My First Million

The best business ideas come from noticing what's working and doing it better, faster, or for a different audience.

Back to Ideas

AI-Powered Email Client (Cursor for Email)

For: VCs, executives, professionals who process 100+ important emails daily

Buildability

The Problem

Email power users waste hours daily on email management and miss important opportunities due to volume

The Solution

AI-augmented email client that pre-processes emails, provides research context, and automates responses while keeping user in control

Why Now?

Large language models can now provide high-quality email analysis and response generation, avatar technology enables personalized video responses

Build MVP in 7 Days

Day 1

Gmail plugin that summarizes emails using ChatGPT API

Day 2

Basic priority scoring system

Day 3

Simple response suggestions

Day 4

Landing page for power user feedback

How to Validate

Interview 20 email power users about pain points

Build simple Gmail extension with basic AI features

Test with small group of high-volume email users

Measure time savings and willingness to pay

Revenue Model

Premium SaaS pricing $200-2000/month based on time saved and value created

Competitive Moat

User behavior data, AI training on specific use cases, integration depth

Risks to Consider

Google/Microsoft could replicate features quicklyPrivacy concerns about email content processingHigh customer acquisition costsTechnical integration challenges

Related Knowledge

Trend

AI Automation of Traditional Labor-Intensive Businesses

Traditional businesses with high labor costs becoming targets for AI automation and acquisition

Same episodeComplements

Trend

Emergence of AI-Native Consumer Social Experiences

Consumer social interaction patterns evolving to include AI participants as primary rather than auxiliary experience ele

Same episodeComplements

Tactic

Power User Referral Networks: Target ultra-high-volume email users who have strong professional netw

Power users have similar peers who face identical problems and trust referrals from people in similar situations

Same episodeComplements

Framework

Broad vs Deep Market Entry Framework

A framework for choosing between targeting a massive market with moderate per-customer value versus targeting a smaller

Same episode

Playbook

Build live shopping platform with AI avatars for personalized e-commerce experiences

Platform where customers get one-on-one shopping experiences with AI versions of celebrities/influencers, driving higher

Same episode

Playbook

Create AI-powered personalized news aggregation with interactive conversational interface

Users get personalized news digest with ability to drill down conversationally on any topic, replacing traditional newsl

Same episode