Is your product solving a real-world problem?
I was browsing Product Hunt the other day.
So many launches. Cool designs. Polished ideas. But something felt… off.
I think it comes down to this:
Are we building for impact, or just building fast?
Innovation is hard. It’s rare. So instead, we look for gaps inside existing solutions, Like rethinking Loom or Notion.
Some of these products find real traction. But many end up as wrappers.
Neat features, little depth.
And that’s fine, not everything has to change the world.
But the beauty of tech is its ability to solve actual problems.
So here’s my question:
Is your product solving a real-world problem?
If so, I’d genuinely love to hear what it is, and why it matters to you.
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Totally get your point here. I've seen so many AI tools being closed down/discontinued after a year, such a waste of resources. With so many in the market today, companies should really think of what their competitive edge should be.
@ricalgmn Completely agree with what you have to say Rica.
I think it's cool to build and launch wrapper-like stuff only if people are building with the mindset of enjoying the process, and hoping to earn a little cash and understanding that what they're doing isn't solving climate change and hunger etc. Also many people are afraid of #fomo.
So to solve real world problems? That takes time. Deep research. Going down to where it's happening or staying long in labs. Interacting with the real issues. NGOs excel in this area, and startups with deep research and development funding crack on here too.
So solving a real world problem? Yeah sometimes it isn't so costly, could be as little as a website that tracks disease prevalence by country by sourcing data from (hopefully) other open source databases. Many other times, real world problems are so complex - or genuine digital problems can be complex (even if it's just a common web user problem of managing files and tasks). And trying to solve 1 thing could open you up to 7 other blockers. So it's easier to build on small cracks in already existing solutions.
Rough road.
@mirabellemorah Great points Mirabellle, tell me a little bit about growhive, what were you trying to solve and why?
@chaosandcoffee sure thing
Growth strategy: Get customers and donors to trust an organization’s story more (enough to buy and donate)
Motion design services: Reduce shoddy design work, help third sector organisations and impact led startups look good because they do lots of good.
Design fellowship: Train emerging design talents in softskills (business, negotiation, critical thinking) and pair them with expert design mentors from companies like Intercom, etc., then help them access job opportunities.
I worked with lots of NGOs since I was 15/16 and more recently with lots of startups. So I saw first hand how these guys have lots of amazing impact and products but poor budgets or afterthoughts to marketing. For the design fellowship, my first call had 165 applicants and I went with 11 for the first successful cohort. Always a powerful thing to support emerging talents and some under-represented, to access opportunities.
I’ve noticed the exact same, tons of launches feel like polished riffs rather than deep solves. Not to mention redundancies I notice as launches have too sharp of an overlap in their core offerings.
What we’re building (a completely new way for anyone to learn trading & investing) tackles the gap between “learning markets” and actually being able to trade confidently, end-to-end. It matters because most people never make that leap, the system isn’t built to help them simply because there's no system to that end.
@dheerajdotexe Love this, I definitely see myself using this tool. :)