One of my favorite businesses on the planet buys adwords ads for specific car searches ("blue honda accord 1997") and offers the searcher three competitive quotes-- just fill out a form. They then sell these leads to three car deals who have the vehicle in question for $20/per lead. Last I heard they were bidding on 750,000 adwords and making millions per month.
It depends on what your goal is. If you just want to make money, there are a lot of boring (IMO) ways to do that.
On the other hand, I (and I'm sure many other HNers as well) like to make cool stuff. It would be nice if it turned into cash, but I would prefer to enjoy the stuff I code instead of hacking some small corner of the Internet for cash... that certainly takes innovative thinking, which I really respect, but it's just not interesting to me.
I think for me, before visiting LeadsCon, it was never so crystal clear that you could have a business without much product or technology. I've seen a lot of people pursue tech or product with business being an afterthought and it is interesting to see the other extreme.
In the end I'd have to agree that (for me anyway) happiness isn't going to come without a health combination of all three elements.
One of my favorite businesses on the planet buys adwords ads for specific car searches ("blue honda accord 1997") and offers the searcher three competitive quotes-- just fill out a form. They then sell these leads to three car deals who have the vehicle in question for $20/per lead. Last I heard they were bidding on 750,000 adwords and making millions per month.