Lazy Money Issue 20

Happy Sunday!

This week: A failed novelist walks into a bar and accidentally invents a 7-figure publishing category. Plus: how to profit from the weird overlaps nobody else sees.

The Story

I used to pride myself on originality…until my wife casually dropped ‘Tequila Mockingbird’ on my desk. 

"A book on literary cocktails, what a great idea!’’ said absolutely no one ever. "The Pitcher of Dorian Grey Goose”??  "Gone with the Wine" ??

Really? It felt gimmicky until I looked at the sales figures. 

Safe to say, I stopped laughing.

Tim Federle (the author) once dreamed of writing the Great American Novel. Got rejected 100 times. Started bartending to pay the rent. One night, staring down a half-empty bottle of gin and his abandoned manuscript, it hit him: maybe two failures could become one success.

He maxed out credit cards to print 500 copies, hauled them to flea markets, and hoped someone - anyone - would notice.

The first customer bought a single copy, flipped through it, paused, and then bought nine more. "Christmas shopping," she shrugged. "Done."

That's when Federle understood what he'd accidentally built. Not a cocktail book. Not a literature book. A solution to the universal, existential dread of buying gifts for people with actual personalities.

Your sister who drinks wine and pretends to read? Perfect. Your coworker with the Hemingway quote in his email signature? Sorted. That friend who Instagram's library books next to martinis? Bingo.

Within six months, he'd sold 100,000 copies. Today? 1.5 million and counting.

The formula was so simple it's stupid:

• Category A: Something people do (drink)

• Category B: Something people want to be seen doing (read)

• Smash together and make money

Obviously, thousands tried copying him. "Wine and War." "Yoga for Hunters." "Bitcoin for the Amish." Most fail because they're forcing connections that don't exist. 

People always think they need to be clever, but your best bet is just being honest and authentic.

Time to cash in on being exactly who you already are.

How To Profit

• The Collision Generator™ 🎯💥

Build a website that finds million-dollar business ideas hiding in Reddit's weird overlaps.

Example: 45,000 people post in BOTH r/fitness AND r/sobriety. They desperately want gym communities that don't revolve around "post-workout beers" or "wine & yoga" events. Your AI finds these goldmines automatically - scanning millions of Reddit users 24/7, calculating overlaps, storing the best collisions.

User flow: Someone types "fitness" → clicks Generate → sees "r/fitness × r/sobriety = 45,000 customers for sober-friendly fitness communities." The free version shows the overlap. Want the full report with demographics, marketing angles, competitor analysis, and exact game plan? $97.

It's ChatGPT for finding untapped markets. Type your interest, discover who else shares that weird combo, walk away with a validated business.

• Digital Land Grab 2.0 🏗️💰

Pizza.com sold for $2.6 million. The guy bought it for $20. That exact opportunity is happening again - just in weirder places. Predict which random things will collide next, then own the digital real estate before anyone realizes they belong together.

The formula is simple: [Emerging Trend] + [Modifier] = Your $10 investment becomes someone's $10,000 emergency purchase. Right now, buy AIplumber.com, AIelectrician.com, AIdivorcelawyer.com. Every local business will need these in 18 months. Same with Pickleball + [Every Major City]. Facility developers are already panic-buying these at $10K+ each.

Pro move: Set Google Alerts for new trend words. Also grab common misspellings of expensive domains. Amazom.com redirects still make money.

• Collision IRL Events 🎭🥊

Take those Reddit collisions and make them physical. The internet proved these weird mashups have wild audiences - now charge them $50 to experience it live.

Some proven collisions ready to steal: "Vinyl Yoga", "Philosophical Speed Dating" (deep questions, 3-minute rounds). You get ticket sales + sponsors trying to reach these weird demographics. And the merchandise writes itself.

Scale by franchising whatever format is most successful.

These audiences will tell everyone about attending because it makes them seem interesting. Their identity becomes your advertisement.

The Ace Toolkit

Ace always said, "Money hides at the intersections everyone else ignores - so start looking sideways."

Redective - Instantly spot overlapping communities, track trends, and uncover hidden niche goldmines.

Namecheap’s Beast Mode - Turbocharge your domain buying.

Alchemy: The Dark Art and Curious Science of Creating Magic in Brands, Business, and Life by Rory Sutherland - Learn why irrational pairings make perfectly rational profits.

Now stop picking lanes and start building intersections.

Until next time,

Alex

Founder //LZY MNY CLB