Discord is becoming increasingly popular with business teams.

Which is kinda weird, because Discord was built for gamers. Its creators wanted better ways to coordinate World of Warcraft raids. Now it’s becoming a serious business collaboration platform and competing with Slack.

Sometimes your real market isn’t your first one.

In I Need That, I talk about Play-Doh starting life as a wallpaper cleaner, and Bubble Wrap being invented as textured wallpaper. Both found their true calling far from original intentions. (Bubble wrap also had a second try as greenhouse insulation material.)

Here’s one you might not know: WD-40 was created to protect Atlas missile parts from corrosion. It took 40 attempts to get the formula right (hence Water Displacement, 40th damned try).

Now it’s in millions of households, fixing squeaky doors and loosening rusty bolts. I’ve never been without a can in my adult life — although many times minus that cursed little straw.

Super Glue? Discovered in 1942 by scientists at Eastman Kodak trying to make clear plastic gun sights. They were annoyed when the substance stuck to everything it touched. Nine years later, someone realized that was actually pretty useful. It was used to seal soldiers’ wounds during the Vietnam war, and medical versions are still used to close incisions without sutures.

Rogaine began as a blood pressure medication. Patients reported an interesting side effect: hair growth.

Sometimes your Eureka! moment comes from things hairy and unexpected.

And then there’s Listerine. It started as a surgical antiseptic and floor cleaner. If you’ve ever gargled with the stuff, you might have suspected it wasn’t originally designed for mouths. That harsh taste? Pure industrial heritage. 😆

For product makers, this teaches us something worth remembering: sometimes your market finds you. The key is staying alert to unexpected adoption patterns.

Action for you: Ask customers how they’re using the product, in ways that don’t align with your expectations.

Find out what younger users and unexpected personas are solving.

Your biggest opportunity might be hiding in plain sight.

What unexpected uses have you discovered for your product?

Laurier

P.S. Fun fact: Those 39 failed WD-40 formulas were forgotten, and rediscovered in the founder’s lab notebook. Sometimes persistence and good record-keeping pay off.