My First Million
The best business ideas come from noticing what's working and doing it better, faster, or for a different audience.
Renting vs Owning Digital Real Estate
Traffic sources can be categorized as 'rented' (paid advertising where traffic stops when you stop paying) versus 'owned' (SEO, content, community where you build lasting value).
Decision Rule
Prioritize owned traffic sources that compound over time, but use rented traffic for immediate needs and testing. Owned traffic becomes more valuable as 'land prices' (competition) increase.
How It Works
Rented traffic gives immediate results but costs increase over time and you have no control over pricing. Owned traffic takes longer to build but creates compounding value that competitors can't instantly take away.
Failure Modes
Only using rented traffic and having no moat
Only using owned traffic and having no immediate results
Treating owned channels like rented ones
Not diversifying traffic sources
Example Decision
“A startup uses Google Ads for immediate customer validation but simultaneously builds SEO content. As the ads get more expensive, the SEO traffic grows and provides sustainable growth.”