This made me think of "1,000 True Fans". I'm sure there will be more than a few business school case studies written about competition in this era of software development. Even things like niche apps singularly tailored for small skilled trades are seeing competition. AI tooling will definitely allow new/smaller/solo players to clone apps and undercut the legacy players on price more rapidly than before. Some of these very narrow apps are fairly expensive ($100s/month), if replacements of acceptable quality can be produced they will take some market share. This may be death (shrinkage) by a 1000 cuts for some established players.
This is not financial advice but here’s what I do:
High level - "Earn, Save, Invest"
In order for your money to make more money you need to execute all three steps: Figure out how to make money, manage not to spend it, and produce a return from that money.
Try to optimize each step. Make more money if you can / are comfortable (deserve a raise? change companies/jobs? start a side hustle?). Spend less (make and live by a budget, cook your own food, buy used, get cheap hobbies, stop keeping up with the Joneses). Understand the tax efficiency, risks, potential returns, and effort required from different types of investments.
I take credit for none of the ideas above, they are cobbled together from various online sources. Some things to search / places to start: Reddit personal finance flowchart, The Millionaire Next Door, Index / Boglehead investing.
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