Something that just about seems to work is something that has often met the threshold for "solves a real problem" while also meeting the other requirements that a product needs to be successful.
It's easy to make something that works, is well designed, and either doesn't solve a problem someone has or nobody knows about it.
I realize that this is the common wisdom these days: write code that works just well enough that we have a chance to fix before it does too much damage whenever it breaks. I suspect that this approach is strongly fueled by the unlimited VC money available in tech, since it means that any company can employ an unlimited number of full-time developers (and PR) just to handle catastrophes.
We'll see how that wisdom holds if/when/as VC money dries up and/or moves to other sectors.
> I suspect that this approach is strongly fueled by the unlimited VC money available in tech,
Well, I suppose we could trade anecdotes and counter-examples, but my position largely comes from my own experience rather than received wisdom (though there's plenty of that).
Instead I'll just say that I disagree, largely because because a business is a complex and shifting arrangement of various factors competing for limited time and resources. Even in a software business, software is only one of those.
It's easy to make something that works, is well designed, and either doesn't solve a problem someone has or nobody knows about it.