My First Million
The best business ideas come from noticing what's working and doing it better, faster, or for a different audience.
Hiring coaches for any skill is an underutilized luxury that provides massive value relative to cost once you have some money
The Reasoning
Coaches provide accountability, accelerated learning curves, and forcing functions that are worth far more than their cost for people with discretionary income
What Needs to Be True
- Person has achieved some financial success
- Time is more valuable than money
- Specific skills have high impact on life/career
- Self-directed learning is insufficient
Counterargument
Many skills can be learned effectively through online resources and self-discipline without expensive coaching
What Would Change This View
Evidence that coached individuals don't actually learn faster or achieve better outcomes than self-directed learners
Implications for Builders
Coaching as a service has high willingness to pay
Premium pricing sustainable for quality coaching
Specialization and niche expertise command higher rates
Group coaching models can scale efficiently
Example Application
“Paying $500/hour for AI tutoring sessions provides faster skill acquisition and accountability than trying to learn independently”
Related Knowledge
Dot Collector Framework
A life approach where you say yes to diverse experiences and opportunities, trusting they will connect meaningfully late
Zero-to-One vs One-to-Hundred Operator Framework
Classification of entrepreneurs as either idea generators who start things (0-1) or operators who scale things (1-100)
Cheaply access large college audiences when Facebook was campus-only
Access to 30-40k student audiences for $10/day advertising spend
Get large institutions to bend standard rules through strategic communication
Institution agrees to exception that normally wouldn't be granted
Good Agent vs Bad Agent Decision Rule
Quickly assess whether a customer service representative can actually help you, and hang up immediately if they can't
Adventurous path choices compound in unexpected ways
Should say yes to unusual opportunities even without clear ROI