IN THIS EDITION:
[TRENDS] Why solo founders generate most revenue
[SIGNALS] The Solo Founder’s $1M Revenue Blueprint
[AI IN ACTION] Engineer uses AI as a “second brain”
[GROWTH STORIES] How a Solo Founder Achieved 400% Growth in 6 Months
[MONETIZATION] 5 Unusual Side Hustles Take Over Familiar Ones
✍️ The Note
Welcome to the very first edition of The Morning Business. This newsletter is designed for founders, solopreneurs, and builders who want an edge: every week, you’ll find sharp insights from data, case studies from real founders, and signals pointing to the next big opportunities.
For this opening issue, I wanted to set the tone: small can be powerful. Too often, the startup world celebrates headcount and funding rounds, but what really matters is leverage. From solo founders hitting $1M in revenue, to creative ways of using AI as a second brain, the stories you’ll read here show that scale is no longer about how many people you employ but about how effectively you use your tools and focus your energy.
This is what you can expect from every edition: curated updates that save you time, highlight what really matters, and give you ideas you can act on immediately.
📰 The Update
[TRENDS] Solo founders make up just 20 percent of all startups, yet they generate 42 percent of companies with $1M+ ARR. The takeaway is clear: being lean doesn’t mean being small, it often means being more profitable. You can see the data directly in this Statista report.
[SIGNALS] Research on solo founders who reached $1M ARR shows they all share the same principle: build systems, not teams. They eliminate everything that doesn’t require their direct touch and design processes that run themselves. A deeper look is available in this Statista study.
[AI IN ACTION] Farhad Manjoo, former New York Times columnist, explains in Lenny’s Newsletter how he uses ChatGPT for brainstorming, metaphors, and early drafting. For solopreneurs, it’s a vivid example of how AI can stretch creativity without the need for staff.
[GROWTH STORIES] Minh Pham grew SEOmatic’s MRR from $1K to $5K in six months by shifting his SEO strategy. His case on GrowthMentor proves how a focused pivot can create 400 percent growth without external funding or a team.
[MONETIZATION] A Forbes piece tracks how unusual side hustles - from writing poems in parks to fighting robocalls - are starting to outperform traditional gigs. The takeaway: originality and niche focus drive attention and revenue faster than saturated side hustles like ride-sharing. For founders, it’s a reminder that weird ideas often win because they stand out in crowded markets.