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Business-ideas listicles
"10 businesses you could start this weekend", "5 ways someone made $1M in 2024". Numbered lists of specific business concepts with concrete economics.
Style guide · Business-ideas listicles
How to write like Shaan Puri
Shaan Puri's X content tracks his My First Million podcast: business ideas, shock-value framings, founder stories, conversational asides. Here are the 5 patterns that drive his engagement.
Public X handle: @ShaanVP · Co-host of My First Million. Public posts on business ideas, startup tactics, and contrarian observations.
The 5 observable writing patterns
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Shock-value openers
Posts open with a number, fact, or claim that startles. "A guy I know makes $40k/month selling [bizarre product]". The opener is the hook.
3
Podcast-pulled insights
Frequently extracts the punchiest line from a podcast episode and posts it standalone. Attribution to guest + brief context.
4
Conversational tone
Casual register — lowercase starts, sentence fragments, ellipses... feels like a friend texting. Lower polish, higher relatability.
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Founder-story compression
Long founder stories compressed to 3-5 sentences. "He started in his garage, hit $100k MRR in 6 months, here's the playbook".
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.
[Surprising number] from [bizarre source]. Here's the [N]-step playbook:
Why this works
Shock-value opener + concrete payoff structure. The bizarre source IS the hook.
[N] business ideas under $[budget]:\n\n1. [Idea with revenue potential]
Why this works
Listicle with specific economics per item. Bookmark-worthy.
Just talked to [person]. He said: "[memorable quote]". My takeaway: [brief reframe].
Why this works
Conversation-as-content. The pull-quote + your reframe.
Wild story: [founder] [unexpected action] → $[result]. Lessons: [N quick observations].
Why this works
Founder-story compression. Specific result + numbered lessons.
Do this
- +Lead with the shocking number or counterintuitive fact
- +Use conversational, lower-polish register
- +Pull punchy quotes from your sources/podcasts/conversations
- +Number your lists — "5 ideas", "7 mistakes", etc.
- +Compress founder stories ruthlessly — 3-5 sentences max
Avoid this
- -Made-up business ideas with fabricated numbers
- -Over-polished prose — Shaan's style is conversational
- -Long preambles before the hook
- -Founder stories without specific outcomes
Common questions
Where do I find the surprising business numbers?+
Listening + reading widely. Indie Hackers, Acquire.com listings, niche subreddits, niche newsletters, BizBuySell. The interesting numbers exist in places most people don't look. Curation is the value-add.
Is the conversational tone hard to write?+
Easier than polished writing if you let yourself. Write a draft, then read it aloud. If it sounds like a written speech, rewrite. The mental shortcut: "How would I text this to a friend?"
Why do business-idea listicles work so well?+
Three reasons: (1) actionable — each idea is concrete enough to act on, (2) bookmark-worthy — people save lists for later, (3) low-cost to consume — readers can skim and find one item that resonates. The pattern translates to any niche where readers want options.
Can AutoTweet generate Shaan-style content?+
Yes — the Casual tone produces the conversational register; pair with custom voice samples that include real business numbers + bizarre-source openers from your own catalog. /dashboard/settings/voice handles the rest.
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