In this episode, Rob Snyder, Fellow, Harvard Innovation Labs, startup sales expert, and co-founder of Restack.dev, breaks down what truly drives product–market fit and why most founders chase the wrong signals. Rob introduces his Pull Framework—a practical, evidence-based approach to finding and validating real customer demand. Tune in for his sharp and practical insights on:
- Why “pain points” are useless—and the single test that instantly reveals whether a customer will actually buy
- How deep tech founders can find real demand before a product exists—and why this collapses 24-month sales cycles into weeks
- The brutal danger of lukewarm interest—and how founders confuse polite enthusiasm with real pull
- How to turn a lab breakthrough into a must-do project on a buyer’s to-do list (and why this is the real precursor to PMF)
- The simple conversation structure that exposes true demand—and the words that tell you it’s all talk
- Why founders must build a repeatable case study before they build a product—and how this becomes the foundation for PMF
- The subtle difference between “that’s interesting” and “I need this now”—and how to engineer the moment of truth
- How to describe your value in one sentence using the buyer’s own failed alternatives—no persuasion needed
- Why most founders hire sales too early—and how to know the exact moment your process becomes repeatable
- The mindset shift that makes selling feel natural, not gross—especially for technical founders who hate sales
and much more!
