Why Customers Ignore Your “Brilliant” Solution

A single foundational assumption underpins every business.

We assume that our job is to solve a problem for a customer. And the better our solution, the more successful we'll be. But this overlooks the most critical question: is the problem worth solving?

The truth is, not all problems are equal. Focusing on the wrong one often results in failure.

The difference between a nice-to-have and a necessity depends on the problem you solve.

The Leaky Faucet Trap

The most dangerous mistake a leader can make is to build a brilliant solution to a problem that customers don't care about.

CB Insights conducted a major analysis of over 100 failed startups. They found that the top reason for failure, in 42% of cases, was creating something with "no market need."

This is the essence of the leaky faucet trap.

Every problem your customer faces is either a leaky faucet or a burst pipe.

The Leaky Faucet

A leaky faucet is a nuisance.

It's a low-friction inconvenience that is irritating. But not enough to stop a customer from accomplishing their main goal.

Businesses that fix leaky faucets are always in a tough spot. Fixing annoyances means that they:

• Suffer from long, slow sales cycles.

• Face price-sensitive customers.

• Are seen as "nice-to-have" and get cut when budgets are tight.

• Compete with many others over tiny features.

The Burst Pipe

A burst pipe, on the other hand, is a pressing problem.

It creates significant friction in a person's life. Without fixing it, they cannot get what they want.

Businesses that fix burst pipes become essential. They solve urgent needs, which means they:

• Have shorter sales cycles because customers are in pain.

• Can charge more because they offer a rescue instead of an improvement.

• Are seen as a "must-have" and become indispensable.

• Often create a whole new category for themselves.

This distinction isn't hypothetical. Focusing on a small drip versus a major flood has real-world consequences.

Juicero: Solving a Problem That Didn't Exist

Juicero is the perfect story of a company built to fix a leaky faucet.

It started with an amazing $120 million from top investors like Google Ventures. Its mission was to change home juicing with a sleek, Wi-Fi-connected machine.

Just 16 months later, the company was gone.

At its core, Juicero’s big mistake was simple: it was a brilliant solution to a problem that almost no one had.

The company built a wild, over-engineered machine. The Juicero Press first sold for a shocking $699. It was packed with custom metal parts and a motor strong enough to create "four tons of force." This was all marketing talk to make the machine seem important.

The problem was that "pain" it claimed to fix—the time and mess of making fresh juice—was a tiny issue for most people.

There were already great, simple options, like buying juice at the store. Or a cheaper homemade juicer.

Not many people saw a need to improve their current solutions.

And then a report from Bloomberg made everything fall apart. A simple video showed that you could squeeze the juice packs with your bare hands and get almost the same amount of juice in less time.

Juicero built a masterpiece to fix a tiny drip that most people were happy to ignore. It failed the moment everyone realized the crisis it claimed to solve was a fantasy.A video showed

Canva: The Design Chasm

In the early 2010s, small businesses had a real problem. They wanted to make professional posts and flyers for social media, but their tools were inadequate.

On one side, there was Adobe's Creative Suite.

These tools were powerful, but they were trapped behind two huge walls. The first was cost. A single program like Photoshop could cost $699, and the full suite cost thousands. The second wall was that it was too hard to use. It could take a college student a whole semester just to learn the basics.

On the other side, businesses used makeshift tools like Microsoft Word. This was always frustrating. People would spend hours on a design, only to see it fall apart when they opened the file on another computer.

And word wasn't great for professional printing. It often left an ugly white border and colors that didn't match.

The problem was clear: you could either pay for something too complex and expensive, or use something cheap that made you look unprofessional.

Canva’s solution tore down these walls piece by piece.

To fight Adobe's high cost, Canva was free to start and worked right in your web browser. No expensive software needed.

To solve the complexity problem, it got rid of the confusing menus and gave people a simple drag-and-drop tool.

It didn't make people face a scary blank page. Instead, it offered thousands of professional templates and a large library of photos.

Canva solved this burst pipe by creating a new, simple system for design. It rescued businesses from the high cost and frustration of trying to look good online.

Tinder: Engineering Serendipty

Before 2012, online dating was broken.

It was a burst pipe of frustration and emotional pain. For a whole generation of singles, finding a new connection has become a big challenge.

The big dating sites at the time, like Match.com, felt like homework. You had to write long, resume-like essays about yourself.

This created a problem with two sides. If you sent a message, you faced the painful fear of rejection. If you were a woman, you often faced a flood of unwanted and creepy messages. The whole process was draining and felt unsafe.

Tinder fixed this problem with two ideas.

The first was the "double opt-in." Two people could only talk after they both secretly said "yes" to each other. This one feature got rid of the fear of rejection and stopped the flood of unwanted messages.

The second idea was the "swipe." This simple, mobile-friendly action turned the hard work of looking for a date into a fast, fun, and even addictive game.

By making it less scary and easier to make the first move, Tinder built a system for modern connection.

Finding the Problem Hiding in Plain Sight

If you feel you’re always fighting to prove your worth, you may be selling a fix for a leaky faucet.

To make the shift, you have to learn to spot the real problems your customers have.

Ask these questions about what you sell:

• What happens if they do nothing? If your customer ignores the problem for another three months, what's the real damage? Is it a minor inconvenience (a leak)? Or does a key part of their life feel broken, cost them real money, or prevent them from reaching an important goal (a burst pipe)?

• What words do they use? When they talk about the problem, do they say, "This would be nice to have"? That's faucet language. Or do they use emotional words like "I'm so frustrated," "I'm stuck," or "This is a nightmare"?

• How do they prioritize spending on it? Is your solution a "fun money" purchase, the first thing to be cut when times are tight? Or is it a non-negotiable expense they would protect, like a utility bill or rent?

The strongest brands don't solve any problem. They solve pressing problems.

They have the ability to look past the small drips and search for the hidden crack that is about to cause a flood.

When you solve that problem, you're no longer just another choice in the market. You are the first call they want to make.

Onward,

Aaron Shields

P.S. Are you spending all your time patching slow drips for your customers while their biggest problems go unsolved? It's easy to get trapped fixing the obvious, low-impact issues. Reply to this email, and let's set up a free 15-minute call to find the "burst pipe" your business solves.