My First Million
The best business ideas come from noticing what's working and doing it better, faster, or for a different audience.
The definition of 'cool' has fundamentally shifted from rebellious/dangerous activities (drugs, partying, extreme sports) to health and optimization activities (cold plunges, meditation, biohacking), representing a generational values transformation.
The Reasoning
Social status markers evolve with generational priorities. Millennials and Gen Z prioritize health, longevity, and optimization over risk-taking and hedonism. Social media rewards self-improvement content over dangerous behavior. Economic pressures make health a luxury good signaling wealth and discipline.
What Needs to Be True
- Health activities become social status symbols
- Traditional rebellion loses social media appeal
- Economic conditions make health a luxury
- Generational shift in risk tolerance
- Wellness industry marketing effectively positions health as aspirational
Counterargument
Cool is cyclical and rebellious behavior always finds new forms. Health obsession might be a temporary trend, and younger generations might rebel against optimization culture through more traditional risk-taking.
What Would Change This View
Youth culture returning to risk-taking behaviors as status symbols, health optimization becoming too mainstream to signal status, or economic conditions making health concerns secondary to other priorities.
Implications for Builders
Target wellness and optimization products to status-conscious consumers
Position health products as aspirational rather than medical
Create social sharing opportunities around healthy behaviors
Avoid building businesses around declining 'cool' behaviors
Tap into optimization culture for product development
Example Application
“Modern 'rock and roll' magazine covers would show people in ice baths and meditation poses instead of drug use and dangerous activities, reflecting how aspirational behavior has shifted toward health and performance optimization.”