One of the most critical decisions a startup founder faces is where to focus their energy and passion. All too often, entrepreneurs become enamored with the solution they’ve developed. However, Aleksi Halsas , founder of Clevenio and an alumnus of Yritystehdas’s Hautomo incubator, reminds us that true success comes from falling in love with the customer’s problem rather than the solution itself.
One of the most persistent startup myths is the idea that companies should create markets. Halsas, however, questions this notion. In his view, the market always already exists. It’s simply a matter of whether unresolved problems are identified in time.
“A startup doesn’t create a market—it identifies a need that no one else has yet solved well enough,” Halsas says.
In Clevenio’s case, the problem was crystal clear: B2B salespeople spend most of their time manually compiling call lists instead of selling. Lists are copied, data is filled in manually, and actual customer contact takes a back seat.
Like many startups, they, too, fell in love with their own solution in the early stages. Resources were spent on features that seemed smart but didn’t address the core issue. It wasn’t until the company returned to its roots—the real problem—that things started to happen.
“If you build a service or product starting from the solution itself, you might miss what the customer’s real problems actually are. We started by asking what the perfect solution to the problem would be. We spent a long time working manually before we came up with a scalable solution.”
- Aleksi Halsas, Clevenio
Halsas sums it up: “If you build something starting with the solution, you often miss the real core of the issue. In a way, the problem remains stable, but the solution is constantly evolving.”
A year and a half ago, Halsas thought the solution Clevenio now uses was impossible.
“If you build a service or product starting with the solution, you might miss what the customer’s real problems actually are. We started by asking what the perfect solution to the problem would be. We did a lot of manual work for a long time before we came up with a scalable solution.”
Halsas reminds us: “Don’t start building a solution based on what’s technically possible or on a solution you’ve fallen in love with. Start with the customer’s real problem and solve it first by any means necessary. Only once you’ve truly understood the depth of the problem and customers are willing to pay for the solution should you consider scaling.”
Read more about the stages of startup development and Clevenio’s growth journey.
The challenge for a startup, however, is how to get customers to listen. You have to earn their attention. At Clevenio, this meant thoroughly understanding the problem and articulating it correctly. After that, it took courage to say: “We’ve spoken with many sales leaders, and generally, you have this kind of problem. How about you?”
At first, the response is typically dismissive: “We’ve already solved this.” But when you start to challenge them and dig deeper, the problem comes to light. When a customer feels that their problem has been genuinely identified and understood, trust is built.
When people realize that you understand their problem, they automatically start to assume that you have a solution. You don’t need to sell features. It’s enough to show that you understand their pain points better than anyone else.”
Aleksi Halsas, Clevenio
At Clevenio, they’ve also noticed that talking about the problem sparks interest in a different way than if you were to talk only about the solution.
“When we posted on LinkedIn about the reality of a salesperson’s job—seven duplicate entries in the CRM, incomplete contact information, manual work—hundreds of people liked and commented on it. When people realize that you understand their problems, they automatically start to assume that you have a solution. You don’t need to sell features. It’s enough to show that you understand their pain points better than anyone else.”
How can a startup with 50 times fewer resources solve a problem better than an established player with 50 times more resources? The answer lies in passion and focus.
As the problem begins to unfold, more layers are revealed beneath it. The temptation is to try to solve everything. Customers want more features, and competition forces you to expand.
As a startup, Clevenio’s principle has been ruthless but effective: if something doesn’t solve the salesperson’s time management problem, we don’t do it. Even if a customer has a pressing problem elsewhere, the answer is: “Buy that somewhere else.”
“If you set out to solve ten small problems superficially, you won’t establish a position anywhere. If you focus on one, you can say: we’ll solve this problem and do it better than anyone else.”
In sales conversations, this actually makes things easier. When a customer says, “You’re missing this feature,” the response is: “Yes, we are, but given that this problem exists, is that really relevant?”
“When someone asks for recommendations about us in a forum post, there are ten of our customers recommending us. This has been our best marketing investment.”
Aleksi Halsas, Clevenio
On the other hand, when a company is focused on solving a single problem, it wants to do that one thing better than anyone else can. In Clevenio’s case, the principle is simple: if a customer receives bad data, we keep fixing it until it’s right.
“We don’t rest until the problem is solved. A larger competitor can’t devote the same level of passion and energy to a single problem—they have 100 different things to take care of,” Halsas notes.
There’s a reason for this focus on customer service—and sometimes even going above and beyond—because customer satisfaction is the best form of marketing for the company.
Although Clevenio’s founder, Aleksi Halsas, has extensive experience not only in B2B sales but also in digital marketing—an area in which he has invested millions of euros—Clevenio hasn’t spent a single euro on advertising. Instead, resources were channeled into going above and beyond for customers in the early stages, which involved a lot of manual work. Profit margins have been lower than those of competitors, but customer satisfaction has been exceptionally high.
The results are clear: when someone asks for recommendations on LinkedIn, dozens of customers recommend Clevenio. When you solve a real problem for customers and do it better than anyone else, they start speaking up for you. That’s something money can’t buy.
“When someone asks for recommendations about us in a LinkedIn post, there are ten of our customers recommending us. This has been our best marketing investment.”
Want to take your startup to the next level? Yritystehdas helps startups grow—check out Hautomo!
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This article is based on an episode of Yritystehdas’s “Starting a Startup” podcast, in which Yritystehdas’s Katriina Lahtinen interviewed Aleksi Halsas, co-founder and CEO of the startup Clevenio. Listen to the full episode at yritystehdas.fi/podcast.