The Physics of Startups

Learn from 2 *real* founder sales calls (Rob teardowns)

Sales teardown #1: https://youtu.be/3TsrrMSXIfg Sales teardown #2: https://youtu.be/9a78RWkaALM --- Pre-order Rob's book and get his Claude sales call analysis skill: https://robsnyder.org/book [https://robsnyder.org/book] Work with Rob: https://robsnyder.org/work-with-me [https://robsnyder.org/work-with-me] Rob's substack: https://thephysicsofstartups.substack.com/ [https://thephysicsofstartups.substack.com/]

What founders get wrong about pilots / POCs / trials

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 that actually drive buying decisions. In this episode: • The two things that actually cause a purchase • Why pilots belong in a completely different category • How founders accidentally sabotage deals by offering pilots too early • What procurement, security reviews, and compliance really do • How to uncover the reason behind a pilot request • Why "success criteria" can be a trap • How to design pilots that accelerate deals instead of delaying them Links: Pre-order The Power of PULL and get Rob's Claude skill: www.robsnyder.org/book [http://www.robsnyder.org/book] Work with Rob: www.robsnyder.org [http://www.robsnyder.org] Connect with Rob on LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/rsnyder1/ [https://www.linkedin.com/in/rsnyder1/] Follow Rob's Substack: https://thephysicsofstartups.substack.com/ [https://thephysicsofstartups.substack.com/] Chapters: 00:00 One month until The Power of PULL launches 02:02 The founder question: pilots that don't convert 05:18 What actually causes a purchase? 08:43 Procurement, compliance, and other purchase blockers 12:07 Why pilots can hurt your sales process 14:29 Understanding the demand behind a pilot request 18:20 Why "success criteria" often create delays 22:06 Mistaken causality and failed lessons 25:15 Designing pilots around failure conditions 29:29 Design for causes, minimize preventers

The first two things that matter in a startup ("Aero mode")

Access to Rob's Claude skill + AMAs: LINK [https://robsnyder.org/book] (just upload a screen grab of your pre-order) Rob's book: Amazon [https://amzn.to/48KC1yv], B&N [https://bit.ly/4dyMTSv] 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. Full blog on Rob's substack (post "Aero Mode"): ⁠https://thephysicsofstartups.substack.com/⁠⁠ [https://thephysicsofstartups.substack.com/] ---- Work with Rob: ⁠ ⁠ https://www.robsnyder.org [https://www.robsnyder.org]⁠⁠ Connect w/ Rob on LinkedIn: ⁠ ⁠ https://www.linkedin.com/in/rsnyder1/ [https://www.linkedin.com/in/rsnyder1/]⁠ ⁠Weekly founder insights: ⁠⁠https://thephysicsofstartups.substack.com/⁠ [https://thephysicsofstartups.substack.com/] Preorder Rob's book - "The Power of PULL" - ⁠ https://amzn.to/48KC1yv [https://amzn.to/48KC1yv]⁠

What happens after PMF?

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/48KC1yv⁠ [https://amzn.to/48KC1yv]⁠---- Workwith Rob: ⁠ ⁠ https://www.robsnyder.org [https://www.robsnyder.org]⁠⁠ Connect w/ Rob on LinkedIn: ⁠ ⁠ https://www.linkedin.com/in/rsnyder1/ [https://www.linkedin.com/in/rsnyder1/]⁠ ⁠Weekly founder insights: ⁠⁠https://thephysicsofstartups.substack.com/⁠ [https://thephysicsofstartups.substack.com/] Preorder Rob's book - "The Power of PULL" - ⁠ https://amzn.to/48KC1yv [https://amzn.to/48KC1yv]⁠

The PULL Quickstart Guide (a PMF hierarchy)

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/ [https://thephysicsofstartups.substack.com/] ---- Work with Rob: ⁠ https://www.robsnyder.org [https://www.robsnyder.org]⁠ Connect w/ Rob on LinkedIn: ⁠https://www.linkedin.com/in/rsnyder1/ [https://www.linkedin.com/in/rsnyder1/] ⁠Weekly founder insights: ⁠https://thephysicsofstartups.substack.com/ [https://thephysicsofstartups.substack.com/] Preorder Rob's book - "The Power of PULL" - https://amzn.to/48KC1yv [https://amzn.to/48KC1yv]    #PMF #B2BSales #VC #Startup #VentureCapital #Founderledsales