The Physics of Startups Is your customer BLOCKED or COPING?
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Feb 13, 2026 They unpack two types of customer pull: COPING buyers who struggle with a bad current approach, and BLOCKED buyers who want a solution but lack workable options. Practical models and case studies show how to spot each type in the wild. The conversation ends with tactics for validating hidden demand and common founder mistakes to avoid.
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Don't Mistake Features For Causes
- Founders often misread why a successful product initially took off and copy superficial features.
- You must model the demand dynamics that caused adoption, not just the product's surface attributes.
The Customer Trello Reveals Pull
- People carry a mental Trello with four project buckets: backlog, would-do-if-only, prioritizing-but-struggling, and prioritizing-OK.
- Real customer pull comes from the two middle buckets: 'would do if only' and 'prioritizing but struggling'.
Uber: Coping And Blocked Pull Combined
- Uber illustrates both coping and blocked pull: taxi riders coped with poor taxis and many people were blocked from going out.
- Uber captured existing taxi spend and unlocked new trips from previously blocked customers.