I don't know what a 'coin mill' is as I don't really follow the altcoin scene except for Monero.
A coin mill is what you get when you have hundreds and now approaching thousands of altcoins. People naturally begin to specialize in creating coins and turn it into a business and then into a streamlined process. You didn't really think that all 1000 altcoins were each created by inspired individuals who think they are the next Satoshi. In fact many are cranked out by well oiled machines.
To run a coin mill you make small variations (or sometimes exact clones), create a marketing plans for each one, create a pretty web site and sometimes a "white paper", figure out what you can get away with when it comes to premines/instamines/etc., pump them up using shills, PR campaigns, etc., and then dump for some net profit before winding down your involvement as the coin spirals the drain. The net profit on each coin doesn't even need to be that large, because you can do lots of them easily.
With respect what the other guy said about variations and survival of the fittest, that is certainly going to happen, and you are free to make your own guess about the eventual winners. But as a buyer you had better beware when you are buying one of these coin mills' coins because almost by definition they are pump-and-dumps.
In my view the OP really believes he is
warning people, not telling people, not to get involved with these scams (and that is certainly where I'm coming from). If you choose to ignore the red flags, do so at your own peril.
It makes me think of some sort of evil "lean startup" pump and dump strategy of applying the minimum viable product method across multiple variations, and diversifying your resources across these, and using these scamming tactics to try to make each look independent from the other.
