Nascent 🪺 Podcast

Mike Vladimer
  • 5.0 (4)
  • TECHNOLOGY
  • UPDATED WEEKLY

Conventional startup strategies are for startups with customers. Nascent is for startups with no customers -- a methodology for founders to decide within days (not years!) whether their idea is an opportunity worth pursuing. nascentidea.com

  1. 022: Yes, search for People in Pain. But they're invisible.

    20H AGO

    022: Yes, search for People in Pain. But they're invisible.

    Episode 022: Yes, search for People in Pain. But, they're invisible. In this episode, Mike introduces the distinction between conventional businesses (where knowledge exists) and breakthrough startups (where founders must create new knowledge). He details the challenge for founders of customer-breakthrough startups: to create knowledge, they must identify People in Pain who are invisible. To distinguish invisible People in Pain from visible customers, Mike presents the People-to-Prospect Funnel, a 5-layer framework for understanding what it takes for a startup to get a customer. In this episode: (00:00) Let's go get customers, right? Wrong! (00:53) Intro: trying to get customers is too tedious (02:02) Recap: why searching for People in Pain is easier than chasing customers (04:43) All businesses use knowledge to provide pain relief to People in Pain (05:17) Conventional businesses vs. breakthrough startups (05:57) Example of a conventional business: the pizza shop (08:33) Examples of technology-breakthrough: Ozempic, teleportation (10:17) Examples of customer-breakthrough startups: Airbnb, Uber (11:05) How a founder, Paul, used Nascent to decide in days (11:35) Founders make two investments in knowledge creation (12:53) Why People in Pain are invisible (14:11) Antennas on your head -- developing a new sense of Pain (15:21) The People-to-Prospect Funnel: 5 layers from blockers to customers (17:56) Example of the People-to-Prospect Funnel: a food cart pod (22:26) CTA: who are the People in Pain you're searching for? Nascent frameworks referenced: - People in Pain™ -- the first signal a startup might have a customer; every customer starts as a Person in Pain - People-to-Prospect Funnel™ -- 5-layer funnel: blockers, insidious distractions, People in Pain, prospects, customers - Knowledge-creation project -- The Nascent definition of a startup where founders must create new knowledge - Categorizing businesses by knowledge -- new solution to an obvious problem vs. new solution to a hidden problem - Doubtful vs. possible -- the binary assessment of whether success for a startup idea is doubtful or possible. Let's connect: - Newsletter: https://nascentstartups.com - Visuals and frameworks (Miro): https://miro.com/app/board/uXjVGhU2Xoo=/ - Work with Mike: https://nascentidea.com - LinkedIn: https://linkedin.com/in/mikevladimer - YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/@Nascentidea - Spotify: https://open.spotify.com/show/5BtFtYF6nVUkLu7d7VVnSY - Apple Podcasts: https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/nascent-podcast/id1728760830 - Twitter: https://x.com/NascentIdea - Email: Podcast@NascentIdea.com Links and sources: - 021: No, getting customers is the wrong goal. Instead search for People in Pain. https://open.spotify.com/episode/7caiudvijZhCrKDjlHKzsw?si=D80_hfneTSONn8cndHAV0w - Yums of PDX https://www.yumsofpdx.com/ Your startup is a knowledge creation project. The knowledge you need doesn't exist yet -- you have to create it. And the most important piece of that knowledge comes from identifying invisible People in Pain who might someday become your customers.

    23 min
  2. 021: No, getting customers is the wrong goal

    APR 13

    021: No, getting customers is the wrong goal

    Asking how to get customers for a startup is asking the wrong question. In this episode, Mike explains why pursuing paying customers is the wrong first step, introduces the concept of People in Pain™ as the first signal that your startup might ever get a customer and sets a ridiculously low bar for evaluating your startup idea. In this episode: (00:00) Hook: "Can I show you how to get customers? No. Because nobody can." (00:51) Intro: welcome to the Nascent podcast (01:28) This is episode 21 -- customers are the wrong goal (01:41) Why "focus on the customer" doesn't apply to startups with no customers (02:36) Embrace having no customers -- you have no commitments (04:00) Trying to get customers is often a huge waste of time (04:19) Metaphor 1: Can your airplane generate lift? (05:50) Metaphor 2: Can you get a bat to hit a ball? (08:02) Every customer starts as a Person in Pain (08:31) Search for People in Pain and quantify their Pain in dollars (09:24) People in Pain are invisible (10:32) CTA: who are the People in Pain you're searching for? (10:56) Payoff: reject the wrong question, embrace the right one Nascent frameworks referenced: - People in Pain™ -- the first signal a startup might have a customer; every customer starts as a Person in Pain - Doubtful vs. possible -- the binary assessment: is success for this startup idea doubtful or possible? - Knowledge-creation project -- what a startup actually is; the knowledge does not yet exist and must be created by the founder Let's connect: - Newsletter: nascentstartups.com - Work with Mike: nascentidea.com - LinkedIn: linkedin.com/in/mikevladimer - YouTube: youtube.com/@Nascentidea - Spotify: https://open.spotify.com/show/5BtFtYF6nVUkLu7d7VVnSY - Apple Podcasts: https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/nascent-podcast/id1728760830 - Twitter: https://x.com/NascentIdea - Contact: Podcast@NascentIdea.com Stop chasing customers. Start searching for People in Pain. If you can find people with expensive Pain, there's a possibility your startup could succeed. If you can't, the chances are doubtful -- and another project would be a better use of your time.

    11 min
  3. 020: The biggest problem in startups remains unsolved

    APR 6

    020: The biggest problem in startups remains unsolved

    Startups with customers face different challenges than startups with no customers. But conventional startup strategies don't make this distinction — there's no Playbook A for startups with customers and Playbook B for startups with no customers. In this episode, Mike makes the case that founders of startups with no customers are underserved, explains why even the most accomplished entrepreneurs can't solve this problem, and introduces Nascent methodology as the dedicated playbook for founders who need to quickly evaluate their startup ideas in days. In this episode: (00:00) Hook: there's no dedicated playbook for startups with no customers (01:36) Intro: welcome to the Nascent podcast (02:04) The gap in conventional startup strategy (03:08) Founders are special creative people with unlimited ideas but limited time (03:52) The ERNY value™ — Estimated Revenue Next Year (04:18) Nascent's two audiences: Birdie (repeat founder) and Phoenix (pivoting founder) (06:24) First-time founders: "This will work!" vs "Will this work?!" (07:36) "I can explain it to you, but I can't experience it for you" (08:28) Why haven't startup experts solved this problem? (09:36) Native speakers vs. foreign-language speakers (11:12) Paul Graham's "internal compass" (12:04) Kim, the native speaker of startups (12:48) Detailed measurements in Nascent methodology (13:28) CTA: Was previous advice detailed or just touch-and-feel? Links and sources: - Eric Ries, The Lean Startup (quotes from pages 4 and 47) — https://theleanstartup.com - Steve Blank, "Build it and they will come is not a strategy. It's a prayer." — https://steveblank.com/ - Paul Graham, "Before the Startup" lecture at Stanford — https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ii1jcLg-eIQ - Helen Rennie, "How to Make Egg Pasta" on YouTube — https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=m_fu5RaXMVk&t=40s Nascent frameworks referenced: - ERNY value™ — Estimated Revenue Next Year from the ground up with no customers today, calculated by analyzing recorded discovery interviews - Doubtful vs. possible — the binary assessment Nascent delivers against the question, "Is success for this startup idea doubtful (stop) or possible (keep going)?" Subscribe and follow: - Newsletter: https://nascentstartups.com - LinkedIn: https://linkedin.com/in/mikevladimer - YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/@Nascentidea - Spotify: https://open.spotify.com/show/5BtFtYF6nVUkLu7d7VVnSY - Apple Podcasts: https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/nascent-podcast/id1728760830 Work with Mike: https://nascentidea.com Conventional startup strategies are for startups with customers. Founders of startups with NO CUSTOMERS need a dedicated playbook. Nascent is the playbook for startups with no customers -- a methodology for founders to decide within days (not years!) whether their idea is an opportunity worth pursuing.

    14 min
  4. 019: The next 100 episodes on Nascent methodology

    MAR 30

    019: The next 100 episodes on Nascent methodology

    Most startups fail because they can't get customers — and founders often waste years before realizing their idea is a dead end. In this relaunch episode, Mike re-introduces Nascent methodology and a new metric called the ERNY value (Estimated Revenue Next Year, in dollars) that helps founders decide in days, not years, whether their idea is worth pursuing. In this episode: (00:00) Hook: founders waste years on dead-end ideas (00:54) Intro: welcome to the Nascent podcast (01:24) Steve Blank and Eric Ries — meaningful progress, but still more to do (02:04) The relaunch — 100 episodes in 50 weeks (02:27) 12 years of Nascent: from mentoring to workshops to a business (04:50) Is anyone else working on this challenge? (06:05) Paul Graham's internal compass — "I don't know!" (07:59) ERNY value: doubtful vs. possible (08:37) ERNY is not TAM/SAM/SOM (10:12) What's ahead on this podcast (12:17) CTA: subscribe, share, email podcast@nascentidea.com Links and sources: - Paul Graham: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ii1jcLg-eIQ - Steve Blank: https://www.amazon.com/Four-Steps-Epiphany-Steve-Blank/dp/0989200507 - Eric Ries: https://theleanstartup.com - Rob Fitzpatrick: https://www.momtestbook.com/ - Alberto Savoia: https://www.pretotyping.org Nascent frameworks referenced: - ERNY value — Estimated Revenue Next Year from the ground up with no customers today, calculated by analyzing recorded discovery interviews - Doubtful vs. possible — the binary assessment Nascent delivers against the question, "Is success for this startup idea doubtful (stop) or possible (keep going)?" Subscribe and follow: - Website: https://nascentidea.com - Newsletter: https://nascentstartups.com - LinkedIn: https://linkedin.com/in/mikevladimer - YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/@Nascentidea - Spotify: https://open.spotify.com/show/5BtFtYF6nVUkLu7d7VVnSY - Apple Podcasts: https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/nascent-podcast/id1728760830 Conventional startup strategies are for startups with customers. Nascent is for startups with no customers -- a methodology for founders to decide within days (not years!) whether their idea is an opportunity worth pursuing.

    13 min
  5. How to evaluate a startup idea in seconds (Ep. 18)

    07/29/2025

    How to evaluate a startup idea in seconds (Ep. 18)

    More workshops here: https://lu.ma/nascent This is a public episode. If you would like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit www.nascentstartups.com

    21 min
  6. Simplifying entrepreneurship (17)

    01/27/2025

    Simplifying entrepreneurship (17)

    Startups WITH customers face wildly different problems from startups WITHOUT CUSTOMERS. However, most startup strategies don't address this distinction -- and those strategies are for startups with customers. If you're a founder of a startup with few or no customers, here's why conventional startup strategies (e.g., product market fit, minimum viable product, business model canvas, etc.) are a distraction right now. Shout out to Paul Orlando at USC for all the support 🙌 https://www.marshall.usc.edu/personnel/paul-orlando This is a public episode. If you would like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit www.nascentstartups.com

    26 min
  7. Customer Discovery 2.0: From a count of interviews to the quantified pain histogram (16)

    10/13/2024

    Customer Discovery 2.0: From a count of interviews to the quantified pain histogram (16)

    This is a public episode. If you would like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit www.nascentstartups.com

    40 min

  8. 07/04/2024

    A live interview with Robbie Kellman Baxter, an expert on subscription startups (15)

    I attended SubSummit in June 2024 in Dallas, Texas to record an episode of the Nascent Startups podcast. Amazingly, Robbie Kellman Baxter filled in at the last moment when my originally scheduled interviewee was unexpectedly absent. Thanks so much and kudos to Robbie for sharing her insights on no notice! Links we referenced in the show: * https://robbiekellmanbaxter.com/ * https://www.linkedin.com/in/robbiekellmanbaxter/ * https://subsummit.com/ * https://www.strava.com/ * https://review.firstround.com/how-superhuman-built-an-engine-to-find-product-market-fit/ * https://pmfsurvey.com/ * https://boldcommerce.com/ * https://www.linkedin.com/in/lauren-pienta-15a8298/ * https://www.linkedin.com/in/paulcchambers/ This is a public episode. If you would like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit www.nascentstartups.com

    13 min
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About

Conventional startup strategies are for startups with customers. Nascent is for startups with no customers -- a methodology for founders to decide within days (not years!) whether their idea is an opportunity worth pursuing. nascentidea.com

Information

  • Creator
    Mike Vladimer
  • Years Active
    2024 - 2026
  • Episodes
    19
  • Rating
    Clean
  • Copyright
    © Mike Vladimer
  • Show Website
    Nascent 🪺 Podcast