My First Million
The best business ideas come from noticing what's working and doing it better, faster, or for a different audience.
“You're totally right, but you can be right and not be an asshole”
What It Means
Being factually correct doesn't justify poor communication or relationship management
Why It Matters
Founder communication style directly impacts team relationships and business outcomes during stressful periods
When It's True
In high-stakes business situations like acquisitions, investor relations, or team management
When It's Risky
When being direct and forceful is actually needed for business survival or critical decisions
How to Apply
Practice delivering difficult feedback with empathy
Separate being right from being effective
Focus on relationship preservation while maintaining standards
Example Scenario
“During acquisition process, maintaining investor and employee relationships while negotiating firmly for fair terms”
Related Knowledge
IQ Arbitrage Strategy
Moving talented people from highly competitive, intellectually demanding industries into underoptimized industries where
Content-First Newsletter Economics
Building newsletter businesses by obsessing over content quality first, then layering on growth and monetization rather
Launch and scale a newsletter to 7-figure revenue
100K+ engaged subscribers generating $18+ annual revenue per subscriber through advertising and products
Standard Setting Through Allowance
The quality standard of any business becomes whatever level of work the leadership allows to pass without correction or
Having an enemy (real or imagined) is essential for startup motivation and focus
Founders should identify or create competitive threats to maintain urgency and drive performance
The news business will see massive disruption opportunities despite historically poor economics due
General distrust of traditional news creates openings for upstart news organizations to capture audience and advertiser