Welcome to Half Baked, the newsletter serving up startup ideas as groundbreaking as OpenAI releasing GPT-5.5 🆕
In today’s edition:
💡 The training ground for tech's hottest job
🛠 How to build your first workspace agent with ChatGPT
🔋 How a side project turned into a +$100M business + more
🔍 Tech layoffs, Claude connectors, USVC + more
🍻 Flipping the script on a common household item
Let’s goooo 🚀
💸 Half Baked x AutoDS: This week we've partnered with AutoDS to offer one Half Baked reader a new MacBook Neo, Mac Mini or Airpods Max to support them on their founder journey. To be considered, just:
Check out AutoDS here
Reply to this email with which device we should send you
Good luck!
✈️ Flight Simulator for Product Managers
Land the job
Source: Half Baked team
The Problem: Product Manager might be the most sought-after job in tech. The pay is great, the work is dynamic, and if that viral video of two PMs working poolside is anything to go by, the work-life balance is pretty sweet too. But actually learning the job? That's the hard part. You can binge Reforge, read every edition of Lenny’s newsletter, and still not know what a PM’s role is really like. Nobody has built the place where you actually practice the job. Here's what we're thinking.
The Solution:
💡 The Idea: A platform where prospective PMs simulate working in the role to actually learn it.
🛠️ Product:
Users get dropped into a simulated workday - a Slack-style inbox with AI colleagues (a designer pushing back on scope, an engineer saying "this is a 6-week build," a CEO asking "why are we doing this?"), a half-written PRD to finish, and a stakeholder review with an AI exec who interrupts mid-sentence.
Every sim is scored across five dimensions - prioritization, written comms, stakeholder management, data judgement, and scope discipline - with difficulty that scales from junior PM to Principal. Users watch scores climb, unlock harder scenarios, and earn performance-based certifications.
After every sim, users get a post-mortem report showing exactly where they dropped points, what a top-scoring PM would have done differently, and which scenarios to try next.
🧑💻 Prototyping: Try the demo | Get the demo prompt
💼 Business Model: Sell into companies as a training and recruitment tool. The training product helps existing PM teams level up on specific skills, while the hiring product lets companies run custom sims in interviews.
⭐ End Goal: Get acquired by Reforge, Coursera, or LinkedIn Learning at 10-15x revenue.
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📺 Missed the Masterclass? The Replay is Live.
If you didn't catch the Ecommerce Founder Masterclass, the replay is now up. The big takeaway: BuildYourStore from AutoDS builds your entire Shopify store in under 2 minutes, then AutoDS keeps it running on autopilot.
What the session covered:
How BuildYourStore from AutoDS creates a fully stocked, conversion-optimised store instantly
How AutoDS automates product sourcing and order fulfilment end-to-end
How to get started on both platforms completely free
Watch the replay here
🤖 How to Build Your First Workspace Agent with ChatGPT
The Context: OpenAI's new Workspace Agents let you spin up a persistent AI teammate that reads your docs, answers questions from your knowledge base, and takes actions across your stack. Here's how to set one up in a few minutes.
Step-by-step:
In ChatGPT, open the Agents tab and click "Create Agent." Give it a narrow job title like "Customer Support Lead" (or pick from a template).
Connect your knowledge sources (Google Drive, Notion, Slack, Gmail etc.)
Set scope and permissions. Start read-only, then graduate to write access once you trust it.
Test with 3-5 real questions, iterate on the system prompt, and share the URL with your team.
Note: Workspace agents are available in research preview for ChatGPT Business, Enterprise, Edu, and Teachers plans right now.
💰 How to Get $500 Back From Your Business Card
Spend $500 on the BILL Divvy Card and get $500 back as a statement credit. No annual fees. Free expense management software included. Here's how simple it is:
How it works:
Employees spend, you get notified instantly
Required info is captured at point of purchase - no receipt chasing
Review, approve, and sync transactions in one place
Credit lines from $1k to $5M. Flexible rewards on every dollar. And $500 waiting when you spend your first $500.
🔋 Founder Fuel
🤑 Money Shot: Two remote-first founders built a $32M open-source Calendly killer - one of whom was 17 when he joined. Here's how.
📈 Trends with Benefits: In 2 years, Google has gone from 0% code written by AI to 75% code written by AI. All tech companies will go through something similar…
💬 Prompt Drop: Here’s how you can generate a full week of content and topics in 30 minutes using Claude.
🆓 Founder Resource: This is the most comprehensive breakdown of how to actually ship great-looking interfaces with Claude Design. Bookmark it.
💵 Founder Deal: Get 3 months of Notion free for your team. Claim the deal.
🔍 Founder Finds
👋 Microsoft is offering voluntary retirement buyouts for the first time in its 51-year history, per CNBC and Bloomberg. Meanwhile Meta is laying off around 8,000 employees. Big tech is getting a little smaller…
🔗 Claude can now connect to more of the apps you use outside of work, including Spotify, TripAdvisor, Instacart and more
🤑 Naval just launched USVC, a fund that allows Americans to invest in companies like xAI, Anthropic, OpenAI for as little as $500.
🆓 Replit for Startups recently went live, where founders can get up to $25K in credits to build and launch their products.
😫 This Reddit post where AI lab employees share their salaries and net worth is…amazing and depressing simultaneously.
🍺 Drunk Business Idea: Reverse Shower Cap
Shower caps are great for when you want to shower but keep your hair dry. But what if you want to wash only your hair and keep the rest of you dry?
Introducing BodyCap™, the reverse shower cap that covers everything from the neck down and leaves your hair completely untouched. The full-body waterproof seal that lets you soap up, scrub down, and step out with your blowout perfectly intact.
BodyCap™ - Hair's to that.
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👋 That’s All Folks!
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