On the last day of ’25, it is worth asking one question most founders avoid.

Today represents the hinge between what your customers have tolerated and what they will no longer accept.

Every buyer enters the new year with a quiet list in his or her head.

Not of what they want or need, but of what they would replace first if a better option appeared.

And THAT list is the truest map of market opportunity you’ll ever get … yet it rarely matches the categories founders expect.

The products that make this list may not be the worst performers.

More often they are the ones that create small daily irritations, require too much effort, or feel outdated in a world that now moves at a terrifying pace.

Those products function well enough to avoid complaints (most of the time), but not well enough to earn anyone’s loyalty.

This is where innovators win.

If your product solves a problem sitting on that replace-first list, you’re in a good spot.

Buyers are already pre-sold. They’re just waiting for something plausible to appear so they can cross an annoyance off their mental ledger.

So scan your category today.

Identify The Thing customers would replace at the slightest excuse.

Build your message around relieving THAT tension and you can enter 2026 with quick momentum.

Want to make your product irresistible? That’s what we do as product marketing consultants at Graphos Product, helping innovators turn need-driven ideas into market-ready successes.