Ask HN: who started something in 2012 that didn't or won't become profitable?

Blueprint - https://blueprint.io - platform for developing native iOS apps without writing any code (order of magnitude less time spent on development, rapid iteration by non-developers possible, able to generate any app at runtime).

Actually interviewed at YC but they declined to fund me cause of competition from Apple and Google (see Apple's recent patents and Google's forway into codeless dev - I was actually suspicious if Apple took some of my innovations). I decided to put it on ice and pursue one of my old EE projects which is actually more important to me.

Nowadays I'm working with Pair (http://trypair.com) and do have a few firms interested in acquiring blueprint, so might actually be able to pass the torch and get something out of it to fund my next ventures. For that matter, anyone interested in learning more can email me at paul@blueprint.io.

Thanks for the comments plus all the HN visitors.

Had 250 referrals from HN domains in approximately six hours landing on the home page. c. 100 blog posts were viewed

Not earth shattering but more visitors than normal. Just need to work out how to make them stay for longer than 10 seconds.

I loved this discussion and I learned a lot from reading the responses. I have a side project that is not profitable but has been around for almost 4 years. It's called Ben's Friends (http://bensfriends.org/) and we build patient support groups for people with rare diseases (here is our 60 second video: http://youtu.be/YBeRFnJkleU).

It's almost impossible to monetize a patient support site, especially for rare diseases, so I've known for a long time we wouldn't make money. However, we've become one of the largest patient support networks on the Internet. I've put a lot of my money into it and we've run out of money many time, but something good always happens and we stay afloat.

Here is some unsolicited advice:

-Keep your side project alive for as long as you enjoy it. You never know how things will change. When we started there was no such thing as crowdfunding. Last year we managed to pay all the bills through an IndieGoGo campaign: http://www.indiegogo.com/Bens-Friends-Builds-Support-Groups-... - we never dreamed Crowdfunding would exist, now it's our lifeblood. Reading through many of the responses below, they are public service projects. It's very likely you could do at least a small crowdfunding to pay the bills if you need it.

-Who cares if you don't make money? You get to do something you love. That makes you incredibly lucky. Also, almost every person here has tons of opportunities so you can make money on something else. Again, that makes you lucky.

-Change the way you measure success. Most people measure success with money. Since we weren't going to make any money on Ben's Friends, we started measuring how many thank you emails we received every day. I get about 25 thank you notes a day - completely unsolicited. Your measurement may be usage, or reach or whether your girlfriend likes your app. Whatever it is, focus on that. It will make you a lot happier than money.

-If you are going to do something that doesn't make a lot of money, do it with a partner. It will be more fun, you'll pick each other up when things are down, and with both of you brainstorming and iterating, there is a much better chance it will get traction and eventually become something. Ben's Friends never would have gone anywhere without my partner, Ben Munoz. Good partnerships turn into great friendships and they are one of the best things about starting something.

Hope this helps. thanks for posting a great question.

feedback: those oblong shapes and the square images make your site ugly. Strongly suggest using a lot of golden ratio on everything. Really love your idea, I hope you stick to it.

Until you start a bond market around it.