One Million Dollar Experiment

Can one million people give one dollar?

When I was a kid I worked out that if a million people each gave me a dollar, I'd have a million dollars. The maths never got more complicated than that. So I'm finally testing it — out loud, with every number public.

It's not charity. It's not a startup. It's one childhood question, answered with receipts.

No emergency. No promises. No partner logos I haven't earned. 25% of whatever's left after card fees goes to a cat-rescue group in Trøndelag. The rest funds the experiment. All of it is written down where you can see it.

The idea is stupidly simple. That's the whole point.

Most money on the internet asks you to believe something — in a product, a founder, a cause. This asks you to believe nothing. The question is just: in 2026, with payment links and a website anyone can build in an afternoon, can a genuinely tiny action from a genuinely large number of people still add up to something absurd?

I don't know the answer. If I did, there'd be no experiment. What I can promise is the honest version: real name, real fees, real running totals, and a clear cut going to animal rescue. If it flops, it flops in public. If it works, it works in public too.

Pick an amount. Become a data point.

The dollar button is the heart of the thing. The bigger ones exist because card fees take a real bite out of a single dollar — more on that below.

Honest heads-up: on a $1 card payment, Stripe's fee in Norway (1.5% + 1.80 kr, more for non-European cards) eats a big slice. $1 still counts and still goes on the board — but $3–$10 is where the experiment actually gains ground. Your call. Every contribution shows up the same in the participant count.

Here's the receipt for a single $5.

The Experiment

illustrative breakdown · one $5 contribution

Contribution$5.00

Card fee (est.)−$0.40

Net after fees$4.60

→ Cat rescue (25%)$1.15

→ The experiment (75%)$3.45

Goes on the board$5.00

every krone logged · nothing hidden

Fees are real and they're shown, not buried. After the card cut, 25% of the net is set aside for animal welfare and 75% funds the experiment — the domain, the tools, the time.

These numbers are an example. The actual running totals — received, fees paid, net, charity set aside, charity actually sent — live on the transparency line below and get updated by hand from the Stripe dashboard. No magic live counter that no one can check.

A quarter of what's left goes to the cats.

A defined 25% of net proceeds is committed to a registered animal-welfare / cat-rescue organisation in Trøndelag, Norway. Small contributions can still do one concrete, local, good thing.

I'm not printing a name or logo here yet — because they haven't said yes in writing. Using an organisation's identity without consent is exactly the move this project refuses to make. The moment there's a written agreement, the recipient and every donation receipt go straight onto the transparency page.

The questions you're already asking.

Is this charity? +

No. It's a personal social experiment. A defined 25% of net proceeds goes to animal welfare, but the project isn't a registered charity and doesn't pretend to be one.

Where does my money actually go? +

Card fees come off first (shown openly). Of what's left, 25% is set aside for cat rescue in Trøndelag and 75% funds the experiment. The running totals are on the transparency line above.

Why would I give at all? +

Because the idea is funny, the ask is tiny, and you get to be a recorded data point in a public experiment — and a slice goes to the cats. If none of that appeals, that's a perfectly good reason not to.

Can I give more than a dollar? +

Yes — $3, $5, $10, or any custom amount. Because of card fees, anything above $1 actually moves the experiment further.

What happens if it hits the goal? +

Then a childhood question got answered, the cat-rescue cut becomes a real donation, and the full story and numbers get published. Honestly, just getting to 100 real participants would already be a result.

What if it doesn't? +

Also fine. It stays an honest experiment, the cats still get their share of whatever came in, and the whole thing becomes a documented case study in building and launching with AI.

Is this even legal? +

It's a transparent personal project with clear terms, a privacy policy, and a non-charity disclaimer. Tax and accounting are handled properly. It isn't a lottery, a sale of a product, or an emergency appeal.

Is this just a joke? +

It's serious and silly at the same time. The idea is absurd; the transparency, the pledge, and the documentation are real.

Can I get a refund? +

Contributions are voluntary and treated as final. If something genuinely went wrong with a payment, get in touch and it'll be sorted fairly. See the terms below.

Can one million people give one dollar?

The idea is stupidly simple. That's the whole point.

Pick an amount. Become a data point.

Here's the receipt for a single $5.

The Experiment

A quarter of what's left goes to the cats.

The numbers, updated by hand.

The questions you're already asking.

The idea is stupidly simple. That's the whole point.

Pick an amount. Become a data point.

Here's the receipt for a single $5.

The Experiment

A quarter of what's left goes to the cats.

The numbers, updated by hand.

The questions you're already asking.

The experiment only works if it spreads.