My First Million
The best business ideas come from noticing what's working and doing it better, faster, or for a different audience.
Think of Yourself as Coach, Not Player
When building multiple companies, your role is to assemble and guide talented teams rather than trying to be the best at every functional skill yourself.
Decision Rule
If you can convince LeBron James and Kevin Garnett to join your team, your team will succeed regardless of your individual playing ability.
How It Works
Focus on recruiting people who are better than you in specific domains, then provide strategic guidance and remove obstacles rather than trying to do their jobs.
Failure Modes
Trying to be the best technical person on a technical team
Micromanaging specialists instead of trusting their expertise
Competing with your team members instead of supporting them
Hiring generalists instead of specialists
Example Decision
“For Business Insider, hire Henry Blodgett who's a better writer and journalist than you, then focus on business strategy and deal-making rather than editorial decisions.”
Related Knowledge
Most people understate the risk of not doing something
Bias toward action and calculated risks rather than conservative approach
Time is never on your side - any good idea will be copied within 6 months
Speed of execution is critical competitive advantage
The Ryan Studio Model
A systematic approach to creating multiple companies by combining deep industry research, patient capital, and specialist CEO recruitment rather than trying to be CEO of everything yourself.
The Dollar-Into-Two-Dollar Machine Framework
A mental model for evaluating whether to raise capital and invest in growth by determining if you can reliably convert investment into higher returns.
The 10-Year Trend Betting Framework
A strategic approach to business building that focuses exclusively on trends and opportunities that will play out over 10+ years rather than immediate market gaps.
Systematically understand a new industry well enough to identify billion-dollar opportunities
A 50-page document identifying 3-5 major pain points, key players, industry structure, and specific product opportunitie