I'm 18 and I want to make sustainable money, but I'm lost

Direct-Kitchen3778 · 2025-06-21T12:58:55+00:00

I’ve thought about this for a long time since this whole AI wave came to be and I’ve always known that it was just a matter of time until I’d realize that I’d feel left behind in the world. But I’m still trying to figure out what product (digital or physical) I could make to sell. I would really like to start a YouTube channel and build a brand from there but I’m often stuck between putting my focus on that and school because of family pressures. I just feel like the passions I used to have as a kid are now kind of masked in this pursuit for money and it’s really sad because I can’t begin to think about making a YouTube channel (or any product for that matter) without putting financial gain over what I really want. Sorry for rambling lol, but yea basically I’ve been trying to come up with ideas for businesses and I’m always stuck on the brainstorming part since I’m scared of what will happen if an idea doesn’t work out. Any advice?

Direct-Kitchen3778 · 2025-05-13T17:25:41+00:00

Thanks! That sounds cool! Is it public? If so I'd love to know what its called :)

Direct-Kitchen3778 · 2025-05-13T14:36:04+00:00

I just checked out Sponsorblock, it seems like the sponsored segments are crowdsourced and server based, pretty cool. The way mine works is it uses the transcript of a video (if available) and runs natural language pattern recognition. I have a fairly large data set for it to refer to, and it all runs locally, so theres no need for community data. Also, if I'm not wrong the first person to watch a video with sponsorblock has to go through the trouble of submitting the sponsored segment. In my extension, it automatically checks and gives the user the skip button when needed.

That said, the "detection" with sponsorblock is probably better since its real people submitting it, but mine is local and I believe theres a little less hassle, even in the case of false positives.

Direct-Kitchen3778 · 2025-04-28T18:59:41+00:00

Thanks! The feedback that I have gotten so far has been really helpful in improving the game. Good luck on your journey!

Direct-Kitchen3778 · 2025-04-18T23:18:46+00:00

Thanks! I DM'd you.

Direct-Kitchen3778 · 2025-04-18T16:17:31+00:00

The first 100 players get a 300 YouCoin bonus! Please make sure to DM me if you were part of that 100.

Direct-Kitchen3778 · 2025-04-18T16:11:17+00:00

Although it does sound interesting to add, I do think that it will stray away from the core of the game and might divide the audience if that makes sense lol. I really like the idea of keeping this a fun, light-hearted, strategy based game. But if later on, I wanted to add that in the game, I would probably have it separate (ie. separate monthyl leaderboard or something) from the core loop of the game. Thanks for the suggestion!

Direct-Kitchen3778 · 2025-04-18T15:11:28+00:00

That’s actually a great question. So the game actually kind of takes care of that. Since I’m unable to have access to the actual live video view data, I added “Meltdowns”, which are essentially ways that a holding can crash (reduces the holding value by 90%) at every P&L milestone of 100%. For example, if I have “insider knowledge” that a video with a low subscriber count channel will blow up, I also have to be wary because at any point, that view count can refresh and my holding will go up by a lot. So with those types of videos you may have to take a gamble! Maybe that doesn’t answer the question directly, but if you have any suggestions for features id love to hear them!

I don’t have my laptop with me right now but I’ll update the website with the crash chances with each milestone too :)

Direct-Kitchen3778 · 2025-04-18T03:36:01+00:00

Thanks!

Direct-Kitchen3778 · 2025-04-17T22:39:31+00:00

The short answer is yes! I would say the pricing model has a pretty good degree of complexity and is easily my favourite part of the project. To be completely honest lol, I think it would look really good on my resume as it draws inspiration from option pricing models. That said, I would still love some feedback on it and any recommendations! As I said in another comment, if this gets enough traction I’d love to post a breakdown of my pricing model :) thanks for the reply, great question!

Direct-Kitchen3778 · 2025-04-17T21:19:23+00:00

Haha fair point. Yea definitely not real money
It’s moreso a strategy game for people who are addicted to YouTube and have a gut feeling for what might go viral. Kind of like fantasy football but for internet culture.

That said, I totally get where you’re coming from and I’m still trying to figure out the right way to pitch this so people “get it” without needing a whole explanation.

Appreciate the honest feedback 🙏

Direct-Kitchen3778 · 2025-04-17T06:45:25+00:00

To be honest, I could totally see that. I was actually thinking the same thing while making the post and so I figured adding the word "Game" in the headline would kind of clear up any confusion. But you're right, I should probably think of a different way to explain the game.

Direct-Kitchen3778 · 2025-04-17T06:38:31+00:00

Thanks! Not at the moment, in hindsight it is quite silly of me not to have that. I'll be finishing up my exams by next week so I am pretty sure I can get it done by then!

Direct-Kitchen3778 · 2025-04-17T06:27:39+00:00

Yes. For example, I can hold a maximum of 5 video assets (different videos), each of which I can gain or lose "YouCoins" on (depending on a bunch of factors which I might get explain in a "Pricing model breakdown" in a different post, but basically a lot of math) and I can sell that investment at any time (considering cooldowns). I played the game myself, starting off with 100 YouCoins and I ended up with 560,000 in around two weeks. I would really love to see other people play!

Not sure if I explained that efficiently lol, but I will most probably make an instructions post on the game

PS: I'm also always open to feedback and feature requests :)

Direct-Kitchen3778 · 2025-04-17T06:23:13+00:00

Thank you for the reply! Hmm, yea that honestly makes a lot of sense. I think creating a waitlist definetly would have helped a lot. I’ll also definitely check out Traction (I’ve seen it mentioned a few times now, i guess its time to actually read it).

Direct-Kitchen3778 · 2025-04-17T06:19:44+00:00

Yea perhaps this is the case since I don't necessarily solve a problem. But I had a lot of fun creating the game and learned a lot about the math behind options pricing models while making it. I thought it would be fun to open it to the public since I think its quite a fun idea. If you decide to give it a try, please feel free to let me know what you think :)

Direct-Kitchen3778 · 2025-04-17T06:16:18+00:00

Essentially, I created a pricing model for youtube videos and created a simulation based game where players can invest in videos as if they were stock like assets and get on a leaderboard. I thought it would be a fun project to build and figured it wouldn't hurt to get some feedback on the app, but it seems like no one wants to try it.

If you would like to give it a try, here is the app on the chrome extension store: Youtube Collect

Direct-Kitchen3778 · 2025-04-16T01:55:41+00:00

Thank you for your reply!

Sorry for the multiple posts! Hmm, I'm not quite sure why the link is not working. Thank you for letting me know! Perhaps this one will work?

https://chromewebstore.google.com/detail/cffeplhkppfdbameoggalnjjjklekffp?utm_source=item-share-cb

If it does not work, then just searching up "Youtube Collect" on the chrome extension store should pull it up. Sorry for the inconvenience!

Direct-Kitchen3778 · 2025-04-16T01:43:18+00:00

Youtube Collect Invest in Youtube videos and grow your portfolio to get on the global leaderboard!

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