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Why Won't a Much Better Printer Get Bought? · Lenny's Podcast: Product | Career | Growth

Lenny's Podcast: Product | Career | Growth

An 86-minute guide to finding PMF | Rob Snyder (Author, The Power of Pull)

Rob Snyder is the author of The Power of Pull and writes the newsletter The Physics of Startups . He has advised more than 50 startups on growing from zero to $1 million in ARR, drawing on his own experience as a founder who spent two years pushing a product the market didn’t want before accidentally stumbling onto what actually works. In this episode, we…

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Notes

What Is the Pull Framework? at 4:11

Rob Snyder says the pull framework describes a person who will pull a product out of a founder's hands, someone who would be weird not to buy. Full answer
What Is Pull as a Buying Test? at 7:31

Rob Snyder treats pull as the test for whether someone will buy. The project is a job already on the to-do list, such as hiring more employees. Full answer
How Does Rob Snyder Treat the Pull Framework? at 17:38

Rob Snyder treats the pull framework as upstream of a product idea. Full answer
How Do Two Slides Test If Customers Will Buy? at 23:57

Rob Snyder recommends two slides for testing whether a customer will buy. Full answer
Do Design Partners Ever Buy? at 32:10

Rob Snyder has yet to see a design partner be helpful, and the partners he has watched never buy. Full answer
What Should You Ask First on a Sales Call? at 41:37

Rob Snyder says the first question on a sales call should be why the other person took the call. Full answer
How Do You Pitch After the Buyer Explains the Job? at 47:03

Rob Snyder says that once a buyer has explained the job they are stuck on, the pitch stays small and simple. Full answer
Does a Product Have to Be 10 Times Better? at 50:34

Rob Snyder says he does not know about the idea that a product has to be 10 times better than the existing solution for anyone to care, and that idea does not… Full answer
Why Do Design Partnerships Repel Serious Buyers? at 58:19

Rob Snyder says a free design partnership is a negative signal to people who actually have pull and a positive signal to people who do not. Full answer
What Is Goblin Mode for Founders? at 1:03:52

Rob Snyder calls goblin mode a break-glass-in-case-of-emergency move for founders. Full answer
What Is a Startup Case Study Factory? at 1:11:54

Rob Snyder defines a startup case study factory as the system for repeating one customer story an infinite number of times. Full answer
Why Won't a Much Better Printer Get Bought? at 1:23:09

Rob Snyder will not buy a printer that is a hundred X better for his house, because he is not blocked. Full answer

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