Build painkillers that solve urgent problems, not vitamins that are nice-to-have
Products that solve painful problems convert better than nice-to-have features. People actively search for pain relief and pay immediately. Vitamins (habit trackers, productivity tools) get users but struggle with monetization because users don't feel urgent need.
When to use
When choosing between product ideas or deciding whether to build a feature. Ask: do people actively search for this solution, or is it just 'nice to have'?
Don't do this
Building products that people think are cool but don't solve a painful enough problem to justify paying. Getting 10K users but making no revenue.
2 Founders Who Did This
Built Habits Garden (vitamin) which got 10K users but little revenue. Shifted to painkillers - products solving specific problems people actively search for. ShipFast solved the painful problem of repeatedly setting up the same boilerplate code.
Built AI tool that solves urgent podcast workflow problem (show notes, content repurposing) that was painful enough Blaine couldn't delegate it