Startup Ideas #366: Smart Walkers, Box Breathing...

Welcome to Half Baked, the newsletter serving up startup ideas as talked about as Neuralink raising $600M at a $9B valuation 😱 

We want to start sharing what ideas and businesses our readers are working on. So if you’re building a business right now, whether it’s a Half Baked idea or not, let us know through this form so we can start shouting you guys out!

Let’s goooo 🚀 

In today’s edition:

• 💡 An idea to help 4.6M Americans

• 📈 A breathing technique that’s growing and growing

• 🛠️ Creating a pitch deck in 10 seconds

• 🤑 From fax machines to a $40B IPO

• 🍻 The ultimate beverage to complement that late night snack

🧓 Smart Walker Device

No gaitkeeping

The Problem: Around 4.6M Americans today use walkers to help them move around. But paradoxically studies suggest that walkers actually increase the risk of people falling, the leading cause of injury-related death among adults aged 65 and older. Now some companies are starting to build $2k+ “smart walkers” which include features like fall detection, but who has the money (or health insurance) for that in this economy? Which got us thinking, could you invent a device that turns any walker into a smart device. We think so. Here’s how.

The Solution:

• In a line: A smart handle attachment that upgrades any walker into a smart device with fall detection, emergency comms and gait analytics

• Product:

  • 🔋 The device is a rechargeable and weather-resistant device that clips onto any walker handle.

  • 🚨 It has built-in sensors (accelerometer and gyroscope) to detect sudden falls or impacts and alert caregivers immediately.

  • 📹 A tiny, front-facing camera analyzes stride patterns for early signs of imbalance or injury risk, or could even be used for navigation

  • 🎙 There is an emergency comms button which can be used to speak to pre-set contacts or emergency services in case of an emergency.

• Business Model: Hardware sale ($199–$299) + optional subscription ($10/mo) for caregiver monitoring, analytics, and emergency response.

• End Goal: Acquire or license the technology to a major player like Medline, Philips Lifeline, or Invacare, aiming for a 5–10x revenue multiple exit in the end.

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🫁 The Rise of Box Breathing

The Trend: Box breathing, which is completely unrelated to “hot box breathing“ FYI, is a simple yet powerful breathwork technique where you inhale, hold, exhale, and hold again, each for four - five seconds. Originally popular among Navy SEALs for stress regulation, it’s now gaining traction in the mainstream as a mental wellness tool. Patrick Collison is a big fan of it.

Opportunities:

• Box Breathing Desk Toy: A minimalist kinetic desk object that lights up or moves in sync with a box breathing rhythm to help users practice during moments of stress.

• Breath Coach Marketplace: A platform that connects users with certified breath coaches for 1-on-1 or group training sessions.

📊 Create a Full Pitch Deck from a Single Prompt

The Tool: Every startup needs a pitch deck, but wasting hours crafting the perfect pitch deck takes valuable time away from shipping and selling. That’s where AI comes in clutch. With Gamma.app you can create a full pitch deck with a single prompt. I literally put today’s idea in and it spat out a pretty decent pitch deck in 10 seconds. AI is wild man.

Step-by-step:

1. Go to Gamma.app and sign up.

2. Craft a prompt for your slide deck and choose the number of slides you want. Be as detailed as possible to get the best results.

3. Edit each slide however you want using the built in editor

4. Send to potential investors and wait for the wires to hit your account. Easy.

Check it out

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📄 From Fax Machines to a $40B IPO

The Idea: It was the early 2000s. Tom Gonser had just sold his last startup and was dabbling in some consulting work. Which is when he spotted something absurd: companies were still faxing, printing, and mailing documents just to get a signature. That pain point sparked a thought: What if signing a document could be as easy as sending an email? So in 2003, Tom teamed up with software veterans Court Lorenzini and Eric Ranft to build a simple, secure, legally binding way to sign anything online. Together, they launched DocuSign.

The Execution:

• The MVP:

  The earliest version of the platform was a simple web-based tool that allowed users to upload a document, tag it for signatures, and send it via email for signing. The key? It had to be legally enforceable, secure, and simple to use. Simple, but not easy…

• The Launch:

  DocuSign launched quietly, focusing on a single market at first…real estate agents. Real estate pros loved it since they could close deals faster and with fewer headaches. That niche entry point gave DocuSign its initial traction and credibility.

• Growth & Traction:

  Once real estate adoption took off, DocuSign moved into other verticals: legal, finance, HR, and healthcare. Its API attracted developers; its integrations with Microsoft, Google, and Salesforce made it sticky. By the mid-2010s, “DocuSign it” had become a verb.

• Investment:

  DocuSign raised over $500 million in funding from top-tier firms like Kleiner Perkins, Google Ventures, and Intel Capital. Despite competition from Adobe Sign and HelloSign, DocuSign remained the dominant player in the market.

• The Result:

  In 2018, DocuSign went public on the NASDAQ, debuting with a valuation of $4.4B. While its market cap peaked at over $40B during the remote work boom, the business is worth around $17B today. Not bad…

The Lesson: No matter how big your vision, focus on a single niche first. That’s how you get on the road to building a huge business.

🍕 Pizza Soda

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• Peppsi™, the only soda to put a pep in your step

Vote

• ✅ Yes this actually exists

• ❌ Nope you totally made this up

🔍️ Founder Finds

• 🚨 Raise Alert: David, a protein bar brand, raises a $75m Series A

• 🎙️Must-Listen: Jeff Bezos doesn’t do many podcasts. But when he does, they’re fire

• 📚 Must-Read: We love startup ideas (duh). Here’s Paul Graham’s guide to generating new startup ideas.

• ✖️ Trending Tweet: Want to see what some of the smartest young people in the world are doing? Here’s the 2025 Thiel Fellows List in case you’re curious

• 💬 Founder Quote: “The biggest risk is not taking any risk.” Zuck

👋 That’s All Folks!

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• If you have content ideas you think we should cover on the newsletter, let us know here!

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• If you want to speak to one of Half Baked’s founders about the newsletter or even your own startup idea we’re opening up Half Baked Office Hours. Book here.

• We’d love to know what you thought of today's newsletter to help us improve:

See you soon,

John and Darragh | The Half Baked Team