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These things are not "stupid" ideas. They defy intuition to be sure (selling plastic wishbones online, who would of thought?) but most of the ideas simply expl

These things are not "stupid" ideas. They defy intuition to be sure (selling plastic wishbones online, who would of thought?) but most of the ideas simply exploited hidden market niches, which is actually smart. There is one exception: million dollar homepage. That site was launched at just the right time and it was the first of its kind. People were willing to take a chance on it for those two reasons. There will probably never be another million dollar homepage so I think we can reasonably conclude that he got lucky...but it still was not a stupid idea. It was a very well executed plan and the creator capitalized (intentionally) on the originality of the idea, the fact that he could offer a cheap creative ad space (everybody jumps on that), and the low overhead cost. It was a "this probably won't work but what the hell" idea. I don't think any business idea that makes you one million dollars is stupid (unless you plan on buying lottery tickets everyday).

mechanical_fish 18y ago
There will probably never be another million dollar homepage... In twenty years or so it might be possible to build another million-dollar homepage, just as it's been possible to revive fads from the 1960s, the 1970s, and the 1980s twenty years later. (The 1990s nostalgia is due any minute now.) Twenty years from now there will be a large population of web users who have never heard of the original million-dollar homepage. Others might greet the revival of the fad as a charming reminder of their own youth. And, of course, unless historical trends change a lot, eventually you'll be able to build a million-dollar homepage just by passing a hat around your circle of friends, just as Dr. Evil can no longer terrify the world by demanding a million-dollar ransom. ;)
- kwamenum86 18y ago
  Some fads can be revived... but the real success of the million dollar homepage was convincing companies to buy ad space, not attracting people to the site. Sure many web users will not have heard of the site (I would venture to say web users of today have not heard of it) but the people spending the ad dollars are (presumably) a more knowledgeable group. That is the group the next million dollar homepage has to court if indeed there is a next million dollar homepage. The eb and flow of certain fads depends on people forgetting or people lacking knowledge about the past, or nostalgia. I am hypothesizing that advertisers are immune to both of those things because they manage money and have to be careful. ..then again (yes I am arguing with myself) people on Wall Street manage an awful lot of money and repeat their same bad habits in cycles...so maybe you have a point.
  - whatusername 18y ago
    and just looking through the million dollar homepage --> awful lot of ads for casino's etc.. these werent big ad spenders..
  - mechanical_fish 18y ago
    I'm glad you took the trouble to argue with yourself, because now I can ROTFL at your third paragraph with you instead of at you. ;) Believe me, advertisers are human and they will forget every bit as quickly as everyone else does.
- kbrower 18y ago
  I think another million dollar homepage will happen much sooner than that. I know someone that did something similar and made a quick 15k: http://www.linkexperiment.com/ http://www.linkexperiment.com/

mechanical_fish 18y ago

There will probably never be another million dollar homepage... In twenty years or so it might be possible to build another million-dollar homepage, just as it's been possible to revive fads from the 1960s, the 1970s, and the 1980s twenty years later. (The 1990s nostalgia is due any minute now.) Twenty years from now there will be a large population of web users who have never heard of the original million-dollar homepage. Others might greet the revival of the fad as a charming reminder of their own youth. And, of course, unless historical trends change a lot, eventually you'll be able to build a million-dollar homepage just by passing a hat around your circle of friends, just as Dr. Evil can no longer terrify the world by demanding a million-dollar ransom. ;)

kwamenum86 18y ago
Some fads can be revived... but the real success of the million dollar homepage was convincing companies to buy ad space, not attracting people to the site. Sure many web users will not have heard of the site (I would venture to say web users of today have not heard of it) but the people spending the ad dollars are (presumably) a more knowledgeable group. That is the group the next million dollar homepage has to court if indeed there is a next million dollar homepage. The eb and flow of certain fads depends on people forgetting or people lacking knowledge about the past, or nostalgia. I am hypothesizing that advertisers are immune to both of those things because they manage money and have to be careful. ..then again (yes I am arguing with myself) people on Wall Street manage an awful lot of money and repeat their same bad habits in cycles...so maybe you have a point.
- whatusername 18y ago
  and just looking through the million dollar homepage --> awful lot of ads for casino's etc.. these werent big ad spenders..
- mechanical_fish 18y ago
  I'm glad you took the trouble to argue with yourself, because now I can ROTFL at your third paragraph with you instead of at you. ;) Believe me, advertisers are human and they will forget every bit as quickly as everyone else does.
kbrower 18y ago
I think another million dollar homepage will happen much sooner than that. I know someone that did something similar and made a quick 15k: http://www.linkexperiment.com/ http://www.linkexperiment.com/