A problem is not a wanting
The product-first spine assumes the wanting is already there. A real problem is not the same as a customer who wants the outcome badly enough to act, and a great solution to an unwanted outcome is still an empty plane.
People hit problems all day and act on almost none of them. You have problems right now you'll never do anything about. A real problem doesn't create demand, wanting an outcome badly enough does. The problem only matters when it's the roadblock between someone and the outcome they already want, their beach.
She had proof. Real, documented proof that her customers had the problem. She'd watched them struggle with it. She'd timed how long it cost them. She'd built something that solved it cleanly.
Nobody bought.
"But the problem is real," she kept saying. And it was. That was never in doubt.
Here's what she'd missed: everyone has that problem, and almost everyone ignores it. It's annoying, not unbearable. It sits on a list of fifty other annoying things people have decided to live with.
A real problem doesn't create demand. Wanting an outcome badly enough creates demand. Her customers had the problem and didn't want the fix badly enough to change anything.
A great solution to an unwanted outcome is still a beautiful plane with no passengers.
A problem is not a wanting. A great solution to an unwanted outcome is still a beautiful plane with no passengers.