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Find a problem big enough that people want to become your customers now, NOT later.
”Master this box and the right buyer stops saying “neat idea” and starts saying “that’s exactly me — when can I buy?”
Work top to bottom:Start→Do the work→You’re ready
START HERE
You’ve built a vitamin, not a painkiller.
People say “interesting,” “neat,” “cool idea” — never “that’s exactly me, when can I buy?” That’s not a pitch problem. It’s a problem problem, and “later” usually turns into never.
→ Be honest: are you selling a painkiller, or a vitamin?
THE THREE BIGGEST MISTAKES
SKIP
Guess the problem instead of testing candidates — you build on a foundation that isn’t there.
SHORTCUT
Name a problem but never attach a dollar cost — false urgency instead of proven pain.
STUMBLE
Solve it for the user instead of the customer who pays — the buyer never writes a check.
DO THE WORK
Play Problem Bingo™.
Score your problem against the six marks of a problem worth solving:
UrgentPopularGrowingFrequentMandatoryExpensive
3 or more = painkiller1–2 = vitamin
Then prove it in one sentence so specific the right buyer says “that’s me” — the Seven-Part Problem Statement names who has the problem, what it costs them, and why everything they’ve tried falls short.
“Buyers won’t spend $50 to solve a $100 problem. They WILL spend $50 to solve a $500 problem.”
YOU’RE READY
You can state the problem in one sentence — with a dollar cost attached.
When the right buyer hears it and says “that’s me,” you’ve mastered Box 1. Move on to Bifurcation.