There’s a particular kind of problem I keep returning to. It’s not the problem the loudest founder twitter is solving. It’s not the problem that has a billion-dollar report behind it. It’s the one that ten million people quietly live with, every day, and that the default tools have politely decided not to see.
These are overlooked problems. And in my limited experience, they are by far the most interesting place to build.
The shape of an overlooked problem
You can usually recognize one by a few signs:
- A surprising number of people have built their own ugly workaround for it.
- The workaround works just well enough that nobody complains loudly.
- The existing professional tools either ignore it or treat it as a niche.
- When you ask someone about it, they shrug — that’s just how it is.
The combination of “everyone does it” and “nobody talks about it” is the tell. That gap is where the real product opportunity hides.
Why builders avoid them
Overlooked problems are not glamorous. They don’t get pitched well at demo day. They often live in markets, communities, or workflows that aren’t well-represented in tech narratives. They’re hard to sell to investors looking for a story they’ve already heard.
But they have one enormous advantage: when you build something that fits, you don’t have to convince the user the problem exists. They already know.
The honest version
I’m drawn to these problems because they make the work feel real. You don’t have to manufacture demand or invent a thesis — you just have to listen carefully and ship something that respects the user’s time. That’s most of the job.
That’s the bet behind both Matcha and Sellah. Neither is solving a problem the default toolset has decided to care about. Both are solving something that, once you see it, you can’t unsee.
That’s the work.