The Biggest Products in the World are Mid

Building Since Day One

For as long as I can remember, I’ve built things. Legos, guitars, computers—you name it. I’ve always loved taking something from idea to reality, from the ground up. Over the years, I’ve gone from backyard projects to Fortune 500 products. But somewhere along the way, I realized something surprising: The things that change the world aren’t big. They’re mid.

Now, I don’t mean “mid” like a medium T-shirt or your go-to Chick-fil-A drink size. I’m talking about products that fit perfectly into people’s lives—those that bridge a gap so naturally you forget what life was like before they existed.

The Power of the Medium

Think about it: Uber, DoorDash, Airbnb, Instacart, Zapier, Webflow. None of these are earth-shattering on the surface. They didn’t invent teleportation or a new universe—they just solved specific, human problems beautifully.

They sit perfectly in the middle: not too ambitious that they overpromise, and not too small that they fade away. They just fit. They make your life smoother in a way that feels obvious now, but wasn’t back then. And that’s the magic of medium-sized thinking.

Why Airbnb Changed Everything for Me

Let’s take Airbnb—one of my personal favorites. First off, they’re design-driven (so yes, they already had me hooked). But what they really did back in 2008, as “Air Bed & Breakfast,” was shift the way we see travel forever. They connected travelers and hosts to create experiences that felt personal, comfortable, and authentic. Suddenly, “home away from home” wasn’t just a saying—it was real.

As someone who uses Airbnb often, I can’t go back. Hotels now feel… stale. Airbnb gave me freedom, choice, and peace—and that’s the point. They didn’t just sell rooms. They sold a feeling. That’s what medium products do. They fit perfectly into your life while quietly redefining how you live it.

So What Makes a Product “Successful”?

Let’s get real. How do you know if your idea’s worth building? Or if it’s just noise? The truth lies in you. Who are you? What do you care about? Do others feel the same way? Start there.

If your passion connects with others, you’re onto something. Then, validate it—talk to people, ask questions, and not the shallow kind. Ask the deep, uncomfortable, introspective ones that reveal what people truly need (not just what they say they want). This is how you build something real. Not through fancy code, or a beautiful UI (though those help), but through empathy, curiosity, and persistence.

The Feels Matter More Than the Features

Products that win make people feel something. They feel easier, lighter, freer, better understood.

Ask yourself:

•     Does my idea resonate with people?

•     Does it truly solve a problem?

•     Can it scale naturally into people’s routines?

Great builders are relentless about asking questions—and not just to get validation, but to find truth. The world will always tell you what’s wrong with your idea. That’s not failure. That’s direction. Find the root cause, and you’ve found your golden ticket.

You Don’t Need a Fancy Setup

You don’t need millions in funding, a 36GB RAM setup, or a shiny office with espresso on tap. What you do need is curiosity, resilience, and the ability to keep asking questions until you get to the truth. Because once you do that—the team will come, the money will follow, and the network will find you.

It all starts with you. Not the big, loud version of you that wants to conquer the world, but the mid version—steady, observant, thoughtful.

That’s the one that builds the next world-changing product.

✌🏾Written by a fellow product builder ~ Ryan Harricharan

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