The Physics of Startups

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 "c...

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: LINK Info about PMF Camp: LINK Pipeline M...

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 di...

Highly recommend reading this week's Substacak as the language around supply and demand is precise: LINK Rob 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-...

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 c...

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 calls SUPER common misconceptions about customer demand (e.g., desire for a...

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 customers The "Smart" founder, who thinks that by impressing customers with deep knowledge (or avoiding embarassing oneself), customers will buy And the "Noble" founder, who is deeply fo...

Blog post: "Strict Productivity" on https://howtogrow.substack.com/ Work with Rob: www.robsnyder.org Rob 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...

Full Substack post "Customer Success": https://howtogrow.substack.com/ Work with Rob: Info Rob's Miro: https://bit.ly/4q9JiP3 Rob 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 su...

Read "The Divine Lever" in Rob's newsletter: https://howtogrow.substack.com November Bootcamp info: LINK Rob 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,...

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). Links Full post in Ro...

Full post on Rob's Substack: LINK (Post: "Force against the status quo") Info on working with Rob: LINK Rob 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 th...

*Kind of hilarious retraction* : Rob's wife let him know they use Huggies, not Pampers. Substack post: Bend the world to fit demand More about Rob's November bootcamp: GOOGLE DOC Rob 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...

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 w...

Link to Rob's newsletter: https://howtogrow.substack.com This 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' approac...

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...

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 includin...

This week's newsletter "The Physics of Sales pt 2": LINK Previous 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 -...

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....

Link to blog post "Could work vs. Weird if it didn't work": LINK Rob 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...

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...

Link to blog post Summary: 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 f...

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/46rYNuf Starting Strength weightlifting clilp: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aI6qDCYvleM ----Connect...

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 capturin...

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 del...