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Startup Ideas #449: Async Accountability, H-1Bs...
Plus From 27 Rejections to a $1.8B Empire
Welcome to Half Baked, the newsletter serving up startup ideas as talked about as Nvidia wanting to invest $100B into OpenAI 😱
Curious about who won our Shopify Accelerator? Check out today’s reader spotlight to find out who…
Let’s goooo 🚀
In today’s edition:
💡 Creating the ultimate productivity software
📈 Why the price of the American dream just went up
🛠️ Using AI to create daily business briefs
🤑 From 27 rejections to a $1.8B empire
🍻 An egg-stremely egg-citing new innovation
🧑💻 Async Accountability Platform
Pair pressure
Available domain: Pairreview.co
The Problem: We’re all fighting an invisible enemy. And no, we’re not talking about ghosts here (although that would be pretty cool). In fact, we’re talking about the invisible killer of dreams…procrastination. It’s sneaky, relentless, and has a thousand disguises. Scrolling, snacking, “just one more episode.” And today, with so many of us working virtually, it’s even harder to stay focussed. One way people have tried is through “virtual co-working”, where you sit on a call with other people and all work together. But I don’t know about you, I’m doing whatever I can to spend less time on calls, not more. So how do we introduce more accountability into people’s workflows without forcing them to Facetime with strangers for hours? We think we have the solution. Here’s what we’re thinking.
The Solution:
In a line: An asynchronous peer-matched “commit + check” app that turns tasks into social contracts
Product:
📝 Sign up, set a session length, and commit to one specific task with a short intention note.
🤝 Get auto-matched to a peer in a similar window; you each see the other’s commitment (no video, no live call).
⏱️ Run a focus timer with gentle nudges; optional calendar/OS Do Not Disturb and task-manager integrations (Notion/Todoist/Jira).
✅ End-of-session check-in: quick proof (text/photo/checkbox), mutual verification, streaks, and a credit system that you earn for completion and lose for flaking.
Business Model: €7–12/mo Pro (unlimited sessions, priority matching, integrations) + Teams at €4–6/user for reporting & nudges.
End Goal: Sell to a business like Notion or Atlassian (Trello) for a 5–8× ARR outcome as a sticky engagement add-on.
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🗄️ Compliance Made Simple for Startups
Achieving SOC 2, ISO 27001, HIPAA, GDPR, or even ISO 42001 compliance can feel overwhelming. But Vanta makes it painless.
Trusted by 12,000+ companies, Vanta automates up to 90% of the compliance process, offers real-time monitoring, and streamlines audits so you can get certified in weeks, not months.
And we've teamed up with Vanta to offer a collection of resources for startups, including step-by-step compliance checklists and case studies from fast-growing startups. It's an incredible resource.
🌎 The H-1B Visa Problem
The Trend: Jim Collins famously said that “great vision without great people is irrelevant.” Well it just became a lot harder for tech companies, particularly startups, to hire great people. That’s because on Friday Trump dropped a presidential proclamation requiring companies to pay a $100,000 fee for new H-1B petitions, effective September 21st. This is a huge deal. For tech startups specifically, the US is starved for talent. And talent matters. Research from Marginal Revolution shows that getting one extra high-skilled worker increases a startup's IPO probability by 23% within five years. Tough times.
Opportunities:
Remote-First Consulting: Help companies restructure operations to work with overseas talent without bringing them to the US, turning visa restrictions into distributed work advantages.
Domestic Talent Accelerator: Fast-track training programs to help US workers fill the roles that companies can no longer afford to fill with H-1B workers.
🗞️ Using AI to Create Daily Business Briefs
The Tool: Alex Lieberman, the founder of Morning Brew, has been going deep into AI over the last few months. And recently he started using AI to create "Presidential Brief" - custom email newsletters that he receives at 7am each morning that update him on everything that happened in his business the previous day. Here’s how you can build one too.
Step-by-step:
Go to chat GPT and enable ChatGPT Connectors (Go to settings in ChatGPT, select connectors, and enable relevant ones for your business e.g. GDrive, Gmail, Notion, Linear, GitHub, etc.)
Use this prompt to generate a daily digest that pulls from your connected tools and to organize it into sections like clients, hiring, projects, and metrics.
Set up automated delivery by configuring the system to send you a comprehensive business recap at your preferred time each morning
Customize your sections and tailor the digest to include the specific business activities and metrics that matter most to your operations
🚀 50 AI Prompts to Crush BFCM 2025
Black Friday / Cyber Monday can drive up to 40% of your annual revenue — but the difference between winning big and scrambling comes down to how fast you can turn data into decisions.
That’s why Triple Whale built this: 50 AI-ready prompts crafted for scaling ecommerce brands.
Inside, you’ll get:
✅ Prompts to analyze and optimize every stage of BFCM
✅ Step-by-step workflows that save you hours
✅ Automation tips with Triple Whale’s Moby to keep you ahead in real time
Skip the guesswork. Copy, paste, and let AI do the heavy lifting this peak season.
🎫 From 27 Rejections to a $1.8B Empire
The Idea: Back in 2006, husband and wife duo Julia and Kevin Hartz spotted a massive gap in the ticketing space. While Ticketmaster dominated big venues with high fees, millions of smaller event organizers were stuck using Excel spreadsheets and collecting cash at the door. Kevin, as a PayPal alumnus, started experimenting with event ticketing on the PayPal API alongside engineer Renaud Visage. Rather than attack Ticketmaster directly, they decided democratize event creation for the long-tail of small, underserved events. This was the beginning of Eventbrite.
The Execution:
2006: Founded Eventbrite in San Francisco. Operated with just 3 employees on less than $250,000 for over two years.
2007-2008: Julia literally answered customer service emails from the delivery room when having their first child. Created extremely tight feedback loop with early customers
2009: By early 2009 they had been rejected by more than 27 VCs due to the economic downturn. Chose to "stick it out" rather than give up.
Late 2009: Finally secured $6.5M in funding after weathering the storm and showing growth during tough economic times when competitors failed.
2010-2017: Continued funding rounds including Series D ($20M) and Series E ($50M), total pre-IPO funding reached $373M over multiple rounds.
2018: IPO’s on NYSE (ticker: EB) at $23/share, raising $230M with $1.8B valuation.
2025: Revenue is approaching $300M annually, serving millions of event creators globally despite recent market headwinds.
The lesson? Julia and Kevin proved that building for the "long tail" rather than competing head-to-head with incumbents can create billion dollar businesses.
🔍️ Founder Finds
🛠️ AI Tool: This tool lets you go to any website and edit it just by prompting.
💬 Killer Prompt: Steal this GPT-5 thinking prompt to generate profitable business ideas.
📚 Must-Read: “AI will not make you rich” is an instant classic.
✖️ Trending Tweet: Opportunities lie in between fields of expertise.
💬 Founder Quote: "There's a way to do it better. Find it.” Thomas Edison
🔦 Reader Spotlight: Meet Eric
What are you building? Flavor Pump, a line of single-serve seasoning packets that make clean eating taste incredible. They’re designed to take the boredom out of meal prep.
How did you come up with the idea? The idea came from struggling with bland, repetitive meal prep and wanting a cleaner alternative to sauces. The Half Baked x Shopify Accelerator gave me the momentum to test it as a real business.
Biggest challenge right now? Biggest challenge is base building: growing an engaged community, validating beyond ads, and building a foundation of early adopters who believe in the brand.
How can Half Baked readers help? Join our waitlist and follow us on Instagram, then help spread the word to friends who meal prep or hit the gym.
Congratulate Eric: Eric on LinkedIn
P.S: If you want your startup or project featured, click here!
🍺 Drunk Business Idea: Smart Egg Tray
Love to start your day with a few eggs? Constantly worried your morning will be ruined by a lack of eggy goodness?
Introducing the Eggsplorer™, the high-tech solution to the age-old problem of… remembering to look in the fridge. It counts your eggs, alerts you when you’re running low and even lets you know when they’re going bad!
Eggsplorer™ - eggs-actly what you need in your life
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👋 That’s All Folks!
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