A growing disillusionment with traditional jobs is pushing people toward unconventional side ventures — some legitimate, many overhyped, and others outright scams.
Greg Keogh hated the commute, the dress code, and the soul-crushing exhaustion of corporate life. So the mechanical engineer built an escape: an oversized lint roller nearly as wide as a paper-towel roll. After a chance conversation with a dog owner, he listed it on Amazon. Sales took off.
Seven years later, Keogh spends two hours or less per month on the business and nets $50,000 to $115,000 annually — all while living in Austin, Texas, with the freedom to pursue what actually matters to him. “That is the ultimate power,” he says.
The classic American Dream — work hard and climb the ladder — is being replaced for many by a new aspiration: building enough passive income to make a traditional job optional.
Why the Shift Is Happening
Worker satisfaction with pay and promotion opportunities hit record lows in recent surveys. Over half of Americans, including 60% of Gen Z, doubt a conventional full-time job will get them where they want financially. Side hustles are common: about 1 in 4 Americans has one, and many younger adults have income streams outside traditional employment.
Platforms like Airbnb (5.5+ million hosts), Turo (140,000+ vehicle owners), and similar services for boats, RVs, and storage have made it easier to monetize assets with relatively low ongoing effort. Yet true “set it and forget it” income remains elusive. Many who chase it end up working hard at *not* working.
AI Supercharges the Hunt
Artificial intelligence is accelerating the trend. People use chatbots to brainstorm ideas and generate content at scale.
- **Michaël Tremblay**, a paper mill worker outside Montreal, creates hyper-specific PDF guides and workbooks on Etsy (e.g., meal planners for hiking women with ADHD). He makes hundreds of dollars monthly with minimal effort using AI tools. “I found the glitch in the matrix,” he says.
- **Matt Ebso**, 31, records voice samples and licenses AI clones on ElevenLabs for audiobooks and videos. It brings in ~$3,000/month after a few hours of upfront work. The platform has paid out $22 million to over 10,000 creators since early 2024.
Google searches for “passive income” have risen ~50% this decade, and related Reddit communities see massive traffic.
The Dark Side: Scams and Disappointment
Not everyone succeeds. The FTC has cracked down on operations promising effortless riches that allegedly scammed consumers out of millions. Dropshipping, online courses, and “autopilot” schemes often underdeliver or worse.
Ana Lohrmann, a former Spanish teacher with cancer in Maryland, has spent thousands on courses and tried beekeeping, soap-making, and TikTok promotion. Most efforts fell flat. An AI-suggested Spanish placement test brought in just $250 after a year, far below predictions. She’s wary of new ideas, like a “snail mail club,” because they still demand too much work.
Many influencers make more money selling *courses* on passive income than from the methods themselves. Competition quickly saturates promising niches.
Arbitrage Plays and Risks
Some find clever (if temporary) edges:
- **Ronnie Lim**, 19, runs eBay stores reselling Amazon products at a markup. He and his partners net thousands monthly with low weekly effort. Both platforms discourage the practice, but it persists for now.
- Others exploit platform loopholes, though this can cross into fraud (as seen in cases involving AI-generated music streaming bots).
The Reality Check
Even successful cases like Keogh’s required upfront pain — he once replaced 1,600 faulty handles in his garage. He later resisted expanding into retail because the extra work wasn’t worth it. The real prize isn’t just money; it’s freedom and energy for meaningful projects (he even built a platform called Curios for creators).
Passive income remains a “casino economy” bet for many. Some strike it rich with timing, skill, or luck. Others chase illusions. But the allure is clear: in an era of AI disruption and widespread job skepticism, the dream of working less — or not at all — is more compelling than ever.
As Keogh puts it, the more pain you endure at the start, the more passive it can become later. For a growing number of people, that trade-off is worth pursuing.