Welcome to Half Baked, the newsletter serving up startup ideas as talked about as Apple’s latest product launches 🆕
Let’s get into it 🚀
In today’s edition:
💡 Combining AI and fashion to update our wardrobes
📈 A strange decision announced by OpenAI yesterday
🛠 Using AI to transform your LinkedIn presence
🤑 From an idea in a bar to a media powerhouse
🍻 An product idea that gives golf the finger
👖 Smart Outfit App
à la code
Available Domain: Fitchek.com
The Problem: Most people only wear 20% of their clothes 80% of the time. The rest sits collecting dust in their closet - unworn, forgotten, and taking up space. Meanwhile, people continue to buy more, not because they need to, but because they’ve lost track of what they already own. Even fashion lovers struggle to see their wardrobe as data: what gets worn, what doesn’t, and what would complete the puzzle. Here’s what we’re thinking.
The Solution:
In a line: An app that tracks what you actually wear, helps you remix your wardrobe, and recommends smart additions powered by AI.
Product:
📸 The app prompts you to snap a photo of your outfit each day and the app auto-tags color, brand, and category using AI vision.
🧠 It builds your personal “wear graph,” showing your most-worn items, neglected pieces, and seasonal trends.
👕 AI recommends fresh outfit combos based on your real wardrobe and also new products for you to buy to fill gaps in the user’s wardrobe.
Business Model: Free app + affiliate commissions from recommended fashion items
End Goal: Sell to a digital fashion or commerce player like Woocommerce at a 7–10x revenue multiple.
Rate this idea:
🧠 Why Everyone Needs a Side Hustle in 2026
Here at Half Baked we believe that everyone needs a side hustle. And lucky for us North, a payment technology powerhouse, agrees with us. Which is why we came together to write a short, free guide on why we think everyone needs to spin up a side hustle.
In the guide you’ll learn about:
The state of the job market in 2025
The different side hustle paths you can take
How to get started with your side hustle
Get your free guide today (with the right link today…)
🔞 OpenAI is going 18+
The Trend: Curing cancer is on hold for now folks, because OpenAI is going down a slightly different path. At the bottom of a post on mental health yesterday, Sam Altman bizarrely announced that ChatGPT will soon allow the generation of erotica for verified adult users. This pivot, framed under the principle of "treat adult users like adults," marks a significant departure from the company's previously cautious stance. Maybe erotic content is just a pitstop on the way to AGI? If it is, then few of us saw it coming.
Opportunities:
AI Addiction Therapy Service: A platform that connects individuals struggling with AI companion addiction to certified therapists who specialize in this emerging field.
Parental Control Software for AI Companions: A tool that allows parents to monitor their children's interactions with AI chatbots, set time limits, and filter out inappropriate content.
👔 Using AI to Transform Your LinkedIn Presence
The Tool: We’ve said it before and we’ll keep saying - if your LinkedIn profile isn’t up to scratch, you’re leaving opportunities on the table. Here’s how you can use AI to transform your LinkedIn presence.
Step-by-step:
Login to your LinkedIn profile (I know it’s tough, but it has to be done)
Use these prompts to optimize your headline, to create an engaging about section, a thought leadership strategy, for SEO enhancement and to audit your profile overall.
Reap the rewards of your revamped profile
📈 Discover the world’s most exciting stocks
Did you hear? There’s a new free app that can connect you to smarter insights on what’s happening with the markets at any moment.
The New Money makes it easier than ever to discover up-and-coming public companies, new IPOs, emerging themes, and the bets being made by some of the world’s smartest investors.
Explore top-performing companies and trends, track your portfolio, and get real-time alerts. Check out daily exclusive content on the world’s most exciting stocks and investing trends.
It’s the markets and trends that matter, made simple.
🎙️ From an Idea in a Bar to a Media Powerhouse
The Idea: Back in 2015, Ben Gilbert and David Rosenthal were colleagues at Madrona Venture Group, a venture capital firm in Seattle. They were both fans of podcasts, which were still pretty nascent at the time, and while hanging out in a bar in Seattle one evening they started brainstorming podcast ideas. They had a few of them but were particularly interested in starting a podcast about business acquisitions. They decided to start it together. This was the beginning of Acquired.
The Execution:
2015: Ben and David launched the first episode which covered the acquisition of Pixar by Disney. They recorded it in a conference room at their office. Talk about glamour.
2016–2017: As with many new podcasts, growth was slow at first. They had modest download numbers in the beginning, but slowly it started to grow.
2018: Around 2018, they made a pivot. Recognizing that Acquired wasn’t really just about acquisitions, they expanded its scope to become about telling the epic histories of great companies.
2020: Acquired crosses 1M+ downloads. The team professionalized production and launched a Slack community and newsletter to deepen engagement.
2022: Acquired becomes one of the top 10 business podcasts in the world. Sponsors like Vanta and Pilot sign on, and the show becomes a full-fledged business.
2023–2024: Live shows, partnerships, and premium content expand the brand. Their storytelling formula becomes a benchmark for how to build a media company out of a podcast.
The lesson? Start narrow, but don’t stay rigid. Let your audience and curiosity guide the evolution of your business. That’s how it will reach its full potential.
🔍 Founder Finds
🛠️ AI Tool: This tool is cool, it’s like lovable but for naming your business.
📚 Must-Read: Nvidia’s investment portfolio is epic. They own the AI space right now.
✖️ Trending Tweet: Naval’s life formulas from 2008 still hit home today. A timeless classic.
✅ Recommendation: Beyond Blue Media, a full-service digital marketing agency, can help you build a lasting digital presence that drives growth. Check them out!
💬 Founder Quote: “Create value before you try to extract it.” Dharmesh Shah (HubSpot founder)
🍺 Drunk Business Idea: Finger Golf
Tired of your golf addiction draining your wallet and your weekend? Wish you could get your fix without the pesky green fees and questionable fashion choices?
Introducing Finga Golf™, the tabletop golf game that puts the power of the fairway right at your fingertips. With specially designed finger clubs, you can tee off, shape your shots, and sink putts from the comfort of your living room. It has all the skill of real golf, but you can play it while wearing your pajamas.
Finga Golf™ - Give traditional golf the finger.
Vote
🔦 Reader Spotlight: Meet Hritik
What are you building? Ever wondered what your Reddit or X posts secretly reveal about you? I’m building an AI Psychoanalyst that decodes your personality using your posts and comments.
How did you come up with the idea? It started when my sister took one of those personality tests, and the result was completely wrong. I knew her better than that, so I built this to prove it.
How can Half Baked readers help? Try it yourself with the code “For you” for 50% off — and tell me if it captured you. Your feedback helps me make it sharper and more accurate!
Connect with Hritik: Hritik on X
P.S: If you want your startup or project featured, click here!
👋 That’s All Folks!
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