Good morning, Hank, it's Tuesday.
So, I have approximately one idea every five years, like, in 2006 I had an idea called vlogbrothers, and then five years later I had an idea called Crash Course, and then five years after that I had an idea called The Anthropocene Reviewed, and now I am patiently awaiting my fourth idea.
Hank, you, meanwhile, have one idea every twenty seconds. Like, I would say that, on seven thousand separate occasions, you've called me and said, "I have a million-dollar idea."
If I had an actual million dollars for every million-dollar idea Hank has pitched me, I would have like 7 billion dollars, or, nearly 3% of Jeff Bezos' wealth.
When it comes to ideas in general, Hank's job is to be extremely enthusiastic and my job is to be extremely dubious. And, to be fair to Hank, he has had many wonderful ideas, from VidCon, to SciShow, to Subbable; Hank has helped make amazing things. But, to be fair to me, Hank has also has lots of terrible ideas. I'm talking about Surprisingly Edible, a store that only sells things that don't appear to be edible, and also Pelifans, Hank's OnlyFans for pelicans. This is where my anxious, dread-filled, deeply dubious filter comes in, and if a Hank idea survives that filter, it's a great idea. And, almost without exception, I have wholeheartedly approved of all of Hank's best ideas.
Almost without exception.
My first failure was in 2009. Hank called me and said, "I have a million-dollar idea," and I sighed, and then he said, "I want to make special glasses that render 3D movies in a crisp two dimensions." And I was like, that's the worst idea I've ever heard, and Hank was like, no, a lot of people want to go see 3D movies with their friends or family or whatever, but they get headaches, and so 2D glasses would be a great service to them. And I was like, OK, that's an idea. It's not a million-dollar idea, but it is an idea. Now, I was right—2D glasses did not make a million dollars—, but I was also wrong, because they were very successful, but, more to the point, I was wrong on a deeper level, because 2D glasses changed both of our lives. Because, with 2D glasses, Hank realized that his ideas could become things. If the idea of 2D glasses could become 2D glasses, then the idea of a conference could become VidCon, the idea of an educational video company could become Complexly, the idea of me with a moustache could become a T-shirt, and so on.
So, I was wrong. But not as wrong as I was a couple years ago when Hank called me and told me that he and some folks at DFTBA.com had worked up a million-dollar idea: a sock subscription. I don't know why, in thinking about how to raise more money for charity, Hank arrived at socks, but I'm very glad he did.
Here's the idea as Hank pitched it to me: what if, every month, a pair of wonderful socks arrived at your house, and your ankles were happy, and all of the profit—not some or most, but all—went to support stronger healthcare systems in impoverished communities? And I was like, that is not a million-dollar idea. And I was wrong! Or, at least, hopefully, I soon will be wrong. Because the Awesome Socks Club has raised over US$700,000 for charity in its first year. I was wrong! I was wrong, I was wrong. I wish being wrong were always this lovely.
I was wrong on every level, because, in addition to supporting an important cause in such a big way, Awesome Socks Club socks are my favorite socks. Like, for reasons we don't have to get into, I am currently booted, but, thanks to the Awesome Socks Club, I am able to maintain my high level of fashion even with my boot.
So, yeah, I hope this is the year that Hank proves me fully wrong and the Awesome Socks Club becomes a literal million-dollar idea, because it is doing a lot of good. Awesomesocks.club. You can only sign up for the next few days.
This is the part where I disclose that it's a sponsored video, but no, it's not a sponsored video, nobody paid for this, awesomesocks.club, you gotta—go now! Hank, I'll see you on Friday.

P.S.: I just want to be very clear about something, Hank, just because I was wrong about this one thing does not mean that I am wrong about Surprisingly Edible, which continues to not be a good idea. OK, that's all. Don't—don't you dare.