Building something? Here’s why starting with your own story could be a superpower and a blind spot.
I recently spoke to a founder who built a recruitment product. While he explained the features, I struggled to understand why he was building it. So, I asked him if there was any personal story behind the idea.
He shared that the idea came from his own experiences—both as a job applicant and as a hiring manager. I told him he should have started explaining the product with his own story.
But then he said something interesting: “I was advised not to talk about personal problems because it could show egocentric bias.”
That got me thinking.
When you’re solving a problem you’ve faced:
1. The upside: You’re likely more passionate, deeply invested, and resilient during tough times because you feel the problem.
2. The risk/downside: You might assume others face the same problem, leading to customer blindness ignoring feedback, and failing to pivot when needed.
TLDR: Solving a problem you’ve personally faced is powerful. Balance your passion with validation. Talk to diverse users to ensure the problem is worth solving. Passion fuels you, but data keeps you on course 🙂
What do you think: Should founders always start with personal problems, or is it better to tackle unfamiliar ones?
