1
Boring-business specificity
Specific businesses (laundromats, car washes, vending routes) with specific economics ($60k revenue, $20k profit, 4-hour weekly work). Anti-Silicon-Valley angle.
Style guide · Boring-business specificity
How to write like Codie Sanchez
Codie Sanchez built Contrarian Thinking around "boring businesses make millionaires" — laundromats, vending machines, car washes. Her writing style mirrors the thesis: specific, anti-glamour, contrarian to startup wisdom. Here are the 5 patterns.
Public X handle: @Codie_Sanchez · Founder of Contrarian Thinking. Public posts on small business acquisitions, cash-flowing businesses, and contrarian wealth-building.
The 5 observable writing patterns
2
Contrarian to startup wisdom
"Forget VC. Buy a laundromat." Direct opposition to the dominant tech-startup narrative. Earns engagement from people fatigued by Silicon Valley content.
3
Owner-operator framing
Talks about businesses from the OWNER's perspective, not the EMPLOYEE's. "Equity", "cash flow", "distributions" — the vocabulary of ownership.
4
Founder-story openers anchored in real acquisitions
"I bought a [specific business] for $X. It does $Y/year. Here's the math." Concrete acquisitions create credibility for the contrarian thesis.
5
Wealth-with-women angle when relevant
Explicit framing for women in business — addressing the gap she observes in finance/business content. Audience-specific positioning.
Pattern shapes (NOT verbatim quotes)
These are illustrative structural templates derived from public writing patterns. Use them as scaffolds for your own specifics — the structure is universal, the words should be yours.
Forget [trendy thing]. Buy [boring business]. Here's the math: $[revenue] / $[expenses] = $[profit] in [time].
Why this works
Contrarian-to-zeitgeist opener + concrete economics. The math is the credibility.
I bought a [business] for $[price]. Year [N] revenue: $[X]. Year [N] profit: $[Y]. The lesson: [transferable insight].
Why this works
Personal acquisition story + economic specifics + lesson generalization.
Most people think wealth requires [common assumption]. The wealthy actually [contrarian truth].
Why this works
Setup + flip. Easy share format. Works because of the gap between common belief and observed reality.
[N] cash-flowing businesses you can buy for under $[X]:\n\n1. [Business + economics]
Why this works
Listicle with concrete economics per item. Bookmark-worthy because each item is actionable.
Do this
- +Use specific businesses with specific numbers — laundromats, vending, car washes, etc.
- +Frame contrarian to the dominant Silicon Valley narrative
- +Talk like an owner — equity, cash flow, distributions
- +Anchor in personal acquisitions or specific case studies
- +Be direct about your audience (women in business, specifically)
Avoid this
- -Generic "build wealth" advice without specific business types
- -Tech-startup vocabulary ("scale", "unicorn", "VC") unless explicitly framing against it
- -Made-up acquisition stories — readers verify
- -Pretending the boring-business thesis works for everyone — Codie is specific about who it fits
Common questions
Will the boring-business style work without acquisition experience?+
Hard mode. The credibility lives in the specifics — actual deal sizes, actual ROI numbers, actual due-diligence stories. Without that, the content reads as cheerleading. Adjacent path: cover acquisitions you're WATCHING (with named sources) until you have your own.
Is the contrarian framing risky if I'm in tech?+
Less risky than it sounds. The X audience over-indexes on tech-fatigue — "forget VC" content lands. The risk is sustainability: if you ONLY frame contrarian without delivering tactical depth, the engagement decays as readers expect more substance.
How does the women-in-business angle work for non-women writers?+
Adapt the structural lesson: audience-specific positioning beats general-purpose positioning. Codie's success comes partly from explicitly addressing a sub-audience others ignored. Pick YOUR specific sub-audience (founders 30+, recent immigrants, etc.) and address them explicitly.
Can AutoTweet generate Sanchez-style content?+
Yes — the Provocative + Educational tones together produce the contrarian-economic-specific pattern. Add Codie's threads + your own acquisition specifics as voice samples in /dashboard/settings/voice for accurate matching.
Other writing-style guides
Write like Naval Ravikant
Style guide · Aphoristic compression
Write like Elon Musk
Style guide · Extreme brevity
Write like Tim Ferriss
Style guide · Numbered lists + frameworks
Write like Paul Graham
Style guide · Essayist compression
Write like Sahil Bloom
Style guide · Thread-first compression
Write like Alex Hormozi
Style guide · Operator specificity