I started I I got kind of curious. So, there's two extensions that caught my caught my attention. The first, and they're basically the same thing with almost exactly the same name. The first is a thing called AdBlock. I think that's the one I use. The second one is called AdBot AdBlock Plus. So, that's why it's a little confusing. And so, AdBlock was created by one guy in Georgia named Michael Gunlach, and he uh he just kind of built this thing in 2009, and he's been the only employee the whole time. And I went to his personal website to learn about him, and he only has 55 followers on uh Twitter. His website is called sorryrobot.com. That's his personal website. And he has like Python projects, a Unity game that he built called Asteroids, and he even has an MP3 of him singing a Christmas song at church during Christmas time. This is like By the way, his LinkedIn uh his job description is just a guy. Uh he lives in Duluth, Georgia, and it says, "I am not available for work. Please do not contact me about job opportunities. I created AdBlock, the most popular Chrome extension for Google uh Chrome extension and for Safari with around 20 million users. It's neat. Before that, I did some other neat things." And he was the only employee. And then, I did some research on his competitor called AdBlock Plus. Now, this company, they have a few bit few more employees. I think they've got 20 or 30 people. And because they're based in Europe, when you're a European company, oftentimes, at least in England, and I know it's a lot of the uh a lot of the case in different European countries, if you make over 20 million dollars in revenue, you basically have to file a report that reveals your revenue and profit. And so, I went and looked at this company called IO. It's called IO. They own AdBlocker Plus. In 2017, they did 44 million dollars in revenue, and 26 million dollars in profit, which is astounding. And they had at least 100 million users. However, if you look in the Chrome the the Chrome plugin store, uh AdBlock Plus has around 150,000 reviews, and it says they've got over 10 million users. If you look at AdBlock, which is the one founded by this one guy, they've got something like 300,000 reviews, and uh also it says 10 million users. And so, there's potential that this one guy had a business making all of this money, tens of millions of dollars a year, very likely, tens of millions of dollars a year in profit, just off a Chrome extension. Is that amazing? This is amazing. I'm I'm still on this guy Michael Gunlach's uh website, sorryrobot.com/resume. Um.pdf. And it I I think you said this, but I was reading while you were talking. So, he was an engineer at Google working on Google Ads and Google AdSense. Did you already say that part? No. And he he worked on Google, and basically he goes, "Nah, that. I hate these ads." And then And so, his job was he goes, "At Google, I kept the global at Google Ads and AdSense networks alive and kicking. Um and my my spare time, I built this other thing and I built I built this other thing, uh you know, like cuz Google has that 20% time. He's like, "I built this JavaScript framework, blah blah." So, basically, he goes from working at Google on Google AdWords and AdSense to creating AdBlock and and makes 20 million dollar makes more than that off 20 million users who who love this thing. And what year did you work at Google? I believe like '05. yeah. So, which is like right after the IPO, basically. Yeah, so he probably made 30 million dollars at Google, like collectively. It's That's what it's worth now. If he held it. So, he made tens of millions of dollars off that. And then, reportedly, now, the thing about this guy is everything's very quiet about this guy. He's hard to find. Everything's impossible. However, I think in 2015, an anonymous buyer bought AdBlock. Interesting. There's a world where it could have been sold for like two or 300 million dollars. I mean, there there's a world where that exists. Uh maybe it was lower, but it's a it's a huge property. he he he stopped working on AdBlock, or you know, it's sold probably 2015, which is kind of scary because these Chrome extensions are a giant security hole for people because Chrome extensions can like read and write all the data on your that as you browse the web. So, this all every email you're writing, the text is can be picked up by these Chrome extensions. And even if they start off safe because, you know, just a guy from Duluth, Georgia built it, and he's an engineer who has the right intentions, somebody who buys it with the wrong intentions can really like uh do some dirty stuff uh you know, with with the data and and even modifying it and things like that. So, you got to be careful with Chrome extensions. I try to install the minimum amount of Chrome extensions as possible. Yeah, they are pretty scary. And um yeah, they're nuts. And but it's a wild business. I think that what here's So, I love these extension-style businesses.
No more small boy spreadsheets, build your business on the free HubSpot CRM: https://mfmpod.link/hrd - Shaan and Sam break down the business of adblock extensions, how they work, and how some extensions are making millions. ----- Links: 📧: Sign up for The Hustle Daily Newsletter: https://link.chtbl.com/z04Ly9A0 🎙️: Download Our Podcast: https://link.chtbl.com/eOVCA5Y2 A podcast where we brainstorm new business ideas based on trends & opportunities we see in the market. Sometimes we have famous guests, and they do it with us.