The Physics of Startups

Afleveringen

1. The Zen of sales calls (aka: stop feeling anxious)

   30 oktober 2026 · 24 min

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   Feel anxiety about sales calls? Dread? Or find that you’re on a sales “emotional roller coaster” talking with customers Lees meer

   (if so, we’ve all been there)

   Today we’re digging into the mindset behind feeling comfortable - even excited - about sales calls. And how to use customer demand and the formula from the PULL framework to make sales calls something you don’t dread.

   This post: “The Zen of sales”

   Post: The Demand Lens

   PMF Camp / Group Cohort info: LINK

   Rob on Lenny's Podcast: LINK

   Links

   Rob's Substack: The Physics of Startups

   AI Rob waitlist: https://robsnyder.org/ai-rob

   Work 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/

2. How to grow the fastest startup possible (no speed limits): The Case Study Factory

   23 oktober 2026 · 38 min

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   If you could only take *one action* that would cause the fastest growth possible for your startup, what would you do? Lees meer

   Cue: The Case Study Factory.

   Rob breaks down why this is the mental model the fastest growing startups use to cause their products to blow through all speed limits.

   The key is in thinking about your startup as a factor for producing success case studies - and understanding the machines (Pipeline + Sales + Delivery) in your factory and how to optimize them.

   Recommend checking out the Substack post: How to grow the fastest

   Want Rob to help diagnose your bottleneck? Info here

   Links

   Rob's Substack: The Physics of Startups

   AI Rob waitlist: https://robsnyder.org/ai-rob

   Work 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/

3. AMA: Workday PULL, B2C, AI in outbound

   20 oktober 2026 · 21 min

   Afspelen
   We're answering your questions in this bonus! These are all taken from comments in YouTube. Leave a comment on an episode or email me: rc@reframeb2b.com. Lees meer

   What changes about PULL in crowded markets w/ competition?

   Are "Mandatory to buy" and "Weird not to buy" different?

   How has AI changed the outbound / pipeline game?

   What is PULL for Workday if it's not a good user experience? (HR software)

   Does PULL apply to B2C, or just B2B?

   Links

   Rob's Substack: The Physics of Startups

   AI Rob waitlist: https://robsnyder.org/ai-rob

   Work 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/

4. PULL isn't a "rational argument" (in defense of "Me-search")

   16 oktober 2026 · 24 min

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   This one is for all the analytical founders in our audience.
   "Me-search" (the act of analyzing your own experience and projecting onto a group, like in marketing) is a villain in business schools, but Rob argues that it does hold an important insight within your reach:
   Understanding how humans are not robots and more deeply grasping what PULL is and "feels like" - which is the driving force behind your startup. Lees meer

   We discuss when an analytical approach vs. "feelings" is appropriate, and how to do the "me-search" exercise in your life to build the instinct of looking for PULL for customers, not rational arguments.

   Read the full Substack post: In defense of "me-search"

   Links

   Rob's Substack: The Physics of Startups

   AI Rob waitlist: https://robsnyder.org/ai-rob

   Work 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/

5. Latent Demand: Do customers always "know" what they'll buy?

   9 oktober 2026 · 34 min

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   There's a frequent question that Rob gets from founders who are developing new technologies - it takes forms like: Lees meer

   What if I'm creating a new category?

   What if the customer doesn't know they need our product?

   Today, we're digging into the concept of "Latent Demand" - what a customer prioritize right now if only there was a way.

   The critical concept here is that a customer is leaning against something. In this episode, we'll try to understand what that looks like and implications for founders who suspect they are targeting a "latent demand" in customers.

   Blog post: Latent Demand in Rob's substack, The Physics of Startups

   Links

   Rob's Substack: The Physics of Startups

   AI Rob waitlist: https://robsnyder.org/ai-rob

   Work 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/

6. Choosing your ideal customer: Is buying optional?

   2 oktober 2026 · 32 min

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   There's a bug in a founder's brain (or at least mine) that likes to fantasize about all the benefits for customer (alleviating pain points, delivering value, helping differentiate, ...), while ignoring the more important question: Lees meer

   "Could they *not* buy?"

   Rob helps us understand a different standard from what founders have historically used, which is requisite for a startup to find PULL at scale and hit hypergrowth: Is buying mandatory, or is it just optional?

   There are some very subtle things that founders do wrong related to this, including:

   Focusing on "happiest / most satisfied / most valuable" customers rather than the ones for whom buying is mandatory

   Thinking probabilistically about customers ("4 in 10 customers with XYZ buy") instead of deterministically ("This very specific customer cannot not buy my product")

   Hope this one helps you reframe the way you think about your ICP - because really, it's the most important early decision we founders make.

   Full Substack post: Is buying optional?

   Rob's ICP AI skill: https://github.com/RSSnyder13/icp

   Links

   Rob's Substack: The Physics of Startups

   AI Rob waitlist: https://robsnyder.org/ai-rob

   Work 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/

7. How to run customer discovery (aka: surfacing PULL fast)

   25 september 2026 · 41 min

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   Customer discovery can be very intimidating. What do I ask? How do I build a connection? How do I improvise? Lees meer

   We're digging into how Rob thinks about discovery, common mistakes, and ways that Rob uses to uncover real customer PULL that leads to purchases. For anyone who has waded into the murky waters of untangling what customers say, hopefully this helps to develop your intuition around what you are trying to achieve and how to get there.

   Read this week's Substack: 37 ways to ask about PULL

   Topics covered:

   What we're really trying to do with customer discovery

   How to ask about "all of PULL" in one question, rather than breaking into pieces and wasting time

   The "fallback questions" to have in your hip pocket if early responses are frustratingly vague / not revealing PULL

   The "break glass in case of emergency" option

   How your approach to discover should change after you find PMF

   Links

   Rob's Substack: The Physics of Startups

   AI Rob waitlist: https://robsnyder.org/ai-rob

   Work 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/

8. The Product-Market Fit Map (where should you focus?)

   18 september 2026 · 32 min

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   Every founder has a million different things they could be doing, but where should they focus? What will actually move the needle and unlock their business to take off? Lees meer

   In this episode, we get an inside view on how Rob works with a new startup that comes to him. Objective #1: Find the right place to focus. For you to run this same diagnostic on your startup or product, you need a conceptual model of what a startup is (the case study factory), a causal model of why startups take off (PULL) and then a practical approach that identifies where you should focus.

   Post: The Product-Market Fit Map

   Resources for each spot you might find yourself in:

   Developing a causal model: Because / Despite

   Conceptual model of your startup: The B2B standard

   No idea or customers: Inverting the idea stage (with Cyberstarts)

   Can't get sales calls: Phenomenology of cold outbound

   Multiple different case studies: No more PULL hypotheses

   More push than pull: Are they pulling?

   Getting calls, not converting to sales: Buying is weird and rare

   Converting sales but churn: Retention is the hard part

   Attacking the bottleneck: Strict productivity

   Links

   Rob's Substack: The Physics of Startups

   AI Rob waitlist: https://robsnyder.org/ai-rob

   Work 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/

9. When to make your first sales hire?

   11 september 2026 · 32 min

   Afspelen
   There's a lot going on with a first sales hire - When? Who? What to hire them for? Lees meer

   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 bottleneck, that's the moment. Rob and RC dig into this concept and what it means for founders in this situation.

   Post: When are you ready to scale sales?

   Links

   Rob's Substack: The Physics of Startups

   AI Rob waitlist: https://robsnyder.org/ai-rob

   Work 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/

10. No more PULL Hypotheses! (introducing the PULL Anecdote)

    4 september 2026 · 29 min

    Afspelen
    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. Lees meer

    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 overcomes important limitations that were making it hard for founders to get out of "abstractions" to "reality" and really seek to understand what customer's are trying to accomplish but are blocked.

    Post: No more PULL hypotheses

    PMF Camp! Interested in the Sept PMF Camp? Info here: LINK or reach out directly to me: rc@reframeb2b.com

    Links

    Rob's Substack: The Physics of Startups

    AI Rob waitlist: https://robsnyder.org/ai-rob

    Work 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/

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