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Business Ideas #275: Matchmaking, Temp Mail...
Plus How Two Founders Bootstrapped to a $1.65bn Exit

Welcome to Half Baked, the newsletter serving up business ideas as hotly anticipated as Djokovic playing Alcaraz in the Australian Open đž
Hereâs what weâve got for you today:
Business IdeađĄ: A matchmaking idea, but in a more literal way
Drunk Business Idea đť: Shedding light on a genius idea
Just The Tip đ: An email trend thatâs not going away
The Moneyshot đ¤: How two founders bootstrapped to a $1.65bn exit
P.S: If you want to read any previous editions of Half Baked you can on our website and if you were forwarded this email you can subscribe here.
P.P.S: Half Baked is free. Half Baked will always be free. Thatâs thanks to the support of our sponsors. Weâd love if you could take a moment to check them out.
Letâs get into it.
BUSINESS IDEA | STARTUP
Pickup Sports Matchmaking đ
Power to the players
Available Domain: Gamepoints.io
đĄ TLDR: A mobile app that connects individuals interested in playing casual sports with people or teams looking for players
1. Problem/Opportunityâ
The Problem/Opportunity: From water cooler discussions to family gatherings, sports create a common language we all speak. In fact sports are so important that people who have no interest in sport will feign interest just to fit inâŚ

But while watching sports is great, playing it is exponentially better. But organising casual games of football, basketball, pickleball (whatever floats your boat) can be tricky. Games are normally organised in group chats and thereâs always a few last minute dropouts leading to cancelled games. So why not build a platform to stop this from happening? Hereâs what we have in mind.
Market Size: The global sports technology market was valued at $14.7 billion in 2023
2. Solution â
The Idea: A mobile app that connects individuals interested in playing pickup sports with people looking for players
How it Works:
A user signs up for the platform and selects what sports theyâre looking to play. They also select their skill level, location, availability and so-on
Players can then organise games where they can invite specific friends to them or get matched with others looking to play in case theyâre short numbers and they meet at the agreed place at an agreed time
Once a game is over (if relevant) players can split the cost of renting the pitch or court
Go-to-market: Target team sports initially since youâll acquire more users more quickly and better leverage network effects to help early growth
Business Model: In-app advertising and venues pay to get listed on the platform
Startup Costs: You may need to do a small raise here to get this off the ground, unless you can find a technical co-founder to do the heavy lifting on the dev side
3. How Youâll Get Rich đ°
Exit Strategy: Sell to a large platform like Classpass so they can expand beyond just fitness classes to a related market
Exit Multiple: Sports tech companies typically exit at 5-10x revenue
TOGETHER WITH NAME.COM
Find your .io Domain Name Today

Youâre a Half Baked subscriber, which means a few things. Youâre smart. Youâre attractive. And of course youâre drowning in business ideas.
And if youâre anything like us you like to collect domain names the same way Thanos collects infinity stones. But how do you set yourself apart from competitors who own .com domains? Itâs simple.
You buy a .io domain from name.com.
.io is a trendy and fast-growing domain in the startup world. Tech companies, startups and even personal websites are using this extension more and more frequently.
Here are some .io domains you can buy today:
âŁď¸ Cardcademy.io - for a mobile app which accelerates and gamifies the process of learning poker
đť Citenation.io - for a platform for academic papers that combines discovery, discussion, and tracking functionality specifically designed for academic papers
đ§ Arguearena.io - for a platform which matches together users who can debate a topic with AI analytics to determine who won
DRUNK BUSINESS IDEA
Reverse Flashlight
Back in 1899 the first flashlight was invented by Brit David Misell. But since then the flashlight market has barely seen any innovationâŚuntil now.
Introducing the Reverse Flashlightâ˘ď¸. Rather than illuminating whatâs in the darkness, this flashlight darkens whatever you point it at. Light coming through your curtains in the morning? Reverse Flashlightâ˘ď¸. Walk in on your wife cheating on you? Reverse Flashlightâ˘ď¸.
The use cases are endless.

JUST THE TIP
Trend đ: Temp Mail
Weâve all been there. We spot a free trial, discount or content we want but refuse to give up our precious primary email address, so we all have a few spam email addresses weâve set up for these exact circumstances. Well temporary email addresses, often referred to as temp mail, are a solution to this problem. These are email addresses that are created for short-term use, similar to disposable virtual cards in banking apps. This is a growing space and we think there are some cool business ideas you could build by hopping on this trend.

Business Ideas
Temp Email Detection Platform: Create an API which allows businesses to detect if temp emails are being used to sign up for their services
Disposable Email API: Offer an API for temporary email services that developers can integrate into their apps or websites to provide disposable email addresses for signups
TOGETHER WITH AGREE
Free E-signature for Everyone
E-signature is stuck in the pastâAgree changes that. Sign and get paid in one sleek platform. Use templates or your own, edit easily, and skip the fees. No clunky workflows, just faster deals and fewer headaches. Finally, a better way.
THE MONEYSHOT
How Two Founders Bootstrapped to a $1.65bn Exit
The quintessential founder story usually involves a tech product, some VCs, a few scandals and a huge exit to a larger tech company.
Well these founders bucked the trend by bootstrapping their non-tech business to a $1.65bn exit.
This is their story.

Dan Lourenco (right) and Ryan Hughes are far from traditional founders.
Dan originally studied marketing in college but went on to become a commercial pilot and flight instructor. And during his time as a pilot Dan got really into fitness and nutrition. So Dan left piloting behind and started working for a supplements company called Nutrabolt where he quickly rose through the ranks. And as he got more and more embedded into the fitness community Dan met his future business partnerâŚRyan Hughes.
Just like Dan, Ryan studied marketing in college too, but ended up becoming an IFBB pro (a professional bodybuilder) and a personal trainer to celebrities and other high net worth individuals.
The two were kindred spirits so when they met they knew they had to go into business together. Since it was the market they knew best they wanted to start a supplements brand, but with a few differences from existing brands. They wanted to build a strong community around the brand, be transparent with their ingredients and create unique flavors that no other brand had even dreamt of.
So in 2016 they took the leap and launched their business.
They founded GHOSTÂŽ.

Why GHOSTÂŽ? Well Daniel's previous experience working behind the scenes at his previous company inspired the name and brand's mantra "Be Seenâ.
Due to budget constraints they initially launched with only two products: a pre-workout supplement and a BCAA (Branch Chain Amino Acid) product. They also didnât have much money to spend on marketing so in order to get the business off the ground the pair initially leveraged relationships with influencers like Christian Guzman and Maxx Chewning to promote their products. The result?
The website crashed on launch day due to high demand. In fact the founders had to personally respond to every customerâs inquiry. They were clearly onto something.
But in order to take the brand to the next level the guys needed more than just influencer shout-outs. So they turned to partnerships. Flavor partnerships.
So they started partnering with huge brands like Warheads, Sour Patch Kids and Oreos in order to create unique flavors of pre-workouts and proteins. Oh and for the record the guys achieved all of this without external investors or debt, which becomes very important later in the story.
After seeing huge success in the supplements market GHOSTÂŽ decided to expand. They formed a joint venture with ZX Ventures, the venture arm of AB InBev, to launch GHOST ENERGY, their energy drinks product. This partnership provided resources and distribution capabilities to expand the brand and in 2021, GHOST ENERGY launched nationally at major chains like Kroger, 7-Eleven, and Publix, bringing the business onto the main stage.
By 2022, GHOSTÂŽ had reached over 50,000 points of distribution in their retail business. The energy drink had managed to carve out a fanbase in an already crowded market, which got the attention of one of the biggest drinks companies on earth. Dr Pepper.
Keurig Dr Pepper approached GHOSTÂŽ in 2024 with a plan to acquire the business. These were the terms: an initial 60% stake purchased for $990 million, expected to close by early 2025, and the remaining 40% to be acquired in 2028, with its valuation reflecting GHOST's financial performance in 2027. This deal valued the business at $1.65bn. And given that the business was bootstrapped (apart from the strategic partnership with ZX Ventures) you can bet the guys are due a massive payday from the acquisition. Well deserved, and not that surprising. Why?
Because in a way entrepreneurship and fitness go hand-in-hand. Both require sacrifice, discipline and take years to become successful. Which is why so many athletes tend to go on to be great founders.
So when you decide to start your business think of yourself as an athlete. Be disciplined, get better everyday and do whatever it takes to win.
1 - 1 FOUNDER FEEDBACK
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