My First Million
The best business ideas come from noticing what's working and doing it better, faster, or for a different audience.
“Invest in your P&L”
What It Means
Look at your business expenses and try to become an investor in the companies you're already paying
Why It Matters
You're already validating these businesses with your wallet, so you understand their value proposition and could benefit from their growth
When It's True
When you're spending meaningful amounts with growing, profitable businesses where you could add strategic value
When It's Risky
When you don't actually understand the business or it has poor unit economics despite your usage
How to Apply
Audit your monthly business expenses
Identify which vendors are growing businesses you genuinely believe in
Approach founders about strategic investment opportunities
Negotiate equity participation rather than just affiliate deals
Example Scenario
“A marketing agency spending $5K/month on a promising analytics tool approaches the founder about taking equity stake and helping with customer acquisition.”
Related Knowledge
Audience Co-Founder Framework
A business partnership model where someone with a trusted audience becomes an equity partner to provide unfair distribution advantages, essentially acting as a non-fungible go-to-market cheat code.
Curse of Familiar Riches
The mental trap where entrepreneurs can easily envision 1-2x income growth (because they understand those mechanisms) but their brains short-circuit when trying to think of 10x growth paths.
Identify investment opportunities in companies you already pay as a customer
Becoming an equity partner in a business you already use, potentially seeing significant returns as the business grows with your help.
Trust Depth Over Reach Breadth
When evaluating audience partnerships, trust depth (how much influence you actually have) matters exponentially more than reach breadth (total follower count).
Money does make you happier, but the 'never enough' psychology persists at every level
Pursue wealth for the genuine benefits it provides, but don't expect it to eliminate the desire for more
He chose violence
Nick chose the aggressive, high-risk path instead of playing it safe with his existing profitable businesses