My First Million
The best business ideas come from noticing what's working and doing it better, faster, or for a different audience.
Whale-Based Monetization Framework
A revenue model where majority of income comes from tiny percentage of users ('whales') who spend extremely large amounts ($10K-$100K+), while most users spend nothing
How It Works
Acquire large user base cheaply, then optimize entire product experience to identify and extract maximum value from high-spending users through personalized attention and escalating engagement
Components
Acquire large user base with free/cheap entry
Implement engagement tracking and user scoring
Create VIP/white-glove programs for high spenders
Assign dedicated account managers to whales
Continuously increase spend ceilings and new ways to spend
When to Use
Digital products with low marginal costs, games, gambling, trading platforms, or any product where engagement can scale infinitely for some users
When Not to Use
Physical products with high unit costs, professional B2B tools, or industries with strong ethical constraints on exploitation
Anti-Patterns to Avoid
Example
“Mobile game acquires 100K users, identifies 50 who spend $20K+ each, assigns them personal account managers and exclusive content, generating 80% of total revenue from these 50 users”