💡 Quote I'm pondering

"Founders often hold too tightly onto solutions and too loosely onto problems. The problem, i.e. the market, is the real opportunity.” - Taken from a lecture on “The real product-market fit” by Y Combinator

What do Airbnb, Stripe, Coinbase, DoorDash, Dropbox, Instacart, Twitch, HumbleBundle, 9GAG, GitLab, Product Hunt, Zapier, and Reddit have in common? They are all Y Combinator companies.

When Y Combinator speaks, it is sensible to listen.

This quote reminds me of something I see in clients all the time - they are often reluctant to adapt their offer and/or their business model to customer needs.

I have experienced this problem myself - another one of my companies, ZeroSmart, was started with the core focus on helping the environment by offering subscriptions for individuals. Within a few months it became apparent that what the market really wanted was two things: a way to buy zero-waste environmentally friendly gifts for individuals, and a way for small businesses to reach their net zero goals (both via subscriptions and one off purchases). We stubbornly stuck to our solution too long, rather than adapting to better solve the problem. This cost us tens if not hundreds of thousands of pounds (£). I learned first-hand to be much more problem focused.

Now, I often help clients go through this exact situation in their business. I help people shortcut the process, to dial in their offer to better solve the problem, and make much more money much more easily and much more quickly.

Is your offer truly optimised to solve the problem?Or is it a solution that you had originally “guessed” a while back that you’re stubbornly hanging on to?

I shared this in my Work Smart Wednesday newsletter. Want the full set of related insights? You can read them here: https://worksmartwednesday.substack.com/p/work-smart-wednesday-july-24-2024

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