In this episode, Kingsley Maunder breaks down one of the most overlooked aspects of startup building: proper validation. With over two decades in the startup ecosystem, building products used by Disney, EA Sports, Snap, and more, Kingsley shares the hard-won lessons behind his framework, The SALT Test.

We explore how founders can turn raw ideas into validated products, avoid the assumption trap, distinguish noise from real traction, and leverage AI to accelerate product discovery. This conversation is a masterclass in thinking clearly, testing quickly, and building what people actually want.

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About the Guest — Kingsley Maunder

Kingsley is a veteran product builder, former startup operator, and the author of The SALT Test: How to Take an Innovative Product from Idea to Scale. Over the past 20 years, he has built and scaled products for some of the world’s biggest brands, taken two startups to exit, and helped another raise over $180M. Today, he teaches founders how to validate ideas, avoid costly assumptions, and build products that truly solve user problems.

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Key Takeaways

• Why assumptions are the biggest hidden risk in early-stage innovation

• The story behind the SALT Test and how Thomas Edison inspired it

• How to validate ideas in the right order

• The difference between noise traction and real traction

• Why customer discovery often leads founders astray

• How AI can compress weeks of product validation into hours

• Why you must test the problem before you test the solution

• When to pivot lightly vs when to pivot hard

• The importance of building something significantly better, not just slightly better

• How to distinguish between the user and the buyer in B2B products

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What You Will Learn

• A practical, repeatable process for validating any product idea

• How to talk to customers without falling into the polite feedback trap

• How to stress-test your assumptions before writing a single line of code

• How to set success and failure metrics before experimentation

• How to avoid “innovator bias” and ego-driven decision making

• How to use AI tools to accelerate discovery, research, and early validation

• How to map your idea through the Growth Map to find blind spots

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Episode Highlights

00:00 — Introduction

02:00 — Why the SALT Test?

04:00 — The Assumption Trap

06:00 — How to Stress-Test an Idea

08:00 — Noise Traction vs Real Traction

10:00 — The Right and Wrong Way to Do Customer Discovery

13:00 — Competing with Excel, WhatsApp, and the real world

15:00 — Behavior Change and “Significantly Better”

18:00 — Solution Selling for Founders

22:00 — How AI Compresses Validation Cycles

25:00 — B2B vs B2C Validation

27:00 — Pivoting: Light vs Hard

33:00 — Ego, fear, and founder psychology

36:00 — Lessons from Amazon and Successful Innovators

40:00 — Where Builders Should Focus Next

42:00 — Final Advice

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Resources Mentioned

• The SALT Test by Kingsley Maunder: https://www.kingsleymaunder.com/the-salt-test

• GrowthMap.org

• Kingsley’s LinkedIn profile: https://www.linkedin.com/in/kingsleymaunder/

In this conversation, Colin opens the curtain on how Sheets & Giggles became a breakout DTC success by doing things differently: selling before building, leaning into humor, making bold brand decisions, and prioritizing community and impact over hype.

This episode is packed with practical lessons for founders navigating uncertainty, fundraising, pricing strategy, brand identity, and the deeper personal journey behind entrepreneurship.

About the Guest

Colin McIntosh is the founder of Sheets & Giggles, one of the most beloved modern consumer brands known for its sustainable eucalyptus bedding and its unmistakably humorous voice. Colin bootstrapped the company from a simple idea into a high-growth startup that hit one million dollars in monthly revenue within two years. His journey blends sharp execution, authentic branding, creative fundraising, and a grounded philosophy about building companies with purpose.

Colin has appeared on Good Morning America and multiple national outlets, has built a loyal customer community, and is now also a mentor at Techstars, where his 2019 pitch is used globally as an example for new founders.

Connect with Colin: https://www.linkedin.com/in/colindmcintosh/

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In This Episode You’ll Learn

1. How Sheets & Giggles Started Without Inventory

Colin reveals why he chose to validate demand first through pre-orders, and how a successful Indiegogo campaign became early seed capital and proof of market need.

2. The Inflection Points That Unlocked Serious Scale

From a bold COVID donation that unexpectedly reached the governor’s office to a national Good Morning America feature and a high-impact podcast sponsorship, Colin breaks down the moments that changed the company’s trajectory.

3. Humor as a Business Strategy

Why Colin embraced the “jester” brand archetype and how authenticity, relatability, and personality helped Sheets & Giggles stand out in a boring category.

4. Pricing Psychology Explained Simply

Most founders underprice — Colin explains why, and how he tested price elasticity, optimized margins, and used real data to guide pricing decisions.

5. How to Talk to Investors the Right Way

Colin breaks down investor psychology, why FOMO matters, why you must know your numbers by heart, and how honesty builds long-term trust.

6. Bootstrapping vs. VC in Today’s Market

An honest look at why this era might be the best time to build slowly, stay disciplined, and focus on profitability instead of chasing rounds.

7. Purpose, Happiness, and the Reality of Being a Founder

Colin dives deep into fulfillment, ego, expectations, and why internal peace matters far more than revenue milestones.

8. Techstars and a Full Circle Moment

From joining Techstars Boulder as an early team member to returning years later as a founder, and later as a mentor and pitch coach — Colin shares what the program taught him and why founders should consider it.

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Chapters

00:00 Intro

01:00 Colin’s journey and background

03:00 Starting Sheets & Giggles through pre-orders

06:00 Early traction and unexpected breakthroughs

10:00 The donation that changed everything

12:00 Building a humorous and authentic brand identity

16:00 Pricing psychology and finding your true value

20:00 Fundraising and managing investor expectations

27:00 The truth about growth and scale

33:00 Bootstrapping vs raising capital

40:00 Purpose, fulfillment, and founder mindset

46:00 Techstars experience and mentorship

52:00 Final reflections

Why This Episode Matters

If you’re building a startup today, this conversation will give you both tactical clarity and emotional grounding. Colin brings a rare mix of sharp execution and thoughtful humility. From pre-selling products to scaling with humor, from raising millions to staying true to purpose, his journey offers a realistic playbook for building something meaningful.

Mark Donnigan has spent decades helping deep tech and video technology startups translate complex products into commercial traction. In this conversation, we cover why early stage companies must stay lean, how to diagnose GTM confusion, and what AI first marketing looks like in practice.

We also dig into the new buyer journey in B2B, why content is a serious competitive advantage, and why founder led marketing is becoming non negotiable for technical startups.

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👤 About Mark Donnigan

Mark Donnigan is a virtual CMO who specializes in helping early stage technology companies design and execute GTM systems for scale. He blends a technical background with marketing strategy, and has worked closely with deep tech, infrastructure, and video technology companies across the US and beyond. Mark also hosts his own podcast where he covers the intersection of engineering, GTM, and startup growth.

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💡 Key Takeaways

• Small teams outperform large teams because they adapt faster and avoid siloed decision making

• Most early marketing hires fail because they come from companies with fully established ICPs and playbooks

• The new B2B buyer journey is committee based and nonlinear

• Founders must articulate pain, value, and narrative before marketing can be effective

• AI tools create leverage but still require human curation

• Content is not optional; it is a revenue accelerant

• The best marketing starts with mapping actual buying behavior, not assumptions

• Technical founders can outperform junior marketers with AI workflows

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🎓 What You Will Learn

• How to avoid the early stage marketing trap

• Why small GTM teams win in dynamic markets

• How to map buying journeys in modern B2B

• How to use AI to generate content, frameworks, and GTM assets

• The difference between buyers, influencers, and blockers

• How to build trust and shorten sales cycles through content

• Why founder storytelling is more important than ever

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⏱️ Episode Highlights and Timestamps

00:00 Welcome and intro

02:00 Mark’s background as both technologist and creative

06:00 Why great technology fails without great marketing

07:30 The trap of hiring big company marketers too early

10:45 Why small teams win in early GTM

14:00 The missing skill in most marketing hires

17:00 How to know if the market actually needs your product

20:00 Understanding the real buyer versus the visible buyer

23:00 Buying committees, decision blockers, and internal politics

27:00 Why founders misread senior titles in enterprise sales

30:00 Mapping the buyer journey with precision

32:00 The underrated power of content and use case clarity

36:00 Where founders should start if they have no content

38:00 The role of documentation in technical sales

40:00 What AI first marketing looks like in action

43:00 Founders using PRDs to generate full GTM assets

47:00 What should always stay human in AI powered marketing

51:00 Human tone, emotions, and authenticity versus perfect AI output

55:00 Why social algorithms reward provocation, not perfection

58:00 Features vs benefits in modern marketing

01:02:00 Final insights and where to follow Mark

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🔗 Resources Mentioned

• Mark Donnigan website: https://GrowthStage.Marketing

• Mark Donnigan on LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/markdonnigan/

• Tools referenced: Gemini, ChatGPT 5.1, Claude, Perplexity Pro