The million-dollar, one-person business
"The rise of one-million-dollar, one-person businesses in the past five years is the biggest trend in employment today, offering the widest range of people the most ways to earn a living while having the lifestyles they want. In The Million-Dollar, One-Person Business, Elaine Pofeldt outlines the pathways to joining this entrepreneurial movement, synthesizing advice from hundreds of business owners who've done it. She explains how to identify, launch, grow, and reinvent the business, showing how a single individual can generate $1 million in revenue--something only larger small companies have done in the past."--Amazon.com.
Stats for nerds
5recommend
10mentions
6people
2018–2026years
70% recommend30% neutral
Mentions per year
What Hacker News says
- There's a good book I read about this, Company of One. I also recommend The Million Dollar One Person Business. They're both about solo foundership.
- In my experience the post quality has been down-trending for a while, but the podcasts are top-tier. Definitely check it out. I also recommend the books:
- Company of One
- Zero to Sold
- Million Dollar One Person Business
- Daniel Vassallo (ex-Amazon) has a community full of people who have left or are wanting to leave tech. Several have been successful in creating info-products, courses, coaching, flipping micro-SaaS, etc
I got laid off from tech for the third time in August 2021. Decided I was done with it. Tried a bunch of things. Now I have my own “portfolio of small bets” (that’s the name of the community).
I take on 12 week co-founder for hire contracts where I do go-to-market work for 10 hours a week in exchange for base plus commission instead of equity. I learned to draw and have a couple of illustration contracts. I have a micro-coaching business where I help people get unstuck in 15 minutes with 3 questions. I’ve written some e-books. I also hold workshops where I teach founders and product managers how to put together their go-to-market strategies.
I love the flexibility. I own my time and can work on whatever I want. Downside was it was stressful trying to figure out what I wanted to do. In hindsight I wish I had enjoyed the journey more.
To see what’s out there check out the community. Look into creating courses and info-products. With your background you probably have a lot to teach. Also check out microacquire, Pencil Pirates, and Codie Sanchez’s YouTube channel. There’s a great book called Million Dollar, One Person Business. Follow Justin Welsh on LinkedIn.
I wish you all the best. Happy to answer any questions
- there are way more small teams (1~10 fte) in software world than people expect, but they don’t make enough money to be on such list. still, their revenue might be USD $1m/enployee. good for individuals, but not good enough for media/blogs to report, because that won’t generate enough clicks :)
a book i always recommend is https://www.amazon.com/Million-Dollar-One-Person-Business-Gr...
- The book The Million-Dollar One-Person Business goes into a lot more examples. It's usually people who build software that can scale.
- You might like this one https://www.amazon.com/Million-Dollar-One-Person-Business-Gr...
I listened to the audio version, it is interesting
