My First Million
The best business ideas come from noticing what's working and doing it better, faster, or for a different audience.
Research as Coping Mechanism
When facing uncertainty or major life changes, some people cope by conducting systematic research to gain control and understanding, turning uncertainty into data-driven insights.
Decision Rule
When feeling overwhelmed by a situation, ask: 'What data could I collect to better understand this?' then design a research study to explore the question systematically.
How It Works
Research provides psychological comfort through the illusion of control and transforms anxiety into curiosity. The process of learning often matters more than the specific findings.
Failure Modes
Procrastination through endless research without action
Spending money on studies that don't inform decisions
Using research to avoid confronting emotional issues
Believing data can solve inherently subjective problems
Example Decision
“After selling company and feeling uncertain about happiness and wealth, spend $50K on systematic study of wealthy individuals rather than just networking or reading books.”
Related Knowledge
Wealth research shows money continues increasing happiness beyond conventional thresholds
The conventional wisdom about money not buying happiness beyond basic needs is wrong - more money does continue to incre
Bezos Number Framework
A systematic approach to finding business opportunities by identifying and analyzing rapidly growing trends before deciding what to build, named after Jeff Bezos noticing the internet growing 2700% per year before starting Amazon.
Great Ideas Remix Framework
Taking proven successful concepts and applying them to different markets, demographics, or contexts while maintaining th
Build a systematic trend research database for business ideation
A spreadsheet with 100+ categorized trends showing direction, doubling time, causes, effects, and business implications
Systematically improve revenue per customer through strategic pricing changes
Revenue per customer increasing 15-30% annually through systematic pricing improvements without hurting conversion rates
Financial Freedom Definition
True financial freedom isn't having a certain amount of money in your bank account - it's when you stop making choices based on money considerations.