Early-Stage Bitcoin Companies: Talk More About The Problem You Solve
Attention early-stage Bitcoin companies: If you are struggling to grow, you should spend more time talking about the problem your company solves.
Your potential users are most concerned about improving their own lives. So, if they don’t understand the problem you are solving for them, they will not buy your solution.
Trezor, a popular hardware wallet, shows us how to do this. This section is directly “below the fold” of their landing page.
Trezor knows their ideal customer already owns crypto, but it’s likely on an online exchange.
So, they spend valuable real estate on their landing page showing users that if they have crypto on an online exchange — they have a serious security problem.
By explicitly stating the problem, Trezor creates a sense of urgency and anxiety about their potential customers' security situation.
This juxtaposes Trezor perfectly against online exchanges — online exchanges are the problem, and Trezor is here to save the day.
3 Steps To Talk More About The Problem You're Solving
1. Identify Your Problem
If you’re not solving a painful problem, users will not come knocking at your door. Therefore, you must take the time to identify the problem you’re solving. Without understanding your customers' pain, you cannot reach them.
The best way to identify your problem is to talk to users.
Superhuman founder and CEO Rahul Vohra creates a helpful list of questions to ask users in the excellent article How Superhuman Built an Engine to Find Product Market Fit.
1. How would you feel if you could no longer use Superhuman?
2. What type of people do you think would most benefit from Superhuman?
3. What is the main benefit you receive from Superhuman?
4. How can we improve Superhuman for you?
From this set of questions (specifically #3), your users will tell you the problem you’re solving.
In Superhuman’s case, they identified that speed was the main benefit. Talking to users allowed Superhuman to focus on the "a lot of time spent on email" problem, solved by Superhuman's speed.
In my experience, asking users about the main benefit is the best way to "back into the problem." People are better able to identify and describe benefits received rather than problems solved.
2. Simplify the Problem
Once you’ve identified the problem, distill it into a clear, concise message. All messaging benefits from simplicity — can you reduce the problem into a single phrase?
If your messaging focuses on multiple problems, it is likely too complex. Notice question #3 from above — we want users to identify the main benefit (not the top 3 benefits).
For example, Superhuman focuses on speed. Their core users spend too much time on email — Superhuman is therefore the fastest email client. You can see this reflected on their X profile.
3. Repeat the Problem
Y Combinator's famous line "make something people want" teaches an important lesson. There is product risk (make something) and market risk (people want).
People will not want your product if they don't know how it makes their life better — the problem it solves.
Don’t be afraid to remind them about the problem. Especially early on, clearly state the problem that they have and position your company as the solution.
You might think the problem is obvious, but for most people, it's not. Don't be afraid to repeat yourself.
If you're starting a Bitcoin company, you must grow to survive. Without talking about the problem you’re solving, you’re missing out on growth.
So, what’s the problem you’re solving?