The only question that matters when you're starting from zero
You're brilliant at planning. Let's talk about why you haven't started.
This is part of The Unsexy. A series for capable people who are ready to trade the excitement of new ideas, for the power of unsexy, consistent output.
You have a new project in your head.
And because you're smart, you can see it from every possible angle. With the firehose of AI tools and the million "opportunities" that pop up every day, your mind can map out endless strategies, business models, and, most vividly, the 174 ways this whole thing could spectacularly fail.
And so you're stuck. Trapped. Not by a lack of ideas, but by a surplus of analysis.
It's a paralysis that feeds on a few perfectly reasonable-sounding lies we tell ourselves.
"Nah… My time is too valuable to risk on an unproven idea."
"But first, I need to research the competition more thoroughly."
"Honestly, This idea isn't big enough to make a real impact."
These excuses are incredibly effective at keeping you safe. They are elite-level defense mechanisms designed to protect you from the one thing that feels worse than losing money: looking like an idiot.
After building a career on being the competent one, the expert in the room, the idea of launching something small and imperfect feels like showing up to a black-tie gala in sweatpants. It’s a direct threat to your identity.
So we wait. We analyze. We Trello-board ourselves into a corner. We never begin.
How do we break this cycle? We stop trying to de-risk the entire universe. We shrink the target. We focus on getting one, single piece of data.
The Only Question That Matters
Forget the five-year plan. Forget TAM, SAM, and SOM. Forget brand identity. For now, the entire mission is to get a clean answer to one, beautifully clarifying question.
🔳 Will a real human being gladly pay for this?
That’s it. That’s the whole game right now.
An affirmative answer is the only data point that isn’t a vanity metric or an assumption. So, how do we get it?
By designing the smallest, lowest-risk experiment imaginable. You find a single person in your network, and you make them an offer they can't logically refuse.
Here's the script you're going to use:
"I'm developing a [service/product]. I want you to be my first customer for [a fair price]. My promise is simple: If this doesn't deliver the value I just described, you get a 100% refund, no questions asked."
(Note: It helps to practice this line in the mirror until your voice stops shaking. Just a little.)
The moment someone pays you, the fog of theory burns away. Everything changes.
You're a Detective Now, Not a Student
With one paying customer, you're no longer a student of everything. You're a detective on a single case. The abstract, overwhelming questions are replaced by sharp, practical ones.
Instead of: "What are the dominant marketing channels for 2025?"
You now ask: "My first customer was a 35-year-old project manager who found me through a LinkedIn post. Where do I find twenty more of her?"
See the difference? You’re not guessing anymore. You have a clue.
This is also where you give yourself permission to be clumsy. You stop trying to invent from scratch and start looking for ugly momentum. Find people two steps ahead of you. Read their "year one" blog posts. See what clunky, off-the-shelf tools they used.
This stage is all about embracing ugly momentum.
My first "invoice" for a paid project in college? It was a hideous, badly formatted PDF I made in MS Word. The "contract" was an email exchange. It was deeply unprofessional and mortifying in hindsight.
But it was real.
That ugly PDF was infinitely more valuable than the most beautiful, un-sent proposal. It was a transaction. It was momentum.
A Final, Realistic Warning
As you build this momentum, your radar will light up with things that look like easy wins. They rarely are. Your brain, which loves solving problems, will be tempted by these traps.
The Trap of "Easy Money": Be skeptical of business models that seem to require no unique skill: simple arbitrage, AI-generated content mills. They're almost always a hyper-competitive race to the bottom.
The Trap of Obvious Ideas: If your project seems incredibly easy for anyone to copy, the odds are that bigger, faster players have already optimized that market to death. Real, defensible value lies in solving problems that require your specific, hard-won insight.
So ignore the noise. Shrink the universe down to a single task.
🔳 Design one small experiment to see if one person will pay you.
When you're starting from zero, it's the most intellectually honest move you can make. It's the only one that matters.
Hi!
I'm Yuehan. After a decade spent building businesses in both the West and China, I'm sharing my most valuable, road-tested lessons right here on Substack.
Since I'm starting from scratch on this side of the world, your support means a great deal. If this piece resonated, a restack or a simple ❤️ is massively appreciated
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This isn’t motivational fluff. It’s raw and real. Felt like it was written for me.
This is much more inspirational