Finding The Customer You Understand

One piece of startup advice you’ll hear often is:

“Find a problem worth solving.”

I agree.

But I think there’s another question that’s just as important.

Find a customer you genuinely understand.

For a while, I tried thinking about software markets in general.

Small businesses.

SaaS.

Enterprise.

Productivity.

Eventually I realized something.

I wasn’t excited because of the market.

I was excited by the work itself.

Music.

Creative software.

Audio engineering.

Game development.

Design.

Those aren’t hobbies sitting beside software.

They’re the reason I build software.

Your Experience Is An Advantage

Every builder has accumulated years of experience in something.

Mine happens to include music production, songwriting, game development, design, and software architecture.

Ignoring that experience would be like ignoring a built-in competitive advantage.

Instead of trying to become an expert in industries I don’t live in, I’ve decided to build for the communities I already understand.

Not because they’re bigger.

Because I can genuinely contribute something valuable there.