It was amusing to see that the modern startup trick of creating a launch page or a broken link to gauge interest in an idea has actually been around for centuri

It was amusing to see that the modern startup trick of creating a launch page or a broken link to gauge interest in an idea has actually been around for centuries: Publishers in the 17th and 18th centuries often sold books by “subscription”, which meant that consumers would agree in advance to buy a book after seeing a prospectus. It acted as a market test. If not enough people were interested, the project could be dropped.