How I created passive income in a week, by over-delivering value

So it's not really passive income, is it?

This would seem to contradict the term 'passive'.

It's because although the work is done by hand, he can eventually (in like a month) hand it off to his own employee or contractor for them to do for a fraction of the profits.

Starting it up himself allows him to formularize the entire business, build a following and keep costs low in the beginning. He probably also plans to start creating similar email lists for other verticals with high levels of contractor work - so not just developers, but also designers, devops etc.

If you read between the lines, you can see where he's going with this; it can absolutely be a passive income stream, and based on his traction, it may replace his need to work.

Edit: To commenters below - Most successful businesses eventually hire someone to run them w/o much intervention from the investors/founders. He can do the same.

You're also selling 'mining picks', so I'd guess your product has a lot of potential.