Welcome to Half Baked, the newsletter serving up startup ideas as talked about as Tim Cook potentially stepping down as Apple CEO? 🍎
Let’s get into it 🚀
In today’s edition:
💡 Taking on AllTrails with a new innovation
📈 Nobel prizes are moving from universities to tech companies
🛠 Using AI to create a YouTube thumbnail editor
🤑 From £0 to £140M in 4 years
🍻 The ultimate fashion accessory for all the Apple fans out there
🥾 Gamified Hiking App
Peak entertainment
Available Domain: TrailConquest.com
The Problem: Everyone loves a good hike. Fresh air, scenic views, and an excuse to eat an unreasonable number of Clif Bars (I don’t make the rules). But for many, the thrill fades fast. The completion rate for classic thru-hikes like the Appalachian Trail hovers around 25%, meaning three out of four people give up before the finish line. People are clearly craving adventure and a healthier lifestyle, but they lack the sustained motivation and community to keep going when things get tough. The missing piece? Challenge, purpose, and community. Here’s what we’re thinking.
The Solution:
Build a hiking app that turns hiking trails into a competitive game, where individuals and teams can claim territory and win real prizes.
A user downloads the app, creates a profile, and can either join a team or compete as a solo hiker.
When a user completes a trail, they “claim” it for themselves or their team. The team or individual with the most trail mileage in a specific region at the end of the month wins badges and real-world prizes (like gear from outdoor brands).
Social features like leaderboards fuel the competitive spirit and create a strong sense of community.
The goal is to sell to an app like Alltrails for 6–10x ARR
Rate this idea:
📦 The Easiest Way to Start your E-commerce Business in 2025
In our recent webinar with Ryan Bartlett, founder & CEO of True Classic (+$850M brand), we asked what he’d do if he were starting an e-commerce business today.
His answer? Dropshipping.
It’s the fastest way to test products, gain traction, and scale without big upfront costs. And the easiest way to start is with AutoDS. One-click imports, automated fulfillment, and trend-spotting tools are just some of the reasons why it's trusted by 8,000+ founders.
🏆 Big Tech, Nobel Prizes & the Future of Research
The Trend: Whenever I think about Nobel prize winners, I imagine a lone scientist in a lab surrounded by beakers making a seismic breakthrough. But times have changed. As we saw earlier this week, Googlers Michel Devoret and John Martinis were awarded the Nobel Prize in Physics. The company now has five Nobel laureates, including three prizes in the past two years. Google’s immense resources (particularly their access to compute) gives them a huge advantage over other researchers. And as AI gets smarter and smarter you can bet more discoveries will come from AI labs rather than universities. Or could AI models themselves win Nobel prizes in the future? I think…probably yes.
Opportunities:
Academic Compute Marketplace: A platform connecting researchers with unused compute capacity from cloud providers, corporations, and other institutions at subsidized rates.
AI Research-as-a-Service: A business that provides smaller research institutions, universities, and even individual scientists with access to powerful, pre-trained AI models.
🖼️ Using AI to Create a YouTube Thumbnail Editor
Source: @Rileybrown_AI
The Tool: If you’re creating YouTube content for your business, then you need to make sure your thumbnail game is on point. Here’s how you can vibe code your own YouTube thumbnail design app in minutes using AI.
Step-by-step:
Go to vibecode.dev
Copy in this prompt to create your app.
Use the app to dynamically create YouTube thumbnails for your content. It’s super cool.
🚀 Expect more from your CRM with monday.com
Your CRM should do more than just hold contacts. It should help you move faster and close more and more deals.
Monday Sales CRM gives founders the power and flexibility they need to win deals. You can easily create real-time dashboards, send mass emails, generate quotes and invoices, and build custom pipelines, speeding up your sales process.
This isn’t just another CRM. It’s the one designed to fuel growth.
🔋 From $0 to £140M in 4 Years
The Idea: Marisa Poster always struggled with ADHD and anxiety. But while at university, in order to fuel her study sessions, Marisa found herself drinking huge amounts of coffee and energy drinks, which made her symptoms even worse. Her search for a healthier alternative led her to matcha green tea, which provided sustained, focused energy without the negative side effects. Seeing a gap in the UK market for high-quality, accessible matcha, she teamed up with brothers Teddie and Levi Levenfiche to create a solution. They decided to build a modern matcha energy drink brand. This was the beginning of PerfectTed.
The Execution:
2021: The trio launched a Kickstarter campaign in May, raising over $20,000 to fund their initial production. The early days involved the founders learning the beverage industry on the fly and even dealing with a factory fire just a week before their first production run.
2023: The brand's trajectory skyrocketed after an appearance on the BBC's Dragons' Den in February. They received offers from all five "Dragons" and secured a £50,000 investment from Steven Bartlett and Peter Jones.
2024: Following the Dragons' Den success, Steven Bartlett invested a further £1 million into the brand through his Flight Fund. The company experienced explosive growth, with projected revenues of £12 million and a 5,000% increase in business growth since the show aired.
2025: PerfectTed was named the UK's fastest-growing founder-led firm by the FEBE Growth 100. In September, the company secured a seven-figure investment from venture capital firm Felix Capital, in a round that raised £8 million and valued the business at approximately £140 million.
The takeaway? Naivety can be a superpower. The founders entered a competitive industry with minimal prior experience but succeeded by being gritty, innovative and have built an incredible brand. Legends.
🔍 Founder Finds
🛠️ AI Tool: Google has just launched Gemini Enterprise in a bid to make even more money. Cool.
🚨 Raise Alert: n8n just raised $180 million at $2.5 billion valuation. Shoutout Europe!
📚 Must-Read: Marc Andreessen shares the smartest way to grow your career in 2025.
✖️ Trending Tweet: This is a pure knowledge bomb that Spotify’s Daniel Ek dropped.
💬 Founder Quote: “Work on the problems where there is more uncertainty, that's where creativity is unleashed.” Reid Hoffman (LinkedIn)
🍺 Drunk Business Idea: Untitled Folder Wallet
Ever wish your real life had a desktop? Wish you could just drag and drop all your cards into one vaguely organized place?
Introducing the Untitled Folder Wallet™, the only wallet that shows the world your love of tech. A tribute to the elegance of your home screen, now in leather.
The Untitled Folder Wallet™ - just drag, drop, and don’t lose it.
Vote
🔦 Reader Spotlight: Meet Neil & Meg
What are you building? We built a Shopify app that turns physical inventory into online listings in seconds. Just scan a barcode or snap a picture, no manual entry.
How did you come up with the idea? After watching store owners spend months entering products by hand, we knew we could turn that 15-minute task into a 1-minute scan.
How can Half Baked readers help? Know a local shop dreaming of going online? Introduce us, share Scan2Sell, or send feedback to help us reach more small retailers.
Connect with Neil & Meg: Neil on LinkedIn | Meg on LinkedIn
P.S: If you want your startup or project featured, click here!
👋 That’s All Folks!
Before you go:
Looking to sponsor Half Baked? Just fill out this form and we’ll get back to you asap.
What did you think of today's edition?
See you soon,