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My First Million

My First Million

The best business ideas come from noticing what's working and doing it better, faster, or for a different audience.

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Create definitive, unassailable narrative non-fiction through exhaustive research

Investigative journalists, biographers, and authors writing about real events and people

2-5 years per major project

What Success Looks Like

You know things about your subject that they don't know about themselves. You can describe scenes with sensory detail as if you were there. Your story is bulletproof against criticism.

Steps to Execute

1

Organize research into three tranches: digital evidence (chat logs, emails, social media), interviews with everyone connected to the subject, and physical reconstruction

2

Interview everyone from elementary school onward - neighbors, classmates, teachers, coworkers

3

Use researchers with opposition research backgrounds to find hidden information

4

Physically visit every location mentioned in the story to experience sensory details

5

Build comprehensive timelines with timestamps for everything

6

Use photo metadata and street views to reconstruct exact locations and moments

7

Don't write a single word until research is completely finished

Checklist

Can I smell, hear, and see every scene I'm describing?
Have I interviewed at least 50 people connected to this story?
Do I have primary source documents for every major claim?
Can I tell the subject something about themselves they didn't know?
Have I physically been to every important location?
Is my timeline accurate to the hour for key events?

Inputs Needed

  • Full-time researchers with investigative backgrounds
  • Budget for extensive travel to locations
  • Access to legal databases and records
  • 2+ years of dedicated time
  • Strong relationships with sources

Outputs

  • Unassailable narrative with sensory details
  • Character insights that surprise even close friends
  • Bulletproof fact-checking
  • Page-turner readability despite being non-fiction

Example

“To write about a tech founder's early days, you interview their elementary school teacher, visit the coffee shop where they had their breakthrough idea, obtain chat logs from their first company, and physically sit in the same camping spot where they made a key decision - all so you can write about it as if you experienced it yourself.”