houston, we have a problem (with problems)

My petition to ban the word "problem" from the startup dictionary

“Go find a problem!” the startup books all say.

And so we find a problem. We build a product. Then nobody buys, and we find ourselves hitting our heads against the wall.

“You fool!” the books say, “Here’s what you did wrong: When we said ‘go find a problem’ you interpreted the word ‘problem’ literally. By ‘problem’ we actually meant: A big, urgent, measurable, hair-on-fire problem for which current solutions are inadequate that they are willing to pay to solve and already trying to solve and maybe already are paying for some bad solution to solve it or at very least have budget allocated for it.”

And we grumble to ourselves… “if we need to redefine the word ‘problem’, why do we even use the damn word?”

Problems =/= Demand

I don’t talk about problems.

Here’s why, in a handy Venn diagram:

This is why so many startups build pretty products nobody buys: We build around problems, not “stuff buyers take action on.”

This exact Venn Diagram might be a little dramatic, but it’s clear to me that:

1. Most problems are never actioned. (Life is a series of problems we mostly do nothing about.)

2. Many actions aren’t problem-driven.

This is why the word “problem” is counterproductive. It’s why we need to inject so many modifiers (“big, urgent, measurable” etc.) to make the word “problem” ALMOST helpful. And then, we’re dissecting scripture rather than just figuring out what customers need to take action on.

So what’s better than “problem”? DEMAND! Demand can be defined as: What buyers are trying to achieve. It can be thought of as a project on their Asana board, or a task on their to-do list. Both are ACTIONS. Importantly, ‘demand’ isn’t easily misinterpreted in a way that kills your startup.

So, dear founder: If you, like me, are hitting your head against the wall because you’ve found a big problem, but people aren’t buying…. Change the frame and focus on demand.

As Parker from Jump says, “Come join the cult of demand.” The water’s warm.

(Someone needs to design “Cult of Demand” shirts. As you can see from my ugly Venn Diagrams, that person shouldn’t be me.)