What happens when you learn to focus on value, not solving a problem
Loved seeing this update from a founder in the S4F Slack community today.
But it does make me kinda angry...
It's 2020. Why are people still out there telling founders to focus on "solving a problem"?
There's no excuse for spouting garbage advice like that any more.
Trending on Indie Hackers
Looks like this founder had a positioning problem, talking features instead of benefits.
Generally the "solve a problem" part comes before that, when someone is still trying to come up with an idea. In that context I don't think it's bad advice.
Yeah, that's exactly the point...
Why did he make the mistake of talking about how well his product solved the problem, instead of communicating the value to customers?
Because he followed the common advice of "solve a problem" when he was in his early 'idea' stage.
At the idea stage, we hear all the time that you should focus on solving a problem, but it's manifestly bad advice.
Customers (normally) don't care how well you solve a specific problem - they care whether you're improving their lives (creating value) or not.
Focussing on solving a problem leads you to make these "features not benefits" mistakes. Because - in the founder's head - "solving the problem" is what the customer cares about.
So - as a founder - don't set out to solve a problem. Set out to create value.
Focusing on solving a problem isn't garbage advice, if you solve someone's problem by that very virtue you will create value.
The rest is all about how you sell it.
Yes.
But "solving someone's problem" and "focussing on solving someone's problem" isn't the same thing.
Take EmailOctopus for example.
What's your main priority?
Creating more value for your customers? Or solving some 'problem'?
Because - no matter how much people on Indiehackers really want them to be the same thing - they aren't.
See, I think we differ here. For a one person Indie Hacker, I genuinely believe it's best to treat their business initially as a single feature, without a grander company or product vision. And a single feature should be as specific as focussing on a problem. I think it's best to get something out of the door for something that you know inside out.
Now, once that v specific problem has been solved – you likely have 5 customers. And with that audience, it's then that you consider how they fit into a grander product vision where you can shift to creating value and growing it.
In our example, we started out with a focus on reducing the prohibitive cost for tech businesses in sending out a monthly newsletter. Focusing on that specific problem allowed us to structure our messaging and marketing in order to build a reputation and customer base.
Yeah, I think we're actually on the same page, just our definition of "problem" is different.
I'd say that's the value you wanted to provide. It isn't a problem per se.
I bet if you asked one of your prospective customers at the time "what's the problem with MailChimp?" they'd have said something like "oh there's no problem - it's just too expensive for us."
You were value focussed from day one. Not trying to do anything new or different - just solve the same problems as MailChimp etc, but cheaper.
I'd say you're actually one of the best examples of how focussing on value (not a problem) can get your sales, marketing and messaging firing better, faster.
I have a feeling it's just casuistry :-\
Soving somebody's problem == giving somebody value.
Give me an example when it's wrong.
UPD I think you are using a little bit wrong description. That founder actually didn't talk about solving a problem, he talked about his product's features and tech what has nothing to do with the "focusing on solving a problem".
Just responding to your update here.
The point I'm trying to get across is that this founder (and many others) made the mistake of "talking about his product's features and tech" because he focussed on solving a problem when he first started thinking about his new business.
Not to be argumentative, but I don't see how you make this leap from the screenshot you posted.
Sorry, I should have made the context/background clearer.
This is someone who I've been teaching how to do sales, and who had really been struggling because they were focussing on problems not value.
This screenshot is basically them coming back after getting into the 'value mindset' and saying "hey, when I started focussing on the value, all these other things improved too!"
Founders can talk about their product's features no matter what caused it. Even when focusing on giving value they can do it wrong. You just mixed several things together that may or may not be connected.
This comment has been voted down. Click to show.
Haha, the same can be said about "giving value" - a founder can misinterpret the advice and focus instead on explaining how the value will be delivered. So, the same, it doesn't have anything to do with the problem you described.
The more common advice would be "Don't focus on how, focus on what - which problem are you trying to solve, or which value are you delivering.
I can't imagine the situation of how you can solve a problem without giving value. Can you? Give us an example!
This comment has been voted down. Click to show.
This analog is pretty incorrect. And you (or, rather that founder) are wrong from the very beginning - he said he focused on solving a problem but it's wrong too, he was focusing on talking about his product's features and ways to solve the problem, but not on the problem or value.
I mean, I was there. I saw what happened firsthand.
But hey, you can lead a horse to water...
You’re a brave man for posting almost the same thing again after how your last “don’t solve their problem” post went down 🙂. I admire the persistence.
Haha thanks! I'm winning over a few people each time ;)
In all seriousness, I'm fortunate to be in a comfortable position where I can afford to tell people what they need to hear, rather than what they want to hear.
I'm here to help, not to sell or inflate my follower count.
can't bring something to market that consumers don't want or need i.e., that's what the problem solves..
the 'problem' that advice speaks to is creating something that needs to exist - consumers want purposeful value, not just value for values sake
That's a very hot take.
Yes it is - thoughts?
I don't really know where to begin 😀
People buy things because they expect to get value from them.
Often, the least-worst way to provide someone with value is to solve a problem (or multiple problems) for them.
But the customer is buying for the value.
imagine you gave your customer a choice, for example...
a) pay me $100 to use my software product that will save you $1000, or
b) pay me $100 and I'll give you $1000 in cash right now
They'll all choose the second option, obviously, because they care about the value not the problem.
From your comment, it sounds like you're finding it difficult to separate 'the problem' and 'the value' from each other in your head. This is super common amongst founders, and one of the main reasons I keep shouting about this stuff :)
That's a good perspective on it.
I still do believe that at the root of everything that can offer any value is something better, more efficient, etc - and that IMO is solving a problem.
a) and b) are good examples to show the difference, though, I see most founders solving a)
But that post is not talking about solving problems.
"I was talking a lot about amazing tech of the product, how it is far better than anything in the market..."
That is just saying ME ME ME. Customers care about THEIR issues. So may be Value add is more important than solving problems but this specific slack screenshot post is not that.
Check out my reply to Zencentric (below).
The point I'm making isn't that the founder was focussing on problems not value on their website.
Instead, I'm explaining why this founder fell into the (very common) trap of talking about "ME ME ME"...
Because - from day one - his 'north star' was to solve a problem, not to create value.
And this has knock on effects which make every aspect of being a founder harder. Like - in this instance - thinking that his customers would want to hear about his product and how well he solved some dry, technological problem. Instead of what they really cared about - how well he could create value for them.
That's what the post shows. That's what founders just don't want to understand for some reason.
ok yes in that case, agreed.
100% agree with you on this Louis. "Traditional" education teaches you to start with the question "what problem do you solve?" (even I've been guilty of it). It's easy to get wrapped around solving a problem, which takes away from creating value.
(Changing decks to read "what value does your product/ service create?)
Hey Louis!
Intriguing idea. How would you go about validating an idea then? That's really something I'd like to understand more about this.
Cheers
You know what would be nice to see? A detailed breakdown for what different customers (SMB, consumer, etc) value (saving time, ROI, etc) and how much.
This comment was deleted 4 years ago.
Why?
I know that's what the common advice is, but it's wrong.
Start by working out what value you want to create for your customers (and how).
Then, work out what 'problems' you need to solve (if any), in order to create that value for your customers.
Less likely to build something nobody wants, more likely to be able to charge more, much easier to do the marketing and sales.
I agree. The Lean Startup was very useful in its context but it has become a bit of a cargo cult for many.
Solving a problem can provide a great deal of value, but it's not the only way. Also, it's easy to fall into a trap of being laser focused on solving a problem that actually doesn't matter as much to the customer as some other things you could do for them.
I feel like The Lean Startup methods became the defacto answer to the "What's the easiest/fastest/most sure fire way to make money with SaaS?" questions. I see a lot of people asking those type of questions and "Solve a problem" is an easy answer to grasp.
Engineers like to follow formulas. I'd love to see a lean startup type piece that lays out creating and validating a business based on value. @louisswiss any suggestions?
I think 30x500 is the closest I've found to a 'framework' approach to creating a business based on value.
In general, my experience has been that there are lots of different ways to go about creating a business. Not one 'best' way.
That's why I'm so interested in this idea of "focus on value not problems".
It's one of the very few pieces of entrepreneurial advice that can be generalised as "this is always a good idea".
Yes, very well put!
It always surprises (and worries) me just how violently so many indie hackers react when I mention this.
None of this should be at all controversial.