In 2005, 21 year old Alex Tew created the million dollar homepage to fund his college education. The website had 1 million pixels and they would be sold for $1 in blocks of 100. The buyer could use the pixels to put a slogan or message and a link to a website of their choice. Sounds like a pretty dumb idea right? Well it actually turned out to be extremely successful. Within a year all pixels had sold, and the last 1,000 actually sold on an eBay auction for $38,100, bringing the revenues of the site to $1,036,100. It started with some of his family members purchasing pixels, but as word of the website spread and it got more attention, many businesses started buying pixels for advertising. At first glance, it makes no sense why people would spend money on this, but they saw it as a simple, yet clever idea for a young man to pay for college. Because they found it humorous and cleaver, some people where willing to pay for pixels, which started a chain reaction with the site becoming increasingly popular and the pixels becoming more valuable as a advertising tool. Alex was actually a talented entrepreneur and not a one hit wonder. Since raising this money to pay for his education, he has put his degree to good use and is no the co-found and co-CEO of Calm, which is currently the number one app for meditation and sleep that is designed to help people relax. Alex shows that you do not necessarily have to have a life-changing idea to be a successful entrepreneur, you just have to be creative and relate to people.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Million_Dollar_Homepage
I think this is a genius idea. Alex was able to come up with a completely unique idea that people did not even know they wanted until he created the market for it. We need more of this is the kind of entrepreneurial thinking and idea creation in our society.
This is actually so crazy that this idea that really did not solve a big problem for a lot of people but it solved the problem for Alex in paying for college. Alex came up with a very unique idea that after one person was intrigued a huge domino effect of people behind followed. I like that Alex did not just stop at this so called “one hit” idea but has actually become a very successful entrepreneur in many other ways.
That’s an absolutely crazy story! I think it’s hilarious how seemingly idiotic or gimmicky ideas can often produce huge returns and opportunities for financial gain. I also love the fact that Alex was not a “one-hit-wonder” and instead went on to produce an even more profitable and popular app/site. Completely amazing.
This was something else! At first I thought it was kind of dumb, but now, I think it is actually pretty interesting. I can see how the idea took off. He really created a unique concept, solidifying himself as a true entrepreneur.