👋 Hi and welcome to today’s edition of Venture Radar — where we uncover real internet businesses making real money, and break down how they do it.
In today’s write-up, we’re sharing curated articles, posts, videos and business we found interesting on building boring and underrated businesses. Let’s deep dive into it.
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🥷 STEAL THIS BUSINESS IDEA
Steal this business idea — the AI agent that hunts down expired domains.
Great domains are hard to come by unless you’re ready to drop $50K–$5M.
But there’s another way: expired domains. These domains already have backlinks, authority, and search presence.
They’re perfect for builders who want to skip the cold-start SEO problem.
Here’s the opportunity: An AI agent that:
Monitors and filters expiring domains based on SEO signals
Scores them by backlink quality, niche relevance, and traffic potential
Alerts or auto-bids based on your preferences
Market it two ways:
Sell access to a curated feed of high-potential domains: subscription-based (like $99–$299/month).
Let builders set a bounty for specific domain types: charge only when a match is found and secured.
The first model (targeting domain flippers) is likely more lucrative. The second (targeting founders) is more mission-driven.
Both are viable. And both are untapped.
500 customers at $199/month = $1.2M ARR. Light team. High-margin. Niche demand. Solid moat.
Steal this business idea — licenseable AI clones of top performers.
Some people are just better decision-makers. Smarter, faster, more intuitive. Now imagine turning their brains into scalable software.
That’s the idea:
Shadow a top 0.1% operator in their workflow
Train an AI model on how they think and act
Let them license it to companies as their “official work clone”
This isn’t a chatbot for fans. It’s a decision-making engine for businesses.
The operator earns passive income. Companies get 24/7 access to elite judgment.
And the AI economy gains a new premium tier: expert-licensed agents.
(Example: “Hire LennyBot for $499/mo to guide your product strategy.”)
It’s the future of knowledge work—on autopilot. (More Here)
This site pays $1 per minute for your opinion.
From a Reddit thread on r/beermoney.
One site kept popping up when Redditors shared how they made extra money in June: Dscout.
It pays regular users to participate in research studies, surveys, product tests, interviews. And the payouts? Pretty solid.
Reported earnings from the thread:
$436
$703 (one person got $400 from an in-person study)
$591
$1009
Dscout claims you can earn ~$1 per minute. And the work isn’t complex—it’s just sharing your opinion.
Not life-changing income, but for some extra cash? Worth checking out.
(More Here)
Reddit’s brutally honest take on “passive income” ideas
From a Reddit post listing 14 ways to earn passive income—until the comments hijacked it with sarcasm, truth bombs, and better ideas
The original post listed 14 typical passive income ideas like selling digital products, blogging, print-on-demand, and mobile apps—then ended with: “Pick one. Build it. Shut up.”
Reddit responded with a mix of rage and realness:
“Write a smash hit Christmas song” — like Paul McCartney, who earns ~$500K every year from Wonderful Christmastime
“Launch a crypto project” — sarcasm included, but the point stands: asymmetric bets with massive upside
“Start a rocket company that undercuts NASA” — okay, trolling... but also oddly motivational
Other surprisingly thoughtful add-ons from Reddit:
YouTube faceless channels (mentioned again and again)
Stock dividends and royalties from creative work
Buy and hold a website (still valid, but needs capital)
Have a rich benefactor — satirical, but... not wrong?
The real kicker: Most of the list isn’t truly passive. Redditors agreed—execution matters more than the idea. And the only truly passive income? Royalties and stock dividends. Everything else is passive only after a mountain of upfront effort. (More Here)
This guy is literally selling air — and it works
From a Reddit thread on “boring” businesses making quiet fortunes
On a popular drive-on beach in Pismo, California, drivers air down their tires for traction. But when it’s time to leave, they need to fill them back up — and the nearest station is a mile away.
So one guy set up shop right there on the beach with a big air compressor, trailer, and hose reels. He charges $1 per tire, and he’s got a steady line of trucks and trailers waiting.
If you think that’s small money: each vehicle pays $8–10. And he’s always busy, especially during peak hours.
It’s low-cost, high-demand, and works anywhere with off-road or beach driving.
Sometimes the best business idea is just… being in the right place with the right tool.
(More Here)
🗃️ SIDE HUSTLES & BUSINESSES
Simple $100/hour cleaning business you can start from anywhere.
This side hustle is surprisingly effective: offer a mobile car seat and stroller deep-cleaning service to local parents.
One company doing this, BuckleBath.com, operates in Brooklyn and charges anywhere from $69 for a light clean to $110+ for a deep clean and they’re booked solid.
The process is simple: You show up at a customer’s home, steam clean their child’s car seat or stroller, remove stains, odors, and germs and return it looking (and smelling) brand new.
Startup costs are low (under $200 for a steamer and supplies), and you can easily charge $100/hour once you're up and running.
Customers? Start by posting short cleaning videos in local Facebook groups and on Instagram. Parents will spread the word fast.
It’s niche. It’s practical. And it’s in demand. (More Here)
He built the “Illuminati Tinder” and made $100M+ — all without funding - From a Half Baked breakdown of Raya
Back in 2014, Daniel Gendelman saw a gap: dating apps were going mainstream, but none catered to the elite.
So he quietly launched Raya, a members-only dating app for celebrities, artists, and influencers. No open signups. You needed two referrals and had to pass a strict social vetting process handled by 500 anonymous reviewers.
By 2016, A-list actors, models, and musicians were on it. Word spread. The app earned a cult status and a nickname: Illuminati Tinder.
Today, Raya is still bootstrapped and reportedly valued at $100M+.
The lesson? Don’t always build for everyone. Sometimes, the best move is to solve a deep need for a small, specific audience.
Now imagine the Raya of AI apps, a high-trust tool built for a niche that truly pays for exclusivity and results. (More Here)
The billionaire’s life advice? Buy a small-town newspaper
From a tweet by Matthew Prince, co-founder of a $60B company
As small-town newspapers die out, not for lack of money, but because no one’s around to take them over, Prince shares an unexpected take:
“This is a recipe for a really rewarding life.”
His advice to recent grads unsure what to do:
Find a small town with a local paper whose owners are ready to retire
Raise the money to buy it (he’s open to backing serious folks)
Run it with heart, serve the community, and build real influence
You won’t get tech-rich. But you’ll become someone who matters. And who knows, maybe even meet your life partner at a community potluck.
Rupert Murdoch started the same way. Bought the Adelaide Advertiser at 21. Built an empire. (More Here)
Doctor built his own clinic app using AI—and saved $100K
Shared by Amjad Masad (CEO of Replit)
A UK-based doctor with zero coding background used Replit to build a full-featured clinic app in just 5 days. No dev team. No agency. Just AI tools and persistence.
What he built:
Appointment booking system
Prescription request flow
Habit, nutrition, sleep & workout trackers
AI agents for symptom checking & med questions
Premium course/content area
His total cost? £75. Estimated savings? £100,000+ in dev costs.
The game has changed. Non-tech professionals are now vibe coding full-stack apps on their own. (More Here)
$120K/month from reading coffee grounds with AI
From a random online comment…
In Turkey, there's a tradition of reading fortunes from leftover coffee grounds. One app turned that into a digital experience—and now makes over $120,000/month.
The app is called Faladdin. What started with coffee cup readings now includes:
Tarot card readings
Daily astrology forecasts
Personalized birth charts
And yes, it now uses AI to “read” the coffee grounds from your photo.
What other old cultural traditions could be digitized like this?
Ancient superstitions, folk rituals, offline customs—there’s a goldmine of forgotten behaviors just waiting to be reimagined. (More Here)
💭 YOUR THOUGHTS
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