Hey, what's up? Let's talk about flip phones. Flip phones. Don't you want a flip phone? Don't

you use a flip phone every day? Maybe you don't want one and maybe you don't use one. Well,

that actually could have something to do with the reason why today's story did not turn

out so well. Welcome to Sad Usel School. My name is Chris Gellabo. Today is Failure Friday. Failure

Friday, a collection of short stories about mistakes, missteps, disasters, and of course, failure built

on the principle that we can learn as much from failures we can from success. So just like

our Thurback Thursday segment, you get to hear directly from a Sad Usel who is struggling

to get something off the ground and I already kind of alluded to what today's is about. Yeah,

this story features a rupert from San Diego, California. He is a serial side hustler. He's got a

brilliant idea to sell flip phones, right? I know. You're like, why didn't he go with facts machines?

You know, that would be much more in demand, you know, much more relevant. Well, but in his defense,

and he'll tell the story here, but you know, I would say to his credit, you know, right off the bat,

I mean, lots of vintage things are popular. And you know, there are people that are using flip phones. It

is having a bit of a moment, but you always have to ask yourself, like, what is the true market? You

know, just because like there's a news article or, you know, some TikTok videos about people using

these devices, like, you know, is there really a large group of people that wants to purchase them?

I think that's a question that might have been helpful to have asked before proceeding down the path.

But let's hear the story from rupert. I'll have a very quick wrap up at the end.

So there I was, a serial side hustler with an uncanny knack for spotting trends. When I stumbled

upon what I thought would be my next big break, the vintage flip phone market. You know, those delightful

little devices with a satisfying snap when you close them? I thought to myself, people will flip

over these phones. I began scouring every nook and cranny to find my coveted flip phone supply.

...