The Physics of Startups

Jaksot

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  When to make your first sales hire? 11.09.2026 31min

  There's a lot going on with a first sales hire - When? Who? What to hire them for? It's a question that Rob sees from a few angles, often taking the form of: "I can't sell my product but I think someone with sales experience can" or "My sales calls are showing promise but aren't closing and I think someone else would do a better job." Rob's take: You need to understand your case study and the way that your startup is operating like a factory. When volume is running through and you become the ...
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  No more PULL Hypotheses! (introducing the PULL Anecdote) 04.09.2026 29min

  Sorry, folks. The PULL Hypothesis is out. Rob observed that founders and teams were holding too tightly onto the PULL Hypothesis and too tempted by abstractions, which prevented them from understanding and serving customer demand. BUT - fear not. Today, we discuss the PULL Anecdote, which, speaking personally (as Rob's cohost), I think is a hugely liberating concept and I'm excited to put into action. By tying explicitly to a single, real human being's real PULL, the PULL anecdote overc...
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  What CAUSES startups to take off? (Because / Despite / Irrelevant) 28.08.2026 33min

  Why does a startup with a great product, a strong team, and glowing pilot feedback still fail to sell? But others with rudimentary products, ugly sales materials, and first-time teams take off? Rob gives a way of understanding startup success (or lack there of) - including "because" factors and "despite" factors, a way to separate what actually causes someone to buy from what they buy in spite of, plus a third bucket most founders never separate out: what's simply irrelevant. He explain...
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  Cold Outbound (from Rob's a16z talk) 21.08.2026 34min

  Everyone's favorite topic - outbound! Think about your LInkedIn or email inbox - what makes most cold outbound so bad? Rob breaks down what actually causes someone to take a meeting from a cold message, and what you are probably doing that's shooting yourself in the foot. Rob introduces the "hierarchy of interestingness," a way to rank what's actually interesting to your recipient instead of what you want to tell them, plus the specific landmines that quietly kill response rates e...
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  Why your product makes it hard to see demand ("The Demand Lens") 14.08.2026 27min

  Why is it so hard for founders to see real demand, even when it's all around? Rob breaks down "the demand lens," the practice of removing your product from the picture entirely so you can see where people are actually stuck, versus the "supply lens" most founders default to without realizing it. That difference is what decides whether you're solving a real problem or just shouting into a world that was doing fine without you. Links Rob's Substack: The Physics of Startups Sept 2026 ...
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  The 'No-Speculation' Rule (for the overthinking founder) 07.08.2026 28min

  Why do founders waste so much energy thinking about things they can't actually know? Rob breaks down his "no speculation rule," the topics he treats as off limits because they waste time without ever being answerable. The three traps: guessing the future, assuming what customers mean, and building abstractions like personas. Get in touch Thinking about onboarding team members to PULL or something else? Email RC: [email protected] Links Rob's Substack: The Physics of Startups Sept 2...
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  The Physics of Enterprise Sales 31.07.2026 30min

  Does selling to a Fortune 100 company need a different playbook than selling to a small business? Rob's take: enterprise sales runs on the same physics as other deals - you're still looking for one person with PULL. We discuss why procurement isn't actually your buyer, how to spot the person inside a big org who can buy, and why the "project plan to purchase" is where deals quietly stretch from one month to six or twelve. Bonus: Rob's conversation with Newt Gingrich: YouTube | Apple Pod...
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  The $1M ARR founder calendar 24.07.2026 25min

  What should a founder's calendar actually look like? (and if someone looked at your calendar, would they believe finding product market fit or growing your business is your #1 priority?) Rob introduces the Calendar Standard: a simple framework for how founders should spend their time if they're serious about reaching product-market fit and scaling from $0 to $1 million ARR. Includes a practical weekly schedule you can use today. Links Rob's Substack: The Physics of Startups ...
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  Debunking Startup mythology: "Pain Points" (and why they're worthless) 17.07.2026 22min

  Why do some people with obvious pain points never buy? Rob explains why founders are often taught to look for the wrong thing. Pain points may create interest, but they don't create purchases. Instead, he introduces the concept of PULL points, the conditions that make a customer unable to delay a project and unable to solve it with their existing options. Use these to stop mistaking enthusiasm for buying intent and start identifying customers who are actually trying to buy. Links ...
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  What "Good" actually looks like for startups 10.07.2026 43min

  How do you know if your startup is actually on track? A founder recently asked Rob a simple question: What does good actually look like? Rob realized that most founders don't have clear standards for evaluating whether their startup is making progress or quietly stalling. In this episode, Rob introduces a practical framework for assessing startup health across the entire customer factory - from pipeline and PULL to close rates, cycle times, and customer success. Covered in this episode:...
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  Five Lessons from 50 Startups That Reached $1M ARR 03.07.2026 34min

  What do startups that reach $1 million ARR have in common? Rob has helped more than 50 startups grow from $0 to $1 million ARR. In this episode, he reflects on the patterns that show up across startups and industries, including five lessons from those journeys. Covered in this episode: Why PULL is the underlying cause of startup growthWhy nearly every successful startup "unfolds"Why the product customers want is usually much smaller than founders imagineHow founders accidentally make sales ha...
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  Are they pulling? (aka: avoiding "seems-like-pull-but-isn't") 26.06.2026 31min

  People with PULL try to buy. People without PULL often sound interested, ask questions, and give positive feedback - but don't initiate purchase-shaped actions. Rob explores one of the most costly mistakes founders make: confusing enthusiasm with PULL. We explore why things customers say like "This would solve our biggest pain point" or "This would save us millions" often lead founders down dead ends. Covered in this episode The difference between enthusiasm and PULLWhy pain point...
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  If your product hasn't taken off (radical simplification) 19.06.2026 22min

  Your startup has customers. Revenue is growing. So why does growth still feel harder than it should? Rob tackles one of the most frustrating challenges founders face: knowing your product works, but not knowing why growth isn't accelerating. Rob explains why the issue is almost always traced back to just two causes: 1. You haven't identified who truly has PULL for your product, or 2. You're doing something that prevents those people from buying. Covered in this episode...
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  Learn from 2 *real* founder sales calls (Rob teardowns) 12.06.2026 14min

  Sales teardown #1: https://youtu.be/3TsrrMSXIfg Sales teardown #2: https://youtu.be/9a78RWkaALM Links Rob's Substack: The Physics of Startups Sept 2026 PMF Camp: InformationAI Rob waitlist: https://robsnyder.org/ai-robWork with Rob 1:1: https://www.robsnyder.org Get The Power of PULL: Amazon (https://amzn.to/48KC1yv), Barnes & Noble: (https://bit.ly/4dyMTSv)Connect with Rob on LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/rsnyder1/Rob's Substack: https://thephysicsofstartups...
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  What founders get wrong about pilots / POCs / trials 05.06.2026 30min

  Your pilots are going well. Users are getting value. Usage is increasing. So why aren't customers buying? Or buying still is painful? Rob unpacks a common startup assumption: if a pilot succeeds, the customer will buy. He explains why pilots, demos, procurement reviews, and other parts of the sales process never cause a purchase. Instead, they can only prevent one. Understanding that distinction helps founders design shorter sales cycles, avoid endless pilots, and focus on the factors t...
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  The first two things that matter in a startup ("Aero mode") 29.05.2026 28min

  When founder is getting started, they might be juggling multiple different ICPs and value props. Rob in this episode discusses why the goal is to eliminate all the "might work" and get to "weird if it didn't work" --> then translate that into a "weird not to meet" when a customer is in that situation. Links Rob's Substack: The Physics of Startups Sept 2026 PMF Camp: InformationAI Rob waitlist: https://robsnyder.org/ai-robWork with Rob 1:1: https://www.robsnyder.org Get The ...
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  What happens after PMF? 22.05.2026 23min

  Rob's buddy found PMF a few months ago and went from ~bankrupt to more than $1M ARR in less than three months. What happens in that case? Rob and RC discuss what changed to find PMF, and what the experience is post-PMF. Also, what do you do as a founder - where do you focus? And how does your approach pre-PMF affect your post-PMF life? (tl;dr: a lot) Preorder Rob's book - "The Power of PULL" - ⁠and take a screenshot of your receipt! (we'll tell you what to do with it soon) ⁠https://amzn.to/48...
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  The PULL Quickstart Guide (a PMF hierarchy) 15.05.2026 27min

  Rob has distilled PULL into its most important elements - arranged in hierarchical order so that a founder knows where to focus first. This conversation includes the common error of getting the order wrong, Rob's commentary on the three most important parts of PULL, and examples of how these show up with founders. Highly recommend reading the full substack post, "The PULL Quickstart Guide", available on Rob's substack: https://thephysicsofstartups.substack.com/ ---- Work with Rob: ⁠ htt...
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  Investor PULL (what VCs actually want) 08.05.2026 28min

  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...
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  Buying is weird and rare (a reality check) 01.05.2026 26min

  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'...