You are not a tech entrepreneur.

Real entrepreneurs focus on the solutions they deliver, not the mechanism.

There are countless industries where technology can improve things. Most of these industries are bland, run-of-the-mill industries that deliver services. It may be plumbing, pest control, or even pumping gas at a convenience store. These benign, everyday businesses focus on delivering some product or service.

Not only do they not consider themselves ‘tech’ companies, they actively hate technology.

For the owner of a restaurant or convenience store, ‘technology’ means things that break all the time and they have to call someone to fix it. There is nothing more frustrating than going to a convenience store to get some gas and a coffee and their credit card reader is out. Nobody at the C-store knows how to diagnose and fix the machine, so they are helpless while they wait on hold for a far away technician to help them.

Most business owners consider ‘technology’ an unfortunate by-product that they are forced to use, rather than their core competency. They are good at fixing a leaky sink, treating your house for bed bugs, or merchandising the right products to their community. They have no interest whatsoever in “technology” – whatever that is.

“I’m a technology entrepreneur!”

I recently ran across several different entrepreneurs who said they were “technology entrepreneurs.” All were trying to “disrupt” old-school businesses that have been around for 100+ years. All were entering established, highly optimized, large-scale industries with entrenched, well-established incumbent mechanisms for delivering a service or product.

One of these two entrepreneurs stated that his (very high) company valuation was justified because he was “a Web3 and AI company,” and not a very small (and underfunded) player in a business/service that has been around quite literally since the founding of the country.

Another entrepreneur was touting his technology credentials but was selling to customers where the word “technology” is evil. A third entrepreneur was using “machine learning” to do a job that has been done (very competently and very accurately) by humans since Biblical times.

Nobody wants to buy technology. They want to buy solutions.

Technology-savvy entrepreneurs may be 100% correct that their technology may have interesting benefits to their industries. However, being a “technology solution” in those industries is not a badge of honor. It may be the single worst thing ever in their customer’s mind.

Nobody wants a blockchain, artificial intelligence, Web3-enabled whatever. They want a solution their problem. They want to sell their product/service with a better profit margin, do so more efficiently, or offer an improved product/service to their customer. If they have to use technology to do it, they do it reluctantly and with great trepidation.

For people who provide a tangible, meaningful service or product, the term “technology” is usually a painful reminder of the de-humanization of their business. It represents a loss of the real reason why they got into the business in the first place.

Focus on the solution – and understand your customer.

The only thing your customer buys is results.

Nobody wants to buy a 1/4 inch drill, they want a 1/4 in hole.

I implored these entrepreneurs to focus on what their customers want, not to tout a “technology” way to do the same exact thing they have been doing. Focus on the increased accuracy, better sales, increased throughput, or whatever the (alleged) tangible, measurable results that the “technology” provides.

I say “alleged” because in most of cases of the “technology entrepreneurs” I meet, I believe their “technology” would not produce a meaningful or statistically significant difference in their customer’s performance. In fact, the human touch might be far better than the computer.

The dirty little secret about “technology entrepreneurs” is that their solutions are often worse than the human-centered solutions that have been refined over the centuries. When you challenge the “technology entrepreneurs” to show statistically-significant improvements over the existing status-quo, they come up short over and over.