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This founder makes $1M/year from apps: the opportunity discovery framework he uses
Recently, I had a conversation with a founder whose portfolio of apps generates more than $1M a year.
During our conversation, I asked him something I’ve been thinking about a lot lately:
How do you actually find app ideas worth building?
Because building isn’t the hard part anymore.
You can build an MVP in days.
You can use AI to write code.
You can launch products faster than ever.
The real challenge is figuring out what to build in the first place. Most founders get this part wrong.
They spend weeks scrolling through Twitter, Reddit, Product Hunt, and startup communities looking for ideas.
Then they either copy something that’s already working or start building based on a hunch.
A few months later, they realize nobody really wants what they built. His answer was surprisingly systematic.
Instead of chasing ideas, he follows a repeatable process to identify opportunities, validate demand, understand users, and think about distribution before writing a single line of code.
I asked him to walk me through the entire framework. In this issue, I’ll break down exactly what he shared.
How one 3-person app studio identifies opportunities before spending a single hour building. Even solo founder can do this.
The framework they use to separate trends from businesses that can actually generate revenue.
How they discover what people want before competitors notice.
The research process that turns a broad market into a highly specific opportunity.
Why they think about distribution before product and how it changes what they choose to build.
How to create distribution channel and UGC content to attract users.
If you’re building apps, SaaS products, or AI tools, this framework will probably save you a lot of time, money, and unnecessary mistakes.
What you should avoid
There’s a huge trend right now where people say:
Just copy a $100k/month app
and while I understand why this advice is popular, I think it’s one of the reasons why so many founders end up quitting.
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