✍️ Essay
✓ Link checked
Free
Beginner
This is the sharpest short framework for the exact question: is the problem a nice-to-have (vitamin) or something people are actively hurting from (painkiller). Rhea's most useful test is a gut check on your own interviews, if you find yourself convincing a prospect they have a problem, or getting excited every time you catch a glimpse of it, that is a warning sign you have a vitamin. It reframes the judgment from what you hope is true to what customers already feel without you nudging them.
Are You Building a Vitamin or a Painkiller? Why Painkillers Always Win
From brianrhea.com by Brian Rhea About a 7 minute read
- Painkillers get bought without reminders because the pain is already felt; vitamins get put off because the need is theoretical and non-urgent.
- If you are talking a prospect into believing they have the problem during an interview, you are probably looking at a vitamin, real pain shows up on its own.
- Find the pain first through honest customer conversations, then design the fix, not the other way around.
