The lesson here is that there really is no free lunch. There is no secret, no-work way to make lots of money. If anyone can do it, there's little value in it so you won't make much money.
If you have thousands of dollars to invest and want to do no work, just buy index funds.
There are ways to make lots of money with no work and little investment. An example is buying lottery tickets.
The problem, though, is the risk goes up with the potential reward. Your chances of winning the lottery are indistinguishable from zero. But it's still there.
Other ways are writing a hit song, advertising jingle, a bestselling novel, a top selling video game. Ways not to get rich; a “better c” language and compiler?
If you have thousands of dollars to invest and want to do no work, just buy index funds.