Which business idea do you think was so ridiculous that it feels absurd how much money it made?
I don’t mean this in a disrespectful way or anything like that, but throughout my life, I’ve come across (and I’m sure you have too) several products whose actual usefulness wasn’t exactly impressive, but their creators still made a huge amount of money.
For me, for example, it was:
Fidget spinners (2017). At the peak, the global market was estimated at hundreds of millions to over $1 billion.
Metaverse land (2021) – valuation could be for tens or even hundreds of thousands of dollars each, with the overall market reaching hundreds of millions during the peak hype cycle. I bought one too. :D (actually was scammed).
Pet Rock (1975) – the creator became a millionaire within a few months.
Can you recall similar products (maybe new ones between 2020 and 2026) that were ridiculous but earned a lot of money?
P.S.: We, marketers, call these types of products "Fads."
Replies
ProdShort
Million Dollar Homepage 💰 Selling pixels on a page sounded completely ridiculous, until every pixel sold out and it made $1M 😂
@amraniyasser Oh my 🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣
minimalist phone: reduce your screentime
@amraniyasser I have never heard about this, but funny. I know about the app that is just a simple icon of a diamond, and it costs $1k – just to flex you have that money :D https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/I_Am_Rich
I really don't understand how a to-do list can make so much money. It is like a simple to-do list which you can even track in Notepad also but still they are a million-dollar business and it is really easy to build. Also with the new AI agents we can really easily build a to-do list but still people are using it so I just don't understand this concept
minimalist phone: reduce your screentime
@nayan_surya98 Yeah, and think about that, people spend huge money just booking someone's time (e.g. Cal). I have seen one post on X, and it had the same narrative as these comments. Definitely inspired me to open this topic.
@nayan_surya98 @busmark_w_nika I still think about fidget spinners sometimes. It felt like overnight everyone had one, and then suddenly no one cared anymore. The speed of that rise and fall was wild to me .
minimalist phone: reduce your screentime
@nayan_surya98 @anil_yadav38 That idea took like 6months to be used. Can bet that no one is using it now, people forgot :D
The Stanley drinking cups. They look so ridiculous and somehow they convinced so many people to buy them and walk around anywhere with them when they're just expensive, large drinking bottles 🤣
minimalist phone: reduce your screentime
@ruxandra_mazilu €20 for that? :D No way, I am okay with my bottle for €0.10 :DDD
@busmark_w_nika ikr!!!
The TikTok lip liner hit $46M because the algorithm surfaces it to millions instantly. Suddenly, it's a cultural signal, not a product. Stanley cups the same way.
Dogecoin and metaverse land are different, though. There's no actual utility underneath, it's pure identity play. The cycle extracts value until sentiment collapses and there's nothing left.
minimalist phone: reduce your screentime
@arun_tamang Well, but at least, it has some aesthetic value, for many beauty influencers it is important :D
@busmark_w_nika True, aesthetic value definitely plays a role there. A lot of those products work because they signal something visually, especially on platforms like TikTok, where the product itself becomes part of the content. The interesting part is how quickly the algorithm can turn that into a trend.
Scrub Daddy the smiley face sponge with eye holes for your fingers, and a mouth for cleaning spoons. Current valuation is over $250 Million which is just crazy to be honest but I see the appeal lol
minimalist phone: reduce your screentime
@minhajulll I searched for that on Google. I find it cute :D