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

Lenny's Newsletter

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

The founder who helped over 50 startups hit $1M ARR shares his PULL framework for finding real product-market fit

Oct 25
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Preview

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 walk step by step through his framework for finding product-market fit, from coming up with an idea to closing your first handful of deals.

We discuss:

  1. The PULL framework: Project, Unavoidable, List of options, Limitations

  2. Where the best startup ideas come from

  3. Tactics for cold outreach and running your first sales call

  4. Why Rob advises against design partners

  5. Goblin mode: what to do when nothing is working

  6. How to apply the PULL framework inside larger companies


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Where to find Rob Snyder:

LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/rsnyder1

Newsletter: https://thephysicsofstartups.substack.com

Podcast: https://open.spotify.com/show/4Cic56E1UEbU25P3v14Vkq

Website: https://robsnyder.org

Referenced:

The PULL framework: https://thephysicsofstartups.substack.com/p/the-pull-framework

The ultimate guide to JTBD | Bob Moesta (co-creator of the framework): https://www.lennysnewsletter.com/p/the-ultimate-guide-to-jtbd-bob-moesta

How to find work you love | Bob Moesta (Jobs-to-be-Done co-creator, author of “Job Moves”): https://www.lennysnewsletter.com/p/how-to-find-work-you-love-bob-moesta

Jump: https://jump.ai

Linear’s secret to building beloved B2B products | Nan Yu (Head of Product): https://www.lennysnewsletter.com/p/linears-secret-to-building-beloved-b2b-products-nan-yu

Josh Woodward on LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/joshwoodward/

Clearly AI: https://clearly-ai.com

Emily Choi-Greene on LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/emilycg

Spanx: https://spanx.com

Floodgate: https://www.floodgate.com

Snoop Dogg on X: https://x.com/SnoopDogg

Jira: https://www.atlassian.com/software/jira

Linear: https://linear.app

“Sell the alpha, not the feature”: The enterprise sales playbook for $1M to $10M ARR | Jen Abel: https://www.lennysnewsletter.com/p/the-enterprise-sales-playbook-1m-to-10m-arr

How to close $100K+ enterprise deals, step by step | Jen Abel: https://www.lennysnewsletter.com/p/how-to-close-100k-1m-deals-step-by

Teero: https://www.teero.com

A guide for finding product-market fit in B2B: https://www.lennysnewsletter.com/p/finding-product-market-fit

Retention is the hard part: https://thephysicsofstartups.substack.com/p/retention-is-the-hard-part

Mark Roberge on LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/markroberge/

Ali Ghodsi on LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/alighodsi/

Pride and Prejudice: https://www.imdb.com/title/tt0414387

Penguins of Madagascar: https://www.imdb.com/title/tt1911658

Muse: https://muse.ai

Lessons from 1,000+ YC startups: Resilience, tar pit ideas, pivoting, more | Dalton Caldwell (Y Combinator, Managing Director): https://www.lennysnewsletter.com/p/lessons-from-1000-yc-startups

Lemlist: https://www.lemlist.com

Recommended books:

The Power of Pull: What You Need to Know About Customer Demand to Build a Successful Startup (and Why Most Founders Get It Wrong): https://www.amazon.com/Power-Pull-Customer-Successful-Founders/dp/1541705955

The Nature of Order, Book One: The Phenomenon of Life: An Essay on the Art of Building and the Nature of the Universe: https://www.amazon.com/dp/B0BHLGZHHD

The Nature of Order, Book Two: The Process of Creating Life: An Essay on the Art of Building and the Nature of the Universe: https://www.amazon.com/Nature-Order-Book-Two-Creating-ebook/dp/B0F2SMKQT8

The Nature of Order, Book Three: A Vision of a Living World: An Essay on the Art of Building and the Nature of the Universe: https://www.amazon.com/dp/B0F2SS62LG

The Nature of Order, Book Four: The Luminous Ground: https://www.amazon.com/Luminous-Ground-Building-Alexander-Christopher/dp/B00CB5JTI6


Production and marketing by https://penname.co/. For inquiries about sponsoring the podcast, email [email protected].

Lenny may be an investor in the companies discussed.


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