The Atoms Philosophy: What to Build – Crafting the Right Product to Scale

Framework for Deciding What to Build:

1. Idea Generation

Start by identifying a problem—either your own or someone else’s. Then, find others with the same pain point. Great ideas begin with real, relatable issues.

2. Validation

Once you have an idea, test its market potential. Define your Ideal Customer Profile (ICP)—do enough people face this problem? Is it a painkiller (solves an urgent need) or a vitamin (nice to have)? Painkillers drive faster adoption.

3. Is the Problem Worth Solving?

Ask yourself if the market is large enough to sustain a venture-scale business. Will your solution create meaningful outcomes, like an IPO or acquisition?

4. Can It Scale?

To attract investment, your product must be scalable. Can you reach $1M ARR in two years? Scalability is crucial for growth.

5. How Will It Change Users’ Lives?

Does your product bring real value? Aim to seamlessly integrate it into users’ lives, becoming indispensable over time.

Now that we’ve outlined the framework, let’s illustrate it with the story of Riya Das—a first-time founder navigating these challenges. In a small Bengaluru apartment, Riya Das, a product manager by day, faced the same question every founder does: What should I build?

She had several ideas, but deciding which one to pursue wasn’t easy. Like many founders, she was at a crossroads, where her decisions would shape the future of her startup.

The Spark – Where Great Ideas Come From

Riya had plenty of ideas, from project management tools to customer feedback solutions. She realized, though, that like Slack’s pivot from gaming to communication, successful ideas often arise from a clear problem. 

Lesson: Start with what you know—but remain open to pivots that reveal bigger opportunities.

Validation – How to Know If You’re Onto Something

The next step for Riya was validation. She created a landing page and collected sign-ups for her customer feedback tool. While the response was decent, it wasn’t overwhelming.

Like Dropbox’s Drew Houston, who validated his idea with a simple explainer video, Riya needed to determine if her idea was solving a widespread problem. After surveying potential customers, she refined her understanding of the real pain point.

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Painkiller or Vitamin?

Riya had to ask: Is this tool a painkiller or a vitamin? Painkillers solve immediate, critical problems. Think of Zendesk—it revolutionized customer service by addressing inefficiencies, making it indispensable.

Riya realized her initial idea might be more of a vitamin—nice to have, but not essential. She needed to adjust her product to address more urgent needs.

Is the Problem Worth Solving?

Riya had a promising idea, but was it scalable? Successful SaaS startups like Zoom solve large-scale problems. Riya needed to ensure her tool could expand beyond niche markets and reach millions.

She adjusted her plan, making her product adaptable to broader use cases and targeting a larger market.

Can This Idea Grow Fast?

Growth is vital. Investors want to know if your product can scale fast. Airtable, for example, grew quickly by creating viral loops, allowing users to share applications easily. 

Riya realized that to scale rapidly, her tool needed similar viral potential. She designed her product to be easily adopted and shared across teams.

How Will It Change the User's Life?

Finally, Riya asked: How will this product change users’ lives? Like Notion, which transformed workflows by integrating notes, tasks, and databases, her tool needed to provide meaningful value.

Riya envisioned her product helping businesses not only gather feedback but also act on it—turning customer insights into actionable outcomes.

Conclusion: The Journey from Idea to Execution

Defining ‘what to build’ is the foundation of every startup’s journey. For founders like Riya, it's a careful blend of understanding the problem, validating the market, and creating a solution that truly scales. With a thoughtful approach, founders can build products that not only solve problems but also scale rapidly to become indispensable to their users.

Appendix: Key Lessons from Successful Startups

Slack’s Pivot: Slack started as a tool for a gaming company but pivoted to solve a much larger communication problem. Don’t be afraid to shift focus when a bigger opportunity arises.

Dropbox’s Validation: Drew Houston validated Dropbox by creating a viral explainer video before building the product. Validation should come before significant investment in product development.

Painkiller or Vitamin?: Products like Zendesk solve urgent, burning problems—making them indispensable. Riya’s original idea was more of a vitamin. She needed to ask herself: is this product essential?

Scalability: The Zoom Effect: Like Zoom, a product’s success lies in its ability to solve a problem for millions, not just a small niche. Riya needed to ensure her idea wasn’t too narrow and could grow to meet larger needs.