My First Million

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

digital media

Platform Algorithm Dependency Risk

Timeframe: Ongoing trend, major disruptions happen 2-3 years apart as platforms mature

What's Changing

Social media platforms increasingly controlling content distribution and business model viability, with ability to instantly kill businesses built on their traffic through algorithm changes.

Driving Forces

Platform focus on user experience over publisher revenue

Regulatory pressure on content quality

Platform maturation reducing growth hacking opportunities

Competition between platforms for user attention

Winners

Email list and direct audience builders
Multi-platform content strategies
Businesses with owned media properties
Platform-agnostic content creators

Losers

Single-platform dependent businesses
Clickbait and viral content farms
Companies without direct audience relationships
Businesses built on free platform traffic

How to Position Yourself

Build owned email lists and direct customer relationships

Diversify across multiple platforms

Create platform-agnostic content

Develop subscription or membership models

Focus on quality over viral reach

Early Signals to Watch

Platform policy changes affecting reachNew algorithm rolloutsPlatform revenue model changesCompetitor platform growthUser behavior shifts between platforms

Example Implementation

“Little Things had 100M+ revenue and pending acquisition but lost everything when Facebook changed algorithms. Companies like OMG Facts survived by diversifying but saw significant traffic drops.”