Welcome to Half Baked, the newsletter serving up startup ideas as incredible as OpenAI's latest $110B raise 💸
In today’s edition:
💡 The customer acquisition trick SaaS companies are ignoring
🛠 How to rank #1 on ChatGPT using Reddit
🔋 From compliance hell to a +$10M rocket ship + more
🔍 Dario vs Trump, Netflix deal, Apple Xcode + more
🍻 A holster for a powerful weapon
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🔁 Marketplace for SaaS Cross-Promotions
Bundle up
Available Domain: Copromo.io
The Problem: We've all been there - you order something online, open the box, and tucked inside is a discount code for some other brand. A meal kit offering 20% off a wine subscription. A gym bag with a free month of a fitness app. It's a genius customer acquisition play - two non-competing brands sharing audiences on the cheap. So why isn't this happening in SaaS? Well, it kind of is. Check out this tweet where Slash teamed up with Delve to give their customers $1,500 off compliance software. But right now this only happens when the right two founders happen to know each other. Why not create a marketplace for this? Here's what we're thinking.
The Solution:
💡 The Idea: A marketplace that matches SaaS companies with complementary partners, lets them agree on cross-promo terms, and automates campaign delivery to each other's customer bases.
🛠️ Product:
Sign up, define your ICP, connect your email tool, and browse partner companies serving the same buyer - filtered by company size, category, and audience overlap score
Agree on deal terms (discount swap, revenue share, flat fee) and launch co-branded campaigns with one click - think Slash x Delve style, but for everyone
Track referred signups, conversions, and LTV from each partner in a shared dashboard, so both sides can see the ROI in real time
🧑💻 Prototyping: Try the demo | Get the demo prompt
💼 Business Model: Free to list. 10-15% cut of any paid cross-promo deals brokered on the platform. Optional $299/mo SaaS tier for unlimited deal access and analytics.
⭐ End Goal: Acquisition by a marketing infrastructure company - think HubSpot, Apollo, or Clearbit - for $50-150M, becoming the "partnership layer" inside their ecosystem.
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📈 How To Rank #1 On ChatGPT (Using Reddit)
The Context: LLM SEO is the biggest distribution opportunity since early Google. When buyers ask AI for recommendations, they get 2-3 summarised options and they choose. Reddit is one of the main sources feeding those answers - and right now, most companies have no idea. Here's the condensed version.
Step-by-step:
Find 2 high-signal subreddits in your niche - search "[your category] help" or competitor brand names to find where your buyers hang out.
Lead with genuine value - share guides, personal experiences, and data-backed insights. Think like a user, not a marketer. You can mention your product or link back to your site, but keep it natural.
Structure posts for AI scannability - lead with a direct answer, back claims with specific numbers, and end with a question to drive engagement.
Be consistent - 15-20 mins/day answering questions, one structured post per week.
💬 What If LinkedIn Actually Worked For You?
Playbookz builds top CEO & exec brands without you lifting a finger. Weekly content, targeted ads, and a human setter who books the calls.
150k reach. 100+ leads/mo. Done-for-you.
🔋 Founder Fuel
🤑 Money Shot: These guys are building a snail mail business in 2026. Here's how.
📈 Trends with Benefits: Jack Dorsey made headlines for laying off 4,000 employees to get ahead of AI adoption. But is this just AI washing in disguise? I think so.
💬 Prompt Drop: This is the ultimate prompt collection for AI image creators (and it’s free)
🆓 Founder Resource: Your pitch deck has 90 seconds to survive the VC skim test. Here's a free template that helps it make the cut.
💵 Founder Deal: Get a 60 day free trial of Wispr Flow (our favourite AI dictation tool) on us
🔍 Founder Finds
🚨 Dario Amodei refused to bend to the Pentagon on AI safeguards and Trump has now banned all US Government departments from using Anthropic’s models. Yikes.
🎬 Netflix walks away from the Warner Bros. Discovery bidding war leaving Paramount to win the $82B Hollywood takeover tussle.
💻 Apple drops Xcode 26.3 with agentic coding built in with Claude Code, Codex and MCP support all natively integrated. Big deal.
🌐 Gary Vee on why the Era of the Individual Empire is here and what it means for founders.
💬 Paul Graham on why everything about starting a startup will be accentuated in the age of AI, both good and bad.
🍺 Drunk Business Idea: Banana Holster
Tired of your banana getting bruised in your bag? Wish you could carry it with the confidence it deserves?
Introducing PeelCarry™, the world's first tactical banana holster. Clips to your belt, holds one standard banana securely at your hip, ready to draw at a moment's notice. Available in "Farmer's Market Flex" and "I've Given Up."
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