My First Million
The best business ideas come from noticing what's working and doing it better, faster, or for a different audience.
“Pick something you'd be proud to fail at”
What It Means
Choose ambitious goals where the attempt itself would make you proud, regardless of the outcome
Why It Matters
This approach ensures you'll never regret trying and provides sustainable motivation through inevitable difficulties
When It's True
For life-defining career decisions and major entrepreneurial ventures where you have multiple viable options
When It's Risky
When basic financial security is at risk or when failure would harm dependents
How to Apply
Evaluate opportunities by how you'd feel about the attempt in 20 years
Choose paths that align with your deepest values
Use this as a filter for major life decisions
Example Scenario
“Blake chose supersonic jets over easier opportunities because even if Boom failed, he'd be proud of attempting to restore supersonic passenger flight”
Related Knowledge
Bystander Effect in Business Opportunities
A cognitive bias where obviously valuable problems get ignored because everyone assumes someone else must already be working on them, leaving trillion-dollar opportunities hiding in plain sight.
Pasta Extrusion Self-Development Framework
A methodical approach to reshaping yourself into the person capable of achieving an ambitious goal by identifying the specific 'hole' you need to fit through and systematically acquiring the required skills and attributes.
First Principles vs Pattern Matching Decision Framework
A systematic approach to understanding problems by going to root causes and fundamental physics rather than relying on rules of thumb, analogies, or conventional wisdom.
Build deep technical credibility from scratch in a complex field
Ability to have detailed technical conversations with experts, catch BS from supposed experts, and make informed technic
Make strategic decisions by working backwards from likely future scenarios
Clear conviction about which path to pursue based on which future you'd be proudest to have contributed to
Emotional Piggy Bank for Difficult Projects
Every struggle and setback you push through deposits a quarter in an emotional piggy bank, which you get to break open w