How to Build What Matters, The Real Innovation Challenge for Startups

Why chasing shiny features wastes precious runway, and how to anchor experiments in user value.

Companies innovate to get ahead of the competition. That is as true for startups as it is for large enterprises. Yet despite the difference in budgets, teams of every size often fall into the same trap of chasing novelty instead of value.

The real innovation challenge for startups is not coming up with ideas. It is knowing which ideas deserve to exist. With limited runway and constant pressure to stand out, the line between progress and distraction can be very thin.

The story that follows comes from a project with HP, not a startup, but a team that faced the same challenge many founders do. They had to balance ambition with focus. Their experience revealed why innovation for startups must be grounded in user value, not in technology for its own sake.

What happened next became a clear example of how easily innovation can drift away from user value, even inside a successful team.

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We took innovation beyond what users valued

Innovation often begins with excitement and possibility. On a project with HP, the team launched a pocket photo printer that turned digital moments into tangible keepsakes. It became a surprise success, selling more than a million units within a couple of years.

To stay ahead of trends, we explored augmented reality. We built prototypes, ran focus groups, and the feedback was polite but lukewarm. Users liked the core product, but the AR features did not make it better or easier to use.

Despite this, development continued. The app grew to include 3D avatars, animated objects, and interactive print queues that looked clever but added little to the experience. Costs rose, adoption slowed, and eventually the AR was removed.

This story is not unusual. Innovation can drift when curiosity overtakes focus, and that drift is even riskier for startups. What matters is how you bring it back. The following lessons show how to keep experiments grounded in user value.

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Five innovation lessons for startups

1. Discover User Challenges Through Non-Leading Questions

The AR ideas were tested, but users gave neutral responses. When people describe something as “interesting,” they are being polite, not enthusiastic.

To uncover genuine insight, focus your questions on challenges, not opinions. Ask what feels hard, confusing, or slow about their current experience. Invite them to talk about what they are trying to achieve rather than what they think of your idea. Real problems sound specific. Polite approval sounds vague.

If you want to see how this mindset shapes what teams build next, my article Ship Real Value explores how to turn user insight into decisions that move a product forward.

2. Use Prototypes to Decide, Not Just to Demonstrate

Prototyping limited risk, but the team ignored what the results revealed. A prototype is not evidence until it changes a decision.

Set clear success and failure criteria before you begin, and write down what each test will help you decide. Share the results publicly so everyone can see what will move forward and what will stop. This builds shared confidence that progress is based on learning, not assumption.

I explain this approach in The Startup Scorecard, a simple method for making product decisions transparent and consistent across your team.

3. Protect the Core Experience Users Already Love

The photo printer succeeded because it met a simple emotional need: turning digital moments into keepsakes. Adding AR cluttered that joy.

Revisit your product’s promise often. Ask what single moment of value defines the experience, and ensure every new feature makes that moment stronger. If something distracts from it, park it.

To articulate that promise clearly, my article Use a Story to Build a Product shows how to express your product’s purpose in a way that keeps teams aligned around what truly matters.

4. Set Stop Rules Before You Start

Once development begins, it is easy to keep going out of habit or sunk cost. Yet persistence in a weak direction drains energy and runway.

Create review points at the end of each phase with predefined criteria for whether to continue. Document the decision openly. When results are mixed, run a smaller test instead of betting the roadmap. The courage to stop is what keeps focus intact.

I explore this same discipline in Staying Relevant in the Emerging Tech Hype Cycle, which looks at how companies stay credible and focused as trends evolve.

5. Build Technology Around Value, Not the Other Way Round

The AR features were creative, but they did not solve a meaningful problem. Big companies can afford novelty. Startups cannot.

Start with the outcome you want for the user, then choose the simplest technology to achieve it. If you cannot describe the user benefit in one clear sentence, it is not ready to build. The goal is not to prove technical ability, but to make something people care about.

If you are exploring how to shift from one-off projects to scalable value, The Custom Work Trap explains how to build products that keep learning alive as your business grows.

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Don't Just Add Features, Enhance the Experience

This story is not about failure. It is about focus. Experimentation and prototyping are vital, but innovation only matters when it makes life better for the people who use your product. Every idea should earn its place by proving real value, not just by sounding exciting.

Innovation is not only about fixing what is broken. It is about making good things better. And better must be defined by the user, not by the newest technology.

Before you approve any new feature, pause and ask three questions.

• Does this align with how people already use our product

• Is the value clear to users, or only to us

• Can we prove the impact with data rather than belief

If the answers are uncertain, it may not be time to build. The startups that thrive are the ones that protect what makes them valuable and let the rest go.

If this story feels familiar, you are not alone. It happens in teams of every size. I help founders and product leaders bring more focus and less waste to their roadmaps so they can build products that matter. Reach out at info@crwburgess.com if you would like to talk about how to anchor your innovation in real user value.