Four kinds of problems

Hampus Jakobsson
Thinking about Startups

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As an investor, I work with a lot of problems. Founders who are ambitious always tend to stretch reality and either find new kinds of problems or cause common ones by going fast. Before starting to solve them I find out which kind of issue it is.

There are two ways to separate: what kind of complexity do the solution and the problem show respectively.

Solutions

Some solutions are simple, and they are done quickly. They might not be easy, but at least they don’t take time once you know what to do. Finding a bug in a spreadsheet is mostly time-consuming, but when you see that you forgot a nasty little $ then it is fixed in a second. These problems can have as horrible consequences — a small software bug can crash planes.

Others will not be done fast, or might never really be finished — as once you have solved it, the bar is raised. Building an excellent sales team, or running a marathon, neither are not fixed easily, even if you know what to do. They require stamina, patience, and grit.

Problems

Certain problems are easy to understand, just boring, nasty, scary, or otherwise offputting. Examples are digging a ditch, running a marathon, or having to fire a colleague from their job. You know what you need to do, but it isn’t easy anyhow.

Other problems are complex. You actually don’t understand what is going on, what causes the problem, or where it resides. Many software problems are like this. You don’t know if it will take five minutes or five years to fix, even if you find the root cause.

The four kinds

This gives us the four following outcomes:

  • 🦷 Nasty Problem-Binary Solution: You know exactly what to do, even if you would prefer not to do it. Like pulling out a tooth, there are best practices, things you can prepare, and then you just have to schedule it. Sometimes you would need a 🥃…
  • 🧙‍♀️ Complex Problem-Binary Solution: It is frustrating, but you just have to be sharp and spend the time. Important when solving these kinds of problems is to find tools that help you being sharp, as time dulls the senses. My best way is to use a system to make it hard for me to pass the problem without seeing it — reading it out loud, making a small game to find things, building a system for “checksums” or “milestones” (like printing to console for code). And, of course, plenty of ☕. (But, sometimes the best is just to sleep on these kinds of problems.)
  • 🏃🏾 Nasty Problem-Gritty Solution: This is just to get into the mode of doing it. I measure my progress (so that I know that I’m not standing still) and, at the same time, I try not to be obsessed by measuring progress. I see the task as rhythm and something I just do. If it is doing the taxes or running, I just try to get comfortable with doing it and telling myself I am the person who just gets it done in time and never complains. And, of course ☕🍷.
  • 👩‍🔬 Complex Problem-Gritty Solution: There are some problems that are never done. If you build a startup, strive to be the best at your job, writing an award-winning novel, or getting a Nobel prize, you just have to realize that IT MIGHT NEVER SUCCEED — and like it anyway. You have to want to be the best and enjoy the process. I’m not sure which beverage works…

I hope this exercise will help you next time you find a problem. And, remember — that solving problems that nobody fights to solve is how you find new things.

Opportunity is missed by most people because it is dressed in overalls and looks like work. — Edison

When you have solved the problem, comes the next challenge: to find out why this problem arises in the first place. And, maybe whether this type of problem is worth solving.

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Vegetarian, stoic, founder & investor. Father of three. Malmö/Sweden. Twitter @hajak.