Complaints Are Not Enough Signal

Say you want to make a software product to sell. You do the smart thing and don't rush into building. Instead, you look around the internet to see what sort of things people complain about. Maybe you even use one of those AI Market Research tools that check popular discussion forms, such as Reddit, to see what real people are complaining about.

All well and good (and better than the alternative of building without any validation). But: Complaints are not enough of a signal. You can't assume that someone who complains about X will look for and purchase a solution to X.

In the great book "The Mom Test", it's written that many times, a market validation conversation would go like this:

Complainer: "I really wish there was a tool that did X."
Interviewer: "Have you looked for a tool that does X?"
Complainer: "No, why?"

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Startup advice has this trope: Don't sell vitamins; sell painkillers. But many people would rather put up with a vague, dull ache than seek medical advice. Part of customer interviews and market validation needs to answer the question: Does their desire for a solution to problem X stop at the complaining phase, or are they actively looking for solutions?