My First Million
The best business ideas come from noticing what's working and doing it better, faster, or for a different audience.
Quality Audience Selection Model
When building an audience, one highly valuable, aligned person is worth more than many random people who aren't a good fit for your message or offering.
Decision Rule
Always choose to reach smaller numbers of highly relevant people over larger numbers of irrelevant people when forced to choose between reach and relevance.
How It Works
High-value audience members provide better engagement, word-of-mouth, business opportunities, and long-term value than large numbers of misaligned followers who won't take action or provide feedback.
Failure Modes
Chasing vanity metrics (follower count) over meaningful engagement
Creating generic content to appeal to everyone
Focusing on platform numbers instead of business outcomes
Optimizing for reach without considering audience fit
Example Decision
“Choosing to write newsletter for 500 talent managers in Hollywood rather than 50,000 random subscribers, because the 500 can directly use your services and provide high-value referrals.”
Related Knowledge
The best product is just you pushed out to the world
Focus on authentic self-expression rather than trying to copy successful formats or creators
The 5Ds Personal Branding Framework
A framework for building audience connection by sharing five key personal elements: Done (track record), Deliver (what you offer), Do (work and fun activities), Dreams (aspirations), and Dork (obsessions).
First Last Best Worst Weirdest Content Generator
A systematic method for generating personal stories by applying five question types (First, Last, Best, Worst, Weirdest) to any life category (jobs, relationships, projects, etc.
Systematically improve content creation skills through deliberate practice
By video 100, your content quality has improved dramatically through conscious iteration, and you no longer need external advice because you've developed your own judgment and skills.
Create 1-2 hours of quality content that can convert casual visitors into fans
When someone discovers your content, they can consume 1-2 hours and walk away thinking 'I love this person' and become a committed follower, even if your overall numbers are still small.
Luxury Positioning Value Model
You can create more value by serving fewer customers at a higher level of quality and price than by serving many customers at a commodity level.