Painkillers vs Vitamins Hello, this is Hall T. Martin with the Startup Funding Espresso — your daily shot of startup funding and investing. In startup investing, look for startups that solve real-world problems. Focus on the ones that provide a solution tantamount to a painkiller. The customer has a problem that causes them enough pain that they’ll pay for a solution to get rid of it. There tend to be fewer painkiller solutions in the market, so there’s less competition. Avoid the startups whose solution acts more like a vitamin. It makes you better, but only just so. Most people know vitamins make you better, but if you don’t take them, you’ll be okay anyway. The problem with vitamin solutions in the startup world is that fewer people will pay for them. Also, there tend to be many substitutes for vitamin-level solutions. This fosters a more competitive marketplace. Invest in painkillers and skip the vitamin solutions in your startup investing. Thank you for joining us for the Startup Funding Espresso where we help startups and investors connect for funding. Let’s go startup something today. _________________________________________________________ For more episodes from Investor Connect, please visit the site at: http://investorconnect.org Check out our other podcasts here: https://investorconnect.org/ For Investors check out: https://tencapital.group/investor-landing/ For Startups check out: https://tencapital.group/company-landing/ For eGuides check out: https://tencapital.group/education/ For upcoming Events, check out https://tencapital.group/events/ For Feedback please contact info@tencapital.group Please follow, share, and leave a review. Music courtesy of Bensound.

Copyright (c) 2026, Hall Martin and investorconnect.org. All rights reserved.

Disclaimer:
Hall T Martin is the director of Investor Connect, which is a 501(c)(3) nonprofit dedicated to the education of investors for early-stage funding. All opinions expressed by Hall and podcast guests are solely their own opinions and do not reflect the opinion of Investor Connect. This podcast is for informational purposes only and should not be relied upon for the basis of investment decisions.