The Physics of Startups

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