How To Identify A Problem Worth Solving
A great product is a function of identifying a worthwhile problem and meaningfully solving that problem.
Michael Seibel, CEO and Partner at Y Combinator, shared the lessons he’s learned from seeing thousands of startups over the last decade on the Investor Field Guide podcast a few months ago. In the episode (23:00–28:00), Seibel discussed the questions he encourages founders to think of when considering a problem area to focus on. This guide can serve to gauge how significant a problem is for a given user base to ultimately determine where you should focus your efforts.
- Frequency — how often does your customer experience this problem?
- Intensity — how painful is this problem to your customer?
- Willingness to pay — how much is your customer willing to pay to make this problem go away?
Why frequency, intensity, and willingness to pay? The frequency will dictate how often a customer might use your solution. The intensity will dictate the demand for your solution and how strongly a customer might seek it out. The willingness to pay will drive how much you can charge for a solution.
Seibel also cautions that many people fall into a trap of not recognizing who their primary customer is. Using Airbnb as an example, he mentions that although a traveler’s pain…
