The Founder’s Blind Spot: Solving Problems Your Customer Doesn’t Know They Have
The biggest killer of early startups isn’t competition, it’s building for a need that isn’t felt.
If you want to see a founder get uncomfortable, ask them one question:
“Do customers feel this problem or are you the only one who does?”
Most early-stage startups don’t fail because the idea is bad.
They fail because the founder is solving something logically important but emotionally irrelevant.
Here’s the harsh truth:
Customers don’t buy solutions to true problems.
They buy solutions to felt problems.
There’s a massive difference.
And it’s the blind spot that kills early startups.
1. “True Problems” vs. “Felt Problems”
A true problem is something you know your customer deals with.
You can see it clearly, explain it logically, and even map it in a spreadsheet.
A felt problem is something your customer wakes up thinking about.
It interrupts their day.
It stresses them out.
It costs them time, money, or pride.
True problems get nods.
Felt problems get wallets.
If your customer doesn’t feel the urgency, you don’t have a business, you have a hypothesis.
2. Founders Fall in Love With Pain That Isn’t Painful
Founders often mistake interesting insights for painful realities.
You observe inefficiencies.
You see friction.
You spot “opportunities.”
So you think:
“There’s got to be a better way.”
Maybe.
But that doesn’t mean customers care.
Customers don’t change behavior because things could be better
they change when the cost of staying the same becomes unbearable.
If your product requires customers to “realize” they have a problem, you’re in trouble.
3. Ask This One Question to Expose the Truth
Here’s the single most effective question to determine if a problem is felt:
“What happens if they don’t solve it?”
If the answer is:
“Not much.”
“They’ll be slightly annoyed.”
“It would be nice to fix, but…”
…it’s not a felt problem.
A felt problem sounds like:
“It costs us thousands every month.”
“I lose sleep over this.”
“My boss keeps bringing it up.”
“We’ve tried five solutions, none worked.”
Felt problems come with urgency, budget, and emotional weight.
4. Why Founders Misjudge Urgency
(1) You’re too close to the problem
You see complexity your customer doesn’t.
(2) You overestimate rational behavior
People don’t buy what’s logical, they buy what’s painful.
(3) You assume customers want better
They don’t.
They want easier.
(4) You talk to people who want to be nice, not honest
Polite opinions are the enemy of traction.
6. The Fix: Build for Pain You Can Feel, Not Pain You Infer
Here’s the shift:
Don’t build for what makes sense.
Build for what hurts.
Don’t solve problems customers should care about.
Solve ones they already care about.
Your job isn’t to convince people a problem matters,
it’s to locate the people already hunting for relief.
That’s where momentum lives.
That’s where traction begins.
Closing Thought
Your startup’s success won’t be determined by how brilliant your solution is
it will be determined by how urgently your customer wants the problem solved.
Ask yourself today:
“Am I solving something painful, or something polite?”
The difference between the two is the difference between traction and a very expensive science project.