What a customer has to fire, so they can hire your solution Everyone says "start with the problem, not the solution." Honestly? That's not great advice. People don't think in problems. They think in solutions. When you're hungry, you don't sit there contemplating hunger. You're already imagining a burger or a pizza. When you're building a product, yes — you need to understand the problem. But that's not enough. You need to know how people are solving it right now. Because that's what they'll compare you to. If you want people to use your solution, they first have to stop using something else. It could be anything. Sure, sometimes it's your direct competitor. Often it's the spreadsheet they're duct-taping together. The pen and paper they're scribbling on. Sometimes it's just the mental note they've been keeping in their head. Before someone can hire your product, they have to fire something. And that's hard. They're comfortable with what they have. They know its quirks. They've built habits around it. That's what's working against you. But they also hate certain things about it — and something about your product caught their attention. That's what's working for you. If you understand both sides — what's pulling them back and what's pulling them forward — you can figure out how to make the switch easier. To uncover this, ask your recent customers three simple questions: 🔹 What were you using before us? 🔹 Why did you fire it — and why did our product catch your eye? 🔹 When did it happen? What was the trigger — the last straw? That third question is the real unlock. It reveals the trigger moment — the thing that turned a vague frustration into action. Don't start with the problem. Start with the solution that needs to be fired — that's how your product or feature gets hired. Thanks to Bob Moesta for the inspiration on this one! This is post 1/8 from my talk at Dev/Hack/Day, 2025