My First Million
The best business ideas come from noticing what's working and doing it better, faster, or for a different audience.
Business success is more about willingness than capability - how willing you are matters more than how smart you are
The Reasoning
Persistence and grit compound over time, while intelligence alone doesn't guarantee execution. Most people give up before seeing results, so willingness to continue becomes the differentiating factor
What Needs to Be True
- Markets reward persistence over brief brilliance
- Compounding advantages come from consistent effort over time
- Most opportunities require sustained effort to capture
- Grit can be maintained across multiple failure cycles
Counterargument
Intelligence and capability are required for complex businesses, and persistence without direction leads to wasted effort in wrong areas
What Would Change This View
Evidence that high-IQ individuals consistently outperform high-grit individuals in entrepreneurship, or that technical complexity requires capability over persistence
Implications for Builders
Hire for grit and bias for action over pure intelligence
Focus on building systems for consistent execution
Expect multiple failures before breakthrough success
Invest in developing persistence and resilience skills
Example Application
“Two 18-year-olds with no money or skills built billion-dollar company through pure persistence, while many smarter, better-funded competitors failed due to giving up earlier”
Related Knowledge
Bullets to Cannonballs Framework
A systematic approach to innovation where you fire small, low-cost 'bullets' (tests) first, then invest heavily in 'cannonballs' (full execution) only when bullets prove successful.
First Principles Manufacturing
Building manufacturing operations from fundamental principles rather than copying industry norms, focusing on materials cost as baseline and automating everything possible.
Build global distribution network by directly contacting every possible buyer
Direct relationships with major retailers globally, orders from multiple countries, established presence in key trade sh
Build billion-dollar business without external capital through radical cost control
Profitable every single month, compounding growth funded by retained earnings, 40%+ net margins, complete ownership rete
Win or Learn, Never Lose
Reframe every business outcome as either a win (success) or learning opportunity (data for improvement), eliminating the
2% Weekly Improvement Compounding
Target 2% improvement every week across all business metrics, trusting compound effects over time even when individual i