Insight certainty 5/5 debate potential 3/5

Startups building products to solve small, rare problems never succeed

Des Traynor · Be Wary of Solving a Small, Rare Problem - Des Traynor of Intercom · Y Combinator · Dec 13, 2017 · at 41:29

Des Traynor, co-founder of Intercom, discusses product strategy frameworks and why founders must evaluate problem severity and frequency before building software.

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“The next piece I would say to people is like, you have to find, you know, be really wary of solving a small, rare problem. You can solve a big problem. You can solve a rare problem. Sorry, you can solve a small problem, fine. A rare problem, fine. But small and rare is just It's never works. I've never, and these products can be effing beautiful.”

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