Dear Founder, Validate Urgency; Not just the Problem

As founders, we often hear about the importance of validating the problems we're solving for our target audience. But there's another crucial aspect that’s often overlooked: validating the urgency of those problems. I've made this mistake a couple of times while building Fulcrum, and looking back, urgency should have been the most crucial piece to validate. In this blog post, we'll explore why urgency matters in problem validation and how prioritizing it can make a significant difference in the success of your startup.

Validating a problem involves identifying a pain point or need that your target customers have. Most founders start their startups with a problem statement, often rooted in their own experiences or observations of others. For example, I started Fulcrum to create a product-led growth platform for B2B SaaS companies, having experienced the pain of building a similar platform at my previous employer. However, simply recognizing a problem isn't enough. You also need to assess how urgently it needs to be addressed. Urgency adds a time dimension to the problem, highlighting whether it's a pressing issue that demands immediate attention or not. In Fulcrum's case, I discovered that while many target customers acknowledged the problem we aimed to solve, it wasn’t urgent enough to be a top priority for them.

Urgency is a critical factor in startup success for several reasons. If the problem isn't urgent for the target persona, the startup needs an immediate pivot or will eventually fail. When people are feeling the immediate pain, they will be more engaged, proactive, and willing to invest time in finding a solution. At Fulcrum, as we got closer to addressing an urgent problem, we noticed a significant shift in customer behavior. Rather than us chasing after them, they reached out to us, brought in their managers for discussions, and scheduled in-depth meetings to explore how we could alleviate their pain. Focusing on urgent problems also helps prioritize efforts and resources effectively, maximizing impact in the market.

Validating urgency is challenging, especially for first-time founders. You can assess urgency through a combination of questions during discovery calls and signals outside those calls. During discovery calls, ask questions like:

• Where does solving this problem lie on your priority list?
• Who else in the company cares about solving this issue?
• When can you start using the solution?

Outside discovery calls, look for additional signals:

• Constant rescheduling of meetings
• Follow-ups after discovery meetings
• Delays in initial installation
• Involvement of additional team members in meetings
• Scheduling of follow-up meetings

Unfavorable outcomes to these may indicate a lack of urgency, suggesting that your time might be better spent elsewhere.

Validating urgency is subjective and can be influenced by individual circumstances or biases. It's crucial to approach the validation process with an open mind and be willing to adapt based on new information.

Founders should validate both the problem and the urgency before moving forward. Otherwise, you risk wasting time on something that won’t work. Learn from my mistakes—prioritize urgency alongside problem validation!