If you build it -- and it's cool -- they will come. The business model to support it will come later. - (Wired Geekipedia - Free)
The new business plan is in, and it sounds surprisingly easy: make something neat, let people use it or have it, and you may make a significant amount of coin some day in the future. For a generation that doesn't know how to plan for the future (only time will tell, old-timers), this sounds a lot like investing. Spend a ton of your hard-earned savings on a piece of stock that may be worth something worthwhile down the road, or it may be worthless. You could also spend a lot of your own money and personal time developing a concept into a product or application which could be worthless or worthwhile sometime after the development.
It's important to note that many of these ideas start as just being cool ideas in the eyes of the creator. The intention to launch a business around the idea doesn't come until much later. This is about as pure as it gets in the terms of successful entrepreneurship.
Let's face it, this is the basis of any good business that the owner truly enjoys. You have the person who was always cooking up delicious baked goods, always distributed for free at cookouts and outings, and finally the right person helped them see that they could turn this passion and talent into a successful business.
Too many entrepreneurs start businesses or plan for a business with one thing on their mind - money. I'm sure many of the online applications have been started that way as well, but just as many and many more successful ventures started out of a hobby or enthusiasm for solving problems without realizing that problems were being solved.
Many new businesses fail within the first few years because they were started with an average to solid business plan, but no passion. Much less is at risk if you are doing what you love.
