Need versus want.

Do people need to purchase a new car every year? No. Do they want to drive the latest model? Yes. Why? The answer is fairly simple. People want the social status that a new car grants. Beign able to afford a new car gives the impression of wealth (whether you have it or not). Wealth is one of the key vanities of society.

Don't sell products that people need.

Programmers and tech startups usually make one constant mistake. They build products from the POV of market need. Every few days someone posts on Hacker News a thread titled "What problem do you need solved?" Wrong question. In fact, don't ask questions. Pay attention. What products do people pay for? What do they want?

The iPod.

I love the way the history of the iPod. One of the key products of the last ten years. It has forever changed the world. Actually, as I write this, I'm listening to Pandora on an iPod.

The iPod is something people wanted but few people realized they did. If you paid attention to the mobile music device marketplace you would have realized some simple truths. During the 80's the Sony Walkman took the world by storm. Why? Same reasons the iPod did.

People love their music. Ever since the explosion of the music industry after the invention of radio, people have wanted to listen the music they liked whenever they wanted. The vinyl record, the 8-track, the cassette, the compact disk, all are evidence of this.

Here we were, lugging around big bulky CD players that would skip and eat AA batteries like crazy. And no one seemed to want to fix that. People did not want to carry CD players. People wanted their music at all times. They needed CD players to get what they wanted. Need > Want.

Suddenly, the iPod came out allowing people to forgo of CDs and carry aroundthousands of songs in one compact package. Oh, and it had a rechargable battery. People wanted the iPod (they still do).

The fact that it was packaged brilliantly was icing on the cake. That was Job's genius at work. He understood what people wanted.

How to build products people want.

Keep your eyes open. Pay attention. The biggest startup successes have happened due to an intrinsic understanding of markets. Dropbox understood people wanted their files available at all moments. Google understood people needed a beter way to get information. Facebook knew people wanted to showcase their social life (and thus status). Ebay knew people wanted to sell their old stuff to cash in.

Look for things people want by listening to what people say, do, and buy. Marketing Bits was born after people kept asking me for advice through email. People have questions about marketing. They need answers. Marketing Bits is how I'm addressing that need in a manner that is beneficial to all involved. Who knew a marketing newsletter aimed at startups and programmers would enjoy such early success? I did. That is why you are reading these very same words.

Is there a systemized approach to building what people want? Yes there is.

Pick a product to research. Talk to people about it. Pay attention to they way they use it. How, why, and when are important questions to ask. Follow sales numbers if they are available. Build an MVP of a copy if the product with the features people have shown to want. Test the results. Iterate.

Notice that building new products is not really focused here. I'm not a big fan of building brand new products. Its a huge gamble. I believe in innovation through iteration. Let's improve what's out there right now. Over time it will end up being a whole new product anyways. Why gamble?

Pioneers gets arrows on their backs.

Remember that people who set out to build new and awesome products have to first convince the world they want it. I'd rather have you find out what they want and build it for them.

But people do need X product.

Yes. People do need things. But people are not rational. Stop treating them as if they were. Smart people face this very same issue. For them a product has to be logical. People must need it or else it is a waste of time.

Stop. People are not rational. If they were they would not commemorative NASCAR plates on QVC (for $60!). I'm not saying that you should not build things pepole need, but find out which product they want and need.

One such product is Basecamp. A completely boring product. It is a computer program you use to keep track of stuff. Boring. But it works amazingly well. So well that people who use it realize they want and need this product. That boring product quickly became part of their lives. They cannot live without it. So much that free alternatives have been created for people too cheap to pay for it. Imagine that.[1]

But I already built a product I thought people needed.

Tough luck. I fell for that idea many times. Thought people wanted X product, but it proved to be wrong. Try and iterate the product into something they want. Other wise just scrape it. Its easier to start with something that already works than trying to make something work.

[1]37Signals don't get mad. I love Basecamp. But next to an iPod, Basecamp is boring. No harm intended.

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