First Get the Problem right
Focusing on the product leads to failure. They key is to obsess about the getting the problem right. Here's how...
Do you remember Quibi? Yes, I know, most people would like to forget it.
Quibi was hyped as the company that would revolutionize mobile streaming with short-form content. Run by mega-personalities Jeffrey Katzenberg and Meg Whitman, the company raised an astounding $2 billion to create content specifically designed for mobile phones. Despite launching during the Covid-19 pandemic when people were consuming digital content at record levels, the company struggled to find viewers, and the content was widely considered subpar.
In the end, Quibi couldn't compete with free platforms like TikTok and YouTube and folded in six months
Commenting on why it failed, Julia Alexander wrote in Vibe that "Quibi didn't work because no one at Quibi knew what it should be, what people wanted, or how people use their phones. It failed because…instead of learning from the very apps people spend hours on every day, Quibi stuck its nose up and said, 'we're doing something different' — even if no one was particularly interested."
Quibi failed because there was no market need for what it was offering.
Unfortunately, this is not an isolated case—it’s the main case. According to CB Insights, the #1 reason startups fail (accounting for 42% of failures) is "no market need" – meaning they built a product without truly validating that the problem existed or was worth solving.
Let's apply a little dose of reality to that number. If we look at early-stage VC investing in 2024, that means that nearly $3 billion was invested in solutions that no one actually wants.
We can do better than that, can't we?
Yet we see it all the time. Too often founders fall in love with their solution rather than deeply understanding their customer's pain. They build elaborate products, raise millions in funding, hire teams, and create marketing campaigns – all before confirming that they're solving a problem people care enough about to pay for.
This important point bears repeating: successful companies solve real problems; unsuccessful ones build products no one wants.
Research from Harvard Business Review and Startup Genome shows that companies who rigorously validate the problem before scaling grow 3–5x faster than those fixated on their first product idea. Likewise, CB Insights found that startups with strong problem-market fit grow revenue 3–5x faster than those without.
Yet, when I talk to founders their version of product-market-fit means that they’ve pitched their solution to a handful of target customers who have said in theory they would buy it. That’s not sufficient.
The message is clear: startups that validate problems early avoid wasted resources and accelerate growth. So, fall in love with the problem, not your solution.
If this is so clear, why do so many product leaders, particularly founders, still get this wrong? There are several powerful forces at work:
Products are tangible and exciting to build. Code, designs, and features provide concrete evidence of progress. Problems are messy, ambiguous, and harder to measure.
Technical founders often start with solutions they want to create. Many startups begin with "I want to build X" rather than "People need Y solved."
The allure of "cool technology" can be irresistible. Revolutionary tech feels more exciting than mundane customer problems, even if those problems represent bigger market opportunities.
Furthermore, as Thomas Nichols writes in "The Death of Expertise": "These are dangerous times. Never have so many people had so much access to so much knowledge and yet have been so resistant to learning anything." In the startup world, this manifests as founders who are experts in their technology but resist learning what their customers actually need.
How can we overcome this tendency, build some humility, and become problem-obsessed? Here are four keys:
1. Talk to Real Customers About Their Problems (Before Building Anything)
The most powerful tool in your arsenal is direct customer conversations – not to pitch your idea, but to understand their pain points.
When talking to potential customers, focus your questions on understanding their problems:
Use the "five whys" framework – keep asking "why" to get to the root cause of their problem.
Understand the cost and the pain they incur.
Ask "What's the hardest part about [X]?" instead of pitching your idea
Go deep on understanding specific pain points to understand compensating behavior before suggesting solutions
When Airbnb's founders identified a market need, they went right to people listing on Craigslist. What discovered was more than just a need for a better booking tool. They actually lived with hosts to understand their real struggles, discovering that trust and payment issues were the core problems, not just having a listing platform.
2. Apply Jobs-to-be-Done Theory
Clayton Christensen's Jobs-to-be-Done theory provides a powerful framework: People don't buy products; they "hire" products to do specific jobs in their lives.
Instead of focusing on product features, ask: "What job is my customer trying to get done?" This shifts the conversation from what you want to build to what your customers need to accomplish. By focusing on the job they are hiring you for, you’ll discover new ways to innovate.
My favorite example from the Jobs-to-be-Done theory is customers “hiring” milkshakes to reduce boredom on commutes—even in the morning! Understanding the "job" (keeping a drive occupied on long commutes) opens up many potential solutions beyond just a tasty milkshake.
3. Build Customer Intimacy Through Systematic Learning Approaches
Developing deep customer understanding isn't just about casual conversations. It requires methodical approaches:
Conduct structured customer interviews focused on problems, not solutions
Continue to use the "5 Whys" technique to drill down to root causes
Look for patterns across multiple conversations
Regularly incorporate learning back into the way you ask about the problem
Be willing to pivot when you discover the real problem is different than you assumed
Many founders fear hearing criticism or discovering their initial idea is flawed. But the most successful entrepreneurs view these insights as invaluable data that saves them from building the wrong thing.
4. Transition Smoothly from Problem to Product
Once you've validated that a real problem exists, you can begin translating that understanding into product development:
Create a "Minimum Viable Problem" statement that clearly articulates the pain point before your MVP “Minimally Viable Product.”
Design solutions that directly address that specific problem
Codify and describe the benefits of the solution
Build feedback loops that keep you problem-focused as you develop
Test with real users to ensure your solution actually solves their problem
This can be a fast transition from problem to product. Consider how Dropbox validated their problem before building their product. Instead of spending months developing complex synchronization technology, founder Drew Houston created a simple video demonstrating how the product would work. The overwhelming response confirmed people had the problem of sharing files across devices before a single line of code was written.
Here's your Payoff: When You Nail the Problem, the Product Follows
Some might ask, "What about visionary products? Didn't Steve Jobs create things people didn't know they needed?"
The truth is that the best visionaries still frame innovation around solving problems. Jobs didn't sell the iPod as "a music player with 5GB of storage." He framed it around the customer problem: "Put 1,000 songs in your pocket." This problem-oriented approach left room for creative solutions while staying focused on what users actually cared about.
One additional benefits of problem orientation: it leaves room for pivots. Slack started as a gaming company but pivoted to solve internal team communication pain they experienced themselves. They recognized this was a universal problem across companies and refocused entirely. The result? A $27 billion valuation at acquisition by SalesForce.
Data from Startup Genome shows that startups that pivot once based on problem discovery raise 2.5x more funding than those that remain rigidly attached to their original vision.
If you’re ready to start rethinking a problem first orientation, here's a practical checklist to get started:
Interview at least 10 target customers with no selling – just listening
Ask: "What's your biggest frustration around [X]?"
Test demand with a "fake door" or MVP before building the full product
Reframe your pitch: "We help [X] solve [Y problem] by [Z]"
The journey from idea to successful company isn't a straight line. By falling in love with your customers' problems rather than your initial solution, you build the flexibility, empathy, and market understanding that separates successful startups from the 42% that build products no one wants.
Next time we are going to talk about putting the fast in fail fast. In the meantime, here are a few questions for you to discuss with your team.
Things to consider:
What specific customer problems are we solving today? Can we articulate them clearly without mentioning our product or technology?
When was the last time our executive team spoke directly with customers about their problems (not our solutions)? What did we learn?
If our current solution disappeared tomorrow, what alternative approaches would our customers use to solve their problems?
How do we currently validate that a problem exists before allocating resources to build a solution?
Looking at our product roadmap, which features are driven by customer problems versus internal assumptions or competitive pressures?
Are we measuring how well we're solving the problem, or just product adoption metrics?
What mechanisms do we have in place to pivot when we discover the real problem is different than we initially thought?
How might our current solution be limiting our understanding of the broader problem space?
For our most successful products/features, can we trace them back to specific customer problems we identified?
If we were to start over knowing what we know now, what problem would we focus on solving first?
Until next time, lead with purpose.
Will
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