If you’re a founder (or dreaming of becoming one), you’ve probably been told to “solve a real problem.” Maybe you’ve spent hours mapping out pain points, brainstorming solutions, and crafting your value proposition.

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	Forwarded this email? Subscribe here for more Build What Customers Pull For, Not What You Push May 28   READ IN APP   If you’re a founder (or dreaming of becoming one), you’ve probably been told to “solve a real problem.” Maybe you’ve spent hours mapping out pain points, brainstorming solutions, and crafting your value proposition. You might even have a beautiful pitch deck filled with customer personas and market research. But here’s a hard truth: Just because you’ve identified a problem, that doesn’t mean anyone will care. Just because you’ve built a solution, that doesn’t mean anyone will buy. And just because you think your product delivers value, that doesn’t mean the market will pull it out of your hands. So what actually matters? What’s the real bottleneck every pre-PMF (pre–product-market fit) startup faces? It’s PULL. Not “should want.” Not “it’s valuable.” Not “it solves pain.” It’s: “Are customers actively trying to get this done, and are they stuck with bad options?” What Is “PULL” Anyway? Let’s get clear on what PULL really means. PULL isn’t about the problems you see in the world or the pain points you think are important. It’s not about what you believe customers “should want,” or even about the solution you’ve built. PULL is about what your buyers are already trying to do—right now—with whatever tools, hacks, or workarounds they can find. It’s about the projects on their to-do lists, the jobs they’re desperate to get done, and the awkward, inefficient, or downright painful ways they’re getting by today. When you find that spot—where people are actively trying to accomplish something but only have bad options—you’ve found the space for PULL. If you can offer a better way, customers will pull your solution into their world. They’ll buy, adopt, and even tell their friends. That’s when you know you’re onto something. The Difference Between PUSH and PULL Most founders start by pushing. You build something, polish your pitch, and try to convince people to care. You send cold emails, run ads, and hustle for meetings. You’re pushing your solution into the market, hoping someone bites. But the startups that really break out—the ones that scale fast—are the ones that find PULL. They discover a force in the market that’s already there, waiting for a better answer. When you tap into that force, you don’t have to push so hard. Customers come to you. Deals start closing faster. Word spreads. Suddenly, hiring sales reps isn’t about brute-forcing growth—it’s about keeping up with demand. Why PULL Is the Only Bottleneck That Matters Every pre-PMF startup or idea faces a single, critical bottleneck: PULL. If you don’t have it, nothing else matters. You can optimize your funnel, polish your UI, or add features, but if customers aren’t pulling, you’re stuck. Solving for anything other than PULL is a distraction. You might feel productive, but you’re not making progress toward what actually matters: building something people are desperate to use. How Do You Find PULL? Finding PULL isn’t about surveys or focus groups. It’s about observing what people are already doing, what they’re struggling with, and where they’re hacking together bad solutions. 1. Look for “Ugly Workarounds” The best evidence of PULL is when customers are cobbling together their own solutions—spreadsheets, sticky notes, manual processes, or expensive consultants—because nothing better exists. Ask yourself: What are people trying to get done right now? How are they doing it today? Where are they frustrated, wasting time, or spending too much? 2. Listen for “Project Language” When you talk to potential customers, listen for the language of projects: “I need to get this report done by Friday.” “We’re trying to automate this process.” “I wish there was a way to…” These are signals that something is on their to-do list, not just a theoretical pain point. 3. Watch for “Bad Options” If people are making do with clunky tools, paying for multiple services that don’t quite fit, or hiring people to do repetitive tasks, you’ve found a space with PULL. 4. Test with Minimum Viable Supply Don’t build a full product. Start with a hypothesis about what customers are trying to do and what form factor might fit. Ask: “What’s the smallest, quickest way I can offer something to validate if there’s real PULL?” This could be: A landing page with a buy button A manual service that mimics your future product A simple prototype or demo The goal isn’t to impress—it’s to see if people will actually pull your solution into their workflow. Minimum Viable Supply: Your PULL Validation Tool Forget “minimum viable product” for a moment. Focus on “minimum viable supply.” This means: “Here’s my best guess at what they’re trying to do and how I can help. Let’s see if anyone bites.” You’re not trying to solve every problem or serve every customer. You’re trying to find the sharpest, most urgent use case where PULL is strongest. If you get traction here, you can expand. If not, you pivot—fast. Real-World Examples of Finding PULL Slack: Before Slack, teams hacked together communication with endless email threads, clunky chat tools, or even in-person meetings. Slack didn’t invent the need for team communication—it just offered a vastly better way to do what people were already trying to do (collaborate quickly and efficiently). Airtable: Before Airtable, people used spreadsheets for everything—project management, CRM, content calendars—even when spreadsheets weren’t a good fit. Airtable saw the PULL for flexible, database-like tools that anyone could use, and designed around it. Calendly: Before Calendly, scheduling a meeting meant endless email ping-pong. People were already trying to solve this problem with bad options. Calendly offered a better way, and the market pulled it in. The Force That Gets Deals Done When you find PULL, the force to get deals done comes from the customer, not from you. You’re not convincing, cajoling, or pushing. You’re responding to a need that’s already there. This is why scaling becomes possible. When you hire sales reps in a PULL-driven startup, they’re not cold-calling into the void—they’re responding to inbound demand, closing deals that customers are eager to do. How to Design Around PULL Once you’ve found a space with PULL, your job is to design your supply to fit perfectly. Talk to your earliest users. What are they trying to do? Where do they get stuck? How does your solution fit into their workflow? Iterate quickly. Don’t overbuild. Ship small improvements that make your product easier to pull in. Watch your metrics. Are customers coming back? Referring others? Paying without you chasing them? Double down on what’s working. If you see a segment with strong PULL, focus your energy there. Don’t get distracted by “nice to have” features for other groups. Avoiding the Distraction Trap It’s easy to get distracted by things that don’t matter before you have PULL: Fancy branding Fundraising Scaling infrastructure Hiring a big team None of this matters if you haven’t found PULL. Your only job is to find the spot where the market is already trying to get something done and offer a better way. What If You’re Not Seeing PULL? If you’re not seeing PULL, don’t panic. It doesn’t mean your idea is doomed—it just means you haven’t found the right angle yet. Go back to your customers. Watch what they do, not just what they say. Look for more urgent, more painful, or more frequent jobs-to-be-done. Try new form factors. Maybe your product is too complex or not focused enough. Be ruthless about pivoting. Don’t fall in love with your first idea. The Founder’s Mindset: Obsess Over PULL The best founders aren’t obsessed with their solution—they’re obsessed with finding and serving PULL. They ask: Where are customers already trying to get something done? What are the bad options they’re stuck with? How can I fit my supply into that gap, quickly and simply? If you keep asking these questions, you’ll find your way out of the pre-PMF wilderness. Final Thoughts: Make PULL Your North Star If you’re a wannabe founder or just starting out, remember: PULL is your only bottleneck. Don’t get distracted by polish, features, or even “value.” Find the spot where customers are already trying to get something done—with bad options—and fit your solution into that space. When you do, you’ll feel the difference. Customers will pull your product in. Deals will close faster. Growth will start to happen—sometimes faster than you can keep up. That’s when you know you’re building something that matters. So, go find your PULL. Design around it. And let the market show you the way. Invite your friends and earn rewards If you enjoy Startup-Side , share it with your friends and earn rewards when they subscribe. Invite Friends   Like Comment Restack   © 2025 Startup-Side Unsubscribe