Does every good product need to hit a “deadly sin,” or can desire alone carry it?

Saw a thread here going deep on problem-first thinking, and I agree with it, that’s clearly the safest and most reliable approach. But it made me want to think a bit wider about what else is out there.

It reminded me of a story I heard once: an investor won’t fund something unless it hits at least one or two of the seven deadly sins, greed, vanity, envy, sloth, whatever the case. The idea being that pain and desire are what actually move people to open their wallet, not just “this is useful.”

So beyond problem-first, are there other approaches that work? Have any of you launched or seen something succeed that started from a positive pull instead of pain? Not “I need to remove this annoyance” but “I want more of this good thing.” Status, pleasure, curiosity, that kind of driver rather than frustration.

And taking it further: does there even need to be a problem? Some of the best-loved products aren’t solving pain in any real sense, they’re just fun, delightful, or make you feel something. Games, toys, a lot of consumer social. Is that “no problem,” or is there always one hiding underneath if you look closely enough?

Curious what approaches people have seen work besides problem-first.