Who doesn't need convincing?
A design principle
A priest who performs exorcisms (…stay with me…) was asked how he convinces people that demons exist.
His reply: “By the time they get to me, they don’t need convincing.”1
Weird. But relevant.
When figuring out who our startup wants to serve, we tend to theorize who might want our product. Who might have these pain points, these problems, whatever… and how we can make our value proposition as attractive to them as possible. Then we go try to find people to educate, persuade.
This is the root of all pain and evil in the startup world.
Instead, let’s take inspiration from the priest.
Who doesn’t need convincing? Who, when we show up, says, “oh thank God you’re here!” This is best reverse-engineered from practice, not reasoned about in theory. Find it at the “n of 1” level: One person or a few people who bought fast and said “hell yes.”
What happened in their world that caused them to not need convincing? What have they suffered through? Why can’t they do nothing, or do anything else?
Design your case study and GTM around this, and you’ll survive long enough + grow fast enough that you may eventually run out of people who need no convincing. Future You can figure that out. Today’s you shouldn’t play on hard mode unnecessarily.
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I can’t remember where I heard this story, but I can tell you it was non sequitur when I heard it. Please do not send me exorcism stories, horror film recommendations, or anything else scary. I will not like it.
This is an intriguing perspective!
However, there is an important nuance: Sometimes desperate customers make poor long-term clients precisely because their urgency clouds judgment. Many "oh thank God you're here" customers may be seeking band-aids rather than solutions. A better GTM strategy might focus on finding customers who are both acutely aware of their problem AND thoughtful enough to implement lasting solutions. This balances the "no convincing needed" urgency with qualification criteria that lead to sustainable growth.
I encourage young EdTech companies to have a few GTMs and identify the ones who convert the fastest. Make them your beachhead.