Urgent needs meet quick solutions
The rise and fall of urgent market needs 🎢
👋 Hi everyone, It’s Ritika and welcome to the 67th edition.
As ChatGPT’s Ghibli-style image generator took the world by storm, it’s a powerful reminder of how quickly innovations can capture global attention and drive rapid growth.
Canva’s AI-powered design tools helped it cross $1 billion in ARR at lightning speed, while Zoom became an overnight necessity, generating over $2.6 billion in revenue in 2020 as remote work took over the world. Meanwhile, Zepto reached a $900 million valuation in just 18 months.
These companies didn't just succeed; they thrived by addressing urgent needs in ways that felt almost indispensable.
As the world is moving fast, speed is everything. People don’t just want convenience; they demand it. Whether it’s 10-minute grocery delivery, AI tools that generate instant results, or one-click purchases, the market rewards products that solve problems quickly and effortlessly.
We constantly seek new solutions, quickly filling the gaps in our evolving needs.
When you create something the market urgently needs, it often sells itself and has a high potential to go viral. For the next few days, everyone will talk about it and buy it. However, while some companies will capitalize on this momentum and continue to grow, others will struggle to sustain their success and eventually fade away.
While rapid growth can be exciting and even go viral, it also comes with challenges that many companies fail to anticipate. The faster a product rises, the faster it can fall if it lacks long-term sustainability. Growth-driven businesses must understand not just how to capture demand but also how to maintain it.
Here’s why fast-scaling products face risks and what companies can do to sustain their success beyond the initial hype.👇
Why urgency matters more than ever?
Today, urgency is a powerful driver of consumer behavior. When people need something urgently, they are willing to pay more, make quick decisions, and choose the most immediate solution available. It is a fundamental shift - people no longer just want convenience; they expect it as a standard.
Psychology behind why people buy quickly when a problem is urgent
Emotional trigger – When faced with an urgent problem, people experience a sense of stress or inconvenience that compels them to act immediately.
Limited time to compare options – Instead of researching alternatives, customers often go with the most readily available solution that meets their need. Often, people instinctively select the first available option in a Google search without much consideration.
Perceived value of speed – The faster a problem is solved, the more valuable the solution seems, even if it comes at a higher cost.
How can companies identify urgent problems to solve
Observe consumer behavior trends – Companies that monitor fast-changing habits can spot emerging gaps. For example, the sudden shift to remote work in 2020 created an urgent need for video conferencing tools like Zoom.
Identify everyday pain points – If a problem is frequently causing frustration or delays, it presents an opportunity for innovation. Canva, for instance, recognized that professional design tools were too complex for most users, so they simplified the process.
Test speed-driven offerings – Companies can validate urgent needs by introducing fast, limited-time solutions and analyzing customer response. Amazon Prime’s same-day delivery started as an experiment but became a core part of its business.
When urgency meets a well-executed solution, businesses can achieve explosive growth. However, sustaining success requires more than just speed - it requires long-term strategy and continuous adaptation.
The Pitfall: Short-term gains, Long-term challenges
While solving an urgent market need can drive quick adoption, it also comes with built-in vulnerabilities:
High customer expectations – When speed and convenience are your value proposition, any decline in performance leads to immediate customer dissatisfaction. Instant services like 10-minute deliveries struggled to meet their promises at scale due to logistics and operational costs.
Low switching costs – If customers don’t see lasting value, they’ll jump to competitors the moment a better or cheaper option appears. This happened with Clubhouse, the viral audio app that saw explosive growth during the pandemic but faded quickly when Twitter and LinkedIn introduced similar features.
Market saturation – Once a business captures its total serviceable market, growth slows. Companies that rely solely on speed rather than building a strong brand or deep customer relationships struggle to maintain momentum.
Operational struggles – Many fast-scaling businesses burn cash to sustain their rapid growth. Gorillas, for instance, raised billions but struggled with profitability as delivery logistics became more expensive than the service could sustain.
How to build sustainable growth beyond the hype
To avoid the rise-and-fall cycle, businesses must look beyond just speed and ease. Here’s how:
1. Differentiate beyond convenience
Companies that maintain long-term success ensure their value proposition is more than just being fast. Apple, for example, isn’t just about quick access to technology; it’s about ecosystem lock-in and user experience.
Similarly, Slack didn’t just offer real-time messaging—it redefined workplace communication with integrations and workflow enhancements.
2. Build retention, not just acquisition
Businesses that grow too fast often neglect retention. Virality might bring users, but sustainable businesses keep them engaged. Dropbox used referral incentives to bring in users but ensured long-term retention by integrating deeply into users’ workflows.
3. Evolve with customer needs
What worked in the early days of a product may not work forever. Netflix started as a DVD rental service, but it evolved into streaming and then original content production. The key is understanding when to pivot and how to add lasting value.
4. Balance growth with profitability
Fast-growing startups often focus on market capture before profitability, but that can backfire if they can’t sustain operations. Amazon, while known for fast shipping, ensured its dominance through diverse revenue streams beyond e-commerce, such as AWS.
🚨Remember, speed is a tool, not a strategy
Solving an urgent market need can catapult a product into rapid adoption, but companies must prepare for what comes next. The businesses that sustain success are the ones that move beyond urgency and build deep, lasting value for their customers.
If you’re building something that sells easily today, ask yourself: Will it still be valuable tomorrow?
Thanks for reading! Until next time!
Ritika 👋
🎁 Take a quick quiz to know how well you know your customers 🔗 here.
Thank you for being a consistent reader of this newsletter; it wouldn’t have reached here without your support. 🤗