Startup Ideas #368: Refurbed Phones, AI Headshots...

Welcome to Half Baked, the newsletter serving up startup ideas as shocking as Zuck and Palmer Luckey teaming up again 😱 

We’re going 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:

• 💡 Killing two birds with one phone (not literally of course)

• 📈 A LinkedIn trend we can actually get on board with

• 🛠️ How to use AI to perfect your startup’s pitch

• 🤑 How a dentist appointment inspired a $150m business

• 🍻 The ultimate office card game

📱 Refurbed Phone for Teens

Small talk

The Problem: Teens and smartphones are a scary combo. Just like teens with car keys, or teens with your credit card or…with pretty much anything. But today 42% of children in the US have a smartphone by age 10 and 91% of teens ages 13–17 own a smartphone. So, since it’s inevitable that they’ll get their hands on a smartphone, why not give them one that’s kid-safe and better for the planet by making use of an old relic from your “old tech drawer“? Here’s what we’re thinking.

The Solution:

• In a line: An app that turns any old smartphone into a kid-safe, parent-controlled communication device.

• Product:

  • 🔌 Plug-and-Play Setup - Just install the app on any old device and link it with the parent’s phone.

  • 📱 Friendly Interface - The teen can now use the old phone which has a minimal layout with access to pre-approved contacts, apps, and functions only.

  • 🔒 Parental Control Hub – Parents can remote lock, set screen time limits, and whitelist apps on the phone from their own device.

  • 🧸 Built-in Learning Mode – Optional educational content (reading, math games, etc.) can be added to the phone too.

• Business Model: Freemium with a $4.99/month premium plan for full features like screen time reports and app usage analytics.

• End Goal: Sell to a parental control tech company (like Life360) or a telecom provider looking to upsell family plans for a 6–8x ARR multiple.

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👤 The AI Headshot Boom

The Trend: I don’t know about you, but I used to dread school picture day. The awkward poses, the forced smiles. I thought I’d left all that behind, until I entered the corporate world and had to get my headshots done for LinkedIn. Thankfully though, times have changed. AI headshot tools are popping up everywhere, where you simply upload a few selfies and get polished, studio-quality portraits in minutes. Ideal.

Opportunities:

• 99designs for AI Headshots: A marketplace where users upload selfies and receive AI-generated headshots from multiple vendors, just like a design contest.

• AI Personal Brand Makeover: A service that combines AI headshots, LinkedIn banner design, and optimized bios to give users a full personal branding refresh in one go.

🗣️ Use AI to Perfect Your Pitch

The Tool: Pitching your startup can be pretty scary. But as the saying kinda goes “pitch practice makes perfect”. And it turns out ChatGPT is the perfect pitch practice partner (try saying that 3 times fast). Here’s how.

Step-by-step:

1. Open up ChatGPT and start a new project called “Pitch Practice”

2. Go to the instructions section and enter in the following prompt: “Pretend that you are a startup investor that I am pitching to. Listen to my pitch until I say “I’m finished”, then ask me tough, probing questions about my pitch. Finally give me overall feedback on both content and delivery, especially any insights on long pauses, ums, or poor diction.”

3. Start a new chat, activate voice mode, and start pitching

4. Refine your pitch based on the feedback

Try it out

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🪥 How a Dentist Appointment Inspired a $150m Business

The Idea: Back in 2015 Simon Enever (right), a former industrial designer, had to do something we all dread. He had to go to the dentist. While at the dentist his curiosity got the better of him and Simon asked his dentist why oral care felt so outdated. The answer? Dentists didn’t trust most consumer products. So he called up his friend Bill May, a mechanical engineer, to get his take. They both agreed there was an opportunity to make a sleek, affordable electric toothbrush that people actually wanted to use. This was the beginning of Quip.

The Execution:

• The MVP: Simon designed the MVP of his minimalist electric toothbrush from his Brooklyn apartment using CAD tools and early 3D prints. They found a small manufacturer in China willing to do a low-volume run and built a Shopify (friend of Half Baked) site themselves.

• The Launch: They launched in 2015 via a Kickstarter-style pre-order campaign. The toothbrush’s design and dental credibility caught the attention of GQ, Fast Company, and actual dentists, who became some of their first customers.

• Growth & Traction: Their biggest hack? Turning your bathroom into a billboard. Quip brushes came with a slick adhesive mirror mount that put the product front and centre in people’s homes. They also gave oral health pros a way to offer Quip to patients directly. Word of mouth (quite literally) did the rest.

• Investment: Over the years, Quip raised around $60M from Greycroft, Sherpa Capital, and other investors. Much of it went toward scaling manufacturing and expanding into floss, gum, and mouthwash.

• The Result: By 2021, Quip had over 5 million users and was valued at $150M+. They expanded into retail via Target and Walmart, and launched Quipcare, a dental benefits platform, bringing their brand full circle back into the dental chair.

The Lesson: Whenever someone says “that idea’s already been done”, ignore them. Toothbrushes have been around forever, but Quip built a better one. There’s always room for great products in any market. You just have to create one.

Get the full story.

🔡 Lingo Bingo

• Do you live and breathe the corporate life? Are you constantly “circling back” with your colleagues to discuss “low-hanging fruit” and potential “synergies”?

• Meet Lingo Bingo™, the fun card game for corporate survivors. Just go to your meeting as normal, listen for the usual workplace nonsense and mark your jargon card once you hear a buzzword. “Touch base,” “Circle back,” “Value-add” it’s all there.

• Lingo Bingo™. Finally, a way to make meetings feel like they have a purpose.

Vote

• ✅ Yes this actually exists

• ❌ Nope you totally made this up

🔍️ Founder Finds

• 🚨 Raise Alert: Grammarly has secured a $1 billion commitment from General Catalyst (non-dilutive, interesting structure)

• ✖️ Trending Tweet: Why entrepreneurship is like a carnival game (30 sec read)

• 🎁 Free Resource: FounderPass gives lots of discounts to founders, worth a look!

• 📈 Growth Hack: How to get two million clicks from a single email (30 sec read)

• 💬 Founder Quote: “Everything that is big now once was small. So think big, but start small.” Tobi Lütke (Shopify)

👋 That’s All Folks!

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See you soon,

John and Darragh | The Half Baked Team