My First Million
The best business ideas come from noticing what's working and doing it better, faster, or for a different audience.
Bezos Number Framework
A systematic approach to finding business opportunities by identifying and analyzing rapidly growing trends before deciding what to build, named after Jeff Bezos noticing the internet growing 2700% per year before starting Amazon.
How It Works
Collect trend data from industry reports, academic papers, and Google Scholar, then categorize by growth rate, doubling time, causes, and effects to find where the market is flowing naturally.
Components
Research trends across categories (social issues, healthcare, energy, etc.)
Document trend direction, growth rate, and doubling time
Identify causes and potential effects of each trend
Prioritize trends by speed of growth and market size
Look for second and third-order effects of major trends
When to Use
When starting a new business or looking for expansion opportunities, especially if you want to ride market momentum rather than create entirely new markets.
When Not to Use
When you have a specific passion project, when trends are too early-stage to monetize, or when you're better suited for innovation-based businesses.
Anti-Patterns to Avoid
Example
“Sports betting legalization was tracked as a trend doubling in less than one year. An entrepreneur built state-specific betting affiliate sites before each state legalized, selling each for $40M+ by being first to market.”