Customer discovery doesn’t begin with surveys or interviews—it begins with you. In this episode, I share how to tell the difference between a customer and a user, why your first customers should come from communities you already know, and how to evaluate whether you’re solving a pain or offering a gain. We also dive into the role of the “Best Current Alternative”—what customers use today—and why it sets the baseline for your idea’s value.

Too many founders skip evaluation and rush straight into building. In this episode, I explain why early evaluation doesn’t slow you down—it multiplies your chances of success. You’ll hear how the pendulum swung from “measure twice, cut once” to “just throw it at the wall,” the math behind filtering ideas early, and why disciplined evaluation gives you more successes with the same resources.

What if I told you that investing in deeper evaluation could double—or even triple—your probability of success with the same investment? You may want to listen to this episode.

Before you build anything, you need to know if it’s worth building. In this episode, I introduce the six-part framework from Is it Really a Great Idea?, share the dilemma of starting with an idea, and explain why asking the right questions matters—whether you’re pitching at Dallas Startup Week or teaching entrepreneurship to elementary school kids.

Most startups don’t fail because of bad execution—they fail because they were bad ideas to begin with. In this episode, I unpack why product-market misfit is the top killer of startups, why founders fall in love too early, and how we got from “measure twice, cut once” to “just build it and hope.” This is the mindset reset that starts your idea evaluation journey.

I’ve been quiet for a couple of months—and in this first episode, I’ll tell you why. I’ve been writing a textbook and workbook called Is it Really a Great Idea? And it didn’t happen the way I expected.

In this episode, I share how the book came to life, why it turned into a textbook instead of just a business book, and what I’ve learned about the biggest reason startups fail: product-market misfit.

This is the only time I’ll talk about the book in this podcast—because from here on, it’s all about you, your ideas, and whether they deserve to live.

I also explain how this podcast will work: I’ll be releasing new episodes every other week, alternating with The Trust Show.