1 out of 3 startups shut down because they launch a product that no one needs.

And that's not (just) my opinion 🤷.

35% of startups fail because there was NO MARKET NEED for their product.

Crazy right?

But that is the case.
And once you work in the startup world... it doesn't sound crazy at all.

It's a major way founders operate in.

Just this week I talked to FIVE different founders on Ruya discovery calls.

I asked them to take me through their vision, their ideal audience and the critical problem they are tackling.

I found myself saying the exact same thing to each of them:

Have you talked to your audience to build from their needs?

...

❌ Nope.

Mind you these are people that had wireframes ready, mockups drawn up, some were already hiring to launch.

Many have been simmering their startup idea for YEARS.

But no one had spent the time to figure who their audience was, and what their critical needs were.

Now you might be reading this and saying:
OBVIOUSLY, they should talk to their audience and figure their needs first.

But things aren't as black and white when you are knee-deep into your startup.

So why do they skip this step?

In my experience, it's either:

(1) They assume they know what the audience wants.​
​What is critical for them as founders is automatically critical for their audience.

(2) They get too wrapped up in building.​
And that's a lot of fun.

Coding, wire-framing, outlining features, having product chats, designing brand identity.

TONS of fun.

But is it needed? Is it CRITICAL to success?

(3) Their enthusiasm gets the best of them.​
Founders love their ideas. They LOVE them. And you can't let go of what you love.

Worse? if you've been in love with your idea for two years or more. Good luck convincing that guy to change course.

(4) Laziness kicks in.​
I'm not saying founders are lazy.

I'm saying that working on my own is much easier, and much less cognitive load, say than finding strangers and talking to them.

"So let me work on my own for a while".

For any of these reasons, founders skip the critical step to build what users need.

They just build what they want to build.

And then you get to a point, two to three years later, where you shut down, because you simply built this amazing product that no one wanted.

You can check the Humane AI launch as an example for this.

Now.

What should YOU do to avoid the reason why 1/3 of startups fail?

YOU should talk to your audience and start from there. SIMPLY.

Let me take you through how to build a POWERFUL foundation for your startup:

(1) 🦸 Build your ideal audience profile

Take the time to think who your audience is. Who are you trying to help? Who can you best address with a solution?

A few points here:

The audience is usually the paying customer.​
It's EXTREMELY rare to build for a user that doesn't pay.

Unless you are a media platform. And that's a bloodbath right now.

So don't make the mistake of building for non-paying users.

Follow the money.

You should start with ONE AUDIENCE​
No "one-stop shop", "no end-to-end", no "we are for everyone" jargon.

Building for everyone is really building for no one.

Find a specific high value audience you can monetize. Build for them. Get them on-board.

That's already EXTREMELY hard.

If you've succeeded with that (and the numbers are not on your side), then expand to another audience.

Drill down on a SPECIFIC AUDIENCE
​Again, don't fall into the "general" trap.

"We are an app for anyone that likes food".

Good luck building for those guys.

Try instead:

"We are an app that provides a home for millennial foodies who eat out 3-5 times a week, and organize their travels around the restaurants they want to find around the world".

That sounds MUCH more addressable.

(2) 💬 Talk to your audience profile

Now that you know who is the audience you're after, time to let THEM tell you what THEY need.

And not the other way around.

To do this:

Build an interview script
​Prepare a few questions (usually 5 OPEN ENDED ones) to ask your audience.

Remember! you want to know about them, not ask them if they want your product.

Here's a handy guide on how to think through your user interview questions.

Recruit 3 to 5 prospective customers to discuss​
Aim for a 40-60 min discussion. Ask generative questions and ALWAYS FOLLOW UP.

"What was the worst banking experience you ever had?"
​Follow-up: "Tell me more about what happened that day?"
​Follow-up: "Why do you think that angered you so much?"
​Follow-up: "What should have happened then instead?"
etc.

(3) 💎 Sift through those interviews for gems

Now comes the fun part.

If you've done a good job talking to your users, you hit on some gems that you should explore.

These are either:

(1) Moments of tension and anger that can be resolved by a great solution
​(2) Moments of joy and delight that can be brought in with a great solution

Try to pinpoint an opportunity large enough to be addressed, specific enough to solve, and critical enough to build a great solution for.

Once you've done ALL OF this.

You get to building.

Happy building founders.
Majd

P.S: Need some help with your startup? Here is what we can do together:

• Want support on running great user interviews? Want to figure out how to launch quickly and iterate your solution? Let's chat.
• Want to see what people think of us? Check out our wall of love.
• Follow me on LinkedIn for daily tips, sparks and inspiration that helps you on your founder journey.

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