hey friend 👋
I’m JDM (aka Josh David Miller) and I’m a venture scientist — I partner with pre-seed and seed-stage startups to turn assumptions into data, and data into traction. I run design sprints at The Right Box , I’m co-founder of the Traction Lab incubator, and I’m a content creator.
Check out my recent content below, or read more about me .
Upcoming Events
Every week, I host live office hours to help early-stage founders cut through the noise and get real traction. It’s fast, practical, and occasionally a little spicy — and I’m often joined by smart friends who bring their own sharp takes to your startup questions.
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Substack Live AMA
Substack currently does not allow scheduling the livestream in advance, but all my followers are notified when I go live — so give me a follow!If you can't join live, you can submit a question in advance here. -
Instagram Live AMA
Join me on Instagram Thursdays at 9am PDT to take your startup questions. Join live, or "@" me in advance, and I'll take it live.If you can't join live, you can submit a question in advance here. -
LinkedIn Office Hours
Every week, Cameron Law and I go live on the Traction Lab page for a robust "ask us anything" office hours format. It's a lively discussion with a live audience. Come join the fun!If you can't join live, you can submit a question in advance here. -
Substack Live AMA
Substack currently does not allow scheduling the livestream in advance, but all my followers are notified when I go live — so give me a follow!If you can't join live, you can submit a question in advance here.
Recent Content
I write two weekly newsletters, co-host a podcast, and create content on LinkedIn, YouTube, Instagram and other places — all based around helping first-time founders launch sooner and scale faster with venture science.
These are four of my most recent pieces:
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All Roads Lead to Distribution
Zero to Traction Podcast ·If your go-to-market plan starts with “we’re planning to launch…” you don’t have a distribution strategy — you’ve just built a lonely product waiting for customers who will never arrive.
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🧠 Stop betting the house on a maybe
Traction Thinking ·Too many founders bet the whole roadmap on a compliment. Here’s how to size your startup bets to match the evidence — and avoid building a mansion on a maybe.
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Replay: founder flakiness, feature overlap, and... a rock emoji?
Office Hours ·Your co-founder vanishes, users ghost, and a competitor just shipped your roadmap — it’s been a week. We tackled the founder drama, market panic, and waitlist woes that give teams nightmares.
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What a horse show!
Zero to Traction Podcast ·If your pipeline is full of “this looks interesting” and “follow up next quarter,” you’re not forecasting revenue — you’re just LARPing a sales process.