Focus on the Problem Before the Solution: Making a Key Before There Is a Door

Originally published 2023-12-16Book excerpt (tagged #精益創業實戰; author unconfirmed) + Robin’s commentary

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Collected in Robin Shen’s Field Notes · Content type and attribution are shown above

English translation of the Chinese post originally published 2023-12-16. Translated 2026-10-30 with AI assistance. Historical figures and claims have not been updated or independently verified. 中文原文

Reading guide

The book excerpt says to focus first on users’ problems and then on solutions. Today’s challenge is not developing more features, but discovering which features need to be developed. Starting with a solution is like making a key before there is a door: even a beautiful key may leave you searching for a suitable door for a long time. Starting instead with the door—a problem worth solving—makes the key much easier to create. Robin asks whether your startup is making an exquisite key before there is a door and then searching for one. Usually, he says, you will not find it.

Key points

Focus on the problem first, then the solution.
The challenge is discovering which features to develop, not developing more of them.
Start with the “door”—the problem—and making the key becomes easier.
Make a key before there is a door, and you usually will not find a door, Robin argues.

One clear path continues into the distance among several branching routes, suggesting choice and focus. — Entrepreneurship & strategyThematic illustration · AI generated

Full text — English translation

Your task is to focus first on users’ problems, then on solutions. Today, our challenge is not how to develop more features, but to discover which features need to be developed. Think of it this way: starting with a solution is like making a key before there is a door. Of course, you can quickly make a beautiful key, but you will spend a long time searching for the right door. If you are lucky, you might find one—or force the key into some door—but the eventual outcome is usually different from what you expected. Reverse your focus and start with the “door,” or a problem worth solving, and making the “key” becomes much easier. The key you create can open a door that already exists. #精益創業實戰 [Lean Startup in Practice] ---- Robin: “Is your startup making an exquisite key before there is even a door, then looking for a suitable door? In most cases, I suspect you will not find that door.”

These articles are personal notes, book excerpts, and collected reprints. Figures and events reflect the time of the original publication, are not current information, and do not constitute investment advice.

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