“Solve your own problems”

is great advice, but only for so long.

Solving your own problems is a great way to start learning how to design and build good software. It’s how I started. “Scratching your own itch” ensures that you have at least one user from the get-go, and the fastest customer feedback loop possible. On the other hand, investors and the press often lament that “entrepreneurs aren’t solving real-world problems.”

What gives?

Sometimes people stick with solving their own problems, and never graduate. Key word: start. Learn by building things that solve your own problems. It is by far the best way to get really, really good at solving problems. Optimize for learning. But keep in mind that you may not necessarily be optimizing for impact.

One of the first apps I made while learning iOS allowed users to look up the cheapest rate for a cab ride across town. It also included a list of cab companies to call. Was it life-changing? No. But it saved me a minute a week, and I got slightly better at building software because of it.

I spent several years of my life designing and building such products, incrementally improving the quality my own life. Each time, I gained a little more intuition around building better products for a real user. I got closer and closer to filling a need on the first try.

But scratching your own itch is only fun for so long. I quickly realized that the potential to change the course of millions of peoples’ lives through software was a much more meaningful way to spend my time.

So I decided to join a startup and focus on a big problem for a while. But I don’t think I would have had the opportunity to help solve a big one without the first few dozen tiny ones. Nor would I be any good at it.

I’d recommend making a similar transition. An itch of yours may go unscratched, but many millions of people will be better off for it.

For many problems, the fact that you haven’t experienced it may mean that you can solve it. Many people that need healthcare aren’t in a position to “solve” it. People that need clean water aren’t either.

My life is pretty good; I have the opportunity to solve a very meaningful problem. No, it’s not a problem that my friends nor I deal with every day. But that’s OK.