My First Million

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

Electronic Corporate Bond Trading Platform

For: Large institutional investors (Fidelity, PIMCO, pension funds)

Buildability

The Problem

Corporate bond trading requires calling multiple investment banks to find buyers/sellers, creating inefficiency and opacity in pricing

The Solution

Electronic marketplace that allows institutions to trade bonds directly with each other, bypassing traditional investment bank intermediaries

Why Now?

Post-financial crisis regulations make banks less willing to hold bond inventory, creating need for alternative trading mechanisms

Build MVP in 7 Days

Day 1

Simple matching interface for bond trade requests

Day 2

Basic user authentication and verification

Day 3

Manual trade confirmation and settlement coordination

Day 4

Simple fee calculation system

How to Validate

Survey existing trading relationships about pain points

Get 3 major institutions to commit to testing platform

Complete one real trade through the system

Measure cost savings vs traditional methods

Revenue Model

Transaction fees on completed trades, much lower than traditional investment bank spreads

Competitive Moat

Network effects - more participants create better liquidity and pricing

Risks to Consider

Regulatory hurdles for new trading venuesExisting relationships with investment banksNetwork effects work against you when starting small

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Framework

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