There’s a heartbreak every technical founder goes through.
You ship something cool. You obsess over the UX, optimize the backend, deploy it with CI/CD magic.You open the browser. You wait for the flood of users.
And… nothing.
No signups. No retention. No investor interest.
It’s not your fault. You’re building supply. But the market — and investors — only care about demand.
The Real Startup Supply vs Demand Problem
Startups live and die by demand. Not just user demand, but fundable, scalable demand — the kind investors chase with term sheets.
Here’s the disconnect:
|
What Coders Optimize For |
What Investors Look For |
|---|---|
|
Interesting tech problems |
Solving painful business problems |
|
MVPs that work fast |
Markets that scale fast |
|
Side projects that impress peers |
Startups that impress customers |
|
Clean architecture |
Clean CAC:LTV math |
|
Novelty |
Necessity |
Coders build what’s fun to build. Investors fund what people can’t live without.
Are You Solving a Problem or Creating One?
You don’t have to guess. Here’s a simple filter:
|
Idea |
Tech Novelty |
Real Pain? |
Fundability |
|---|---|---|---|
|
AI meme generator |
High |
Low |
❌ |
|
Smart grocery list app |
Medium |
Low |
❌ |
|
Legal AI contract analyzer |
Medium |
High |
✅ |
|
Infra tool to cut AWS spend |
Low |
High |
✅ |
|
Social network for roommates |
Medium |
Medium |
⚠️ Crowded |
The harsh truth? Most devs build stuff that’s cool. But investors bet on stuff that’s critical.
What Investors Are Actually Funding Right Now
You won’t find it on Hacker News, but here’s what VCs quietly want:
- AI copilots for niche workflows (think: finance, legal, logistics)
- Infra optimization tools (esp. those that cut cloud spend)
- Internal tool automation (e.g., replacing Excel + Slack workflows)
- Compliance, audit, FinOps, SecOps (boring = big TAM)
- “Unbundling Excel” for specific industries
These aren’t sexy. But they hurt — and pain scales better than novelty.
How to Actually Build What People Want
Here’s the real playbook. Use this before writing a single line of code:
1. Talk to Users Before You Build
Ask: What’s the most annoying part of your workflow?
If they say “Oh god, don’t get me started,” you’re onto something.
Reddit, Slack groups, LinkedIn — anywhere pain leaks out in public.
2. Look at Where Companies Are Hiring
Check job boards. Look at roles that involve repetitive work, spreadsheets, or compliance.Those are startups hiding in plain sight.
3. Build for ROI, Not Eyeballs
Investors love this phrase: “I save customers $X or Y hours per week.”
If your tool does that, you don’t need to “go viral.” You can charge.
4. Stop Obsessing Over Originality
Dropbox was the 10th file storage app. Notion is just Docs + Wiki. Your job is not to invent a new category — it’s to nail the execution.
5. MVP = Money Validation Prompt
Don’t launch on Product Hunt first. Launch to five people who’d pay. If no one opens their wallet, it’s not a startup — it’s a dev exercise.
Bonus: Use the “Demand Curve” Framework
A visual way to think about startup ideas:
▲
HIGH | ⚡ Ideal startup zone ⚡
USER PAIN | (Boring but painful)
|
|
LOW |__________________________
LOW TECH NOVELTY HIGH ➜
Aim for the top-left. Not the bottom-right.
Final Thought: Code Is Supply, Pain Is Demand
You don’t need to stop building fun side projects.
But if you’re trying to raise money, or land paying users, you need to reframe.You’re not building “what’s possible.” You’re building “what’s painful.”Investors aren’t looking for clever — they’re looking for compelling.
Great startups aren’t just well-coded. They’re well-timed, well-placed solutions to urgent, budgeted problems.
Write code that reduces pain — not just code that runs well.
