The key ideas

12 Months to $1 Million

Ryan Daniel Moran, 2020

How many years have you spent choosing what to sell? At twenty-nine, Ryan Moran saw ten million dollars in his account after selling his sports supplement company, and he turned that experience into a step-by-step plan: one customer, three to five products, one launch after another. The book explains where to start, why you shouldn't fear a high price, and how to gather your first buyers before the product even reaches the warehouse.

Who it is for

For anyone who has long wanted a business of their own but got stuck on the question of what to sell. And for anyone who already sells online and wants to understand how a brand grows out of a single product.

You cannot create a product for everyone. You can only create a product for someone.

A million on a teacher's salary

One day a boy asked his father how much a million dollars was. His father had taught middle school for more than thirty years. He answered like this: if you work your whole life and never spend a cent, you'll end up with about a million. The boy's name was Ryan Moran, and at twelve he decided that the only way he'd get rich was through a business of his own.

Almost twenty years later, at twenty-nine, he opened his bank's website and saw ten million dollars in his account. Just before that, he and his partner Matt had sold a controlling stake in their sports supplement company, Sheer Strength.

From this experience he drew a simple formula: three to five products priced at around 30 dollars, each selling 25 or 30 units a day. By his count, that adds up to a business with a million dollars a year in sales.

The book's title remains the author's promise, not a guarantee, and Moran himself opens with a warning: ahead lies a year of long days without a paycheck. In return, you'll see why everything starts with a person rather than a product, and how to gather buyers before the product has even sailed into the warehouse.

The same coffee for different people

Suzy Batiz went bankrupt twice before she came up with a spray you spritz into the toilet beforehand so that no smell lingers in the bathroom. She called it Poo-Pourri. It worked, but it barely sold.

Everything changed when Suzy realized who her customer was: women like her, tired of awkward moments. She made a funny video for them, it spread across the internet, and, according to Moran, within a few years sales passed 400 million dollars.

Hence the book's main rule: first the person, then the product. Black Rifle Coffee sells coffee to conservative men who love guns. Bulletproof sells coffee to people who want to work at their peak, and charges twice as much for it. The beans, as the author sees it, may be almost the same, but the people are different. For Moran, a brand isn't a logo but the trust created by several products that serve one person.

The author's friend James made good-looking glasses that block the blue light of screens, for people who sleep badly. The first model sold well, the second flopped. James thought he was selling glasses, when in fact his company was helping people fall asleep.

Where to start: pick a group of people you know well, ideally one you belong to yourself, and write down what these people already buy. If you can't come up with at least three things, the author advises looking for another market.

Read in Livria

About the author

Ryan Daniel Moran is an American entrepreneur and the founder of Capitalism.com and the Capitalism Conference. By his own account, he has helped more than 300 beginners build companies with at least a million dollars a year in sales.

All books by this author: Ryan Daniel Moran

Terms from the book

  • Plateau
  • Matt
  • James
  • Brand
  • Don
  • Amazon
  • Ali
  • Sheer Strength: The sports supplement company the author built together with Matt. They sold a controlling stake in it to an investment firm.
  • Batiz: Suzy Batiz, an American entrepreneur and the creator of Poo-Pourri.
  • Poo-Pourri: A scented spray you spritz into the toilet beforehand so that no unpleasant smell lingers in the bathroom.
  • Black Rifle Coffee: An American coffee company whose advertising speaks to conservative men who are into guns.
  • Bulletproof: Dave Asprey's company. It started with a special coffee for people who want to work at their peak, then went on to release oils, bars and other products.
  • Contract manufacturer: A company that makes a product under someone else's brand and sells it wholesale to the brand's owner.
  • Alibaba: The world's largest online marketplace for finding manufacturers and wholesale suppliers, mostly from Asia.
  • Sean: The author's partner in selling yoga products. His last name isn't given in the book.
  • Gateway product: The author's term: the first product a customer buys when taking up a pursuit, after which they buy everything else. For yoga, it's the mat.
  • Native Deodorant: An American brand of natural deodorants. It was later bought by Procter & Gamble.
  • Canole: Drew Canole, a friend of the author and the founder of Organifi.
  • Organifi: An American brand of powders for making healthy drinks.
  • Hot list: The author's technique: a list of people who have said in advance that they want to buy the product on launch day.
  • Zigler: Jenna and Travis Zigler, eye doctors and students of the author, who founded a company making eye care products.
  • Ken: A participant in the group calls the author ran for beginning entrepreneurs.
  • BestSelf: BestSelf Co., a company that makes planners and other productivity products.
  • Herman: Todd Herman, a friend of the author, a coach who helps people reach high performance, and the author of the book The Alter Ego Effect.

All terms

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