Wanna be an Internet Media Mogul?

Steve Martin's early bit on how to be a millionaire and not pay taxes was goofy, but simple: "First, get a million dollars.  Then when the IRS comes and asks why you didn't pay taxes, repeat these two words: 'I forgot.'"  Nowadays, everyone is trying to figure out how to make money off the Internet.  YouTube got paid 1.6 Billion by Google.  How does this make sense?  Or, even if it doesn't: how can I do the same thing?

I've been wondering about this a lot, but then I came across this great blog post by Andy Kessler, which thoroughly explains the new media world.  Here's his ridiculously simple advice:

Want
to be a Mogul? Think out all the free services never thought possible
without lots of broadband and pieces you can pick and choose from to
build it and you are on the right track.

Sound
familiar?  It's good advice, but I'm not sure how valuable it really
is.  Still, I have to say that Andy Kessler's blog post is a
'must-read.'  Definitely chock-full of value.

By the way, I'm also reading his excellent book, The End of Medicine: How Silicon Valley (and Naked Mice) Will Reboot Your Doctor,
which explains the economics of the $1.8 Trillion dollar medical
industry.  Kessler seeks the answer to a provocative question: how will
the force of technological development revolutionize medicine?  Not
surprisingly, he doesn't focus exclusively on the wizardry of
technology, examining also the counter-vailing forces of political
bureacracy and insurance-industry venality.  Here are some things I
learned by reading the book:

• 70% of health care spending goes to treat chronic disease
• 5% of Medicare patients (the most ill) account for 47% of Medicare expense

I also learned that I don't really want to eat snowpeas anymore.

Comments

[Sander]

Ok, now I'm curious about the snowpeas thing. Snowpeas have always been alright by me. Would you mind saving me from reading the interesting sounding, but mixed metaphorically titled book?

[Bloggern]

How to become a millionaire? Or money makes the world go round!

I think it's like the question of to be or not to be. Isn't it???

Steve Martin is wonderful. Nice answer. Make a million and forget to pay taxes. Ugh...

Indeed the internet offers a lot of possibilities to get rich in a very short time and a lot of people try to get their chance. But there are so many different ways and you need luck. The challenge is to be satisfied without a million.

What do you think about this point of view?

Best wishes from Germany...

[Ernie]

Yes, Bloggern from Germany, that's exactly it. I have already made my fortune off of the Internet, and it's because of comments and people like you. Thanks for the nice words, and the positive thoughts. Take care, Ernie.

[Jo]

Overbilling? Bill padding? How 'bout a Miami law and lobbying firm at which the senior partner bills clients for time in bed with his mistress? And then, when someone speaks out about this 3-year practice, he has her fired by a voice answering machine to her home phone. This is a MIAMI firm with Republican leanings. What major blogs would be interested in this? Thanks.