Stop Competing on Features – Start Winning With Feelings

How a Psychologist Can Outperform a Startup Founder

Poor businesses view customers as walking wallets. Good ones see them as friends. Great ones seduce them like lovers — charming, amazing, and captivating.

Unfortunately, poor companies prevail. When customers are just numbers in a CRM, creating products they’ll love is hard. That’s why 70% to 90% of innovations fail.

Real innovation goes deeper. You can innovate on three levels:

· The product level – by enhancing your products,

· The customer needs level – by satisfying unmet customer expectations.

· The emotional level – by creating memorable emotional experiences.

Most companies only scratch the surface by piling on features. The best master all three. Let’s see what we can learn from them.

This article is the second in a series devoted to innovation. Read the first one here.

Steve Job’s secret sauce

«They may forget what you said — but they will never forget how you made them feel.»

Carl W. Buehner

In 2007, a journalist asked Steve Ballmer, then Microsoft CEO, about the first iPhone. Ballmer made fun of it, saying, “it doesn’t appeal to business customers because it doesn’t have a keyboard.”

Ballmer couldn’t have been more wrong. The missing keyboard didn’t just kill the iPhone – it became its biggest asset, making room for a bigger screen that set the industry standard.

But there was a grain of truth in what he said – the first iPhone didn’t feel like a technological marvel. Its strength was elsewhere. Other smartphones were functional, reliable, and… boring. Steve Jobs knew that beauty, simplicity, and intuitive design create powerful emotions – and people are always willing to pay for them.

Our world, where even a toilet brush can go viral on TikTok, proves it perfectly.

Life is all about emotions. Without them, it’s like reading a train schedule instead of a detective story. And if your products evoke strong, positive emotions, you can leave your competitors behind — even in B2B.

How a psychologist can outperform a startup founder

Those who know tech build great solutions. Those who know people create great products.

Up to 90% of startups fail, and the most common reason – 34% – is the ‘lack of product-market fit.’ In plain English, it means they’re making products no one needs. Many follow the ‘reindeer sweater’ playbook we discussed earlier — they innovate only on the product level.

Big companies make the same mistake. They launch products simply because they can. Amazon Fire Phone, Facebook Home, Segway, Google Glass, and 294 other productsthat Google killed are great examples.

If you see product creation as art, the odds of playing the ‘misunderstood genius’ role are quite high.

It doesn’t mean this approach never works. AI started as a technology, not as a product, but then it found its way to the market. And the microwave was invented by accident.

Starting with customer needs is less risky. James Dyson invented his bagless vacuum cleaner because the conventional one he had kept losing suction when the bag was full, and it drove Dyson nuts. Drew Houston got the idea for Dropbox when he somehow managed to leave a flash drive with crucial data at home. Procter & Gamble doesn’t roll out a product without serious consumer research. Such companies innovate on both the product level and the customer needs level.

This approach isn’t flawless, either. Dyson and Houston started with their own problems — and it turned out there were plenty of people just like them. But sometimes, your need is only yours. The designers of foldable smartphones wanted to give users a device with a shape-shifting screen. But they are still scraping the bottom of the market standings with just 1-1.5% market share.

Consumer psychology experts could help many startups understand their customers better and avoid crashing. The better you know your customers, the higher your chances of success. But you don’t need a PhD to do that. You can tap into the fact that all people share the same 16 basic needs. And along the way, you’ll dive into emotions and start innovating on the third, emotional level.

What do you and your crazy neighbour have in common?

Toyota cars and Microsoft Word don’t try to delight you – and you don’t expect them to. But if you sell something as boringly reliable as pliers, you may save on branding, but you’re always at risk of being swapped out for something sexier. Underwood and Remington were once the kings of the typewriter market — when was the last time you heard those names in the news?

You can find new solutions intuitively, but there is a better way. In 2000, Steven Reiss, an American psychologist, argued — and proved — that regardless of race, social status, religion, gender, or place of birth, all people share the same 16 basic needs.

Yes, your crazy neighbor and you have the same needs. Wild, huh?

These basic needs are:

We all prioritize these needs differently, and that’s what makes us different. But every decision you make is based on one of them. You can read more about 16 basic needs here.

Whatever people buy, they’re always fulfilling one or more basic needs.

• Luxury car? Needs #1, 10, 14 — and sometimes 11.

• Insurance? #12 and 15.

• Social media app? #1, 2, 11, 13.

• Online course? #2 and 7.

The same rules apply in B2B. Your client is still a human being, and their decisions aren’t driven solely by job descriptions. They crave recognition, status, peace of mind, and career advancement.

· Your B2B client wants new software? They’re after convenience and peace of mind.

· Asking for delivery guarantees? They’re looking for security.

· Pushing for a discount? They’re just hitting their quarterly KPI.

Years ago, I was selling equipment. One of my clients bought the priciest production line and was over the moon — prouder of it than his Lamborghini.

Want to develop a unique product or business model in just 5 weeks using the ideas from this article? Take a look here.

Turning Basic Needs into Business Strategy

I use Reiss’s ideas for innovation. When I work with a company seeking new products or business models, we follow a simple playbook – and you can, too.

Start with customer interviews — at least 100. Visit your clients, observe, dig into the details, and ask questions.Watch for anything that triggers a strong emotional response. Is it customer support? Delivery speed? Make a note.
Gather insights and group them. First, list everything your team has collected. Then, sort by 5-6 themes like ‘product packaging’ or ‘design pain points.
Next, create ‘customer portraits’ based on the 16 basic needs model. These are profiles of imaginary people who closely resemble your target customers. They help your team ‘walk in the customer’s shoes.’ Make a few — give them names and backgrounds, and imagine how they tackle the tasks your product is meant to solve. Download a template here. Got questions? Send me a message.
Identify the needs that trigger the strongest emotions — the sharpest pains or the most unmet needs. What frustrates customers most about existing products?
Now take those needs and ask — how can you meet them ten times better than anyone else? Brainstorm, hypothesize, and don’t stop until you find the best solution. I use the TRIZ method for this — more on that next week.

This deep dive into customer needs will help you not just find new solutions but also tie them to emotions. Aim for products that don’t just meet needs but spark strong emotional responses. Keep an eye on the latest tech, too, so you can innovate on all three levels.

This approach led to an online freight calculator that talks to users, a personal finance service with friendly support, designer tableware, and more.

Create a product that meets your customer’s needs, and they’ll buy it. Create a product that sparks strong positive emotions, and they’ll keep coming back for more.

Imagine your customer is someone you love and want to pleasantly surprise.

Me, me, me

The second audio chapter of my book Red and Yellow Strategies is now available as a podcast on Substack. Interested? Subscribe to that section and start listening.
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Svyatoslav Biryulin

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