Unless your time is worth less than $.01 / hr, this isn't profit :)

Yes, its amazing how many people confuse 'making a profit' with 'working for free and not losing money'.

I agree, $0.07 isn't stunning (it's only going to get me a half billionth of my jet), but to break even in such a short space of time I found interesting.

Though could it not be considered profit in some form, as I'm working for free on the project? It's the site's profit, rather than my own?

I've always had lots of side projects, so I understand that line of thinking, believe me. And I didn't intend to be snarky, it's just that it's easy to go down a bad road where you convince yourself you're doing better financially on a project than you are because you fail to take your time into account. Imagine you were selling the site to someone else: they'd have to hire someone to do the work you've been doing, and that costs money.

I'm keeping track of my hours worked, so I have a rough idea of when it'll actually have properly paid for itself. I'm not kidding myself, don't worry :)

"<!-- You can't get in the club by looking at the source code --> "

nicely done.

should be "by invitation only" to keep it exclusive. ask every new member to invite only the three coolest friends he has. Everybody getting an invite will use it, just not to lose this chance (invitations only valid for three days or so, decide now!)

(do I get free membership for this great idea?)

Also may I suggest restricting early members to only those with @Harvard.edu email addresses?

I toyed with the idea you can only pay to get somebody else into the Club, and you can't pay if you're already in the club. Mostly just because I thought that would generate some funny dynamics.

I think the invitations idea is a good one, though I want to keep it so every member has paid $1 to get in. maybe adding some incentive to getting your friends to join. Like your name appears in a slightly larger font if all three of your invites were used.

Right now it's just a static HTML page that I'm manually updating, but there are a lot of ideas, like this one, I'm hoping to play with.

Rule number 1 of the club: No offensive names or locations

And member #7 (of 24 thus far) is named Tits McGhee, from Whale's Vagina (a slang term for San Diego, it seems.)

I decided that to be rude rather than offensive, and it's turned into quite the talking point.

Full credit to you for producing a concept to live, money generating site.

Equally like your tactics via twitter, and buying the domain ( I might borrow that! ) to gain members.

BUT... This is a horrible example of what budding internet entrepreneurs should be aiming for. Truly horrid.

Cheap, tiny, poorly made, a quick buck and lacking scope? I agree. I think "horrid" is a bit much though, but then I would.

It was sort of an experiment for me and if it ever turns any real money I will be using it to build on existing plans for a proper start-up. The Club isn't the pinnacle of what I want to make, rather it's a side-note.

Though, unless I covered it above, why do you say it's horrid? Simply the vapid and useless nature of the product?

"Horrid" purely because in its current state it offers no value, nor is it an impressive feat of technology. ( I dont believe )

Bottom line, you executed from idea to product, horrid or not. That IS great. The knowledge of knowing how to go from idea to paid service is very valuable.

I dont know if it is poorly made. Tiny is not a bad thing nor is a lack of scope.

I disagree that it offers no value at all.

If it did, nobody would pay the $1. Though that's a rubbish answer, and probably accidentally passive-aggressive. So here's a longer one:

People in the tech world love joining clubs that give no real reward. People started joining Facebook because it was cool to be in the Facebook Club, same with Twitter, the iPhone, new communities etc. I'm over-simplifying it, but that's because The Club I built is exactly that; a crude over-simplification of an already existing and replicated system.

The value comes from the psychology. Paying to be in something early and fun, even though there is no intrinsic reason, is nice. It's similar to how trophies and rewards work on other sites and in games. There's no reason why you want it, but it feels nice.

But I agree that it's also certainly not an impressive feat of technology, that's for sure :)

I will have to agree to disagree on the value.

Your argument is valid, I just dont subscribe to it myself.

As noted thru all my comments, even tho we disagree on its value, it has great "knowledge" value to you and your professional capacity.

I love the new idea, start with the bottom line, then work your way up to something people want... certainly better than starting with something free that people want then having them lay you out cold when you ask for some income from your work...