I made a genuine small profit mining Dogecoin back in the day. Between that and Litecoin I was able to make my two 400$ HD7970s pay for themselves, even after accounting for electricity.

Edit: Wanted to add that the success (Well, maybe not 'success', but popularity) of Dogecoin should highlight the value of making things accessible. Not everything needs to be a silly meme, but making things fun and building a community can make a huge difference.

Anyone looking here is the NPR interview https://www.npr.org/2018/02/08/584181886/cryptocurrencies-ar...