🐙 How to find a niche you like

Hey there, solopreneur!

Last year, I found myself in a really weird position:

On paper everything was going great — I made a lot of money, got invited to speak at conferences around the world, social account was booming.

But something just felt off.

Because when I talked to builders in the AI space, I always noticed I had a really hard time connecting. It was like their brains, personalities and values seemed very different from mine.

TLDR: The major lesson I learned is that perfect niche to work in is the one where you feel most connected to the people.

And today I want to help you think through this idea for yourself — so you avoid getting in a niche that is not aligned with your values and personality.

This is about avoiding the soul-crushing reality of building a successful business you secretly hate.

Why should you do this process?

→ You need to understand the lifestyle it takes, the kind of person you will work with, the kind of market you are dealing with, the cost you have to pay (in money and time)

→ Gathering this information might take you 2-4 weeks but will help you to form a more intuitive and layered opinion about a space

To an extent, you can do this via content but there's a more intuitive layer of information you get by talking to people vs just listening from afar.

Let’s dive in:

Find your first guides in the niche

First, you need to find your entry point into the niche that fascinates you.

Let's say it's viral consumer apps. Your initial contacts will lead you to the next 10-15 people, creating a snowball effect that makes everything easier.

To find these first guides:

• Reach out to everyone in your network even loosely connected to the topic (LinkedIn keyword searches work great here)

• Join relevant communities (yes, even paid ones - the connection opportunities justify the cost)

• Follow smaller builders who share their journey publicly in your target space

• Ask friends and family (you'll be genuinely shocked how often this uncovers valuable connections)

For viral consumer apps specifically, I'd target:

• Founders who've built and launched successful apps (they possess the deepest knowledge)

• Developers who've coded these products (they understand the technical challenges)

• Marketers who've helped these apps grow (including UGC creators)

• Actual customers who use and love these apps (they have unique insights into what creates real value)

Once you have your first 2-3 contacts, set up casual calls. Just be honest: you're planning to build in this niche and would really value their expert perspective (a little ego-stroking goes a long way).

At the end of each conversation, ask the magic question: "Who are 2-3 other people you think I should talk to?" Most will happily make introductions.

Boom! Now you've got 15-20 more valuable connections.

During these calls, dig into their real experiences. Ask about the invisible problems outsiders never see. Explore what their actual day-to-day life looks like behind the highlight reel.

Seek someone who quit the game entirely

Every niche has its dropouts - those who built something and walked away. These people are gold mines of perspective, yet most founders never think to find them.

Seek out someone who once built in your target industry but decided to quit. Their insights offer several powerful advantages:

• They'll paint a more balanced, less rose-colored picture of the niche

• You can honestly assess if you relate more to them or to those who stayed

• They'll openly share the friction points and frustrations that drove them away

These conversations help you spot potential deal-breakers before investing years of your life.

Gather volume of conversations across different channels

This part might feel tedious, but here's the truth: connecting with people is fundamentally a volume game.

Your intuitive understanding of a space multiplies exponentially with each conversation. Ten calls will give you 100× more insight than just one or two.

As you accumulate these interactions, you'll notice patterns emerging:

• Certain personality traits that consistently lead to success (or failure) in this niche

• Recurring challenges that everyone mentions regardless of their position

• Shared interests, values, and motivations (or the glaring lack of overlap with your own)

Push yourself to have these conversations in person whenever possible. Yes, it's harder to arrange, but you'd be surprised how many people will meet for coffee when asked directly.

Take advantage of industry events and meetups they're already attending - it makes meeting more convenient for them.

Remember, this entire process demands courage. The willingness to simply ask is often your biggest advantage.

Industry meetups accelerate your learning dramatically - though keep in mind people tend to be more guarded in group settings than in one-on-one conversations.

Offer value first before asking for insights

The moment you request someone's time, immediately look for ways to be helpful to them.

Always ask: "Is there any way I can support what you're working on?" This simple question transforms the dynamic from extraction to exchange.

Your value might come through:

• Sharing relevant experience from your background

• Connecting them to someone in your network

• Offering feedback on something they're building

• Simply picking up the check for coffee or lunch

The ways to give are endless, but the principle is fixed: always lead with generosity.

Trust your gut reaction after multiple interactions

Your subconscious processes thousands of micro-signals your conscious mind misses entirely. This internal "algorithm" is processing far more data than you realize.

After several meetings in your target niche, create space to check in with yourself honestly:

• How do these interactions leave you feeling energetically?

• Do conversations with these people spark inspiration or drain your enthusiasm?

• Can you genuinely connect to their mission beyond the money?

• Would you want to grab dinner with these people if business wasn't involved?

These visceral reactions contain critical wisdom your logical mind might overlook.

For me, the contrast was stunning - being aligned versus misaligned with the people in my field created an entirely different emotional experience in my daily work.

Never twist your authentic self to fit into a niche that feels wrong. The cost to your wellbeing is too high.

Imagine their lifestyle as your everyday reality

Many people fixate on outcomes while ignoring the daily reality required to achieve them.

One of my favorite questions when exploring a new space is simply: "What does your typical day actually look like?"

Pay close attention to the lifestyle patterns of people in your target niche:

• Are they consistently burned out and glued to screens?

• Do they maintain healthy relationships outside their work?

• How's their physical health and energy?

• Do they seem genuinely fulfilled or just financially successful?

Ask directly about the challenging aspects of their work - not just the highlight reel they show publicly.

Get crystal clear about the real-world trade-offs and shared values of people succeeding in this space. This is the life you're potentially signing up for.

Commit or quit without hesitation

After all these conversations, you'll possess a rich understanding of what building in this space truly entails.

You'll see clearly:

• The specific type of person who thrives here

• The concrete lifestyle this path demands

• The values that permeate the culture

Now comes the moment of truth: commit fully or walk away cleanly.

Half-hearted decisions lead to half-hearted results. The middle path is rarely rewarding.

In my case, after deep conversations with about 10 founders in the longevity/wellness space, my body gave an unmistakable signal of alignment. Their perspectives, goals, and approaches resonated deeply with my own.

This stood in stark contrast to my experiences with most AI builders - brilliant minds, certainly, but it felt like we were operating in different realities, speaking entirely different languages about what matters.

To me it's one of the most important steps you can take, to understand if the thing you build is aligned with who you truly are.

You'll only really find out once you start building, but taking the steps above is the second best thing you can do to get a great temperature feel and it will weed out stuff that's not aligned fast.

Doing all these steps will also test if you really want to do it because once you start telling others you want to build in that space, your subconscious will challenge your belief (do I REALLY want this?)

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Ole's Bookmarks

14 Peaks (Netflix) - This is an incredibly inspiring story of a Nepalese mountaineer achieving success against all odds - deeply inspiring and a great reminder that our definition of hard work in front of a computer is a meme.

I'm not a crazy Mr. Beast fan but this interview was really good. Also crazy to imagine that Mr. Beast gets all this crazy stuff done while having Crohn's disease. The way he obsesses about creating products inspires me.

A video I made on how I’m growing Longevity Maxi’s audience by algo-hacking.

Only 2 months left in Cyprus until I leave for Berlin for 3 months.

With my cold plunge and sauna here now, I’m more reluctant to go because I can feel how much it helps me rebalance my nervous system after all the stress of 2022-2024.

But I’m also looking forward of being back in the city. If you’re around, reach out!

This newsletter was about a topic I rarely see people talk about, let me know if you liked it (I read all replies!)

See you next week 🫡 

Ole