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- Startup Ideas #402: Invite Codes, Claude Code...
Startup Ideas #402: Invite Codes, Claude Code...
Plus Making $26k in 30 Days With an App
Welcome to Half Baked, the newsletter serving up startup ideas as mind-blowing as Lovable raising $200M after just 8 months in business 🤯
If you want to read any previous editions of Half Baked, you can on our website.
Let’s goooo 🚀
In today’s edition:
💡 Jumping on a market that’s just emerging
📈 How Claude Code is winning over developers
🛠️ How to use ChatGPT to record meetings
🤑 Making $26k in 30 days with a viral app
🍻 Solving the biggest dental problem we all face
🔑 Marketplace for AI Invite Codes
AIsolated No More
Available domain: Keyswap.ai
The Problem: Every single day about 50 new AI tools launch. Take the last few days where Perplexity, X and OpenAI have all made big product moves. But most of the best AI tools are trapped behind invite codes, so much so that people are out there paying for invite codes to platforms. Take Shortcut, the AI app which is so in a demand that people are out there selling invite codes to the platform for >$500. Which got us thinking…why doesn’t someone create a marketplace for this? Here’s what we’re thinking.
The Solution:
In a line: A secure marketplace connecting buyers and sellers of exclusive AI invite codes.
Product:
🔐 Users quickly sign up via email or social accounts and verify identities to ensure trust.
🛒 They can browse, buy, or sell verified AI invite codes securely, with buyer protection.
📈 Reputation scores and reviews foster a trusted community and prevent fraud.
🛠️ Demo here and prompt we used to build the product is here!
Go-to-market: Leverage Product Hunt and popular AI newsletters for initial launch visibility.
Business Model: Platform earns revenue by charging a percentage commission on each completed transaction.
End Goal: Potential acquisition target for AI marketplaces or tech-centric marketplaces (like Product Hunt or Acquire.com) for an 8–12x revenue multiple.
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🖥️ Every Founder Needs a Personal Website
Why? Because your ideas, story, and vision shouldn’t live in scattered tweets and old pitch decks. A personal site is your digital HQ, whether you're raising money, hiring, or just sharing your thinking. Squarespace makes it effortless.
Build it once. Own it forever.
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🧑💻 How Claude Code is Winning Over Developers
The Trend: AI-powered coding assistants are transforming the way programmers work. Tools like Cursor, Windsurf, and more recently Gemini CLI are all fighting to be the go-to coding tool to help developers 10x their output. But right now, Claude Code is winning the battle for developer’s souls. Claude Code is an agentic coding tool that lives in the user’s terminal. No GUI. No editor. Just an agent that can drop into any repo and work. So if you’re a 10x coder looking to become a 100x developer, or if you’re just starting to learn…Claude Code seems to be the way to go.
Opportunities:
AI-Powered Code Security Audits: A security consultancy using Claude Code to automatically scan for vulnerabilities, suggest patches, and generate compliance reports.
Automated Documentation Generator: A tool that reads code repositories and uses Claude Code to produce comprehensive, human-readable documentation, changelogs, and API references.
🎙️ How to Use ChatGPT to Record Meetings
The Tool: RIP about 100 startups. Why? Because ChatGPT record mode has just gone live in their macOS app for desktop. It lets you record audio during meetings or voice memos and then turns that recording into a structured summary. Here’s how to use it.
Step-by-step:
Open the ChatGPT app on macOS (you can download it here if you need to)
Click the record button. You’ll find it at the bottom of any chat window.
Start speaking. ChatGPT live-transcribes as you talk.
When you're done, hit send. ChatGPT will transcribe the meeting, pull out the key points, and turn it into follow-ups, plans, or even code.
😵 Bad Passwords Kill Startups
As a founder, you're used to taking risks. But some risks just aren’t worth it - like leaving your company exposed to weak or reused passwords.
That's because just one leaked password can nuke your business. It’s not worth the risk.
That's why smart teams (and even dumb teams like ours) use 1Password, the industry leader in password management. It keeps your credentials safe, your team in sync, and your business protected.
Take big swings with your product, not with your security.
🧠 Making $26k in 30 Days With an App
The Idea: Yoni Smolyar is hardly an overnight success. He spent years trying to build businesses, but kept failing. Sick of starting from zero after every failure, Yoni decided to start sharing his journey. By doing this he managed to build up a following of about 200k people across different platforms. But this led to a new problem…phone addiction. He became entranced by the likes, the comments, the dopamine. Which is when he decided to build a solution to his own problem. This was the beginning of Brainrot.
The Execution:
The MVP: Yoni came up with a simple design for the app and with some help from Cursor and Claude Code, he whipped up the app in Swift in around 2.5 months.
The Launch: He teased Brainrot to his 200K-strong build-in-public audience on TikTok, Instagram, and X. On Day 1 of launch, BrainRot hit #1 on Product Hunt after getting featured in their newsletter, driving a flood of sign-ups.
Growth & Traction: Within 30 days, Brainrot hit 10K downloads and achieved a 5% conversion rate on its subscription tier. Organic referrals from satisfied users have led to steady growth so far
The Result: Brainrot generated $26,000 in net profit in its first month, validating the power of audience-first launches, AI-accelerated development, and lean subscription economics.
With a clear personal pain point, a ready audience, and AI tooling as your co-pilot, you can go from zero to five-figure profits in record time. It’s time to build
🔍️ Founder Finds
🛠️ AI Tool: OpenAI just launched ChatGPT agent. This is big.
📚 Must-Read: This former OpenAI employee breaking down how the company really works is…utterly fascinating.
📹 Must-Watch: Inside OpenAI's Stargate Megafactory with Sam Altman (I swear we’re not sponsored by OpenAI…)
✖️ Trending Tweet: How to create wealth in the new economy
💬 Founder Quote: “If you can’t tolerate critics, don’t do anything new or interesting.” Stewart Butterfield (Co-founder, Slack)
🔦 Reader Spotlight
💳 OpenPay: Lance CTK is simplifying subscription billing with a powerful tool for payments and analytics.
📈 SmartFin: Jim Effro is building a clean, fast stock analysis tool for everyday investors.
✨ Kadabra: Niv Abutbul is building a platform which turns plain prompts into full automations, no coding needed.
🛠️ Jurnii: Fraser Dunk is using AI to run expert UX research in minutes, spotting issues before they cost you.
📈 HypeDesk: Aleks Shelestov is helping founders grow with daily tasks to boost traffic and backlinks.
P.S: If you want your startup or project featured, click here!
🍺 Drunk Business Idea: Wind Up Toothbrush
Tired of your toothbrush battery running out? Ready to take brushing back into your own two hands (literally)?
Meet the Spin ’n Grin™, the wind-up toothbrush that turns your morning routine into a hands-on whirlwind. Crank it up, and its turbo-charged bristles sweep away plaque faster than you can say “minty fresh”. No batteries, outlets or apps required.
Spin ’n Grin™, winding your way to a brighter smile.
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👋 That’s All Folks!
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