Welcome to Half Baked, the newsletter serving up startup ideas as talked about as Google hitting over $100B in revenue this quarter 💸
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In today’s edition:
💡 A fintech app I would love to use
📈 The robot that’s all over our social feeds
🛠 Using Google’s Pomelli to create ads
🤑 Turning a magazine into a $300M exit
🍻 The ultimate way to vape at work
🏖️ Sabbatical Planning App
Save Now, Go Later
Available Domain: Sabbfi.com
The Problem: If you’re anything like me, you probably spend a lot of time daydreaming about taking a career break. Well if you do…you’re not alone, since 65% of workers have considered taking a career break during their career (I can’t believe it’s not higher to be honest). Turns out that staring at a screen 10 hours a day isn’t all it’s cracked up to be. Who knew? But here's the catch: 95% of companies don't offer paid sabbaticals, leaving professionals to figure out how to finance them on their own. That’s where we can come in. Here’s what we’re thinking.
The Solution:
In a line: A digital platform that helps professionals plan and finance their dream sabbatical.
Product:
📱 A user downloads the app, creates a profile, and securely links their bank accounts to get a view of their finances.
💰 They give details of their sabbatical length, expected costs etc. and the app generates a savings plan to cover the cost. Savings are transferred automatically each month.
💸 Users can also take out a loan through the platform to fund part of their sabbatical and pay it back when they return to work.
Business Model: A freemium model with a premium subscription ($9/month) for advanced financial planning tools. Earn interest on any loans.
End Goal: Sell to a major fintech platform (like SoFi or NerdWallet) for a 5-8x revenue multiple.
Rate this idea:
❌ Things Change. Your Internet Rate Won’t.
In 2025, it feels like things are changing faster than ever before.
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Here's their offer:
Fast, reliable, 5G internet starting at $50/m with an eligible voice line
A 5-year price guarantee
For a limited time, receive $300 back when you sign up
👉 See if your business qualifies (it takes 5 seconds).
Price Guarantee: Exclusions like taxes and fees apply. $300 back via virtual prepaid card; allow 14 weeks from rebate submission. Internet speeds may vary. See full terms on website.
🤖 The Robot That’s Taken Over Our Timelines
The Trend: Robotics may have just had its ChatGPT moment - only this time, with way more memes. That’s because NEO, the world's first (kinda) consumer-ready humanoid robot for household chores, just launched. And the internet’s gone wild, with NEO memes blessing our timelines today. But here’s the catch: NEO isn’t fully autonomous. Most of its “intelligence” still comes from human teleoperators pulling the strings behind the scenes. Still, this launch proves one thing - the appetite for household robots is massive. Now it’s just a race to see who can build the first “iRobot style” fully autonomous one (minus the whole robot uprising bit…we hope).
Opportunities:
Home Robot Skills and Applications Marketplace: Create an online platform, similar to an app store, for developers to build, share, and sell third-party software applications or "skills" for home robots like NEO.
Morning Brew for Robotics: Start a daily newsletter that covers the latest news in the robotics space.
🎨 Using Google’s Pomelli to Create Ads
The Tool: Coming up with high quality, on-brand, ad creatives is a full-time job in most businesses. But fortunately Google have just launched Pomelli to help with this. Here’s how you can use it to create ads in seconds. (Note: it’s only available to US users right now).
Step-by-step:
Go to Pomelli and type in your website’s domain so the tool understands your business
Prompt ideas for new campaigns in the chat window e.g. ads for a holiday gifting guide
Select the creative you want to use and edit it as you see fit
🗣 Build a Skill That Pays You Back
You’re always dialled into growth hacks and things you can actually use. Here’s one: Babbel’s new Fall offer gives you 60% off lifetime access to 14 languages.
In just 10 minutes a day, Babbel’s expert‑built lessons and real‑world speaking practice help you go from zero to conversational in as little as three weeks. Whether you're traveling, building global ties, or sharpening your brain for the next big idea, this one fits.
🎨 Turning a Magazine into a $300M Exit
The Idea: Before he built a media empire, Marc Ecko was a graffiti artist who turned his passion into the billion-dollar fashion brand, Eckō Unltd. But even with that success, Marc still wanted more. And in the early 2000s he saw the lines blurring between hip-hop, sneaker culture, street art, and fashion, and he wanted to create a platform to document it, starting with a magazine. This was the beginning of Complex.
The Execution:
2002: Marc launched Complex Magazine as a bi-monthly print publication. The early days are scrappy, run by a small team out of a tiny office near a methadone clinic in New York City.
2007: Recognizing the digital shift, Complex gives a then-unknown Kim Kardashian her first-ever magazine cover and begins its pivot to a digital-first media company, launching a network of sites.
2009-2015: Complex raises over $60 million in funding from investors like Accel, Austin Ventures, and Iconix International, fueling its digital growth and expansion into video.
2016: In a deal valued between $250-$300 million, Verizon and Hearst acquire Complex in a 50/50 joint venture, officially forming Complex Networks. The company goes all-in on video, launching viral hits like "Hot Ones" and "Sneaker Shopping."
2021: BuzzFeed acquires Complex Networks for $300 million as part of its own move to go public via a SPAC merger.
2024: In a full-circle moment, the livestream shopping platform NTWRK acquires Complex from BuzzFeed for $108.6 million, bringing the company back to its e-commerce and streetwear roots.
The lesson? Business is all about adaptation. They proved that to lead, you have to be willing to start again, over and over again.
🔍 Founder Finds
🛠️ AI Tool: Gemini can now create entire Google Slides presentations for you from a simple text prompt or an uploaded document.
📰 Headline: OpenAI is planning to IPO at a $1T valuation. Are you a buyer?
🎁 Free Resource: This AI playbook from Anton Osika (Lovable) to help new founders reach PMF faster is gold.
🚨 Raise Alert: Bending Spoons recently raised $710M in equity, $2.8B in debt and just acquired AOL. They’ve been busy.
📚 Must-Read: Solid take on the Dot-Com Bubble vs. the AI Boom.
💬 Founder Quote: “Instead of pursuing many-sided mediocrity and calling it 'well-roundedness,' a definite person determines the one best thing to do and then does it.” Peter Thiel
🍺 Drunk Business Idea: Vape Pen
Struggling to keep up your vaping habit at work? Wish there was a more discreet way to vape during your work day?
Introducing the Vape Pen™, the ultimate office accessory for the consummate professional. It come in a variety of flavors and even has a real pen tip, in case you actually need to write something down God forbid.
Vape Pen™ - watch your career go up…in smoke.
Vote
👋 That’s All Folks!
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