"Blocked" customers aren't using a bad alternative; they're doing nothing because no viable solution exists. You can't observe their struggle. Unlocking this latent demand, as Uber did for people who previously wouldn't travel, doesn't just steal market share—it creates a new market entirely.

When searching for "blocked" demand, it's easy to invent problems from logical first principles (e.g., "all companies want to reduce costs"). This "wish-casting" ignores the customer's actual context and priorities. True pull is never generic; it must be a specific, top-of-mind problem for a user right now.

A 'dam' represents pent-up demand where users are frustrated and merely 'coping' with the status quo. Introducing a 10x better solution, often via new tech, doesn't create demand; it bursts the dam, releasing a flood of customers who see it as a magical fix for a problem they already have.

Founders mistakenly believe they can manufacture demand through better positioning or features. This is the "supply trap." True demand must exist independently before your product arrives. Your role is to find customers who are already "spring-loaded" (coping or blocked) and unleash their existing pull.

A problem can be theoretically urgent or unavoidable, but if it is not the customer's number one priority to solve *right now*, there is no market pull. Demand exists only in the present tense. This reframes the concept of urgency into an immediate, actionable test for founders.

Pull isn't just a problem; it's a state of active struggle. Think of it as physics: the customer is applying force toward a project, but their existing options are applying a counter-force. Your product's role is to unblock this potential energy, which is often invisible until a viable new solution is presented.

The "Pull Framework" defines demand not by pain, but by observable action. It requires a customer to have an active, unavoidable project, to have already explored existing options, and to find those options insufficient. This is the signal for a product they will eagerly "pull" from your hands, even if it's imperfect.

You can see a customer struggling with a slow, painful process and assume they're "coping." But they may be in a "good enough" equilibrium and not actively seeking change. True "coping" means they are ready to switch, not just experiencing friction. Only a sales test can validate this.

Since "blocked" demand is unobservable, you must ask questions that reveal it indirectly. Asking "If I spent $100M to build something for you, what problem would it solve?" forces customers to consider their most critical, unaddressed needs, bypassing their current behaviors and revealing latent demand.