I wonder if it's possible to do things that others don't like, but doesn't pay - that then ends up becoming something that does pay. I wonder why PG didn't char

I wonder if it's possible to do things that others don't like, but doesn't pay - that then ends up becoming something that does pay. I wonder why PG didn't charge his friends for writing papers. Not sure where this is going, but imagine something like the first public musician. Or the first ever commissioned artist. It must've been valuable, because someone funded them to make it happen.