Welcome to Half Baked, the newsletter serving up startup ideas as talked about as Elon Musk’s OpenAI lawsuit going to trial 👩⚖️
In today’s edition:
💡 Upgrading an existing product we all need
🛠 How to manage a team like Steve Jobs
🔋 Turning a calendar into a +$180M/yr business + more
🔍 Gmail AI, OpenAI acquisition, Musk interview + more
🍻 A product for the distinguished degenerates out there
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!
🔑 Modular EDC Dock
The daily drop
Available Domain: Dropdock.co
The Problem: Every night, millions of people perform the same ritual: empty their pockets onto the nearest flat surface - the kitchen counter, the dresser, the nightstand. Keys get scratched, watches get dinged, wallets get buried under loose change. By morning, it's a frantic scramble to find everything before rushing out the door. The EDC (everyday carry) tray exists to solve this problem, but most options fall into one of two camps: cheap Amazon basics that look like afterthoughts, or luxury leather trays that cost $300+ and offer zero flexibility. There's no middle ground for people who want something beautiful, functional, and adaptable to their specific everyday carry without breaking the bank. Here’s what we’re thinking.
The Solution:
💡 The Idea: A premium wooden EDC tray system with magnetic, swappable compartments that lets you design the perfect layout for your everyday carry
🛠 Product:
Choose from walnut, oak, or maple hardwood bases (10"×8" or 12"×10") and pick a starter kit with 4-6 magnetic compartments in different sizes and depths - small for rings and coins, medium for keys and AirPods, large for phones and wallets etc.
You can also add more specialist inserts like a wireless charging pad compartment for your phone, a hidden drawer for cash, or a faraday box to store your keys to prevent relay attacks.
Each compartment has embedded magnets that click into place anywhere on the base. Rearrange them daily or seasonally based on what you're carrying.
🧑💻 Prototyping: Check out the landing page | Get the landing page demo prompt
💼 Business Model: Sell online - base tray ($89-$129) serves as the entry point, with average customers purchasing 2-3 expansion packs ($29-$49 each) over their lifetime, creating a $150-$200+ LTV per customer.
⭐ End Goal: Sell to a premium home goods or men's lifestyle brand like Bellroy or Huckberry for 3-4x revenue as they look to expand into the everyday carry organization space with a differentiated, design-forward product line.
Rate this idea
⌛ "One Day" is Today
You know that business idea you keep telling yourself you'll start "one day"? The one that pops into your head in the shower, on your commute, at 2am when you can't sleep?
One day is today.
Not because the timing is perfect. Not because you've got it all figured out. But because you never will - and the people who actually build things know that.
Google Workspace gives you the foundation to start: email, video calls, docs, storage, and AI. No more "I just need to get set up first." This is getting set up.
Sign up today and get 20% off the Standard Plan for 12 months. And because we want to back founders who stop waiting, every person who takes action 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
"One day" has been on your calendar long enough. Time to give it an actual date.
🍎 How to Manage a Team Like Steve Jobs
The Context: Steve Jobs is known for a lot of things. His taste. His vision. His temper. But something people never talk about is how effective he was as a manager. That’s because of the management system he popularized called the “Directly Responsible Individual” (DRI) method. This is how it works.
Step-by-step:
You list all your current projects. Next to each one, write one person's name - not a team, not a department, one human. If you can't name a DRI, the project doesn't really exist yet.
Make DRI assignments public. Send a message: "Sarah is the DRI for the Q1 product launch. All decisions route through her." The DRI's name should appear everywhere that project is mentioned - meeting notes, Slack threads, project trackers.
Give DRIs real authority. The DRI makes the final call when the team disagrees. If you override their decision, you've just become the DRI. Either trust them or replace them.
Give it a try!
🍪 Last Chance to Vote
We're looking to level up our brand in 2026, which is why we teamed up with 99Designs.
We ran a design contest and got more than 150 submissions for new logo designs from designers. It only took a few minutes to set up the contest and, after picking our 3 favorite logos from the bunch, we want you to vote on your favorite.
Voting closing tomorrow at Midnight PT.
And if you need a logo for your business you can get matched with a designer on 99designs and grab $20 off a logo design contest through the link below (offer valid 1/5/2026 - 1/31/2026).
🔋 Founder Fuel
🤑 The Money Shot: This guy turned a calendar into a +$180M/yr business. Here’s how.
📈 Trends with Benefits: Developers are all talking about Ralph Wiggum (yes, from The Simpsons) right now. Here’s why.
💬 Prompt Drop: Here are 12 must-have prompts for every vibe coder out there.
🆓 Free Resource: This github lists 50+ Claude Skills, great resource!
💵 Deal of the Day: Get $100,000 in AWS credits for free with Amazon’s AWS Activate Startup Program.
🔍 Founder Finds
📧 Google just launched a bunch of new AI features for Gmail today.
🎧 Elon Musk was just interviewed by Peter Diamandis. I’m still making my way through it, but it’s great so far!
📖 This article makes a very strong case for Delusional Optimism.
🤖 This blueprint literally lays out how to use AI (Claude & ChatGPT) to build a founder-led personal brand from scratch in 2026.
🍺 Drunk Business Idea: Vape Pipe
Ever wanted to look distinguished while destroying your lungs? Wish you could combine the elegance of 1920s smoking culture with the convenience of modern poor decisions?
Introducing the Vipe™, the device that lets you cosplay as a refined gentleman while inhaling bubblegum-flavored chemicals. Carved from premium faux-mahogany so realistic, no vape lets you look this classy while you blast “Blue Razz Lemonade” into your lungs.
The Vipe™ - classy on the outside, trashy on the inside.
Vote
👋 That’s All Folks!
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See you soon,