Conversation so far:
what is nupedia?
The intent behind Nupedia was to have expert-written entries on a variety of topics, and to sell advertising alongside the entries in order to make profit.
how did that evolve into wikipedia?
The wiki was initially intended as a collaborative project for the public to write articles that would then be reviewed for publication by Nupedia's expert volunteers.
did it work out as intended?
The majority of Nupedia's experts, however, wanted nothing to do with this project.

Question: what happened then?
Self-contained rewrite: What happened after Nupedia's experts rejected the Wikipedia project?