The error of conventional ideas

Make your business stand out by thinking differently

In partnership with

Welcome back to the Launch Key 🚀

Last year when my future daughter-in-law was planning their wedding, I sent her a link to the little donkey beverage delivery. She laughed but did not bite.

It turns out a lot of people have though, and wedding donkeys are booked into the foreseeable future.

Your idea might not be so crazy after all.

Let's get into it.

  • Gmail users may wish to read online since some parts may be clipped.

  • Comment below and let me know if we’re on the right track.

Table of Contents

Pull to Eject

“There are just no more good business ideas.”

What rubbish.

Have you tried renting your donkey to wedding venues? As it turns out, it’s not just a one-off. Beer Donkey search results shows hundreds of locations around the US where you can rent those mules.

Apparently it can cost $500 - $1000 an hour and they’re booked solid in many places. Crazy thinking has spawned thousands of copycats. And now you’re too late to tie up a bunch of burro domain names.

In the late 90’s as internet development boomed, renting out technical staff became huge business. Bodyshops got their footing as corporate didn’t have enough programmers on staff for all the internally requested projects.

I rejected the idea that renting our talent was a good business plan. If our talent was on the bench in clients, we couldn’t do the other projects we were selling. And I couldn’t hire talent fast enough (or well enough) to take the place of the folks I was renting to Fortune 500 world.

Like all small businesses, we survived on cash flow and a key employee finally convinced me to rent out the mules. Doing so eventually killed us.

What might thrive?

Sometimes we get locked up on trying to see the best way forward. Are you still weeding through ideas that you think might thrive in the future?

The US Chamber of Commerce puts together their view each year. This year’s list includes big categories of Health and Wellness, AI and Automation, Education and Upskilling as well as Home and Local Services.

Every successful business needs some unconventional thinking to create their own secret sauce.

Online banking? Portable phones? Reusable rockets? Those were all a little crazy when they first debuted.

What about a typical neighborhood business? The best bars, restaurants, dry cleaners, nail salons, even storage units all have differentiators that customers prefer. I’ve tried to cover this topic a number of different ways:

Who knows, some ideas might be even better if they incorporated a jackass. 😉

Now go launch something 🚀 

Behold the turtle, he makes progress only when he sticks his neck out.

Bruce Levin

Find out why 100K+ engineers read The Code twice a week

Staying behind on tech trends can be a career killer.

But let’s face it, no one has hours to spare every week trying to stay updated.

That’s why over 100,000 engineers at companies like Google, Meta, and Apple read The Code twice a week.

Here’s why it works:

  • No fluff, just signal – Learn the most important tech news delivered in just two short emails.

  • Supercharge your skills – Get access to top research papers and resources that give you an edge in the industry.

  • See the future first – Discover what’s next before it hits the mainstream, so you can lead, not follow.

Modern Tools

Once you do have your idea, Namelix generates short branded names that are relevant to your business. The algorithm learns from the names you like, improving your recommendations over time.

Free Knowledge

From dog poop removal to mobile knife sharpening, there are plenty of crazy business ideas you can still launch. Here’s an interesting list of 31.

Get a List of the Best HRIS Software for Your Company

Stop wasting time on endless research and confusing options.

Our HR Software experts provide you with tailored recommendations from our database of 1,000+ vendors across HRIS, ATS, Payroll, and HCM.

✅ 15 minutes vs. hours of demos
✅ 1:1 help from an HR Software expert
✅ No spam, no sales pressure

Recommendations

💼 Thriving Freelance - Gigs and Growth : Hundreds of job opportunities sent directly to your inbox each week, plus timely resources to support you as you grow and evolve.

📕 MGMT Playbook : Practical management insights straight to your inbox every Wednesday.

🗃️ Dealroom Business Success Uncovered : Learn directly from billionaire entrepreneurs on how to grow a business. Join a community of 2,000+ innovators.

Visual Crapshoot

How did we do this week?

Login or Subscribe to participate in polls.

Launch Key readers – thank you for your support and feedback. I appreciate each and every one of you as I work to build something you value.

Remember, if there's anything you'd like to share — a recommendation, a story idea, or just a note to say hi, hit the reply button and fire away.

~ Rob

Reply

or to participate.