What does it mean for a founder to enter goblin mode when initial customer traction stalls?

Goblin mode is an intense operational posture where a founder strips away all vanity distractions—such as networking events, redesigning websites, or tweaking pitch decks—and focuses exclusively on running rapid, unglamorous demand experiments. You reach out directly to dozens of prospects every single day, test raw hypotheses, and iterate furiously until you hit an undeniable pulse of customer pull.