Traction Lab Podcast

<p>Hey friends 👋</p><p>Six paying customers. $4,800 MRR. The founder already knows which two to discount. Same evidence. Cameron gives it an 8. JDM gives it a 6. That’s the conversation the Strength of Evidence Matrix is built for.</p><p>This week, we dig into the Strength of Evidence Matrix — one of the core Traction Lab tools. It evaluates your traction on two axes: how robust is the signal (from interest to intent), and how independent is the source (from affiliated to cold). Most founders count their evidence. This framework <em>grades</em> it — and most of the time, the grade is a lot worse than it looks.</p><p>From a pet emergency app drowning in warm surveys, to a background check SaaS with real revenue but one cold customer keeping the whole signal honest, to a B2B platform that made it from their rolodex all the way to a cold annual contract — we run three scenarios through the matrix and rate each on the conviction scale. There’s even a JDM-Cameron split on the last one.</p><p>JDM’s three-year Lord of the Rings marathon is almost over. Cameron just watched the GuLP team take fifth place and $10K in Minneapolis.</p><p>As always, thanks for listening.</p><p>—Cameron and JDM</p><p>Resources:</p><p>* <a target="_blank" href="https://luma.com/0jte03oe">High Conviction Happy Hour, August 27th</a></p><p>* <a target="_blank" href="https://tlvs.link">Traction Lab Venture School</a></p><p>Timestamps</p><p>00:00 - Introduction</p><p>02:15 - Strength of Evidence Matrix</p><p>05:30 - Scenario 1: Pet emergency vet app</p><p>12:45 - Scenario 2: Background check SaaS</p><p>25:00 - Scenario 3: B2B CPG broker platform</p><p>40:00 - Frivolous Thoughts</p> <br/><br/>This is a public episode. If you would like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit <a href="https://zerototraction.substack.com?utm_medium=podcast&#38;utm_campaign=CTA_1">zerototraction.substack.com</a>

<p>Hey friends 👋</p><p>You’ve had the good conversations. Coffee chats that ended with “this is really interesting.” Followers who DM you to say they can’t wait. And when you go to investors, they pass.</p><p>Because interest and evidence are two completely different things.</p><p>This week, JDM and Cameron are joined by Nikki Sims — operator, VC fund veteran, and someone who’s actually seen what happens when founders confuse the two. In a special format, we invited founders from the <a target="_blank" href="https://tlvs.link">Traction Lab Venture School</a> to join us on the livestream to ask their questions.</p><p>We covered traction signals that matter in historically offline industries, what happens to your roadmap when you land a 227-location enterprise deal, why your TAM slide is probably lying to investors without you realizing it, what to do when your market has a literal expiration date, and how to think about funding a hard goods business when VC math doesn’t apply.</p><p>Nikki didn’t hold back. Neither did the guys. It’s the kind of honest investor feedback you usually only get if you already know someone.</p><p>As always, thanks for listening.</p><p>—Cameron and JDM</p><p>Timestamps</p><p>00:00 - Introduction & Nikki Sims</p><p>05:00 - Traction in offline markets (AgTech / game birds)</p><p>18:00 - When your market has an expiration date</p><p>24:30 - The enterprise trap: SMB to 227 locations</p><p>32:00 - Funding a hardware business (not a SaaS)</p><p>51:00 - TAM slides: bottoms-up or bust</p><p>58:30 - Biotech buy vs. build decisions</p><p>1:02:30 - Channel strategy for construction tech</p> <br/><br/>This is a public episode. If you would like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit <a href="https://zerototraction.substack.com?utm_medium=podcast&#38;utm_campaign=CTA_1">zerototraction.substack.com</a>

<p>Hey friends 👋</p><p>You know the pattern — founder shows up with a deck, flips to the TAM slide, and there it is: $53 billion… $67 billion… any enormous number with a B at the end. And everyone in the room nods like it means something.</p><p>It usually doesn’t.</p><p>This week JDM goes solo (Cameron’s out representing the ecosystem and cheering at a pitch competition — we’ll forgive him) to dig into one of his all-time founder pet peeves: the TAM.</p><p>Not the concept — the lazy, hopium-laced, percentage-game version that shows up in almost every pitch deck. The one that mistakes the market your <em>customers</em> are in for the market your <em>product</em> is in. The one that picks 0.1% because it makes the math look reasonable, not because it means anything.</p><p>From a Slack bot claiming a slice of the wrong pie, to a procurement platform that actually did the math (mostly), to an AI tutoring app that averaged its way to a $67B fantasy, JDM runs the conviction scale on three real TAM claims and calls out every shortcut along the way.</p><p>For his lone frivolous thought, he recommends Ben McKenzie’s documentary <em>Everyone Is Lying to You for Money</em> — a deep dive into crypto with strong opinions and receipts to match.</p><p>As always, thanks for listening.</p><p>—JDM & Cam</p><p>Timestamps</p><p>00:00 - Introduction</p><p>02:15 - TAM: what the slide is supposed to answer (and doesn’t)</p><p>05:30 - Scenario 1: The Slack status bot</p><p>12:45 - Scenario 2: Food manufacturer procurement platform</p><p>25:00 - Scenario 3: AI tutoring app for K-12</p><p>40:00 - Frivolous Thoughts</p> <br/><br/>This is a public episode. If you would like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit <a href="https://zerototraction.substack.com?utm_medium=podcast&#38;utm_campaign=CTA_1">zerototraction.substack.com</a>

<p>Hey friends 👋</p><p>You’ve seen the email before:</p><p><strong>Subject:</strong> “Huge month!!”</p><p><strong>Body:</strong> 10,000 users, engagement through the roof, three new features shipped, featured in a newsletter. No revenue. No retention breakdown. No ask. And somehow, you think that’s an investor update.</p><p>This week, JDM and Cameron break down what investor updates are actually <em>for</em> — and why the founders sending the flashiest ones are often the ones with the least to show.</p><p>A good update isn’t a highlight reel. It’s a signal:</p><p>* Here’s the one metric that matters right now;</p><p>* Here’s what’s working and what isn’t; and</p><p>* Here’s exactly what we need from you.</p><p>That’s it.</p><p>Do that consistently, and you’re building trust long before anyone writes a check.</p><p>Then comes the game! Three realistic scenarios, scored on the conviction scale:</p><p>* A SaaS tool drowning in vanity metrics and no ask (a very generous two).</p><p>* A dental practice management startup with actual numbers, actual churn honesty, and a specific ask that almost got there (a strong eight).</p><p>* A consumer mental health app with 150K downloads, no paying customers, and a premium tier with results too “encouraging” to share yet (another two).</p><p>And it’s a conviction sandwich!</p><p>But a Keto edition… the good stuff is in the middle.</p><p>Frivolous thoughts this week: JDM got a YouTube Music recommendation he didn’t ask for and absolutely needed; and Cameron walked out of a Sacramento record shop with some Cat Stevens vinyl.</p><p>Turns out the thread between grunge, riot-grrl, punk, and folk peace anthems is stronger than you’d think.</p><p>As always, thanks for listening.</p><p>—Cameron and JDM</p><p><strong>Timestamps</strong></p><p>00:00 Introduction</p><p>02:15 What is an investor update (and why most are facades)</p><p>05:30 What to actually include: the five elements</p><p>13:30 Scenario 1</p><p>23:15 Scenario 2</p><p>33:15 Scenario 3</p><p>37:30 Frivolous Thoughts</p> <br/><br/>This is a public episode. If you would like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit <a href="https://zerototraction.substack.com?utm_medium=podcast&#38;utm_campaign=CTA_1">zerototraction.substack.com</a>

<p>Hey friends 👋</p><p>You’ve got 43 customers using your product for free, a pilot converting at 4 out of 11, and a franchisor who just announced they’re building your product themselves—for free.</p><p>This week’s office hours was a live collision of founders at very different stages, all running into the same underlying problem: they’re optimizing for the wrong thing at the wrong time.</p><p>JDM and Cameron tackle five questions live from YouTube and LinkedIn:</p><p>* a funeral home consolidator mid-pricing negotiation</p><p>* a B2C wellness app chasing a launch before knowing who they’re selling to</p><p>* a CrossFit gym SaaS getting sherlocked by its own franchisor</p><p>* a baby sleep consultant product that discovered its pilot structure too late</p><p>* a surf school booking tool trying to solve seasonality before it’s solved willingness to pay.</p><p>We break down enterprise pricing psychology, the trap of logo-hunting, why “stoned beach dudes” is not a customer segment problem, and how a transaction-based revenue model might untangle a seasonal billing headache.</p><p>We recorded in person again, the rain is visible through the window, Cameron’s deep into <em>Justified,</em> and JDM is watching Harrison Ford gracefully exit <em>Shrinking</em>.</p><p>And, as always, thanks for listening.</p><p>—Cameron and JDM</p><p>Timestamps</p><p>00:00 Intro </p><p>02:15 Live Q: When to hold firm vs. concede on pricing</p><p>10:30 Q2: Building momentum before MVP launch</p><p>20:00 Q3: Getting sherlocked by the franchisor</p><p>25:00 Q4: 4 out of 11 pilot conversions and what the split actually means</p><p>30:30 Q5: Union workers who don’t buy their own software</p><p>36:00 Q6: Seasonality, and when to charge</p><p>43:30 Frivolous Thoughts: the future of TV (which is now)</p> <br/><br/>This is a public episode. If you would like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit <a href="https://zerototraction.substack.com?utm_medium=podcast&#38;utm_campaign=CTA_1">zerototraction.substack.com</a>