My First Million
The best business ideas come from noticing what's working and doing it better, faster, or for a different audience.
The news business will see massive disruption opportunities despite historically poor economics due to declining trust in traditional media
The Reasoning
General distrust of traditional news creates openings for upstart news organizations to capture audience and advertiser attention with fresh approaches and perspectives
What Needs to Be True
- Trust in traditional media continues declining
- Audiences willing to pay for alternative news sources
- Advertisers follow audiences to new platforms
- New entrants can solve traditional news economics problems
Counterargument
News has always been a terrible business with high costs, low margins, and dependence on breaking news cycles that are hard to predict or control
What Would Change This View
Traditional news organizations successfully rebuilding trust and audience loyalty, or new entrants failing to solve fundamental economics
Implications for Builders
Opportunity to build news organizations with different business models
Focus on specific niches or perspectives underserved by mainstream media
Consider subscription models over advertising-dependent models
Build direct audience relationships rather than platform-dependent distribution
Example Application
“Launch niche news publication focused on specific industry or political perspective with premium subscription model and direct audience monetization”