YC
Be Wary of Solving a Small, Rare Problem - Des Traynor of Intercom
@ Y Combinator
12/13/17
Takeaways
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Des Traynor
12/13/17
@ Y Combinator
I got bored with my PhD research on measuring programming skills because some findings were uncomfortable for universities, revealing that students who scored well on exams might not actually understand programming.
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Des Traynor
12/13/17
@ Y Combinator
Template-based marking in universities encourages template-based learning, where students know what a solution should look like but lack understanding of how it works.
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Des Traynor
12/13/17
@ Y Combinator
After my research was rejected by universities, I started writing a blog about design and usability, which led to meeting my co-founder at a coffee morning in Dublin.
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Des Traynor
12/13/17
@ Y Combinator
We initially ran a design agency called Contrast and developed a side project called Exceptional, a Ruby on Rails-based error notifier for developers.
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Des Traynor
12/13/17
@ Y Combinator
Frustrated with communication issues with our users, we added a message feature in our product that allowed users to engage with us directly, which significantly improved user interaction.
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Des Traynor
12/13/17
@ Y Combinator
We realized that sending targeted messages to users at specific times could enhance engagement, which we later termed behavioral marketing automation.
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Des Traynor
12/13/17
@ Y Combinator
Our content marketing strategy focused on providing valuable insights to our target audience rather than just promoting our product, which helped us build trust and grow our user base.
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Des Traynor
12/13/17
@ Y Combinator
I advise focusing on understanding your target users and the problems they face, and then providing solutions that align with your product's capabilities.
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Des Traynor
12/13/17
@ Y Combinator
In marketing, it's crucial to understand how people buy your product rather than just focusing on selling it, as different users have varying needs and approaches to finding solutions.
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Des Traynor
12/13/17
@ Y Combinator
It's important to create a holistic marketing strategy that balances brand building with performance marketing, as neglecting one can harm overall effectiveness.
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Des Traynor
12/13/17
@ Y Combinator
Startups need a strong vision to guide their development. This vision helps in hiring and aligning the team towards a common purpose.
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Des Traynor
12/13/17
@ Y Combinator
When pitching a product, it's crucial to articulate a unique belief about the problem being solved, rather than just focusing on the product features.
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Des Traynor
12/13/17
@ Y Combinator
I need to be aware of the difference between solving a small problem and a big problem. Small and rare problems rarely work out, even if the product is beautiful.
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Des Traynor
12/13/17
@ Y Combinator
A big problem might be planning a group holiday, which is significant enough for people to pay for a solution. In contrast, small problems that don't occur often won't engage users.
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Des Traynor
12/13/17
@ Y Combinator
If a product solves a rare problem, it may not have enough demand to sustain itself. Frequent problems, like workplace communication, are where real engagement happens.
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Des Traynor
12/13/17
@ Y Combinator
If you're going to charge for a product, it needs to be self-serve and frictionless for users. Many startups fail because they rely too heavily on founder involvement for customer acquisition.
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Des Traynor
12/13/17
@ Y Combinator
It's important to avoid creating a product that requires excessive consulting time from the founder, as this indicates the product isn't truly scalable. If you're solving a small, rare problem, even a billion people in the addressable market may not be inclined to pay real money for it.
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Des Traynor
12/13/17
@ Y Combinator
The usual reaction to a small problem is to consider ad revenue, but ads won't work if the problem is rare and users aren't engaged enough.
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Des Traynor
12/13/17
@ Y Combinator
It's possible to have a product that everyone uses, but if it doesn't matter to them, they won't pay for it.
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Des Traynor
12/13/17
@ Y Combinator
Intercom needs to be more direct about how it helps businesses achieve significant results, rather than just promoting user love and good treatment.
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Des Traynor
12/13/17
@ Y Combinator
As businesses scale, they care about two things: how much they spend and how much they make. We need to be better at showing how our product impacts those numbers.
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Des Traynor
12/13/17
@ Y Combinator
We need to surface more case studies and evidence to demonstrate how Intercom can save or make businesses money.
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Des Traynor
12/13/17
@ Y Combinator
Intercom's brand is strong, but we need to connect our content and software offerings better to leverage that popularity.
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Des Traynor
12/13/17
@ Y Combinator
We need to tailor our marketing to address specific user needs and ensure that our messaging aligns with the problems we solve.
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Des Traynor
12/13/17
@ Y Combinator
We have to help users find the exact part of Intercom that meets their needs, which requires a tailored experience for each user.
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Des Traynor
12/13/17
@ Y Combinator
Unbundling our pitch into specific use cases has been crucial for our success, allowing us to target different audiences effectively.
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Des Traynor
12/13/17
@ Y Combinator
There's a huge market for a service that simplifies access to soccer games, similar to how iTunes transformed the music industry.
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Des Traynor
12/13/17
@ Y Combinator
The opportunity in simplifying complex processes, like mortgage applications or insurance, is significant and often overlooked.
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Des Traynor
12/13/17
@ Y Combinator
The challenge is to create a product that simplifies finance and retirement planning, liberating it from bureaucratic complexities.
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Des Traynor
12/13/17
@ Y Combinator
My favorite project was a seven-minute talk on product strategy that unexpectedly raised my profile as a public speaker.