Wow, does this go right along with the comments from the dev's thread about this app a couple days ago or what???
People were saying that he was throwing ideas at a wall until one stuck or got noticed, and sure enough, here's a popular publication with a link to his new app.
He must be having a chuckle right now. Not sure if he's actually making money, but this has to feel like and accomplishment.
You're saying this as if it's contradictory. Those people were right, he was throwing ideas at a wall, and one did stick. It doesn't make their point wrong, and I remember many commenters saying that this is a valid strategy (which apparently it is).
He just launched, and he's bringing in $1500/month (website says 151 customers now).
If he pays people to make all the calls, it should take him almost no time to run the business. And even paying the callers a reasonableish sum, he probably keeps ~1/3 of the money.
So he wrote an extremely-simple website, got it some exposure, and hired a friend to make the calls, and now he's got $500/month in recurring income that has a good chance of growing and requires little recurring work. Sure, he's not going to get rich, but that doesn't mean it's a failed venture.
More numbers: On IRC, zack said he figured 2 minutes/call, which is one hour/customer each month. Skype appears to cost less than 2¢/minute (that's PAYG, presumably he has a contract), which is $1.20/customer/month. That leaves $8.80 for wages and profit.
People were saying that he was throwing ideas at a wall until one stuck or got noticed, and sure enough, here's a popular publication with a link to his new app.
He must be having a chuckle right now. Not sure if he's actually making money, but this has to feel like and accomplishment.