Startups have AI, smart engineers and capital. What’s missing: PM thinking. Technically impressive ≠ strategically sound.
Right now, startups have access to AI tools and smart engineers. They can build new features, fine-tune models and ship it fast. They can optimize code. But when you look at what they ship, something’s broken. The product works well technically. But nobody wants it. Or it creates more friction than it solves.
The engineers aren’t the problem. The capital isn’t the problem. The real problem is simple: we have lots of smart agents and technical people but almost no one asking the basic questions.
What is this product actually for?
Who needs it? What job are they trying to do? What do they do right now without our product? Are we actually removing friction from their life?
That’s a product manager‘s job. But in the rush to build more products, many teams don’t have a PM. Some have a “PM” who just collects feature requests from stakeholders. That’s not the same thing.
So what happens? You get a products that work well but solve the wrong problem. Or they solve a problem nobody really has. The founder loved the technology so much they forgot to check if anyone actually needs it. The engineer shipped exactly what the spec said. But the user needs something different.
Here’s the thing: this isn’t new. It’s just easier now. Anyone can build a MVP. Anyone can brainstorm more features and ship it. But understanding what users actually need? That’s harder. It takes time. You have to sit with people. Watch them work. Ask uncomfortable questions. Sometimes throw away work because it doesn’t match reality.
That’s boring. That’s tedious. And that’s exactly the work most startups skip.
So we have a crisis. Not because smart people don’t exist. But because the work that matters most isn’t the work anyone wants to do.
Here’s my question for you: How many technically impressive products/features are going to ship before someone on your team stops building and starts listening?
Here’s the uncomfortable question: How many technically impressive features you need to ship before your team realizes the real problem isn’t building, it’s listening?
Tahir Shahzad
Tahir Shahzad is a Product Manager, Product Owner, and technology consultant with over a decade of experience helping startups and organizations build products people actually use. If you are working on a product problem worth solving, reach him at tahirshahzad.com/contact/
