The first built a beautifully designed task manager with 47 features, custom themes, and an achievement system that gamified completing to-dos. It launched to enthusiastic press coverage and 10,000 downloads in the first month.
The second built a plain text file system that synced across devices. No colors. No badges. Just reliable capture and search. The interface was so simple it looked unfinished.
Five years later, the first app had shut down. The second app ”Simplenote” had been acquired and was processing millions of daily notes.
The difference wasn't talent, timing, or marketing budget. It was focus.
One team built what impressed people. The other solved what frustrated them.
The modern business environment moves quickly. New ideas surface daily, trends gain attention overnight, and opportunities often appear too attractive to ignore. In such an atmosphere, founders can feel pressure to build fast simply to remain relevant.
Yet speed is not what makes a business durable.
Many ventures struggle not because their teams lacked talent or commitment, but because the problem they pursued was never significant enough to sustain long-term demand. Visibility can be created through marketing, but necessity cannot be manufactured.
Businesses that endure are rarely built around what is exciting. They are built around what is needed.
For Muslim founders especially, this orientation carries deeper meaning. Work is not only a professional pursuit but also a channel through which benefit can reach others.
The Prophet Muhammad (صلى الله عليه وسلم) said:
"The most beloved people to Allah are those who are most beneficial to people." (al-Mu’jam al-Awsaṭ lil-Ṭabarānī 6026)
When founders commit to solving what truly matters, they place their efforts on ground capable of supporting lasting impact.
Study the Problem Before You Build
Disciplined builders resist the urge to begin with the solution. Instead, they begin with observation.
When founders take time to examine the daily realities of those they intend to serve, patterns emerge. Pain points become clearer. The difference between inconvenience and genuine difficulty becomes easier to recognize.
This is harder than it sounds.
The 30-Day Problem Audit
Before writing a line of code or designing a prototype, spend 30 days studying the problem.
Week 1–2: Shadow your intended users
Watch them work without interrupting
Note every workaround and friction point
Pay attention to what they have accepted as unchangeable
Week 3: Map the current solutions
What do people use now?
Where do those solutions fail?
What would have to be true for someone to switch?
Week 4: Test your understanding
Describe the problem back to 10 potential users. If they do not immediately say, “yes, exactly that,” you do not understand it yet.
This process feels slow. It is intentionally slow.
A shallow understanding often leads to elegant solutions nobody urgently needs. Deep understanding produces relevance.
The Difference Is Measurable
When Stripe’s founders studied online payments in 2010, they saw something specific. Developers were losing two weeks integrating existing payment systems, and many gave up.
“Process payments” was a solved problem.
“Let developers accept payments with seven lines of code” was not.
Clarity about the problem is the first safeguard against building something unnecessary.
Build for Necessity, Not Momentum
Here is the uncomfortable truth. Many hot opportunities are attention dressed up as demand.
Trends create movement. Necessities create stability.
How to Distinguish Them
Ask three questions:
The Absence Test
If this disappeared tomorrow, would anyone’s life materially worsen within 48 hours?
The Budget Test
When money gets tight, is this cut first or protected?
The Substitute Test
How hard would it be to return to the previous solution?
If reverting is trivial, the problem is not critical.
Some trends do expose emerging necessities. The real question is whether the problem will persist after attention fades.
Founders who prioritize real needs grow steadily instead of chasing waves.
Muslim Founder Brief
A daily briefing on Muslim ownership, responsibility, and disciplined building.
Avoid Vanity-Driven Building
Vanity in business is subtle.
Vanity: Building a feature because it looks impressive.
Necessity: Building it because customers described the cost of its absence.
Vanity: Adding complexity to appear sophisticated.
Necessity: Adding complexity only when simplicity limits usefulness.
Disciplined founders repeatedly ask:
“If this feature disappeared tomorrow, would anyone struggle without it?”
Building with humility keeps the focus on the people being served rather than the image being projected.
When Vision Is Mistaken for Vanity
Visionary builders still solve real problems. They simply see them earlier.
Three distinctions matter:
- Observation vs. Assumption
Vision responds to friction that is observed. Vanity responds to preference.
- Willingness to Be Wrong
Vision iterates quickly. Vanity defends itself.
- Depth of Commitment
Vision is attached to the problem. Vanity is attached to the idea.
Even bold innovation must remain grounded in reality.
How to Validate You Are Solving What Matters
Stop theorizing. Start testing.
The 100-Conversation Rule
Have 100 conversations with people experiencing the problem.
Listen for signals.
Red flags:
“That’s interesting.”
“I’d probably use that.”
“Let me know when it’s ready.”
Green flags:
“When can I get this?”
“I’m currently using an inadequate solution.”
“Can I pay you to build this faster?”
If no one is willing to commit, the problem may not be real.
The Prototype Paradox
Build the minimum useful product.
Useful means someone’s life measurably improves after using it once.
If extensive explanation is required, the solution is not simple enough.
Prioritize Lasting Impact Over Immediate Excitement
Short bursts of success energize. Endurance defines serious businesses.
The Five-Year Filter
Ask:
Will the underlying problem still matter in five years?
Solutions tied to persistent problems allow a business to mature and deepen its value.
When commerce reduces hardship or improves people’s ability to function with dignity, it becomes contribution.
Sincerity Strengthens Solutions
Intent shapes effort.
When recognition is the primary goal, decisions drift toward visibility. When benefit is the goal, priorities change.
A practical test:
Would you build this if no one knew you built it?
Sincerity does not oppose commercial success. Customers gravitate toward businesses that demonstrate genuine concern for their needs.
Providing solutions that ease difficulty reflects responsible stewardship of one’s skills and resources.
Builders Listen More Than They Announce
Enduring founders listen carefully before acting decisively.
Poor listening: “We built this. What do you think?”
Good listening: “Walk me through where your process breaks down.”
For every hour spent building, spend substantial time observing the problem in its natural environment.
Most failed businesses solved the wrong problem beautifully.
Relevance is maintained through attention, not speculation.
Conclusion
Every business begins with a choice. Pursue what is fashionable, or commit to solving what genuinely matters.
Studying the problem creates clarity. Building for necessity creates stability. Avoiding vanity preserves focus. Prioritizing impact ensures the work remains valuable long after the initial excitement fades.
For Muslim founders, providing real solutions strengthens communities and honors the trust embedded within one’s capabilities.
Do not measure an idea by how exciting it sounds. Measure it by how deeply it is needed.
Founders are remembered not for how quickly they built, but for how deeply their work was needed.
Solve what matters.
Because businesses that are truly needed rarely struggle to justify their existence, and the solutions that ease people’s lives are the ones most likely to endure.
Muslim Founder Brief
A daily briefing on Muslim ownership, responsibility, and disciplined building.
Muslim Founder Brief
A daily briefing on Muslim ownership, responsibility, and disciplined building.
Muslim Founder Brief
A daily briefing on Muslim ownership, responsibility, and disciplined building.
