Aug 30, 2026 · 24 min
Real demand pulls customers in before sales teams can push
Not All Revenue Growth Is Created Equal — A Harvard Fellow's Framework for Spotting the Real Thing
The framework offers investors and founders a way to separate durable customer demand from growth manufactured through persuasion, spending, or hype.
- 1Customers reveal genuine demand when they create purchasing momentum instead of requiring repeated persuasion.
- 2Retention and net revenue retention show whether growth reflects expanding customer value rather than short-lived sales success.
- 3Focused AI tools that improve narrow workflows may prove more durable than viral, general-purpose products.
Don't miss
Snyder explains why a company can have poor sales calls yet still reveal strong demand when customers keep trying to buy.
The brief
Rob Snyder argues that genuine demand appears when customers pull a product into their organizations, rather than buying because a seller made a persuasive case.
His own startup experience challenged the assumption that clear value and strong ROI naturally produce purchases, leading him to develop a broader push-versus-pull framework.
For investors, the test is behavioral and financial: watch what customers do after buying, then examine retention and net revenue retention for evidence of expanding value.
The framework becomes especially relevant in AI, where buyers can build alternatives with tools such as Claude and viral attention may not survive beyond signup.
Snyder’s most practical AI opportunity is deliberately unglamorous: narrow workflow tools that deliver specialized research more frequently and usefully than traditional reports.
Featuring
The Power of Pull
Claude
Harvard Innovation LabsBooks & mentions
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