A Framework to Make Sure You're Building Something Useful

Today, we'll talk through a framework that'll help you evaluate whether you're building something useful enough to anchor a business. Most startups fail because the thing they built doesn't make a big enough dent in their customers lives. We'll make sure you don't make this mistake with help from Habit Kangaroo, a startup Brian ran back in 2014, and a GMAT training program his friend ran that helped people get into Harvard. Tacklebox Byldd Greenlights 0:30 Building a Wildly Useful Startup 2:12 Why Measuring Usefulness is Hard 7:00 Byldd 7:53 Habit Kangaroo 12:50 The Usefulness Framework 13:24 What is your Secret? 13:51 Three Categories of Secrets: Customer 14:45 Three Categories of Secrets: Acquisition 15:16 Three Categories of Secrets: Product 17:08 Rivers and Dams 19:00 GMAT over 700 Product 23:02 Hire Yourself

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A Framework to Make Sure You're Building Something Useful is an episode from Idea to Startup by Brian Scordato.

This episode is 00:25:17 long.

This episode was published on Mar 25, 2026.

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