My First Million
The best business ideas come from noticing what's working and doing it better, faster, or for a different audience.
Story Supremacy Principle
A company's narrative and ability to tell a compelling story about their product is more important than the actual quality or features of the product itself
Decision Rule
When evaluating why some products succeed and others fail, look first at the quality and memorability of their story, not their technical specifications or feature set
How It Works
Humans make decisions emotionally and then rationalize them logically. A compelling story creates emotional attachment and gives people a reason to choose your product and advocate for it to others. Without a story, even great products remain unknown.
Failure Modes
Assuming product quality alone will drive adoption
Focusing on features instead of narrative
Thinking rational arguments are more persuasive than emotional ones
Neglecting story development until after product development
Example Decision
“YouTube succeeded over Vimeo despite Vimeo being a technically superior product because YouTube had a better story about democratizing video sharing for everyone, while Vimeo positioned itself as a platform for professionals.”
Related Knowledge
People will always talk to journalists if you understand their motivations
No story is impossible to report if you're willing to invest the time to understand what each potential source wants and
Reality Distortion Field
A psychological influence technique where a charismatic person convinces others that their initial judgment or story is wrong, making them believe an alternative narrative even when evidence contradicts it.
Create definitive, unassailable narrative non-fiction through exhaustive research
You know things about your subject that they don't know about themselves.
I don't believe people should write about other people until they have been written about themselves
You can't understand how it feels to be the subject of critical reporting until you experience it yourself
The best product Jack dorsy ever made was Jack dorsy
Jack Dorsey's greatest achievement was crafting his own public persona and narrative, not any actual product
90% of media is broken beyond repair due to opinion infiltrating reporting, but AI might be the only
Traditional journalism training emphasized impartiality, but internet economics and social media incentivized opinion-based content because it gets more engagement and subscriptions.