Stop Building “Interesting” Products — Build Painkillers Instead

Most developers start by building things that are technically interesting. A clever abstraction. A cool side project. A tool that makes other developers say: “That’s neat.” I’ve built those too. The problem? Interesting rarely turns into revenue. After several projects that people liked but never paid for, I learned a simple lesson: The best products don’t entertain users — they solve recurring pain. The Problem With “Nice-to-Have” Tools A lot of indie projects fail for the same reason: they are optional improvements, not necessary solutions. You know you’ve built a nice-to-have when: People sign up, explore the product, and never return. Free users love the idea but won’t pay. You can’t explain the ROI in one sentence. This happens because the product solves a minor inconvenience, not a real workflow problem. People might like the tool, but they don’t need it. And if they don’t need it, they won’t pay for it. Recurring Problems Create Recurring Revenue The biggest shift for me was rea