Automate What People Hate - And Charge for It

Read time: 6 minutes

Hey, welcome back.

Last week, I wrote about learning to genuinely love seeing people win, how shifting from envy to inspiration rewires your energy and expands what’s possible. You can read that (and all past issues, here)​

I came back from Foundrs Fforest still thinking about that idea, how energy compounds when you stop fighting the wrong battles.
Whether it’s people, money, or time, most of what drains us isn’t work itself, it’s the parts we secretly resent doing.

That’s what today’s email is about.
A principle that sounds almost too practical to be profound, but it’s shaped every good business I’ve ever seen:

Automate something people hate… and charge for it.

It’s not just a clever startup idea.
It’s the backbone of leverage, freedom, and sustainable energy, both in life and in business.

In fact - my business, Heights - just crossed 50,000 monthly subscribers to our products - because we focused on this concept. So - if you're looking to build a business where over fifty thousand people purchase on subscription every month - read on.

The Hidden Pattern Behind Every Great Business

Think about the last product or service you paid for without hesitation.

Maybe it was Uber, because you hate waiting for taxis.
Maybe it was Amazon Prime, because you hate slow shipping.
Maybe it was Calendly, because you hate endless back-and-forths.

Each one solved the same emotional pain:
​“I don’t want to deal with this anymore.”

That’s the sweet spot of business.
Not building what people want, but what they can’t be bothered to keep doing.

Convenience beats innovation almost every time.
Because when you automate something people hate, you’re not selling efficiency, you’re selling relief.

Why Most Founders Miss This

Most new entrepreneurs start with what they love, not what others hate.

They build what excites them.
They chase what looks cool on Twitter.
They create features nobody asked for.

Then they wonder why no one’s buying.

But the market doesn’t pay for your excitement.
It pays for your empathy.

The fastest path to profit isn’t creating more novelty.
It’s removing more friction.

That’s it.

The 2-Step Filter I Use Before Starting Anything

Whenever I have a new idea, I run it through two questions:

1. What repetitive pain is this removing for someone?​
   If I can’t name the specific moment they sigh in relief, it’s not a good idea yet.
2. Can this run without me after it’s built?​
   If the answer is no, I don’t have a business. I have a job.

This filter kills 90% of ideas.
But the 10% that survive are gold.

Because when you automate pain, you create leverage, and leverage is the real definition of freedom.

Think about my company, Heights.

1. We redesigned the whole experience so it could be posted through your letterbox on easy monthly subscription in bottles that you keep out and remember - taking the pain out of building healthy habits.
2. Its a playbook - product, manufacturing, patents, trademarks, etc - all built up over time with suppliers, processes, team and customer success protocols - so of course it can. The real trick is making sure your whole brand isnt built around your personal brand - or you wont be able to sell. When I started Heights, I was very careful not to force myself into all our content. Only in the last 6 months have I started to become one of our main content creators - but I one face of many - so if we sell, I am not a bottleneck.

The Beauty of Boring Problems

Some of the most profitable businesses in the world are incredibly boring.

Payroll software.
Accounting tools.
Waste management.
Compliance automation.

None of them make headlines.
But they print money, because they remove annoyances no one wants to touch.

That’s the paradox of entrepreneurship:
The more boring your problem, the more stable your income.

Everyone wants to build the next flashy app.
Few want to build the thing that actually keeps the flashy app alive.

If You’re Starting a Business…

Start with what people avoid.​
Make a list of daily frustrations, yours, your friends’, your team’s.
Then ask: what if this was handled automatically?

You don’t need to reinvent the wheel.
You just need to remove the grind.

And if you’re already running a business?
Audit your workflow. Find the steps your team or customers secretly hate, and automate them.

That’s where your next product, feature, or revenue stream is hiding.

The Principle in One Line

Don’t try to build what people love.
Automate what they tolerate.

Because no matter the industry or trend, the rule stays the same:

Pain is the most renewable resource on Earth.

The more of it you can remove, the more you’ll be paid.

To businesses that buy back our time,
Dan

Tristan Harris on Diary of a CEO. Scary stuff, but important to talk about it Listen Here Death By Astonishment Have had my mind blown inside and out by this book on the science of DMT - the world’s most powerful and spiritual compound Read Here Stranger Things After giving up a while ago, I decided to get back into Stranger Things, and woah, it is pitch perfect, loving it and deeply nostalgic for this 80s kid. Watch Here

A 2018 study published in Frontiers in Psychology found that people who worked on projects aligned with their intrinsic interests, not just extrinsic rewards, achieved significantly higher creative output and long-term financial success. The key variable? Autonomy. The more control they had over what they built, the more their outcomes compounded over time. Quick Takeaway → ​Freedom fuels wealth. The more your work aligns with your natural curiosity, the less you need luck - and the more success becomes a byproduct of who you already are. ​→ Link to study​

In my goal to help more entrepreneurs/people who are looking to level up their careers, I've just started taking 1-1 consulting calls (only 1 a week) Why book a call? Some of my expertise/success: I've built 5 startups. 1 win, 1 fail, and 3 still going. E-Commerce: Heights - with revenue over £20M a year. Community: Foundrs, one of the UK's top founder communities Podcasting: Leaders Media - I bootstrapped a media company that made the UK's top business podcasts including Secret Leaders, with over 50M downloads across the network. Health/Mental Health: Overcame burnout, insomnia, depression & anxiety in pursuit of success. Hear me on Steven Bartlett's on Diary of a CEO​ Angel Investing: I've invested in over 100 startups Coached & Mentored: Certified coach & 5* mentor on Mentorpass Personal Brand: Over 400,000 followers across social So if you're interested in booking a session with me to talk all things business or building a personal brand, book for 30-minutes or 45-minutes. (limited spots). Book a Call with Dan

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