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Kevin Systrom shares a piece of advice that cuts through the noise for anyone starting a company:“The #1 piece of advice I always give is to solve a problem. So many people found a company just to found a company or they’re like ‘I’ve got an idea’. But ideas are not companies. Ideas are not products.”
A common mistake founders make is building around trends rather than real needs. Whether it’s AI, crypto, or any emerging wave, the technology itself is not the business. The real question is whether it meaningfully solves something for someone.“The number of times I’ve seen entrepreneurs go that direction because it feels good to be part of the trend and say you have a cool idea without asking yourself: ‘Does this actually solve someone’s problem?’ is countless… I feel like I’m giving this advice away for free but no one is taking it.”
Interestingly, this lesson came from personal experience. Before creating Instagram, Kevin Systrom and Mike Krieger launched a check-in app called Burbn. It was built during the peak popularity of check-in products like Foursquare and even attracted funding — but it didn’t truly solve a core user problem. Within a few months, it became clear the product wasn’t working.
What they did next made all the difference. They paid attention to user behavior and noticed that the small group of active users loved one specific feature: sharing photos to show what they were doing. Everything else was removed, and the entire product was rebuilt around that single, real need — which eventually became Instagram.
Great startups are not born from ideas alone — they are built by obsessively solving real problems. Trends may open doors, but only genuine user value creates lasting companies. The founders who win are the ones who listen closely, cut what doesn’t matter, and focus relentlessly on what people truly need.
