NO. 1 Solve a Real Problem

Here’s a scenario…

An entrepreneur builds an app to help people find gourmet coffee while traveling. Beautiful UX. Slick marketing. Burned through $200K. No one used it — because no one needed it. Coffee lovers already had Yelp, Google, and each other.

Meanwhile, a competitor built a clunky SMS-based tool to help people refill prescriptions in rural areas. It looked terrible, but it worked. It solved a real, painful problem — and they scaled into seven figures in under a year.

The difference?

One chased a cool idea. The other solved a meaningful problem.

Business isn’t about invention — it’s about relevance.

When you start by identifying pain points, everything else (product design, messaging, growth) becomes clearer — and more effective.

Rule number one.

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Even the most experienced leaders sometimes fall in love with a solution instead of getting obsessed with the right problem and miss the warning signs that you may be off track.

Here are some red flags you might be solving the wrong problem…

🚩 Customers are customizing your product more than using it as-is.
— They’re adapting it to their real need — not yours.

🚩 Your value proposition takes more than 15 seconds to explain.
— Confusion often means you’re solving something too abstract or irrelevant.

🚩 Your most engaged users aren’t your original target audience.
— You may have discovered a different (and better) problem to solve.

🚩 You’re adding features faster than you’re gaining traction.
— This is often a symptom of solving symptoms, not causes.

🚩Sales teams are improvising workarounds or messaging.
— If they can’t sell it cleanly, the problem may not feel urgent or real to customers.

🚩 The “problem” you’re solving feels theoretical, not felt.
— If it doesn’t show up in their calendar, wallet, or stress level — it’s not urgent.

🚩 User behavior contradicts what they say they want.
— People may tell you the problem, but their actions reveal the real one.

🚩 Customer retention is low, even though satisfaction surveys look good.
— A band-aid solution can earn good reviews — and still miss the mark.

🚩 You’re solving a problem of your past, not your customer’s present.
— Founders often create solutions based on personal pain points — but markets move on.

🚩 You’re focused on differentiation, not relevance.
— Being different doesn’t matter if you’re not solving something real and useful.

🔑 Key Terms for Rule No.1

• Problem-Solution Fit
  The alignment between a clear customer problem and the solution your business offers.
• Minimum Viable Product (MVP)
  The simplest version of a product that allows you to test whether you’re solving a real problem for real users.
• Validated Learning
  Learning grounded in data and user behavior — not assumptions or internal opinions.
• Customer Discovery
  The process of interviewing and observing potential users to uncover what problems actually matter to them.
• Iteration
  Making continuous improvements or pivots based on what you learn — quickly and with minimal waste.
• Early Adopters
  The first group of customers who feel the pain most acutely and are most eager for a solution.
• Vanity Metrics
  Numbers that look impressive (like page views or downloads) but don’t indicate whether you’re solving a meaningful problem.
• Pivot
  A structured course correction designed to test a new hypothesis about the product or business model.

🧱 More Real-World Examples of “solve a real problem” to share with your leadership team

🥿 Zappos – Validating Online Shoe Sales – Instead of investing in inventory, founder Nick Swinmurn tested demand by photographing shoes from local stores and posting them online. When someone bought a pair, he purchased it at retail and shipped it himself. The demand was real—Zappos was born.

📂 Dropbox – Testing Demand with a Simple Video – Before building the product, Dropbox created a short explainer video to demonstrate how it would work. It led to thousands of sign-ups overnight, validating interest before a single line of backend code was written.

🏠 Airbnb – Monetizing Extra Living Space – Struggling to pay rent, the founders hosted guests on air mattresses during a local conference. The experience uncovered a huge demand for affordable, short-term stays—and led to the creation of a hospitality giant.

💳 Stripe – Simplifying Online Payments – Online payments were a developer’s nightmare. Stripe’s founders launched with a few lines of code that made integration effortless. Solving that technical bottleneck made Stripe the go-to platform for startups.

💻 GitHub – Streamlining Code Collaboration – Developers were emailing code back and forth—inefficient and error-prone. GitHub built a collaborative platform around Git, making version control easy and enabling open-source to thrive.

💵 Wagestream – Reducing Financial Stress Between Paychecks – Recognizing that many workers live paycheck to paycheck, Wagestream let employees access earned wages instantly. A simple fix to a widespread problem—and a hit with employers and workers alike.

🧬 Rare Genomics Institute – Connecting Rare Disease Patients with Researchers – After meeting a child with an undiagnosed illness, Dr. Jimmy Lin launched RGI to crowdfund research into rare conditions. They turned one family’s struggle into a platform for thousands.

🎨 Penpot – Bridging the Gap Between Designers and Developers – Designers and developers were often out of sync. Penpot created a collaborative tool both teams could use—solving friction at the root of the product development process.

These Startups Didn’t Guess. They Solved.

Before scaling, these founders took one critical step: they solved a real problem. Whether it was hosting guests during a conference or simplifying a nightmare integration, these companies found pain points and built with purpose. Their stories prove that timeless principles—like solving something real—still drive the most lasting results.

Key Takeaways for business owners

• Build-Measure-Learn Loop
  • Start with a Minimum Viable Product (MVP)—the simplest version of your idea.
  • Release it quickly to test assumptions and gather real-world feedback.
  • Use the data to learn what works and what doesn’t, then iterate.
• Validated Learning
  • Don’t just guess or assume—test hypotheses with customers.
  • Every product, feature, or campaign should contribute to validated learning.
• Pivot or Persevere
  • Be willing to make a pivot (a fundamental change in strategy) if something isn’t working.
  • Or persevere if data shows you’re on the right track—just refine and scale.
• Innovative Accounting
  • Traditional metrics (like vanity metrics) can mislead.
  • Focus on actionable metrics that directly relate to user behavior and product success.
• Continuous Deployment & Split Testing
  • Launch small, frequent changes and test variations (A/B testing) to understand user preferences and behavior.
• Entrepreneurship = Management
  • Startups need a new kind of management system—one focused on agility, learning, and adaptability rather than control and planning.
• Lean Thinking Isn’t Just for Startups
  • Established businesses can use lean principles to innovate internally and launch new products with less waste and better customer alignment.