u/veryyy

Stumbleupon.cc

The original StumbleUpon was a browser toolbar with one button. You clicked it and got dropped onto a random website that matched a few interests you’d selected. That was the whole product. There was no algorithm trying to predict what you’d love, no app you had to open separately, and no ads.

The concept isn’t what killed StumbleUpon. The company killed it themselves by chasing the things every product chases now: a standalone app, an engagement algorithm, ad monetization, recommendation engines, social features. They piled it on until the original magic was buried, then shut the whole thing down.

The revival I’m building strips all of that out and goes back to the original implementation. It’s a web app much like the original. Hit it and you get a random website. There’s no secondary app to download, no algorithm deciding what you should see based on engagement signals, and no ads.

What makes this matter in 2026 is that discovery on the modern web is broken. Everything you see is either a recommendation algorithm shaping your reality or paid placement someone bought. You can’t accidentally find a weird, beautiful, niche website anymore because nothing surfaces unless it’s been optimized to. StumbleUpon was the last large-scale tool that pointed people at the open web for its own sake, and putting that back in people’s browsers feels worth doing.

Happy to share more about the build, the tech, the business model, or any of the decisions I’ve made and why. Building in public, so I want this to be a conversation.

You don’t need an account, you can’t even create one, and no ads, no trying to track you.

Thinking of open sourcing it & making it community supported.

I had a wild idea while dealing with severe spinal issues and muscle spasms: raise money for my medical bills by selling my own stuff online.

My first thought was to list things on OfferUp and Craigslist, but honestly, it feels like 2026 has outgrown both of them. OfferUp is frustrating to use, Craigslist is not what it used to be, and somewhere along the way we lost the fun and excitement of local buying, selling, and bidding.

So I’m testing something myself.

I’m building a local marketplace called Churu. The name is temporary — my cats are obsessed with the Churu treats, so it stuck for now.

To prove the idea out, I’m going to start listing my own items with bids starting at $1, no catch. You can bid, buy, and see where it goes. I’d love to say I’ll post something every day, but I’m dealing with health issues, so I’ll list as often as I’m able.

First up: a brand-new Oura Ring starting at $1.
Next will likely be an Apple Watch, then maybe a MacBook and a few other good items.

This is part fundraiser, part experiment, and part attempt to bring some fun back to local marketplaces.

Check it out, bid if you want, and help me see if Churu should become something bigger.