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- Startup Ideas #423: Post to Play, Aura...
Startup Ideas #423: Post to Play, Aura...
Plus From $0 to $150M Exit in 2 Years
Welcome to Half Baked, the newsletter serving up startup ideas as lucrative as ChatGPT’s mobile app 💸
If you want to read any previous editions of Half Baked, you can check them out on our website.
Let’s goooo 🚀
In today’s edition:
💡 Solving the social media dilemma
📈 The app that’s all over my social feeds
🛠️ How to supercharge your CRM with HubSpot and Claude
🤑 From $0 to $150M exit in 2 years
🍻 The air freshener everyone is crying out for
📲 Post to Play App
Locked, not loaded
Available domain: Scrollblock.com
The Problem: Social media is the ultimate double-edged sword. As a creator it gives you access to almost anyone on earth, the ability to build an audience, launch a business and completely change your life. But as a content consumer it leaves you infinitely scrolling and wasting countless hours watching the highlight reels of everyone else’s lives. So why not create a mechanism to encourage more people to be creators rather than consumers on these apps? Here’s what we’re thinking.
The Solution:
In a line: An app that only unlocks your social media feeds after you’ve posted a set number of times each day.
Product:
📲 Download the app, connect your social media accounts, and set your daily posting goal (e.g., 3 posts on X before you can see your feed).
🔒 Until you hit your posting quota, the app blocks your access to scrolling feeds via API or OS-level app timers.
🎯 Posts can be text, images, videos, or stories. Users choose the platform(s) and format.
🏆 Users track streaks, earn “scroll credits,” and see weekly creation vs. consumption stats for motivation.
Business Model: Freemium app with a paid tier for cross-platform posting, analytics, and advanced locking rules.
End Goal: Sell to a major digital wellness platform (like Freedom, Opal, or Calm) or to a creator tool company (like Canva or Later) for a 6–8x ARR multiple.
Rate this idea: |
🛡️ Is Your Personal Data Fully Protected?
If that question gave you pause for even a second, the answer is no.
In today’s world, so much of our personal information is online, and bad actors out there are looking to access your sensitive information (Social Security numbers, phone numbers etc.).
But instead of worrying, you can use Incogni. Incogni scrubs your personal data from the web, removing sensitive data from thousands of websites that expose your private details.
It’s a one-stop solution for personal data protection, and right now, Half Baked readers can get 50% off.
🏃 The Hottest App on the Market Right Now
The Trend: The Share Aura running app has been blowing up over the last few days, with everyone fighting for invite codes so they can use it (I got one last night…LFG). The app is pretty simple. It syncs with a user’s running data and gives them the ability to share their runs on social media in a beautiful way. The founder, Zach Pogrob, is a genius marketer and even shared his marketing strategy for the app, which is super interesting. I think the virality here proves that taste is becoming one of the last moats in a world where software production is becoming a commodity.
Opportunities:
Share Aura for Weightlifting: Pulls data from Apple Health, Whoop, or Strong app and turns your PRs, sets, and lifts into cinematic stat cards or motion graphics, perfect for posting on Instagram or TikTok
Y Combinator for Taste: Create a program that helps early-stage founders to develop and hone a sense of product taste
🔋 How to Supercharge your CRM with HubSpot and Claude
The Tool: Almost every big business out there (including us) uses HubSpot to manage their sales pipeline. And recently they’ve launched a partnership with Anthropic to integrate Claude directly into your CRM. Here’s how you can use Claude to supercharge your sales process.
Step-by-step:
Download HubSpot’s CRM for free if you’re not already a user
In Claude, navigate to Settings → Connectors → Browse Connectors. Choose HubSpot and connect your account.
Enable Claude inside your HubSpot account
Use Claude for AI-powered insights, automations, and visuals, all grounded in your real customer data.
🤝 How Frame AI Got Acquired by HubSpot
Last year HubSpot acquired Frame AI in one of their biggest acquisitions ever.
And on Aug 28, George Davis, the founder of Frame AI, is giving an exclusive fireside talk on scaling an AI startup from idea to acquisition.
Discover how to build an AI-native company buyers can’t ignore, navigate M&A with confidence, and thrive through AI hype cycles from a founder that's been there and done it.
RSVP today and you'll also unlock a free AI predictions report from leaders at OpenAI, Anthropic & more, which is really great.
📱From $0 to $150M Exit in 2 Years
The Idea: Ukrainian-born serial entrepreneur Victor Shaburov (left) had already built and sold multiple startups when he crossed paths with Yurii Monastyrshin, a gifted programmer who had twice topped a national coding contest. Victor had been fascinated by real-time facial tracking and visual effects, but knew it was notoriously hard to make this work on mobile devices without draining the battery or lagging. Over coffee in San Francisco, the two realized they could build something nobody else had - a mobile-first app that let you alter your appearance in live video, from subtle skin smoothing to full-on monster morphs. Fun, slightly vain, and a little bizarre…this was the beginning of Looksery.
The Execution:
2013: Looksery was founded in San Francisco. The goal: build a lightning-fast, real-time face-modification engine for mobile.
June 2014: They launched a Kickstarter campaign to fund development. Campaign surpasses its goal, generating buzz as “Photoshop for your face in real time.”
October 2014: MVP app launches where users can tweak skin tone, change eye color, slim cheeks, or transform into playful avatars during photos or live video chats. Early growth is fueled by media coverage from TechCrunch and Vogue.
Late 2014: Their app wins Best Innovative Startup at the Silicon Valley Open Doors (SVOD) conference. They double down on bi-weekly user testing to simplify the UI after discovering most users didn’t understand the original design.
2015: Organic growth takes off via viral shares of surreal, funny video selfies. The app becomes popular among teens and social media creators without a single dollar spent on ads.
September 2015: Snap Inc. acquires Looksery for $150M, one of Ukraine’s biggest tech exits. Looksery’s tech is integrated into Snapchat as Lenses, which becomes a defining feature of the app.
Looksery is proof that if you can build a product people instantly “get” and want to share, you can skip the expensive growth playbook. Make it fun, make it sticky, and sometimes the world (and eventually a big tech company) will come knocking.
🔍️ Founder Finds
🛠️ AI Tool: Eleven Labs’ AI Student Pack offers $1,500 in free credits and discounts on 16 leading AI tools. Get it while it’s hot!
📚 Must-Read: Chris Paik’s piece on Cursor’s “Business-Model–Product Fit” problem is short, sweet and a great take.
📚 Must-Read #2: Conrad Irwin (Superhuman)’s take on why LLMs can’t fully build software is really interesting
📹 Must-Watch: The latest episode of My First Million is one of the best they’ve ever done.
💬 Founder Quote: “The chains of habit are too light to be felt until they are too heavy to be broken.” Warren Buffett
🔦 Reader Spotlight
🔗 Chime.In: David Dawkins is working on a platform to link existing web forums with user-created in-app forums.
📈 Unlimited Leads: Hamour Eliasse is building a platform to access over 100 million B2B contacts complete with emails, phone numbers, and LinkedIn profiles.
🛫 WinWin.travel: Vadym Klymov is working on a next-gen travel platform designed to meet the needs of modern travelers, including those with pets.
🎮 Wisdemic: Asif Akbar is working on this platform aims to create a vast collection of kids' games, adding a new game weekly without ads or subscriptions.
💻 iShowAds:Eren is building an innovative ad network tailored for websites and blogs frequently rejected by major platforms
P.S: If you want your startup or project featured, click here!
🍺 Drunk Business Idea: New Baby Smell Spray
Love that new baby smell? Wish your apartment or house could smell like that all the time?
Introducing Eau de Infant™, the air freshener that captures the magical scent of a newborn in a can. Just spray and you’re transported
Eau de Infant™ - A maternity ward in every mist.
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👋 That’s All Folks!
Before you go just a few public service announcements:
What did you think of today's edition? |
See you soon,
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