Welcome to Half Baked, the newsletter serving up startup ideas generating as much buzz as LEGO launching smart bricks (I need these in my life) 🧱
In today’s edition:
💡 A startup idea about…well…startup ideas
🛠 Using Photoshop inside ChatGPT for free
🔋 Turning a passion project into a $50M exit + more
🔍 xAI, Boston Dynamics, CES + more
🍻 An idea we think is totally genius (no cap)
Let’s goooo 🚀
💸 $1,000 Competition: This week we’re partnering with Google Workspace and are supporting one of our readers in their founder journey. In order to be eligible all you need to do is:
Check out Google Workspace
Click here and set up your Google Workspace account
Reply to this email with proof of your account setup
Get after it!
💡 AI Idea Vault Platform
Take note
Available Domain: IdeasVault.co
The Problem: Every founder and future founder has one thing in common…we all have more ideas than we now what to do with. And where do we store these ideas? In our Notes apps of course. You know the one - it has a few dozen half-baked ideas (the best kind) scattered across voice memos, screenshots, and random thoughts you’ve had over months and years. Clearly the problem for people like us isn't a shortage of ideas - it's that researching and validating them requires hours of manual research most founders simply don't have while working full-time jobs, building their current company, or managing life. So brilliant concepts collect digital dust while you tell yourself "I'll look into that eventually." So why not create an app to start looking into your ideas now? Here’s what we’re thinking.
The Solution:
💡 The Idea: An AI-powered "idea vault" that passively researches and fleshes out your raw startup ideas on autopilot.
🛠️ Product:
Download the app, drop your idea via voice note, text, or screenshot - capture inspiration the moment it strikes, whether you're in the shower or stuck in traffic
AI agents immediately start working in the background - researching market size, competitor analysis, similar successful/failed startups, relevant trends, potential customer segments, and regulatory considerations without you lifting a finger
Weekly digests deliver "readiness scores" - get notifications when an idea has accumulated enough research to be actionable, complete with organized packets of market data, competitive landscapes, and go-to-market suggestions
🧑💻 Prototyping: Try the demo | Get the demo prompt
💼 Business Model: Freemium - 3 free active research projects, $29/mo for unlimited ideas + deeper research + co-founder matching based on complementary idea interests.
⭐ End Goal: Get acquired by a strategic partner like AngelList as their "deal flow intelligence" layer for an 8-10x revenue multiple.
Rate this idea
❌ Don’t Overcomplicate the First Step
When starting a business you don't need the perfect idea, a co-founder or to quit your job.
All you need to get started is a place to get work done - email for outbounding, video calls for pitching, docs for planning, AI for a boost in productivity, and storage to manage the chaos.
Google Workspace gives you all of the above (and more) so you can stop "preparing to prepare" and actually start building.
Set up your account today and get 20% off the Standard Plan for 12 months.
And because we want to reward action-takers, every founder who signs up will be entered to win:
A $1,000 Half Baked grant
Free Google Workspace for a year (on us)
Mentorship from the Half Baked founders
To enter:
Click here and set up your Google Workspace account
Reply to this email with proof of your account setup
🖼️ Using Photoshop Inside ChatGPT for Free
The Context: You can now use Photoshop inside of ChatGPT for free (no license needed) for editing your photos. Here’s how it works.
Step-by-step:
Go to ChatGPT and to Settings → Apps and Connectors → Adobe Photoshop → connect Adobe Photoshop
Upload an image you want to edit (JPG or PNG format)
Type @photoshop and the edit you want to make to the image
Bonus: here’s 50 simple prompts you can use to get great results with your photo editing.
Give it a try!
🧑🎨 AI Makes Logos. Designers Make Brands.
AI gives you the average of a million logos. Great brands do the exact opposite - they make choices that feel inevitable in hindsight but required guts up front.
If you want fast and forgettable, prompt away. But if you want a mark that actually means something - one shaped by taste, tension, and a human who asks hard questions - you need a real designer.
That's why serious founders use 99designs.
Get matched with a pro designer today and save $20 on a logo design contest. Offer runs through January 31st.
🔋 Founder Fuel
🤑 The Money Shot: These guys turned a passion project into a $50M exit. This is their story.
📈 Trends with Benefits: NVIDIA just announced Alpamayo, what CEO Jensen Huang calls the world’s first thinking, reasoning autonomous vehicle AI. Self driving cars are clearly coming into view…
💬 Prompt Drop: Google just dropped 10 Gemini prompts to help you keep your New Year’s resolutions
🆓 Free Resource: Here’s a list of incubator/accelerator options for early stage founders in 2026.
💵 Deal of the Day: Get Intercom + Fin for free if you’re a startup for 12 months here.
🔍 Founder Finds
💰 xAI just raised a $20B Series E. Elon can’t help but raise billions for his businesses.
🦾 Boston Dynamics just unveiled their new humanoid robot called Atlas. Really impressive machine.
🆕 CES 2026 has shown us a lot of cool tech, like robot butlers and AI pets. The future is gonna be wild.
📊 Boardy, an “AI superconnector” platform for founders, recently raised a Series A. Here’s the deck they used to do it.
📖 Lulu Meservey’s piece “standing out in 2026” is absolutely fantastic.
🍺 Drunk Business Idea: Solar Hat
Tired of your phone dying mid-hike? Wish you could harvest the sun's power while looking stylish?
Introducing SolarBrim™, the wide-brimmed hat that turns your head into a personal power station. With built-in solar panels woven into the fabric, you can charge your devices while looking like a stylish off-grid nomad or a tech-forward cult leader.
SolarBrim™ - watt a hat.
Vote
👋 That’s All Folks!
Before you go just a few public service announcements:
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See you soon,