Stop chasing trends and start solving real customer problems
Nickie Louise
Posted On March 22, 2025
It’s never been easier to build software. With AI code builders, low-code platforms, and pre-trained models, launching apps now takes days—not months, unlike just a few years ago. One site tracking AI tools now lists over 30,000 of them. According to research firm Gartner, “70% of new applications developed by organizations will use low-code or no-code technologies” by the end of this year.
But this accessibility has a downside. The floodgates are open, and many founders are building nearly identical tools with little to separate them. There’s no shortage of AI writing tools, AI chatbots, and AI-powered everything. The result? A crowded market filled with copycats.
It’s tempting to ride the wave—jumping into the next hot space whether it’s generative AI, agentic AI, or something else. It can win attention fast. But it rarely lasts. Too many founders start with the tech and then look for a problem to justify it, instead of solving something people actually care about.
When Tech Comes Before the Problem
Sure, AI has real value—but only when it’s applied with purpose. We’re now in an era where many founders are adding AI wrappers on top of LLMs like ChatGPT and branding themselves as AI companies. But wrapping GPT-4 in a new UI isn’t a business—it’s a short-term gimmick that’s easy to copy. If all you’re offering is “GPT-4 for [insert niche],” you’re not building a moat—you’re building a magnet for clones.
The AI boom has made this painfully clear. Startups rushed to package large language models for every imaginable use case. But as one blunt summary put it: “Most AI startups are doomed because they lack defensibility and differentiation.”
This isn’t a new pattern. Remember the chatbot craze? Back in 2016, bots were pitched as the future of everything. Facebook jumped in. So did dozens of startups. But the tech wasn’t ready. Bots failed at basic tasks. Facebook’s own system couldn’t handle 70% of user queries without human backup. The hype collapsed, and many of those startups disappeared just as quickly as they arrived.
Or take Color Labs. In 2011, it raised $41 million before launch to build a location-based photo-sharing app. Big names were behind it. However, the app itself confused users and lacked a clear use case. After a failed pivot to video and a brief marketing push, it folded in less than two years.
Juicero is another classic. A $400 internet-connected juicer with custom parts and high-end engineering. The problem? You didn’t need the machine. You could just squeeze the juice packs by hand. Juicero raised over $120 million before becoming a punchline in Silicon Valley. A sleek machine nobody needed.
And then there’s IBM’s Watson for Oncology. Backed by the company’s AI glory days, Watson promised smarter cancer care. But in practice, it offered clunky, sometimes dangerous recommendations. It didn’t fit into how doctors actually worked. After years of setbacks and critical reports, IBM pulled the plug in 2023.
These aren’t just anecdotes. They’re warnings. When startups chase headlines instead of customer needs, they build something that looks good in a pitch deck—but collapses in the real world.
When AI Hype Gets Risky
The trend-chasing mentality isn’t just inefficient—it can be reckless. Clearview AI scraped billions of images from social media to build its facial recognition system. For a moment, it looked like a promising law enforcement tool. But it didn’t ask permission. It ignored ethics and regulation. When the story broke, the fallout was immediate: lawsuits, bans, and a collapse of its core business.
Just because the tech allows you to do something doesn’t mean you should.
The Trend Trap: Why Chasing Hype Leads to Failure
Chasing trends might feel like a shortcut to success—but it’s a trap. Startups that fail to solve real customer problems often crash hard, no matter how much money they raise or how trendy their pitch sounds. History is full of examples.
Take Shyp. It raised over $60 million trying to be the “Uber for shipping.” But shipping wasn’t broken enough for most people to pay a premium. Beepi raised $149 million to reinvent used car buying—but failed to earn customer trust and burned through $7 million a month. Sprig tried to disrupt food delivery with $850,000 monthly burn, but the model was too complex to scale. Juicero spent $118 million building a Wi-Fi juicer that no one actually needed. A Bloomberg video showed people could just squeeze the juice packs by hand.
Different names, same outcome: big budgets, big promises, no real problem solved.
Here’s a closer look at some of the most well-known flops:
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Shyp: Raised $62.1M mimicking Uber’s playbook. Failed because shipping logistics weren’t painful enough to justify the price.
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Beepi: Burned $149M chasing on-demand car buying. Customers didn’t need a flashy app—they needed trust and value.
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Juicero: Launched a $699 Wi-Fi juicer in 2013, raised $118.5M. It solved nothing; hands worked just as well.
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Sprig: Spent $850K/month trying to deliver meals on demand. The model was too complex and financially unsustainable.
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Yik Yak: Raised $73.5M for anonymous chat, but usage collapsed 76% (2015–2016) as Snapchat met social needs more effectively.
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Doppler Labs: Raised $51.1M for smart ear devices, sold only 25K units. AirPods quickly outperformed it in both function and appeal.
These startups had one thing in common: they chased trends instead of solving real customer problems. And in the end, no amount of capital could save them from that.
Why Trend Chasing Fails
Some common outcomes when founders lead with buzz:
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Weak product-market fit
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No lasting differentiation
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Ethical or legal blowback
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Burned cash with little to show
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Curious users who don’t stick around
The Startups That Do It Differently
Basecamp is still around after 20 years. No VC funding. No trendy pivots. Just consistent focus on helping teams communicate better. Jason Fried and David Heinemeier Hansson built it for themselves first, then let real user feedback shape it over time.
Slack came from a failed gaming startup. The team built a tool to talk internally—and realized it was more useful than the game itself. They didn’t chase funding because “enterprise chat” was hot. They built something they genuinely needed, and it turned out millions of others needed it too.
Zoom didn’t invent video calls. It just made them work better. Eric Yuan had seen the pain points while working at WebEx. He didn’t want to reinvent meetings—he wanted to fix what made them frustrating. That laser focus on user experience helped Zoom grow, long before COVID made it a household name.
Mailchimp started as an email tool for small businesses. Not sexy. But it worked. It grew quietly, stayed bootstrapped, and became a must-have for millions of marketers because it solved a real need and kept getting better.
Even in AI, some startups are staying focused. Runway ML spent time with real video editors, learning what tasks were slow and expensive. Then they used AI to speed those up—without overpromising or overbuilding. Anthropic took the long view too, investing years into aligning large language models with user intentions instead of jumping from one trend to the next.
The Power of Solving Real Problems: How the Giants Got It Right
Big names like Amazon, Netflix, Apple, and LEGO all scaled by solving clear, real-world problems. Amazon made shopping easier. Netflix made entertainment more accessible. Apple made tech intuitive. LEGO helped kids get creative again.
It’s not rocket science. It’s just a consistent focus on usefulness.
Now look at companies that built empires by tackling real customer problems with lasting solutions (Successful Companies That Reinvented Their Business):
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Amazon: Launched in 1995 as an online bookstore, it solved the problem of convenient shopping. Innovations like Marketplace (2000), AWS (2006), and Kindle fueled its rise to $460.98 billion in Q4 2022.
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Netflix: Began with DVD rentals in 1998, then shifted to streaming in 2007 to make entertainment more accessible. By 2022, it was worth over $210 billion, outpacing cable TV (Nielsen, 2022).
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Apple: From its early computers in 1976 to the iPhone, it solved the problem of seamless, elegant tech. Its 2023 net income neared $97 billion.
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LEGO: After nearly going bankrupt, it refocused on creative play with core bricks and franchises, solving kids’ need for imaginative engagement. Today, it’s the third-largest toy maker, sold in 130+ countries.
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Slack: Born from a failed 2012 game (Glitch), it launched in 2013 to solve workplace communication frustrations. By 2023, it had 20 million daily active users.
These giants didn’t chase fleeting trends—they identified and solved real customer problems, creating value that lasts.
What the Winners Have in Common
Companies that last tend to share a few key traits:
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They know their customers well
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They don’t chase what’s trending just because it’s trending
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They keep things simple and useful
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They focus on loyalty and real satisfaction over short-term hype
How to Solve Real Customer Problems: A Founder’s Guide
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Understand Your Customer’s Pain: 58% of failed founders skipped deep market research. Talk to real users. What frustrates them? What problems keep them up at night?
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Offer a Unique Fix: Apple didn’t just make tech—it made it intuitive and elegant. Don’t build something just because you can. Build something that solves the problem in a way that actually stands out.
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Build Sustainably: Sprig’s $850,000 monthly burn was a death sentence. Hype can drive attention, but retention and efficiency are what keep you alive. Build something people want to keep using.
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Listen Obsessively: Bill Gates said, “Your most unhappy customers are your greatest source of learning.” Make feedback your second brain. Keep talking to users. Keep improving.
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Adapt with Purpose: Netflix didn’t pivot to streaming because it was trendy—it did it because customers demanded it. As Paul Graham said, “Do whatever’s best for your users.” Let their needs shape your direction.
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Don’t Force the Tech: Use the right tech for the job—only if it actually improves the experience. Flashy tools don’t make great products. Solving a real pain point does.
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Ignore the FOMO: Just because everyone else is chasing a trend doesn’t mean it’s the right move for you. Trends fade. Products with staying power solve problems no one else is solving.
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Build Loyalty Before Buzz: If people love your product, they’ll tell others. If they don’t, no amount of marketing, press, or funding will fix that. Obsess over delivering value—not just headlines.
These aren’t just tips—they’re your roadmap to solving problems that matter in a crowded market.
Play the Long Game: Why Solving Problems Wins Every Time
The AI and SaaS boom—$317 billion today, projected to reach $775.44 billion by 2031—tempts founders to chase trends like generative AI or blockchain. But Juicero and Shyp crashed on hype, while Amazon and Netflix thrived by solving real problems. Warren Buffett put it best: “Price is what you pay. Value is what you get” (Startup Quotes from Successful Founders). Solving real customer problems—through deep understanding, sustainable models, and relentless focus—builds businesses that last.
Drew Houston of Dropbox said, “Don’t worry about failure; you only have to be right once” (Inspirational Startup Quotes). Get it right by solving a real problem. That’s the key to not just surviving, but thriving.
The tech industry moves fast, but real businesses take time. The startups that win aren’t the ones chasing every new acronym. They’re the ones who find a real problem and keep working on it. Hype fades. Value sticks. AI is the new electricity. Stop branding your startup as an AI company and start creating real value.
So before launching the next AI-powered [fill in the blank], ask yourself: Am I solving something people truly care about? If the answer is yes, keep going. If not, don’t expect the buzz to carry you very far.
