Every week, I advise founders on how to hit $10k MRR. On Tuesdays, I share my consulting notes from those private sessions. Learn from their mistakes so you don't burn your own cash.
You didn't really invalidate your idea.
|
A founder comes to me, defeated. "Dmitry, I sent 50 cold emails. I pitched the new angle. Zero replies. The market just isn't interested." They are ready to pivot. They are ready to kill the idea. I tell them to stop. You didn't invalidate your idea. You just stopped before you even started. In the modern attention economy, sending one message and getting no reply is not a "No." It is a "I didn't see you." You cannot scientifically validate a hypothesis without a sequence. Data shows it takes anywhere from 7 to 16 touches just to get noticed by a B2B buyer. Not to buy — just to register that you exist. If you send one email and give up, you are whispering in the middle of a hurricane and assuming no one wants to talk to you because they didn't answer. Clarity Filter Insight Silence is not rejection. Silence is just noise.
You cannot confirm nor deny a hypothesis based on a single touchpoint. A "No" is data. A "Yes" is data. Silence is nothing. Until you have run a full 5-7+ touch sequence, you haven't tested your market. You've only tested your patience. Don't kill a good idea just because you were too polite to follow up. Speak soon, P.S. If you're struggling to distinguish between a bad idea and bad execution, you're not alone. |
Clarity Filter
Every week, I advise founders on how to hit $10k MRR. On Tuesdays, I share my consulting notes from those private sessions. Learn from their mistakes so you don't burn your own cash.
Hey Reader, Everyone talks about Product-Market Fit. Almost no one talks about Founder-Channel Fit. I learned this the hard way on LinkedIn. It took me exactly one year of trial, error, and painful silence to finally figure out how to drive real business from this platform. Most founders treat marketing channels like a light switch — they flip it on, wait two weeks, and if the room isn't instantly glowing, they flip it off and say, "LinkedIn doesn't work for us." They are wrong. Usually, it's...
Hey Reader, Time to talk about me. For a long time, my "inbox" was open to everyone. I’d spend hours every week in "quick coffee chats" and "free 15-minute brainstorms." I told myself I was being helpful. I told myself I was building a community. I was wrong. I was just avoiding my own main lever. I realized that by giving away 10% of my focus to fifty different people, I was stealing 100% of my intensity from the clients who actually moved the needle. I wasn't being generous — I was being...
Hey Reader, A founder reached out to me last week with a "job opportunity." He had a finished product, a clean UI, and a pitch deck. He said, "Dmitry, I’ve seen your playbooks. You know how to talk to customers. I want to hire you to handle the sales so I can focus on building." I smiled. Then I told him two things he didn't want to hear. First, I asked: "If I’m the one finding the customers, closing the deals, and hearing the feedback — why exactly do I need you?" It sounds harsh, but it’s...