How to Validate Problems Before Solutions

Teams often implement solutions that do not fix the problem they were trying to address. That's because the issue wasn’t framed correctly in the first place. This is especially true in complex or unfamiliar situations, where quick conclusions feel comforting but are often wrong. When I work with teams on decision-making, I turn to a framework developed by Julia Binder and Michael Watkins. Their E5 approach helps leaders define the right problem before trying to solve it. Phase 1: EXPAND Suspend early judgments and deliberately broaden how the challenge is understood. By exploring multiple interpretations of the issue, teams uncover hidden assumptions, surface blind spots, and create the conditions for more original thinking before jumping to answers. Phase 2: EXAMINE Shift from scope to depth. Teams analyze the problem rigorously, moving beyond visible symptoms to identify behavioral patterns, structural drivers, and underlying beliefs that reveal what is truly at play. Phase 3: EMPATHIZE Center on the perspectives of those most affected by the issue. Through (real) listening and reflection, teams gain insight into stakeholders’ motivations, emotions, concerns, and behaviors, often uncovering needs that data alone cannot reveal. Phase 4: ELEVATE Step back to see how it fits within the broader organization. Viewing the challenge through lenses such as structure, people, power, and culture exposes interdependencies and systemic tensions that shape outcomes. Phase 5: ENVISION Articulate a clear future state and map a path to reach it. Working backward from a shared definition of success, teams prioritize initiatives, sequence efforts, and align resources to move from understanding to execution. I've found that when leaders take the time to frame problems well, they increase the likelihood that those solutions will actually matter. #decisionMaking #leadership #perspective #learning #problems Source: The model is described in more details in this Harvard Business Review article: https://lnkd.in/gAeBb5uT

You don’t need a product to test your side hustle. You need proof someone will pay for it. The biggest mistake I see people make? Quitting their job for an unvalidated idea. After helping launch multiple businesses (and watching countless fail), I've learned: Success leaves clues. Validation creates confidence. Smart testing beats blind faith. Swipe → for my battle-tested validation framework. How to Validate Your Side Hustle 📝 The 3-List Test ↳ Your Skills ↳ Market Demands ↳ What People Pay For ✓ Ideas must hit all 3 circles to proceed 🔍 The 24-Hour Survey ↳ Ask 10 potential customers ↳ "What's your biggest challenge with X?" ✓ If 7/10 share same pain point, continue 💰 The Price Check ↳ "Would you pay $X for a solution?" ↳ Start high, negotiate down ✓ Target: 3 people commit real money 👥 The Competition Scan ↳ No competition = No market ↳ Too much = Need unique angle ✓ Find 3 competitors making real money ⏳ The Weekend Test ↳ Launch MVP in 48 hours ↳ No coding, just manual work ✓ Get 1 paying customer before scaling 📈 The Platform Play ↳ Test on existing marketplaces ↳ Use others' traffic first ✓ 10 sales prove initial concept 🏗️ The Scale Check ↳ Calculate hours vs. revenue ↳ Project 6-month growth ✓ Need 3x your hourly rate to scale Red Flags: • "Everyone" is your customer • Can't explain it in 10 seconds • Requires huge upfront investment • No one's actively searching for it Green Lights: • Specific audience with money • Clear, urgent problem • Can start solo, scale with team • Existing market, unique angle Your first idea rarely wins. Your first customer changes everything. Which validation step are you on? Share below ⬇️ ♻️ Repost to help other creators ➕ Follow Kabir Sehgal for more business frameworks

Problemeering: Engineering the Problem Before the Solution What is it? Problemeering (problem + engineering) is the art and science of identifying, defining, and framing problems so they can be solved more creatively and efficiently. Why it matters Many product launches, business strategies, and even personal projects flop because they target the wrong problem or never define one at all. Problemeering helps you: • Understand the real issue • Avoid premature “band‑aid” fixes • Uncover root causes and hidden opportunities • Frame challenges in a way that sparks breakthrough ideas Key steps Observe & Empathize – Listen to users and spot pain points. Define – State the core problem in one crisp sentence. Reframe – Challenge every assumption: “Is this really the problem?” Explore Context – Map the ecosystem, constraints, and stakeholders. Ask “How might we…?” – Turn the problem frame into innovation prompts. Quick example Late‑delivery complaints in a food‑delivery app. Instead of jumping straight to route optimization, a problemeering mindset asks: • Are customer expectations realistic? • Does the UI overpromise delivery times? • Are restaurants accepting orders they can’t fulfill? Addressing these upstream issues often fixes “late deliveries” more effectively than tweaking maps alone. Origin Not yet in the dictionary it just reminds us: engineer the problem first, then engineer the solution.

9 out of 10 student projects die because they solve problems nobody has. Your project might be one of them because you’re building something nobody needs. So before you waste weeks building the wrong thing… here’s how to validate your idea in 48 hours: 1. Use the "Explain it to Your Mom" Test If you can't explain your idea in one sentence to someone outside your field, it isn't clear yet. Try it with your mom, sibling, or a random friend. If they're confused, refine it. 2. Talk to 10 people who actually have this problem Not your friends. Real people with the actual pain point. Find them on Discord, Reddit, campus clubs. Ask how they solve this now and if they'd pay for something better. If they don't care so much, move on. 3. Fake a landing page for a product that doesn't exist Build a simple page explaining what your product does. Add a waitlist button. Post it in relevant communities. If 50+ people sign up in 48 hours without you begging them, that's your signal. 4. Offer to solve it manually This is the step most people skip. Before building anything, offer to do it by hand for free or cheap. If people won't let you solve it manually, they won't use your product either. When I built QuizBee, 500+ students had the same issue. That's why it worked. Most student builders jump straight into building something because it is fun. Validation isn’t fun - but it saves months of wasted work. If you're working on an idea right now, have you validated it - or are you just excited about building it? #builders #startups #founders #students

I've talked founders out of millions of dollars of software. Here's why I consider it to be part of my job. Many first-time founders fall into this same trap:   They have an interesting idea for a product,  They never validate that idea in any way, But they develop the solution anyhow, Blow through all their resources, And then ultimately discover, they should have taken a completely  different  angle. → Before diving into months of design and development  and investing tens of thousands of dollars, do this: 1. Validate your idea:    ↳ Ensure there’s a demand for what you’re building.   ↳ Talk to any potential customers.    ↳ Understand their problems.       2. Ask these magic product questions:    ↳ Can I 'simulate' my app with off-the-shelf tools and elbow grease?   ↳ Is there something I could white-label as a proof of concept?    ↳ If I had to make this product today, how would I do it?   ↳ Would a clickable prototype be a better first step?       3. Start selling early:    ↳ Offer a basic version of your service.    ↳ It doesn’t need to be perfect.    ↳ Try and get paid for it.    ↳ Feedback is gold.      Getting right to building might seem like the obvious action, but be careful;  it's often a Trojan Horse to inaction. It can make you hit pause on getting answers to some very important questions,  and delay other aspects of launching your business, Skip the coding marathon → Start the customer validation sprint! 🚀 P.S. I only write this because I've made the mistake myself (repeatedly). Has this ever happened to you? 😬

Most strategies don’t fail later. They fail early.  When we skip the problem and jump to the solution. Think New Coke, Quibi, and every rushed rebrand. Prescriptions before diagnosis. So you only end up treating the symptoms and not finding out root causes. But diagnosing can be messy. Interviews, fieldwork, awkward truths, so we skip it. And then we wonder why the pain comes back—because we never treated the cause. Last week I gave my students a question set to stop that. Simple R→P→I→E funnel + cascading questions that keep us from over-complicating, forgetting research, or sprinting to solutions. I wrote them out here too, in case you can’t read my handwriting 🤣 (R) Research What’s the real problem? (Not the symptom.) Who’s the audience? (Be specific.) What do they believe / do now? (The default.) What info would move them? (What would change their mind?) (P/S) Planning / Strategy How will we tell them? (Story, not slogan.) What will we tell them? (Message hierarchy.) Where will we tell them? (Channels they already trust.) (I) Implementation Show the thing. (First tactic / prototype we’ll ship.) (E) Evaluation How will we measure? (One lead metric, one lag metric, a reset rule.) I think of it like this. R (Research) = Find the problem/opportunity. P (Planning/Strategy) = Choose the change. I (Implementation) = Show the thing. E (Evaluation) = Measure & learn. A couple ways to win here, using this framework: ↘️ Stage-gate the questions. No moving on until the current one is answered with evidence. Add a tiny “definition of done” (what proof counts), an owner, and a timebox. Park guesses; promote only what’s validated. ↘️ Include primary research, even on a budget. Get first-party signals: 5–7 short interviews, quick intercepts, call-listening, support transcripts, site polls, unmoderated tests. Interviews are my favorite. ↘️ Always think of your audience as a community that your brand/business connects with instead of a segment to just be studied. Design with, not at. Communities surface stakes, language, and vetoes segments miss. Of course there are nuances, and more questions,etc. But I have found that this is a great way to not skip some of the key questions that keep you out of solutioning before identifying the problem or opportunity you have. Anyone else using the RPIE framework?

“The customer is always right.” Right? Well… yes. But not in the way you might think. In Customer Success, we hear this phrase all the time. And while I do believe the customer is always right, it’s not because we should say yes to every request or scramble to build every feature they mention. It’s because they’re right about the pain. They’re right about the friction, the gaps, the confusion. But they might not be right about the solution 😬 That’s where we come in. The magic happens when you go beyond the request and uncover the real problem. Because here’s the truth: Most feature requests are symptoms. Our job as CSMs is to diagnose the cause. Let’s say a customer says: “We need a new page on our dashboard” Now here’s the classic trap: CSM: “Sure! Let me request this for you. I’ll add it to the roadmap!” WRONG APPROACH! 🙅♀️ Here’s why: jumping straight to a solution without understanding the why behind the request leads to misaligned expectations and, most likely, frustration down the road. Instead, here’s a better approach - a simple 3-step process I use often: 1️⃣ Step 1: Validate the request... but don’t commit yet + hypothesize the underlying need The customer is raising something important. Acknowledge it, but leave room for discovery… after all, you suspect what they want isn’t a new page - they want easier access to a specific piece of data. So you need test that theory. CSM: “Thanks for surfacing this - if I sent you that data weekly, or gave you a shortcut to it, would that help for now? This serves three purposes: 1. Keeps the conversation open and shows you’re here to understand, not just execute 2. It gives them an immediate sense of support and momentum 3. Helps you figure out whether this is about UI structure or data accessibility 2️⃣ Step 2: Dig into the “why” Now that you’ve tested a quick fix, it’s time to zoom out. CSM: “What’s driving the need for that data? What decision or action depends on it?” This is where you uncover gold 🌟 The real issue might not be visibility - it could be workflow-related, team reporting pressure, or something else entirely. And that’s what you really need to solve. 3️⃣ Step 3: Collaborate on the right path forward Once you understand the root of the request, you’re in a much stronger position to propose a better solution or bring a well-informed case to your product team, if needed. —— Our job as CSMs is not just to collect feedback. It’s to interpret it. To ask follow-up questions. To uncover the why behind the what. One of my favorite lines from a recent post by Sagan Schultz, MD, MBA at Linear says it perfectly (link in comments): “The most valuable skill in product development lies in understanding what remains unsaid, beyond the explicit feedback.” The same applies to CS. Great relationships are built not by reacting to what’s said - but by listening closely enough to hear what isn’t.

Imagine spending months building a product, only to hear crickets at launch. 😱 Before coding, ask yourself: “𝘏𝘢𝘷𝘦 𝘐 𝘢𝘤𝘵𝘶𝘢𝘭𝘭𝘺 𝘷𝘢𝘭𝘪𝘥𝘢𝘵𝘦𝘥 𝘵𝘩𝘢𝘵 𝘱𝘦𝘰𝘱𝘭𝘦 𝘸𝘢𝘯𝘵 𝘵𝘩𝘪𝘴?” I once stopped a founder who wanted us to develop his product from diving into development too soon: “𝘎𝘰 𝘨𝘦𝘵 𝘱𝘳𝘰𝘰𝘧 𝘧𝘪𝘳𝘴𝘵.” So, instead of us jumping directly into coding, He tested the idea with a 𝗹𝗮𝗻𝗱𝗶𝗻𝗴 𝗽𝗮𝗴𝗲 & 𝗿𝗲𝗮𝗹 𝗰𝗼𝗻𝘃𝗲𝗿𝘀𝗮𝘁𝗶𝗼𝗻𝘀 and discovered critical tweaks that saved months of effort. 🔥 𝟲 𝗪𝗮𝘆𝘀 𝘁𝗼 𝗩𝗮𝗹𝗶𝗱𝗮𝘁𝗲 𝗮𝗻 𝗠𝗩𝗣 𝗘𝗮𝗿𝗹𝘆: ✅ 𝗧𝗮𝗹𝗸 𝘁𝗼 𝗣𝗼𝘁𝗲𝗻𝘁𝗶𝗮𝗹 𝗨𝘀𝗲𝗿𝘀 - Skip assumptions. Five real conversations reveal more than weeks of guesswork. ✅ 𝗟𝗮𝗻𝗱𝗶𝗻𝗴 𝗣𝗮𝗴𝗲 𝗧𝗲𝘀𝘁 – Create a simple page & see if people sign up. Buffer’s founder validated demand this way! ✅ 𝗗𝗲𝗺𝗼 𝗩𝗶𝗱𝗲𝗼 𝗼𝗿 𝗣𝗿𝗼𝘁𝗼𝘁𝘆𝗽𝗲 – Show value before building. Dropbox’s MVP was just a 3-min video—75K signups followed! ✅ “𝗪𝗶𝘇𝗮𝗿𝗱 𝗼𝗳 𝗢𝘇” 𝗧𝗲𝘀𝘁𝗶𝗻𝗴 – Manually deliver the service while users think it’s automated. If they love it, build later. ✅ 𝗧𝗲𝘀𝘁 𝗪𝗶𝗹𝗹𝗶𝗻𝗴𝗻𝗲𝘀𝘀 𝘁𝗼 𝗣𝗮𝘆 – Pre-orders, deposits, or dummy “Buy Now” buttons reveal real demand. ✅ 𝗠𝗮𝗿𝗸𝗲𝘁 𝗥𝗲𝘀𝗲𝗮𝗿𝗰𝗵 & 𝗖𝗼𝗺𝗽𝗲𝘁𝗶𝘁𝗼𝗿 𝗜𝗻𝘀𝗶𝗴𝗵𝘁 – If people actively seek solutions but remain unsatisfied, you’ve found a gap. 🎯 𝗕𝗲𝘀𝘁 𝗣𝗿𝗮𝗰𝘁𝗶𝗰𝗲: Set a validation benchmark. Example: “20%+ 𝘴𝘪𝘨𝘯-𝘶𝘱𝘴 𝘰𝘯 𝘮𝘺 𝘭𝘢𝘯𝘥𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘱𝘢𝘨𝘦 = 𝘨𝘳𝘦𝘦𝘯 𝘭𝘪𝘨𝘩𝘵 𝘵𝘰 𝘱𝘳𝘰𝘤𝘦𝘦𝘥.” 𝗙𝗼𝘂𝗻𝗱𝗲𝗿𝘀 – 𝗵𝗼𝘄 𝗱𝗼 𝘆𝗼𝘂 𝘃𝗮𝗹𝗶𝗱𝗮𝘁𝗲 𝘆𝗼𝘂𝗿 𝗠𝗩𝗣 𝘂𝗽𝗳𝗿𝗼𝗻𝘁?  Share your best hacks! Your tip could save someone from building something nobody wants. 💡🚀

I love how much enthusiasm and interest came from my last post on Jobs-to-Be-Done. But before diving into frameworks, I want to rewind and talk about some key fundamentals when it comes to customer discovery interviews. Because here’s what I’ve seen over and over again: Teams and founders get excited about an idea. They talk to people and show their prototype. People are kind and encouraging. And suddenly…it feels like validation. But polite nods and positive reactions aren’t actual validation. If you’re working on something new, your first job is to validate the problem, not the solution. And when you’re looking to validate the problem, here are some things to keep in mind: 1. Ask about the past Don’t ask people to imagine the future. Start with: “Tell me about the last time you …” That’s where the truth lives. When people are asked to predict the future, they’re often wrong. It’s Friday — did your week go exactly as you had predicted? 2. Avoid leading questions Skip the yes/no. Skip assumptions. People are often agreeable and may say “yes” — even when it’s not a real pain point. ❌ “Do you struggle with organizing student data?” ✅ “Walk me through how you organize student data today.” As they go through their story and you dig in, that's how you find the real struggle moments. 3. Dig into their story Don’t stick to a script. Get more context around the situation and follow the emotion. Bob Moesta calls it “following the energy” — when you hear a shift in tone or a moment that clearly mattered. Ask follow-ups like: “What happened next?” “Where were you? Who else was involved?” “What else have you tried?” That’s where the real insights live. 4. Look for signs of workarounds Spreadsheets, post-its, manual processes — all signs of friction. It’s in these struggle moments that valuable problems often appear. 5. Don’t pitch. Stay curious. Your mindset should be more like a journalist than a salesperson. You’re trying to understand, not convince. Be surprised. Be open to your assumptions being wrong. The Mom Test by Rob Fitzpatrick is a great getting started resource around this topic with even more tips. I’ll dive into JTBD frameworks soon, but this is the foundation that makes any customer discovery interviews more effective—especially when you’re building something new and innovative. Any others you’d add? #CustomerDiscovery #ProductDiscovery #JTBD #CustomerInterviews

Everyone chases a “gap in the market”. The better question: “Is there a market in that gap”? After scaling several ventures I can tell you: white space doesn't equal demand. • Short vid platform Quibi raised $1.75B → gone in 6 months • Juicero → “solved” a $700 smoothie problem no one had • Google Glass dazzled with tech → fizzled with users At Tandem, we did one thing before writing a line of code: Immersed ourselves in the lives of the people we wanted to serve. • I interviewed 400+ pet parents → on sidewalks, at parks, in vet lobbies • Spent months as a clinic admin → handling calls, emails, medical records • Saw real workflows, frustrations, and dropped balls up close • I built an online forum where we could listen at scale We weren’t looking for nice-to-haves. We were listening for pain. And we heard it. Pet parents loved their vets. But hated acting as project managers for their pet’s health. Scheduling. Records. Meds. Follow-ups. They were drowning in fragmentation. That’s when we knew there wasn’t just a gap. There was demand. There was pain. The validation framework we used: 1) Talk to 100+ ideal customers ↳ Listen with empathy. Observe closely. Identify patterns. 2) Quantify the pain ↳ How much time, money, stress is it costing them? 3) Test willingness to pay ↳ Interest is easy. Dollars are proof. 4) Launch something minimal ↳ We started with a simple mobile clinic and routine services 5) Let real customers reshape the model ↳ Every iteration was shaped by direct conversations, not assumptions Ideas get applause. Validated pain gets adoption. A gap in the market is just theory, until enough people pay to climb out of it. That’s how you know there’s a real market in the gap. And that’s where the true work begins.