# What's the dumbest/worst "Next Million Dollar Idea" someone has shared with you? **URL:** \ **Category:** In My Humble Opinion\ **Created:** [November 1, 2023, 11:19pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-the-dumbest-worst-next-million-dollar-idea-someone-has-shared-with-you/992447 "2023-11-01T23:19:30Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 9
**Author:** ![WildaBeast](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/wildabeast/32/6_2.png) [@WildaBeast](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/WildaBeast)\ **Post date:** [November 4, 2023, 8:41pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-the-dumbest-worst-next-million-dollar-idea-someone-has-shared-with-you/992447/161 "2023-11-04T20:41:37Z")
> [@purplehorseshoe](#): > > So please, if they’re both still around, ask your dad to tell his acquaintance that not only did his invention help to provide untold millions with clean undies, it also bestowed unimaginable happiness to little furry critters. Dad worked in dryer tube guy’s factory when he was a teenager, and he’s in his late 70s now. So I have to assume anyone who was old enough to own a factory when Dad was a teenager isn’t around anymore. The factory made Scotch tape, not the dryer tubes; I assume he had the factory before he invented them. ---
**Author:** ![Darren\_Garrison](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/darren_garrison/32/92_2.png) [@Darren\_Garrison](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Darren_Garrison)\ **Post date:** [November 4, 2023, 9:36pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-the-dumbest-worst-next-million-dollar-idea-someone-has-shared-with-you/992447/162 "2023-11-04T21:36:05Z")
All the Little Caesars in my area have drive-through windows. All I ever buy that way is their “hot-n-ready” pepperoni, though, I don’t know how custom jobs are handled. ---
**Author:** ![Riemann](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/riemann/32/3133_2.png) [@Riemann](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Riemann)\ **Post date:** [November 4, 2023, 9:43pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-the-dumbest-worst-next-million-dollar-idea-someone-has-shared-with-you/992447/163 "2023-11-04T21:43:18Z")
> [@LSLGuy](#): > > Science! Now these points of data Make a beautiful line And we’re out of beta We’re releasing on time I’m so GLaD I got burned Think of all the things we learned For the people who are still alive ---
**Author:** ![mixdenny](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mixdenny/32/2962_2.png) [@mixdenny](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/mixdenny)\ **Post date:** [November 4, 2023, 9:55pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-the-dumbest-worst-next-million-dollar-idea-someone-has-shared-with-you/992447/164 "2023-11-04T21:55:38Z")
> [@Q.Q.Switcheroo](#): > > A dental practice where all the hygienists and assistants are large-breasted, scantily clad women, a la “Hooters.” This worked for hair salons but I can’t remember the name. ---
**Author:** ![Q.Q.Switcheroo](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/q.q.switcheroo/32/5713_2.png) [@Q.Q.Switcheroo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Q.Q.Switcheroo)\ **Post date:** [November 4, 2023, 10:06pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-the-dumbest-worst-next-million-dollar-idea-someone-has-shared-with-you/992447/165 "2023-11-04T22:06:50Z")
I’d have gone with “The Clip Joint.” ---
**Author:** ![LSLGuy](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/lslguy/32/5813_2.png) [@LSLGuy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/LSLGuy)\ **Post date:** [November 4, 2023, 10:24pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-the-dumbest-worst-next-million-dollar-idea-someone-has-shared-with-you/992447/166 "2023-11-04T22:24:09Z")
I’ve told this story before … On the highway home from work 10-15 years ago was a billboard for a local hair salon. It pictured 3 rather hot women doing the famous “Charlies Angels” pose, one with a hairdryer, another with long scissors and the third with a big spiky comb. I hadda try the place. Went in, same three 30-ish women as on the billboard were working there. They were darn hot in person too, albeit fully clad. Darn. Damned if I can remember the name of the salon though. It was a really great hair / styling / Charlies angels pun. Google sez they’re long gone now. ---
**Author:** ![nearwildheaven](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/90db22/32.png) [@nearwildheaven](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/nearwildheaven)\ **Post date:** [November 4, 2023, 10:29pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-the-dumbest-worst-next-million-dollar-idea-someone-has-shared-with-you/992447/167 "2023-11-04T22:29:43Z")
I love The Wolfe Pit! His bloodstream must be pure cholesterol by now. I think Emmymade has also done a review of this delicacy. ---
**Author:** ![Dewey\_Finn](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/dewey_finn/32/4222_2.png) [@Dewey\_Finn](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dewey_Finn)\ **Post date:** [November 4, 2023, 10:41pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-the-dumbest-worst-next-million-dollar-idea-someone-has-shared-with-you/992447/168 "2023-11-04T22:41:26Z")
> [@Darren\_Garrison](#): > > All the Little Caesars in my area have drive-through windows. All I ever buy that way is their “hot-n-ready” pepperoni, though, I don’t know how custom jobs are handled. Decades ago, Little Caesars sold two pizzas on one long piece of paper-wrapped cardboard sheet. Awkward enough to get home when I put it in the parked car. And I can’t imagine how that would have worked at a drive-thru. ---
**Author:** ![needscoffee](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/needscoffee/32/1076_2.png) [@needscoffee](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/needscoffee)\ **Post date:** [November 5, 2023, 2:02am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-the-dumbest-worst-next-million-dollar-idea-someone-has-shared-with-you/992447/169 "2023-11-05T02:02:16Z")
> [@The\_Other\_Waldo\_Pepper](#): > > Mine is grinding one-a-day multivitamins into alcohol. You joke, but it can’t be done. Vitamins can’t be added to a product without putting it on the label. Alcohol isn’t allowed to advertise (or label) that it has health benefits. It’s a tragic Catch-22 that prevents Vitamin B1 from being added to booze to prevent Korsakoff Syndrome (the condition alluded to in 50 First Dates), which is often caused by alcoholism. Horrific condition where your memory may only be good for 15 minutes. ---
**Author:** ![TokyoBayer](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/tokyobayer/32/13989_2.png) [@TokyoBayer](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/TokyoBayer)\ **Post date:** [November 5, 2023, 4:41pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-the-dumbest-worst-next-million-dollar-idea-someone-has-shared-with-you/992447/170 "2023-11-05T16:41:28Z")
Some entrepreneur said that ideas are cheap. It’s implementing them which is the difficult part. ---
**Author:** ![WildaBeast](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/wildabeast/32/6_2.png) [@WildaBeast](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/WildaBeast)\ **Post date:** [November 5, 2023, 11:13pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-the-dumbest-worst-next-million-dollar-idea-someone-has-shared-with-you/992447/171 "2023-11-05T23:13:01Z")
Yeah, going back to the guy who invented the dryer hoses, I’m sure having the idea that we should use a flexible hose instead of a solid pipe on the back of a dryer was trivially easy. The hard part, as I understand, was finding a material that was both flexible and able to withstand the heat from a dryer. ---
**Author:** ![Dewey\_Finn](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/dewey_finn/32/4222_2.png) [@Dewey\_Finn](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dewey_Finn)\ **Post date:** [November 5, 2023, 11:23pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-the-dumbest-worst-next-million-dollar-idea-someone-has-shared-with-you/992447/172 "2023-11-05T23:23:09Z")
> [@TriPolar](#): > > Some of these ideas have serious potential for someone who would work hard to get a business started and find the financing to grow. Someone probably got laughed at a few times before his dumb idea for a mobile windshield repair business that now advertises ceaselessly as Safelite and is expanding the services they provide. They also clearly had business expertise in marketing and understood the needs of the potential customer base. Remember that thing about 1% inspiration and 99% perspiration? It’s true. That company and another that repairs fire and water damage to homes advertise heavily, in part I think because the users of the service aren’t paying for it. I believe windshield replacement coverage is standard part of auto insurance and fire and water damage is often covered by homeowners insurance. ---
**Author:** ![TokyoBayer](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/tokyobayer/32/13989_2.png) [@TokyoBayer](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/TokyoBayer)\ **Post date:** [November 6, 2023, 12:17am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-the-dumbest-worst-next-million-dollar-idea-someone-has-shared-with-you/992447/173 "2023-11-06T00:17:13Z")
> [@WildaBeast](#): > > The hard part, as I understand, was finding a material that was both flexible and able to withstand the heat from a dryer. Even given the right material, 99.999% of people, (me, included) simply lack the resources, smarts, persistance, and whatever else to take an idea from start to finish and get it into a product on the shelf, patented, manufacturable, or whatever state it takes to profit from it. Crazy inventors greatly understimate the amount of work it takes to get something from a concept to a finished product. ---
**Author:** ![Czarcasm](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/czarcasm/32/4050_2.png) [@Czarcasm](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Czarcasm)\ **Post date:** [November 6, 2023, 12:21am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-the-dumbest-worst-next-million-dollar-idea-someone-has-shared-with-you/992447/174 "2023-11-06T00:21:18Z")
That’s weird? Try canned haggis. [Amazon.com : Caledonian Kitchen Haggis With Highland Beef, 14.5-Ounce Cans (Pack of 3) : Canned And Packaged Meats : Grocery & Gourmet Food](https://www.amazon.com/Caledonian-Kitchen-Haggis-Highland-14-5-Ounce/dp/B001ASZUVK/ref=sr_1_1?adgrpid=1334807693438260&hvadid=83425554164608&hvbmt=be&hvdev=c&hvlocphy=109754&hvnetw=o&hvqmt=e&hvtargid=kwd-83425849566819%3Aloc-190&hydadcr=4158_10351736&keywords=canned+haggis&qid=1699229979&sr=8-1) ---
**Author:** ![DesertDog](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/desertdog/32/11503_2.png) [@DesertDog](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DesertDog)\ **Post date:** [November 6, 2023, 8:08pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-the-dumbest-worst-next-million-dollar-idea-someone-has-shared-with-you/992447/175 "2023-11-06T20:08:17Z")
> [@Dewey\_Finn](#): > > Decades ago, Little Caesars sold two pizzas on one long piece of paper-wrapped cardboard sheet. When we were living in Carson City Little Caesars was our pizza of choice – they were better than Domino’s. I remember walking into the place and after perusing the menu board exclaimed, “What? I can buy one pizza at a time now? What a concept!” “It’s a real game changer.” ---
**Author:** ![Rilchiam](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/2bfe46/32.png) [@Rilchiam](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Rilchiam)\ **Post date:** [November 7, 2023, 4:43am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-the-dumbest-worst-next-million-dollar-idea-someone-has-shared-with-you/992447/176 "2023-11-07T04:43:41Z")
Both fictional examples, but in the movie **Collateral** and the show **Entourage** , characters have similar dream enterprises. **Collateral** is the one where Jamie Foxx is a cab driver and gives a ride to Tom Cruise, who is a hit man. Before things really get rolling, though, Foxx starts talking about starting his own cab company, which would provide a limousine level of service: minibar, mini TV, etc. This is a springboard for Cruise to rant about how most people never take even the first step towards making their dream real. But before that, he says that this idea, specifically, is a non-stater, because most people just want to get where they’re going, and the few who do want that level of service will _rent a limo_ in the first place. Then on **Entourage** , Turtle, the guy who was Vince’s driver until Vince finally got a license, starts his own limo service: Lim-Ho’s. See, the drivers are all stunning young women in skimpy outfits. Great, except who really cares what their driver looks like, especially when she’s up front and the passenger is in back? Anyway, _that_ was a springboard for one of the drivers to get Turtle to invest in a tequila company; of course that went sideways too, but I forget how. ---
**Author:** ![hajario](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/hajario/32/171_2.png) [@hajario](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/hajario)\ **Post date:** [November 7, 2023, 4:49am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-the-dumbest-worst-next-million-dollar-idea-someone-has-shared-with-you/992447/177 "2023-11-07T04:49:52Z")
My recollection is that the tequila company did extremely well and that made Turtle rich in his own right. ---
**Author:** ![Rilchiam](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/2bfe46/32.png) [@Rilchiam](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Rilchiam)\ **Post date:** [November 7, 2023, 4:53am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-the-dumbest-worst-next-million-dollar-idea-someone-has-shared-with-you/992447/178 "2023-11-07T04:53:10Z")
Something almost went horribly wrong, though, like he sold his stock, **then** it took off, and he would have had nothing, except that Vince (or Erik?) had bought his shares for him. I forget exactly, but it was a last-minute save. ---
**Author:** ![scudsucker](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/scudsucker/32/14101_2.png) [@scudsucker](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/scudsucker)\ **Post date:** [November 7, 2023, 7:22am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-the-dumbest-worst-next-million-dollar-idea-someone-has-shared-with-you/992447/179 "2023-11-07T07:22:27Z")
I worked in a bar, doing mostly day shift in a suburb that housed a large mental health institution. Half of it is for the criminally insane, so I did not get to meet them, but the other half was for the unfortunate people who suffer from non-criminal mental illness. As a consequence, there were several half-way houses in the area for patients to live under supervision, but have some freedom. These guys (mostly male) were bored and unemployed. They had little support system. Our bar opened at 11, and typically I would have two or three out-patients looking to kill time. They drank the cheapest drink, orange cordial and water - never alcohol, except on extremely rare occasions. Being the bar tender, I heard a lot of interesting theories about how the world worked, but possibly the worst was a perpetual power source made by beaming a laser into an internally mirrored sphere, somehow trapping the light, and then using that as a power source for giant orbital space farms. They never tipped me, either. ---
**Author:** ![Velocity](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/velocity/32/18006_2.png) [@Velocity](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Velocity)\ **Post date:** [November 7, 2023, 7:30am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-the-dumbest-worst-next-million-dollar-idea-someone-has-shared-with-you/992447/180 "2023-11-07T07:30:46Z")
When I was 7, I loved flying in airplanes so much that I suggested a start-up airline that would involve airliners taking off, letting passengers enjoy a nonstop ride around the globe (approx 24 hours), then landing at the same airport from whence they departed. …My parents gently explained to me that the consumer demand did not exist for such a service. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-the-dumbest-worst-next-million-dollar-idea-someone-has-shared-with-you/992447.md?page=8) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-the-dumbest-worst-next-million-dollar-idea-someone-has-shared-with-you/992447.md?page=10)