Problem Intelligence
5:00Not all problems are created equal. Some are minor annoyances people live with; others are burning pains they'll pay significant money to solve. The difference between a struggling business and a thriving one often comes down to this: did you solve a problem worth solving?
This briefing will teach you how to identify, evaluate, and prioritize problems based on their potential for building a successful business.
The Problem-First Approach
The most successful businesses don't start with clever solutions—they start with painful problems. When you deeply understand a customer's problem, the solution often becomes obvious. When you start with a solution and go looking for problems, you often end up forcing a fit that doesn't really work.
Evaluating Problem Severity
Use the Pain Scale to evaluate whether a problem is worth solving:
- Latent (Score: 1): People have the problem but don't really notice or care
- Passive (Score: 2): People are aware of the problem but aren't actively seeking solutions
- Active (Score: 3): People are actively looking for solutions but haven't found good ones
- Urgent (Score: 4): People need a solution immediately and will pay premium prices
- Critical (Score: 5): People will do almost anything to solve this problem right now
Customer Discovery
The only way to truly understand customer problems is to talk to them. Customer discovery conversations should focus on understanding the problem, not pitching your solution.
- Ask about their life, not your idea
- Focus on the past, not hypotheticals (what have they done, not what would they do)
- Dig into specifics: When did this happen? What did you do? How much did it cost?
- Listen for emotion: Frustration, anger, resignation are signals of real pain
- Ask about current solutions: What have you tried? What's wrong with existing options?
Quantifying the Opportunity
Beyond severity, consider the scope of the problem:
- Frequency: How often does this problem occur?
- Market Size: How many people or businesses have this problem?
- Willingness to Pay: Are people spending money on solutions now?
- Growth: Is this problem becoming more or less common?
I interviewed 30 potential customers before writing a single line of code. What I learned completely changed my business direction. The problem I thought was most important was actually number 3 on their list. Their real #1 pain point became my product.— Michael P., Navy Veteran, Founder, FleetReady Solutions
Summary
Building a successful business starts with identifying problems worth solving. Use the Pain Scale to evaluate severity, conduct genuine customer discovery conversations, and quantify the opportunity. Focus on problems where people are actively seeking solutions and already spending money or significant time trying to solve them.
Customer Discovery Techniques
Focus on their life, not your idea. Ask about past behavior, not hypotheticals. Listen for emotional signals like frustration or resignation.
- Tell me about the last time you experienced [problem]
- What did you try to do about it?
- What's the hardest part about [problem]?
- What solutions have you tried?
- Strong emotional reactions (frustration, anger)
- Already spending money on partial solutions
- Spending significant time working around the problem
- Have tried multiple solutions without success
- Not all problems are worth solving—focus on level 3+ severity
- Customer discovery is about understanding problems, not pitching solutions
- Look for evidence that people are already trying to solve the problem
- Quantify the opportunity: frequency, market size, willingness to pay