Force against the status quo" - which has both magnitude (how much the customer wants change) and direction (what shape they want). This theory builds on Rob's Demand, Supply and PULL frameworks - and is helpful especially for founders struggling with lukewarm demand, difficulty closing deals, mixed messages from customers, demos, outbound, etc.--Rob's website: https://www.robsnyder.orgRob's Substack: LINK

*Kind of hilarious retraction*: Rob's wife let him know they use Huggies, not Pampers. Substack post: Bend the world to fit demandMore about Rob's November bootcamp: GOOGLE DOCRob and RC dive into the concept of Supply today (mostly "product" focused), specifically taking the approach of where does supply originate? The conversation goes into how supply should take shape, how to understand demand before developing supply, what to do if you already have supply that you're trying to sell, and, of course, Pampers diapers. ---Connect on LinkedIn w/ Rob: https://www.linkedin.com/in/rsnyder1/ Weekly founder insights w/ Rob: https://howtogrow.substack.com/ More about Rob / work with Rob: www.robsnyder.org#PMF #B2BSales #VC #Startup #VentureCapital #Founderledsales

This week's newsletter: "What is your operating philosophy?" Rob's Substack: https://howtogrow.substack.com/ Rob's "Unifying Theory of Startups" Miro board: LINK Rob and RC jump into the concept of the "Founder Operating Philosophy" - discussing different types of operating philosophies, what different operating philosophies lead to, and ways to diagnose what your operating philosophy. Also discuss how to develop a "Demand-oriented" operating philosophy. The second part of the convo is about Rob's "Unifying Theory of Startups" - Rob's developing thesis of what a startup is and how it works. He's open-sourced this theory, and recommend visitng the newsletter and Miro to check it out. ----Rob's website: www.robsnyder.orgConnect w/ Rob on LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/rsnyder1/ Weekly founder insights: https://howtogrow.substack.com/

Link to Rob's newsletter: https://howtogrow.substack.comThis week's newsletter: "Pipeline mega-post"Rob and RC dive into one of Rob's least favorite, but most in-demand topics: pipeline. Conversation covers how to get to 5-10 calls per week even before you have a product, how to craft outbound that people don't hate, and when to convert to a 'toll-booth' approach. ----Rob's website: www.robsnyder.orgConnect w/ Rob on LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/rsnyder1 Weekly founder insights: https://howtogrow.substack.com

Blog post on Rob's Substack: https://howtogrow.substack.com/ In this episode, Rob digs into the difference between Conjuring Demand (where a founder has an idea of how the world should work) vs. Finding Demand (where buyers are trying to accomplish something and pull products that help them solve that). He touches his perspective on startups like Clay and Drift, and how he takes a "Demand"-based perspective to think about startups from outside-in (or in pitch decks). ----Rob's website: www.robsnyder.orgConnect w/ Rob on LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/rsnyder1/ Weekly founder insights: https://howtogrow.substack.com/

Basecamp video (highly recommend) - LINK This newsletter, "How to build the 'right' product": https://howtogrow.substack.com/ Rob and RC dig into feature requests to better understand the distinction between Supply and Demand, including how supply masquerades as demand in customer feature requests, using a fantastic video from Basecamp leaders Ryan and Chris. This discussion covers topics including: - How to know if a customer is talking about Supply and Demand- How to get the right insights from customers to develop the right supply for their demand- Building organizations that incorporate Supply and Demand thinking- Applying this thinking in other parts of the startup journey (including sales)- Mailbag about pre-sell tactics----Connect w/ Rob on LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/rsnyder1/ Weekly founder insights: https://howtogrow.substack.com/About Rob: https://www.robsnyder.org#PMF #B2BSales #VC #Startup #VentureCapital #Founderledsales

This week's newsletter "The Physics of Sales pt 2": LINKPrevious newsletter: "The Physics of Sales": LINK This week, RC and Rob continue last week's conversation about sales and the difference between a BUYER-PULL and SELLER-PUSH approach, including breaking down each step of the sales process and what the ideal "Buyer-Pull" approach looks like at: Pipeline --> Call 1 --> Call 2 to close --> Customer onboarding and success.----Connect w/ Rob on LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/rsnyder1/ Weekly founder insights: https://howtogrow.substack.com/ Work with Rob: www.robsnyder.org#PMF #B2BSales #VC #Startup #VentureCapital #Founderledsales

Newsletter post: The Physics of Sales Rob and RC explore the fundamental differences between the "seller-push" approach to sales and the "buyer-pull" approach. They discuss the common misconceptions surrounding sales strategies, and debunk the nonsense that exists out there with sales hacks and approaches that pretend to be able to "create" demand where there is none. The dialogue highlights practical advice for founders on how to align their products with actual customer demand, improve sales conversations, and navigate competitive environments effectively. The conversation includes steps that founders can take today to move toward a "buyer-pull" mentality in sales. 00:00 Introduction to Podcasting Journey01:04 Understanding Demand vs. Supply in Sales02:20 The Concept of Demand in Product Development06:04 Defining Demand and Supply07:42 Seller Push vs. Buyer Pull Dynamics14:36 The Power of Buyer Pull20:01 The Experience of Sales Conversations22:08 Self-Diagnostics for Sales Approaches25:56 Navigating Competitive Environments30:02 Key Takeaways from the DiscussionConnect on LinkedIn w/ Rob: https://www.linkedin.com/in/rsnyder1/ Weekly founder insights w/ Rob: https://howtogrow.substack.com/ Work with Rob: www.robsnyder.org

Link to blog post "Could work vs. Weird if it didn't work": LINKRob and RC dive into the difference between a 'could work' mindset and a 'would be weird if it didn't work' approach. We touch practical applications of this concept in new product development, approach to sales, approach to outbound, hiring and communicating with investors. 00:00 Introduction 02:01 Exploring Product Market Fit08:54 Minimizing Failure in Startups11:45 The 'Could Work' vs. 'Would Be Weird If It Didn't' Approach13:41 Practical Applications of the Framework17:24 Identifying Ideal Customers19:04 Hiring and Fundraising Strategies21:45 Mailbag ----Connect w/ Rob on LinkedIn: LINK Weekly founder insights: https://howtogrow.substack.com/ Work with Rob: www.robsnyder.org#PMF #B2BSales #VC #Startup #VentureCapital #Founderledsales

Link to blog post: https://bit.ly/3Hn3rPZ Rob Snyder discusses the 4 parts to a "Sales Sprint", including how to execute each element (PULL hypothesis, schedule 5 sales calls, execute 5 sales calls, and analyze and refine hypothesis). Convo includes examples of how this works "in real life" and what the goals of each step are and tactics you can apply.If you'd like to do a sales sprint supported by Rob, visit www.robsnyder.org for more info and to book 15 min to discuss w/ Rob.----Connect w/ Rob on LinkedInWeekly founder Substack insightsWork with Rob: www.robsnyder.org#PMF #B2BSales #VC #Startup #VentureCapital #Founderledsales

Link to blog postSummary: Rob Snyder delves into the complexities of startup fundamentals, exploring how founders can effectively identify demand, navigate the startup landscape, and utilize frameworks like the pull framework to ensure their products meet real customer needs. They discuss the importance of understanding where ideas come from, the role of design partners, and practical steps for founders to validate their hypotheses and achieve customer retention. The dialogue emphasizes the need for founders to engage directly with their target market to uncover genuine demand and avoid common pitfalls in the startup journey.Chapters00:00 Introduction and Context02:06 Understanding Startup Fundamentals04:05 Where Do Ideas Come From?05:52 The Search for Demand09:46 The Pull Framework Explained13:54 Identifying Unavoidable Projects17:58 Real-Life Examples of Demand21:42 The Role of Discovery Interviews28:06 The Founder Mindset: Understanding Customer Needs32:47 Navigating Waves and Dams in Startups38:56 Design Partnerships: The Pitfalls and Realities45:49 Practical Steps for Founders: Testing Hypotheses----Connect w/ Rob on LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/rsnyder1/ Weekly founder insights: https://howtogrow.substack.com/ Work with Rob: www.robsnyder.org#PMF #B2BSales #VC #Startup #VentureCapital #Founderledsales

Getting to PMF is hard, but it doesn't have to be complex. Rob and RC discuss the 3 simple steps that founders should be taking to find PMF, and why most founders go to extraordinary lengths to avoid doing these things and, as a result, waste valuable time and resources.Blog post: https://bit.ly/46rYNufStarting Strength weightlifting clilp: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aI6qDCYvleM ----Connect w/ Rob on LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/rsnyder1/ Weekly founder insights: https://howtogrow.substack.com/ Work with Rob: www.robsnyder.org#PMF #B2BSales #VC #Startup #VentureCapital #Founderledsales

Blog post - "The toll booth" - https://bit.ly/44xHBCn In this conversation, Rob Snyder and RC delve into the concept of 'toll booths' in the context of go-to-market strategies for startups. They discuss how to effectively generate demand and engage potential customers by understanding their needs and timing. The discussion includes practical examples, such as the samurai sword approach to capturing attention and the success of Datadog's conference strategy. The conversation emphasizes the importance of consolidating efforts around demand and the economics of targeted outreach versus broad marketing tactics.----Connect w/ Rob on LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/rsnyder1/ Weekly founder insights: https://howtogrow.substack.com/ Work with Rob: https://www.robsnyder.org#PMF #B2BSales #VC #Startup #VentureCapital #Founderledsales

Full blog post: ⁠Rob Snyder discusses how startups find product-market fit (PMF) , including the *case study* and the *factory*, which are essential for identifying customer demand and navigating the sales and delivery process. The discussion covers the complexities of the startup journey, the significance of demand, and the need for founders to focus on solving bottlenecks in their sales and delivery processes. Takeaways- PMF has historically been poorly defined, but it's possible to demystify.- Founders need to focus on sales earlier in their journey.- Identifying bottlenecks in the sales process is crucial for success.- Demand is a key indicator of product viability.- Achieving PMF is really freaking hard. "Nothing works until everything works." - Founders should be prepared to iterate on their strategies.Chapters00:00 - Introduction to Product Market Fit01:52 - Understanding the Importance of Sales05:15 - The Case Study Framework09:42 - The Case Study Factory12:32 - Identifying Bottlenecks in the Process15:09 - Challenges in Pipeline Development22:13 - Navigating the Sales Process26:09 - Identifying Signals in Sales Processes26:58 - Navigating the Sales Process28:07 - From Sales to Delivery30:29 - The Importance of Onboarding and Customer Engagement34:01 - Understanding the Complexity of Sales and Delivery38:00 - Case Study: Jump's Pivot to Financial Advisors40:43 - Finding Intense Demand: A Key to Success42:15 - The Pain Cave: Nothing is Solved Until Everything is Solved44:52 - Recognizing Real Demand48:37 - Implications for Founders---- Connect w/ Rob on LinkedIn: ⁠https://www.linkedin.com/in/rsnyder1/ ⁠Weekly founder insights: ⁠ https://howtogrow.substack.com/ ⁠ Work with Rob: ⁠ https://www.robsnyder.org⁠

Full blog post: In this conversation, Rob Snyder and RC explore how individual demand scales into market momentum ("demand aggregation"), and introduce a startup market framework: waves, rivers, and dams.- Waves reflect emerging, shared priorities—projects suddenly on everyone’s to-do list.- Dams represent pent-up demand blocked by bad solutions—until the right one breaks through.- Rivers are ongoing markets, available for marginal improvements and niche plays, but essentially steady demand.Rob and RC also dig into how cultural shifts, regulations, and timing shape these dynamics, and why great founders succeed by recognizing where they are (wave/river/dam), and positioning their sales and product accordingly.--------Connect w/ Rob on LinkedIn: ⁠https://www.linkedin.com/in/rsnyder1/ ⁠Weekly founderinsights: ⁠ https://howtogrow.substack.com/ ⁠ Work with Rob: ⁠ https://www.robsnyder.org⁠