When more features become a way to avoid clarity
Why founders often default to building when they should be listening—and how a few good questions can change everything.
There’s a moment many founders recognize, whether they admit it or not.
Growth is slower than expected. Users aren’t sticking. Investors are asking questions you can’t answer properly.
So you do what feels safest: you start building.
Another feature. A redesign. Maybe a referral loop.
It feels like forward motion. You’re working. You’re solving.
Except, you’re probably not.
In my own startup journey, and now in the companies I advise, I’ve seen this again and again.,Building becomes the coping mechanism. Because facing the real issue is uncomfortable.
And the real issue, more often than not, is this:
You don’t have clarity on what problem you’re solving—or for whom.
We default to control when we lose direction
When you don’t know whether you’re solving something important, the temptation is to compensate with motion.
Let’s just keep building. Something will stick.
But a product rarely saves a business that lacks product–problem clarity.
And I think part of the reason this keeps happening is cultural.
We’ve created a startup world where launching is treated as success in itself.
Where “execution” has become synonymous with “building.”
But execution should also mean discovery, listening, and focusing.
And most importantly: stopping to ask better questions.
Here’s a better way to spend your week
When I work with early-stage teams, I now insist on this simple but powerful exercise before anyone touches a roadmap.
Talk to 8–10 early customers. Ask them these questions:
What was going on in your life or work that made you start looking for a solution like ours?
What alternatives (including doing nothing) did you consider?
What made you try us? What tipped the decision?
If we disappeared tomorrow, what would you miss most?
That last one is the heart of it.
Because it cuts through positioning, brand, even usability—and gets straight to perceived value.
Why it works
These questions uncover:
The real trigger for behavior
What mattered in the decision
Where your product fits into their world
And most importantly—what they truly care about
If the answers surprise you, good.
That’s how you know you’re learning something useful.
Building clarity is building
Founders often worry that stopping to do this is a luxury they can’t afford.
But in my experience, clarity saves more time, money, and energy than any shortcut ever could.
If you're in the middle of a sprint, overwhelmed by what to prioritize next—this might be the most useful thing you can do.
And if you’ve already done something similar, I’d love to hear what you learned from it.