If you're a founder, you've got to learn to cold call. Period. Cold outreaches — not friendly conversations — are the best way to validate early assumptions during the customer discovery process. As a founder, it's easy to fall into the trap of talking to people you know — and this includes people you know indirectly through mutual connections. But this can be very misleading. I learned this the hard way during the early days of AppDynamics when I was introduced to potential customers who were extremely warm and receptive. The problem was, I wasn't getting the blunt feedback I needed to convert to revenue. I'm a strong believer that cold outreach is the best way to prove viability. If people don't take your call, it might mean your problem isn't interesting enough. If you have trouble getting follow-ups, maybe your solution doesn't resonate. No matter how many times you build a product, it's still possible to have the wrong assumptions. That's why these cold, hard conversations are essential.