My First Million
The best business ideas come from noticing what's working and doing it better, faster, or for a different audience.
The copywriting skills used in fraud operations are directly applicable to legitimate business and should be studied rather than dismissed
The Reasoning
Scammers are highly incentivized to find what actually works in persuasion, creating natural experiments in human psychology at scale
What Needs to Be True
- Ethical application can separate technique from intent
- Psychological principles work regardless of moral context
- High-stakes situations reveal true effectiveness
Counterargument
Studying fraud techniques could normalize unethical behavior and harm trust in legitimate marketing
What Would Change This View
Evidence that legitimate businesses can't ethically apply these persuasion principles
Implications for Builders
Study successful scam techniques for copywriting insights
Apply psychological principles ethically in legitimate business
Focus on the 'how it works' rather than 'what they did'
Example Application
“Use envelope techniques from psychic scams (creating curiosity, personal touches, urgency) for legitimate product launches while being truthful about claims.”