My First Million

3 Killer Businesses Hidden in Plain Sight

My First Million·May 5, 2026

OVERVIEW

This episode of My First Million explores the concept of "hidden in plain sight" businesses that generate substantial revenue by selling information or products that are essentially free or publicly available. It also delves into the history of "cultural shift marketing," where companies strategically create or amplify social traditions and needs to drive product sales, showcasing how seemingly ingrained customs were often commercial inventions.

KEY TOPICS

  • Selling free information for profit (Oasis water quality app, labor law posters, GS1 barcodes).
  • Business models based on convenience and perceived value of free resources.
  • The history and impact of cultural shift marketing (tradition hijacking).
  • Examples of cultural marketing for diamonds, breakfast, baby showers, wedding registries, Casual Friday, and toothpaste.
  • The role of strategic marketing and public relations in shaping societal norms and consumer behavior.
  • The power of simple, repeatable marketing tactics, especially on platforms like TikTok.
  • Inspiration from observing everyday objects and customs as potential business opportunities.
  • Ideas for new "tradition hijacking" opportunities like Friendsgiving and Graduation Season.

MAIN TAKEAWAYS

  • Many successful businesses operate by aggregating, structuring, and presenting readily available information or products in a convenient or compelling way, even if the core offering is free. These businesses can achieve high profit margins by offering solutions to problems that individuals or companies may not even realize are solvable with readily available free data.
  • Companies can create massive markets and influence cultural practices by strategically inventing or promoting traditions and narratives that align with their products. This "tradition hijacking" can embed products and services into the fabric of daily life and social customs.
  • Success often comes from identifying unmet needs or pain points, even if customers don't explicitly realize they have them, and offering a simplified solution. By making compliance or obtaining information easy, businesses add significant value.
  • Modern marketing can leverage platforms like TikTok for highly effective, repeatable content that drives engagement and sales by addressing relevant concerns. Simple, consistent content formats can lead to viral success and sustained growth.
  • A shift in mindset to view every object and custom as a potential business opportunity can unlock entrepreneurial ideas. The world is full of overlooked systems and services that represent hidden business potential.
  • Understanding how cultural norms are shaped by commercial interests provides insight into effective marketing and consumer psychology. Many seemingly ancient traditions were, in fact, cleverly engineered marketing campaigns.

NOTABLE QUOTES

"They take a free thing and they sell it."
"You're just aggregating free data that already exists that anybody could go request."
"Your eyes are just glazing over million-dollar opportunities everywhere you walk because they are literally everywhere."
"It's literally like the blockchain getting invented, right? It's like, oh my God."
"This marketing, you can call it cultural shift marketing, or tradition hijacking."
"You don't just drive some revenue or lift sales by X percent, like a marketer can literally change the way that society works."

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