#419 – Kevin Dias on The Problem-First Method

A story about the real problem behind every feature request.

This episode is for SaaS founders who build what customers ask for and still watch new features go unused.

Customer requests are where good teams go wrong.

Kevin Dias, founder of Ambiki, spent three years inside a Tennessee speech therapy practice, listening to therapists and building their software as he went. That software grew into Ambiki.

While building Ambiki, he wrote a book around one question: what problem are we solving, and for whom? Every feature at Ambiki starts there. No solution allowed in the answer.

And this inspired me to invite Kevin to my podcast. We talk about why defining the problem matters more now that AI makes building so fast, and the three forces that push teams past that step: customers, sales and investors. Kevin also shares why he keeps saying no to a much bigger market. You'll hear what he hands his board when they ask for a roadmap.

We also zoom in on two of the 10 traits that define remarkable software companies:

Master the art of curiosityAcknowledge you cannot please everyoneBoth are chapters in The Remarkable Effect.

Kevin's story shows what remarkable companies do first. They pick the problem worth solving.

Here's one of Kevin's quotes that captures his warning for teams building with AI:

"Don't let the ability to quickly create features and prototypes become the evidence that you should build it. It's very easy to build it these days, but it doesn't mean you should."

By listening to this episode, you'll learn: