Most first-time founders overcomplicate the path to their first $10K.

They spend months building a product nobody asked for, designing a logo before they have a single customer, and "researching" competitors instead of talking to real people.

Here's the pattern I keep seeing from founders who actually make it:

Week 1-2: Pick one problem. Not a market. Not an industry. One specific person with one specific frustration they'd pay to solve today.

Week 3-4: Sell the solution before you build it. DM 50 people who have the problem. Describe how you'd fix it. If 5+ say "take my money" — you have a business.

Month 2: Deliver manually. Don't automate anything. Do the work by hand. Learn what actually matters to customers vs. what you assumed.

Month 3: Systematize what works. Now you know what people pay for. Build only that.

The founders who hit $10K fastest aren't the smartest ones. They're the ones who stopped planning and started selling.

I break down exactly how founders execute this playbook every week in Empire Brief. It's free — subscribe if you want the breakdowns.