57:42I Built A $1B Company... Here's 7 Business Ideas I Would Start This Year
From My First Million · Published Jul 4, 2025 · Watch on YouTube
TL;DR
Ahmad, founder of Mercury (a billion-dollar banking company), shares three business trends he would pursue: space tech (cheaper launch, microsat platforms), defense tech (autonomous drones, smart mines, satellite defense), and AI for niche verticals (e.g., AI SAT tutor). He emphasizes that great ideas come disguised as bad ideas, require an inflection point, and scare most people off.
Key insights
- Space tech is underhyped: launch costs have plummeted (SpaceX doing eight flights a week) and microsat platforms enable building a satellite for ~$100K, yet few teams are entering the space.
- Defense tech has three tailwinds: geopolitical multipolarity forcing global rearmament, autonomous vehicle technology (drones, AI), and a shift from a few big platforms to thousands of cheap, easy-to-
- In defense, startups can compete by making existing platforms autonomous (subs, boats, tanks) and by building defensive countermeasures (stealth satellites, smart mines that distinguish civilian from
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