You are receiving the Community Edition of today’s newsletter. Become a member to receive exclusive perks and event invites.

I've read plenty of pitch decks with a slide like "87% of surveyed users said they'd be interested." My first thought is always the same: so what!

Interest isn't validation. It's politeness. People will tell you your idea is great for free. The only signal that means anything is whether they'll give something up for it.

Sukhpal Saini, CEO & founder of Engyne, figured this out almost by accident. He flew to LA for a hackathon hosted by Will.i.am, knowing nothing about the music industry. Instead of researching the market, he spent the flight scraping Reddit threads from independent artists, all complaining about the same two things: streaming pays almost nothing, and they can't reach fans who don't speak English.

He picked seven of those artists and showed them two options for a tool that might help. He didn't pitch five ideas, just two. Then he said the part most founders skip, "This will cost $10 a month, and I'm charging your card right now."

All seven said yes. One person paid within 20 minutes, before Sukhpal had built the product. He built it in four hours, using off-the-shelf AI tools. He won the hackathon. Will.i.am became his mentor and he walked away with an investment offer.

Forget the hackathon, the AI tools, the four hours. What actually worked was he skipped the part where you ask people if they like your idea, and went straight to asking them to pay for it.

$10 a month doesn't work for every product. If your buyer needs someone else's approval before they can spend money, which is most B2B sales, the commitment just needs to be different.

A signed LOI. A pilot agreement. A deposit. A budget line someone's willing to fight for internally. Each of these still costs someone real capital: time, budget, or the political risk of vouching for you internally. That's the actual test. It's not whether they like the idea. It's whether saying yes costs them something they'd notice if it fell through.

Find one genuine customer this week and ask for the smallest commitment that would actually cost them something, their money, their time, their name on a document. Then tell me what happened.

Listen to Sukhpal Saini’s presentation at Together Toronto.

Before I sign-off, I have a question for you. 👇🏼

Until next time,

Alex

The best answers come from founders who've already solved the problem.

So we're opening the floor. What's one challenge you're facing right now where you could use a second opinion?

More than 400 founders, operators, investors, and builders will gather at Together Toronto on Monday Sept 14. If you have been meaning to meet potential collaborators, compare notes with other founders, find your next hire, or simply get out from behind the screen for an evening, this is the room.

6 - 9 PM | 📍 U of T: Schwartz Reisman Innovation Campus | Grab your tickets here 👇🏼

Have a job you want to share? Currently looking to find your next gig? Check out the 1000+ jobs on our job board or learn how to post yours.

Want to showcase your company, events, and opportunities to thousands of tech leaders, professionals, and investors across the country?

Reach out to us for partnership and advertising opportunities.