Welcome to Half Baked, the newsletter serving up startup ideas as valuable as Elon Musk's $65B Monday (yep, he's a trillionaire again) 💸
In today's edition:
💡 An idea to make your checkout agent-proof
⛽️ 16 rules for the new X algorithm, a $1.4bn unicorn after five failures + more
🔍 Peter Thiel on what beats a perfect team, Mike Maples on finding ideas + more
🍻 An idea to keep your beer cold in the shower
Let's goooo 🚀
💡 AI Mystery Shopper
Checking out your checkout
Name.com Domain: AisleAgent.io
👤 Source: Airbnb co-founder Brian Chesky recently highlighted AI’s shortcomings in shopping. What if businesses could find out exactly where robot customers get stuck?
❌ Problem:
You’ve spent years making your online shop easy to use. Clear product pages, lovely photography, a checkout your grandmother could navigate. But your next customer might be an AI agent. Can it select the right size, apply a discount and work out whether you deliver to Dublin?
A website can look perfectly functional while confusing an automated shopper. Finding those problems means testing different requests, products and purchase journeys, then repeating everything whenever the store changes. There’s an opportunity to take that work off merchants’ hands. Here’s the idea.
✅ Solution:
Build an AI mystery shopper for online stores. Connect your shop and give it shopping missions, like finding waterproof boots under £150 or ordering three products with a welcome discount.
Aisle Agent attempts each journey, stopping before payment. Merchants get a recording showing where it struggled, what went wrong and how to fix it. Run the same tests after changes to product listings, promotions or the website.
Start with Shopify agencies managing multiple stores. Sell an initial audit and repair service, then charge monthly for monitoring, alerts and reports across their clients.
🧑💻 Prototyping: Demo
💡 The Half Baked Take: Similar tools are already emerging. The stronger business here could be helping agencies fix the problems you find. A report is useful. A checkout that works is worth paying for.
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💡 How to Turn an Idea Into a Website
Your Notes app has enough tenants. Give one idea a website with Hostinger Agent:
Step 1: Describe your idea to Business Advisor. Ask: “Who might pay for this, and why?”
Step 2: Give Agent that audience and offer. Ask it to build a website using its AI Builder connection.
Step 3: Preview it inside Agent. Ask: “How could this page explain the offer better?” Then ask Agent to apply supported edits.
💡 Ideas to Inspire You
💻 SaaS: Making a lead magnet still means juggling Docs, Canva, a landing page and an email form. We pitched Notion for lead magnets to bring it all into one place. Worth a fresh look in the AI era.
📱 Mobile App: Picture Omegle for debates. Get matched with a stranger, argue it out on video, and let AI decide who won.
🛍️ E-Commerce: 1 in 9 Americans are now on GLP-1s, and Max Marchione has nine predictions for what that means. At least three are wide open for new brands.
💵 Side Hustle: How one developer uses Claude to build web games played by 65M+ people, and earns passively from them. Very doable.
⛽️ Fuel for Taking Action
🎓 Founder Tutorial: Paul Mit grew his X account from 400 to 26K followers. Here are his 16 rules for the new algorithm, and why posting more isn't one of them.
💬 AI Prompt: This one prompt gets Claude Code to build you a full motion design editor. Plus a breakdown of how to sell what you make with it.
📘 Playbook: Y Combinator's best cold email advice, boiled down to 20 rules. Number six will surprise most.
💸 Half Baked Rec: Ordering team lunch shouldn't take 14 Slack messages about who's gluten-free. With ezCater, everyone picks their own dish, with vegan, halal and kosher options depending on the restaurant.
🤑 Money Shot: These founders failed five times in six months, then built a $1.4B unicorn. Here's how.
📦 Before You Place That Next Business Order…
Got work essentials on your shopping list? Create your free Amazon Business account and get 35% off your first order, up to $125. The offer ends October 12, 2026, so now could be a good time to tick a few things off. Terms and conditions apply.
🔍 Everything Else from Today
📈 Trends-with-Benefits: The top 1% of AI spenders now outspend the bottom 50% combined. Wait till you see what they're paying each month. Whales, basically.
📚 Must-Read: Dan Koe switched majors five times and never graduated. Now he's sharing his full playbook for turning scattered interests into a business. Completely worth your time.
🎧️ Must-Listen: Mike Maples says the way most people come up with startup ideas is exactly wrong. His fix is surprisingly simple. Very good.
📺 Must-Watch: Peter Thiel explains the one thing that matters more than a perfect team, product or strategy. Spot on.
⭐️ Reader's Pick: 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. (Top pick from yesterday’s edition)
🍺 Drunk Business Idea: Shower Fridge
Tired of stepping out of a 40-minute shower to find your beer's gone lukewarm on the sink? Wish you never had to leave the steam to restock?
Introducing Chillhead™, the world's first IP68-rated mini fridge that bolts straight onto your shower wall. Holds 12 cans at a steady 3°C, shrugs off shampoo splash back, and comes with a bottle opener built into the soap dish. Available in Chrome, Matte Black and Avocado Bathroom Suite. Your landlord will need to be informed.
Chillhead™ - Stay cool under pressure.
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👋 That’s All Folks
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