Archives.com: 5 rookie moves that turned 2 small-town college dropouts into digital multi-millionaires

Hey rebel solopreneurs

Ever catch yourself chasing too many shiny ideas at once?

Brian and Matt were just college dropouts with a bunch of cool plans but no wins. They needed to find their ONE golden idea.

Sound familiar? You're probably juggling exciting new projects while the old ones gather dust.

Without your winning idea, you might waste years hopping between "maybe" projects that never take off.

These brothers took a money-losing business, discovered what people were ACTUALLY searching for online, and built Archives.com - a genealogy platform they eventually sold for $100 million!

Archives.com helps regular people dig up their family history and build their family trees without breaking the bank.

And guess what? They did it by testing ideas super fast and cutting loose anything that didn't work right away.

Ready to find YOUR money-making idea?

Let's jump in!

1. Listen to what users really want (not what you think they want)

🔥 Problem

• Like many entrepreneurs, Brian and Matt started with a bunch of business ideas but had no clue which one could actually work.

• They kept launching websites that flopped one after another, burning through time and money with nothing to show for it.

🌈 How they solved it

• They flipped their approach completely! Instead of dreaming up ideas, they studied search engine data to see what people were already hunting for online. Matt spotted a gold mine: tons of searches for family history stuff - people looking for old records and family photos.

• They created simple surveys with 25-30 questions and ran targeted ads to find genuinely interested users. "Fill this out and we'll give you our product free when it's ready," they promised. Hundreds of detailed responses came flooding in!

• When analyzing the feedback, they watched for patterns. Many people said the same thing: they wanted to "trace their family tree back as far as possible." This single insight shaped their entire strategy - they decided to collect records going all the way back to the 1500s-1600s.

💎 Your game plan:

• Before building your next digital product, run some cheap ads for a survey. Ask what your audience really wants, and look for words they use repeatedly. That's your treasure map to success!

2. Test ideas fast and kill flops faster

🔥 Problem

• Now that they had identified genealogy as a promising direction, they faced a new challenge: how to test if people would actually pay for this service without wasting months and tons of cash building something nobody wanted.

🌈 How they solved it

• Building on what they learned from user surveys, they created a lightning-fast system to launch ideas. Their Archives.com test site went from concept to live in just 21 days! Only three people (Matt, Brian, and a coder named Eric) worked around the clock to make it happen.

• The first version was super basic - just a few simple searches. Users got teaser information for free and paid a small fee for the complete details. No fancy features, just the core value proposition.

• They built simple tools to track user behavior on the site. No guesswork - the data told them exactly what worked and what flopped, helping them make quick decisions about what to develop next.

• They fostered a "no ego" culture where results trumped ownership. It didn't matter whose idea it was - only whether users loved it. Anyone could suggest features, and they'd test them quickly with minimal investment.

💎 Your game plan:

• Create a quick-and-dirty system to test your digital product ideas in under 30 days. Set clear "this is working" signals so you know when to double down or walk away.

3. Focus like crazy on one winning idea

🔥 Problem

• Once they saw Archives.com gaining traction, they faced a classic entrepreneur's dilemma: Matt's head was buzzing with too many ideas and directions they could take.

• The constant stream of tech news and trends kept pulling their focus away from making their core product exceptional.

🌈 How they solved it

• Matt's mentor Rick kept asking one simple but powerful question: "What do you want to be the best in the world at?" This question became their North Star when evaluating new opportunities.

• Matt had to admit his weakness for trying to do too much at once. He realized how daily tech blogs and news sites kept his mind "spinning with ideas" and distracted him from executing on what was already working.

• Since Archives.com showed early promise, they went all-in instead of splitting their energy. They made bold moves like acquiring the entire U.S. Federal Census collection going back to 1790 and partnering with the National Archives - moves that established them as serious players in the family history world.

• They developed simple rules to combat distraction. Matt advised: "When you look at a blog or news site, know why you're there. If it's just for fun ideas, great, but don't let it pull you away from your main goal."

💎 Your game plan:

• Once you find your hot digital product idea, make a 90-day plan that cuts out ALL distractions and puts all your energy into making that ONE product awesome.

4. Take tiny steps instead of giant leaps

🔥 Problem

• With Archives.com growing and their focus narrowed, the 2008 financial crisis hit. They lost a major business partner and started hemorrhaging money - burning through $1 million in just 90 days.

• They faced the terrifying decision: make dramatic changes or keep pushing forward?

🌈 How they solved it

• When most startups were making desperate pivots, Matt took a surprisingly calm approach. He slowed down hiring but didn't abandon their core initiatives, maintaining faith in their overall direction.

• He kept analytical rigor about their finances during the crisis. Every expense was scrutinized, but strategic investments in their product continued.

• Matt developed a philosophy of taking "baby steps" - small, progressive moves that ensured they were always moving forward, not backward. This approach reduced fear in decision-making and kept momentum going even during tough times.

• As Matt explained it: "Sometimes you won't have the massive wins, but you also won't have the devastating crashes. You just keep growing steadily bit by bit."

💎 Your game plan:

• Build your digital product in small, safe steps that build on each other, rather than betting everything on one massive launch that could fail catastrophically.

5. Make friends before you need them

🔥 Problem

• As Archives.com became successful, they realized they might eventually want to explore acquisition options.

• Cold-calling potential buyers would put them at a huge disadvantage in negotiations.

🌈 How they solved it

• Matt started meeting Tim Sullivan (the CEO of Ancestry.com) every few months just for casual drinks or dinner. No sales pitch - just genuine relationship-building where they got to know each other as people.

• They followed a powerful principle from their advisors: "Great businesses are bought, not sold." Instead of actively shopping their company around, they focused on building something valuable and trusted that opportunities would naturally emerge.

• When acquisition talks finally happened, they weren't strangers - they were friends with established trust. This foundation made the $100 million deal process much smoother than negotiating with complete strangers would have been.

💎 Your game plan:

• Identify influential creators and platforms in your digital product niche and start building genuine relationships with them now - these connections could lead to partnerships, collaborations, or promotional opportunities that help grow your audience.

That's it, my fellow rebels!

Finding your winning idea isn't about having MORE ideas – it's about testing quickly and going all-in on what actually works.

"The magic isn't in dreaming up brilliant ideas," Brian says, "the magic is in rolling up your sleeves and making one idea real."

Try this today: Write down the three ideas bouncing around your head, then pick just ONE to test properly in the next 30 days.

Your next big win isn't hiding in your idea notebook – it's waiting in the ONE idea you finally give your full attention.

Keep rocking 🚀 🍩

Yours "making success painless and fun" vijay peduru