What Problem Does Your Product Actually Solve?

"What does your product do?"

Most founders answer with features. "It syncs your calendar. It integrates with Slack. It has AI-powered suggestions."

That's not what the question was asking.

Features Are Not Problems

Features are what your product does. Problems are what your users struggle with.

Calendar sync is a feature. "I miss meetings because my calendars don't talk to each other" is a problem.

Users don't buy features. They buy solutions to problems. The features are just the mechanism.

"People don't want a quarter-inch drill. They want a quarter-inch hole."

Theodore Levitt's insight from 1960 remains the foundation of product marketing. Technology has changed. Human motivation hasn't.

The Ladder of Abstraction

Problems exist at different levels:

Functional: "I can't find last week's notes." The task-level frustration. Concrete and immediate.

Emotional: "I feel disorganized and it's stressing me out." The feeling behind the task. Deeper and more motivating.

Identity: "I'm the kind of person who has their life together." Who they want to be. The deepest motivator of all.

All three are real. The higher you go, the more resonant the problem.

Selling note-search is functional. Selling peace of mind is emotional. Selling the feeling of being organized is identity.

"The best messaging addresses all three levels but leads with emotion or identity."

Donald Miller's Building a StoryBrand makes this explicit: "Customers don't generally care about your story; they care about their own. Position your product as a guide that helps them become the hero of their story."

Finding the Real Problem

Ask these questions:

What frustration does the user have before they find you? Frustration precedes search. What are they frustrated about?

What do they complain about to friends? Complaints reveal unmet needs.

What have they tried that didn't work? Failed solutions reveal the persistent problem.

What moment makes them realize they need something different? The trigger moment is often the truest articulation of the problem.

The answers reveal the problem. Often, it's not what you expected.

Slack discovered their problem wasn't "better communication." It was "I don't know what's happening on my team." That insight changed how they positioned.

The "So They Can" Test

Write your problem statement. Add "so they can" at the end.

"Indie builders' products look generic" — so they can... what?

"...so they can stop looking like every other AI-built MVP and feel proud of what they shipped."

"The 'so they can' part is often more powerful than the problem itself."

The problem is the symptom. The "so they can" is the aspiration. Aspirations drive purchases more than symptoms.

Example: Vox Animus

Surface problem: "My product doesn't have consistent branding."

Deeper problem: "I shipped something real but it looks like a template and it's embarrassing."

Deepest problem: "I know my product deserves better but I don't know how to make that happen."

Each level goes deeper into emotion. The deepest level is where connection happens.

The marketing that works says: "You shipped something. It works. But it looks like every other AI-built MVP."

That's uncomfortable because it names a painful truth. That's why it works.

Articulating the Problem in Copy

Don't hide the problem. State it clearly.

Basecamp: "It doesn't have to be crazy at work." The problem (work is often crazy) is explicit.

Superhuman: "The fastest email experience ever made." The implied problem (email is slow) is clear.

Linear: "The issue tracking tool you'll enjoy using." The implied problem (existing tools aren't enjoyable) lands.

"Customers recognize themselves in the problem. Recognition creates trust. Trust leads to action."

The Problem Interview

If you're unsure about your problem, interview five customers.

Ask: 1. What were you doing before you found us? 2. What wasn't working about that? 3. What did you try that didn't solve it? 4. What made you look for something new? 5. How would you describe the problem to a friend?

Use their words. Their language is more authentic than your marketing-speak.

Lock the Problem Before the Solution

Before you finalize any marketing copy, lock the problem statement.

What exactly is the frustration? What are the words they use to describe it? What emotion accompanies it?

Write: - The functional problem (task level) - The emotional problem (feeling level) - The identity problem (aspiration level)

Once the problem is locked, the solution messaging writes itself.

"Features explain the mechanism. The problem explains the why."

Solve the problem. Let the features follow.

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Ready to articulate your problem? Try the Vox Animus demo to define your positioning from problem to solution.