My First Million
The best business ideas come from noticing what's working and doing it better, faster, or for a different audience.
X, Beautifully Done
A business strategy of taking an existing product category and simply executing it with dramatically better design, user experience, and quality
Decision Rule
When evaluating business opportunities, ask: 'What existing product do people use but complain about the experience?' Then ask: 'What would this look like if it was just beautifully done?'
How It Works
Most products are optimized for cost or speed-to-market, not user delight; customers will pay premiums for beautiful execution of basic needs
Failure Modes
Over-designing for edge cases instead of nailing the core experience
Beautiful but non-functional (form over function)
Targeting wrong customer segment (people who don't value beauty)
Underestimating operational complexity behind 'simple' products
Example Decision
“Instead of creating new air quality monitoring technology, Birdie took existing sensors and made them beautiful - white circle with bird that changes position instead of confusing numbers and beeping alarms”