Welcome to Half Baked, the newsletter serving up startup ideas as unexpected as a new plague outbreak in Russia (not again, please…) 🦠
In today's edition:
💡 An opportunity to upskill in AI
⛽️ 100 users,
🔍 Vibe manufacturing is next
🍻 A phone with a real twist
Let's goooo 🚀
We’re going live for our second START Kickoff session in just 15 minutes. Check it out if you want to see what the free 30 day program is all about!
💡 AI Implementation Training for Overseas Workers
Hire intelligence
Name.com Domain: hirelearning.co
👤 Source: Nick Huber says AI Implementation Specialist is now Somewhere's most-placed role, with 30+ placements last month. Which begs the questions…who's training all of these people?
❌ Problem:
Business owners know AI could save them time. But knowing that and actually automating invoices, customer enquiries and sales follow-ups are two very different things. Buying another subscription is easy. Getting everything working together? Less so.
Overseas assistants and operations staff already do much of this work manually. They understand the processes, but need training to build and maintain the automations. There's an opportunity to connect the two. Here's the idea.
✅ Solution:
Create an agency that trains overseas workers as AI implementation specialists, then places them inside businesses.
Recruit experienced assistants and operations staff into a practical programme covering workflow audits, AI tools and automation platforms. Candidates build working systems, learn testing and human review, and graduate with a portfolio employers can assess.
Start with one industry so the training solves similar problems across clients. Charge employers a placement fee, with optional ongoing technical support and training.
🧑💻 Prototyping: Demo
💡 The Half Baked Take: Start with people who understand the work, then teach them to automate it. Working systems should be an easier sell than another AI certificate.
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🤖 Still hand-holding AI through BFCM prep? So much for saving time.
Be honest. How long does it take to pull last year's data, paste it into AI, then keep clarifying what you want? If one useful answer takes endless back-and-forth, you might as well do it yourself.
Or use Omnisend's BFCM AI playbook: 12 prompts for last year's performance, deliverability, segmentation and campaign planning. Omnisend connects with Claude or ChatGPT, so it's all one chat.
Not yet an Omnisend user? It's an email and SMS marketing platform for ecommerce used by more than 150,000 brands, generating an average of $79 for every $1 spent. Migration is free, takes up to five business days.
Use code HALFBAKED30 and get 30% discount for Omnisend paid plans.
💡 Ideas to Inspire You
💻 SaaS: Riley Brown has a SaaS idea he's desperate for someone to build. We think it's very doable…
📱 Mobile App: One app that could fix every concert, wedding and theatre show. We pitched it back in March 2024 and the space is still wide open.
🤖 Hardware: Check out Tin Can, a retro WiFi phone for kids where parents decide exactly who they can call. We think there's huge scope here.
💵 Side Hustle: A side hustle we pitched in February 2025 is still sitting there unbuilt. It wouldn't take much to start, and the first step doesn't even need code. Go claim it.
⛽️ Fuel for Taking Action
🎓 Founder Tutorial: How to get your first 100 users without ads, blogs or Product Hunt, from the founder who hit $120k doing exactly that.
🛠️ AI Tool: Hark, the $6B personal AI from Figure founder Brett Adcock, launches this week. The first 100,000 sign-ups get the paid plan free. Go, go, go.
📘 Playbook: How two bootstrapped founders took a prayer app from $0 to $150k/mo, beating studios with $100M+ in funding.
🤑 Money Shot: From a Munich university lab to a $1B robotics unicorn in six years. Here's how.
🎩 Founder. CEO. Office Supplies Manager.
The job titles keep coming. Make the buying part easier with Amazon Business pricing and buying tools.
Create your free Amazon Business account and get 35% off your first order, up to $125, until Oct 12, 2026. Terms and conditions apply.
🔍 Everything Else from Today
📈 Trends-with-Benefits: AI has created over 750,000 new US jobs since 2023, and the biggest winner isn't AI engineers. The top role might surprise you.
📚 Must-Read: Vibe coding changed who builds software. Greg Isenberg reckons vibe manufacturing is next, and his guide is packed with business ideas.
📺 Must-Watch: Peter Thiel explains why the "looks good on your CV" job is a trap. Two minutes, well spent.
✖️ Trending Tweet: Patrick Collison, CEO of Stripe, has some advice for ambitious people, in under 200 words. Bookmark it.
⭐️ Reader's Pick: This guy has created and sold over 200 websites in the last year. Great time for this side hustle. (Top link from Friday’s edition)
🍺 Drunk Business Idea: Roll-Up Phone
Tired of your phone digging into your leg every time you sit down? Wish it took up a bit less room in your pocket?
Introducing Rollex™, the world's first phone that rolls up into a neat little cylinder when you're not using it. Unroll it for a full-size screen, roll it back up when you're done, and free up 40% of your pocket. Drop it and the screen won't crack. It'll just roll under the sofa, never to be seen again.
Rollex™ - Roll up, roll up.
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👋 That’s All Folks
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