My First Million
The best business ideas come from noticing what's working and doing it better, faster, or for a different audience.
First Principles Manufacturing
Building manufacturing operations from fundamental principles rather than copying industry norms, focusing on materials cost as baseline and automating everything possible.
How It Works
Calculate the raw material cost, then work backwards to eliminate every inefficiency between materials and final product. Automate each step to approach theoretical minimum cost.
Components
Calculate true material costs from raw inputs
Identify each step adding cost between materials and final product
Design automation to eliminate labor at each step
Build integrated production lines under one roof
Continuously automate and optimize each process
Apply learnings across multiple product categories
When to Use
In established industries with high 'idiot index' (final price far exceeds material costs), when you can achieve significant scale, or when automation technology enables new approaches.
When Not to Use
In industries already optimized by automation, when you lack capital for factory investment, or when regulatory barriers prevent direct manufacturing.
Anti-Patterns to Avoid
Example
“Instead of outsourcing diaper production, calculate that materials cost $0.03 but retail price is $0.30. Build automated factory that produces diapers for $0.05 all-in, capturing the efficiency gains as profit and competitive advantage.”
Related Knowledge
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Media as Top-of-Funnel Commerce Model
Building a media business (blog, YouTube, social) primarily to create audience and trust, then monetizing through higher-margin product sales rather than traditional advertising.
Bullets to Cannonballs Framework
A systematic approach to innovation where you fire small, low-cost 'bullets' (tests) first, then invest heavily in 'cannonballs' (full execution) only when bullets prove successful.