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Just because you can, doesn’t mean you should
The tools exist. The capability is there. No-code platforms. AI. Claude. ChatGPT. Zapier. It’s never been easier to build something that works.
And listen, I am a prime case of this. I have built the Death Binder, Internal and External Dashboards, Personal Financial Statment builder , Virtual BODs and I have an idea for a thousand more.
But here’s the question nobody asks before they start: Should you?
This week we’re hosting Arun Kumar, one of our long-time clients, as a guest speaker for Office Hours. Arun is an entrepreneur, author, and founder of multiple companies. He’s also made a very public decision that most builders won’t make: he killed a company he raised $5.5 million for.
He build a project management tool. By all accounts, it was solid. But Arun did something rare. He listened to the market. He heard what his customers actually wanted versus what he thought they needed. The feedback was clear: The tool wasn’t the pain point. So rather than keep building it, he pivoted entirely.
That taught him something worth sharing.
Arun wrote a book called “Before You Build Anything ” The core thesis is deceptively simple: don’t build what you think customers need. Build what they tell you they can’t live without.
He calls it the pain test. High-intolerance pain points? People write checks immediately. Nice-to-have features? Crickets.
Ekko, Arun’s current product, came out of that exact discipline. LinkedIn content is painful for busy professionals. Consistency requires 15 to 20 minutes per post. Most people quit. So Ekko solved that specific, validated pain point. Three clicks. Done. Scheduled. That’s a pain point people will pay for.
We’ve applied that same filter at Porter & Company this year. We built a Morning Brief that runs every morning, pulling data and insights automatically so leadership starts each day informed without the manual grind. We built a Training Intelligence app because we knew our team was drowning in video content from 7 weeks of AI training sessions. That was real pain.
But we’ve also said no. To a lot. To tools that are clever but solve problems nobody has. To features that are “cool” but add complexity. To integrations that look good on a spreadsheet but create more work than they save.
The temptation is always there. Especially now. AI makes it feel like you should be doing more, building more, automating everything. But Arun’s lesson is straightforward: start with pain, not possibility.
Here’s what we want from you on Monday.
Arun is joining us Monday for Office Hours , our monthly webinar at 2 PM on July 20. We’ll walk through his framework, his story with his company / product builds, and how to think about building before you build. He’ll talk about Ekko. He’ll take your questions. And if you’re wrestling with whether something is worth your time or your team’s time, this is your chance to pressure-test it.
Its a great book to give to a business partner or a client thinking about their next move, it’s a quick read that sticks with you.
Bring your toughest questions. Arun loves them.
Because the best decision you can make isn’t always the one you can make.
Sometimes it’s the one you don’t.
From The Collective
The Collective is a members-only community where entrepreneurs, real estate investors, and fund operators get access to expert office hours, tax strategy, and peer conversations they cannot get anywhere else.
Learn more and join The Collective
Upcoming Events – Before you build anything
Worth Reading – Real Estate Tax Strategy: Active vs. Passive Classification Worth Reading – You Don’t Know Where Your Future Hires Want to Work Until You Rotate Them
Worth Reading –Automatic Penalty Relief Is Coming (And You Might Not Notice It)
We are big fans of Ramp. I have used with the firm for about 2 years. If you have been thinking about checking it out, let me know. It’s already free to use and I can get you a $500 signup bonus through our firm alliance.
Expense receipts shouldn’t require a search party
Adam spent 20 minutes looking for a $36 receipt. His finance team sent three Slack messages. Someone made a sticky note.
Ramp would have matched it automatically the moment he swiped. Auto-coded, in-policy, synced. Nobody had to ask Adam for anything.
This is what finance looks like when it runs itself.
Your team can be Adam. Or they can not be Adam.
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