November 13, 2026 | Read online | Podcast
Welcome to Half Baked, the newsletter serving up startup ideas as wild as today’s nationwide US flight ground stop (classic Friday the 13th) 🛬
Welcome to the 313 new readers who joined yesterday. In today’s edition:
💡 Using AI to give your goods a new lease of life
⛽️ A $1bn video business, an eBay seller’s exit + more
🔍 ChatGPT’s wallet, competing with OpenAI + more
🍻 An idea with grounds for replacement
Let’s goooo 🚀
💡 AI Repair Assistant
Give broken things a second life.
Name.com domain: fixsmith.ai
👤 Source: I was doing some repair jobs around the house this week…it’s painfully obvious that I need this.
❌ Problem:
Things break - that’s kinda just how life goes. In fact, everything seems to be breaking right now (flights being grounded, Microsoft outages, everything getting hacked and so on). Fun times, eh?
But the breaks I’m talking about are a lot closer to home - a dishwasher breaking down, a suitcase wheel breaking, a zip breaking on a jacket. How often do we throw out perfectly good products because of one small problem with them? Here’s the idea.
✅ Solution:
Launch Fixsmith, an AI repair assistant. Upload photos, add the model number and describe the problem. It asks for another angle where needed, suggests what might be wrong and walks you through suitable repairs.
Need a part? Find original, compatible or second-hand replacements, with links to buy them. If nothing exists, help arrange a custom 3D-printed replacement for simple parts like knobs, covers and clips, with measurements and a maker’s design check.
🧑💻 Prototyping: Try the demo
💡 The Half Baked Take: We’d start with discontinued parts. Someone searching for one obscure clip already has a problem they want solved. Help them keep the chair. That’s a much clearer sale than “AI for your home”.
Rate this idea
💸 99 Problems. Funding Ain’t One.
Building a business is basically solving problems professionally. Stock to buy. Equipment to replace. A new hire who insists on being paid in money, not potential.
Funding won’t fix everything. But it could help with several things on that list. Fundera by NerdWallet helps small-business owners compare loan options from multiple lenders through one application.
⛽️ Fuel for Taking Action
💡 Idea Inspo
Request for Startup: This recent Microsoft outage has been…pretty bad, but on the bright side eligible customers may be able to claim service credits. Can someone build an app to find out whenever a company owes me money for any reason?
Side Hustle Idea: Trenton Hughes (who says he’s built and sold businesses for $75M+) just shared a $10K/month business idea involving plumbers. Any takers?
🛠️ 10xecution
AI Tool: Google just dropped their Modern Web Guidance. Feed it to your agents to make sure they’re following web design best practices!
Playbook: Patrick McKenzie’s (Stripe) first-customer guide is required reading for any early stage founder.
🤑 Money Shot
Unicorn Story: This company says it reached a $1bn annualised revenue run rate just 18 months after launch. Here’s how.
Bag Secured: An eBay ban nearly wiped out Lior Pozin’s business. The tool he built next eventually led to a $92m sale, he says.
📄 Give The Launch Plan A Home
You agreed on the launch plan. Now everyone’s editing a different version.
Zoom Docs gives your team shared documents to develop ideas, organise work and collaborate within Zoom Workplace. Update the plan together and mention whoever needs to weigh in. Keep the next step with the work, rather than in somebody’s memory.
*Offer valid on annual plans only. Discount applies to a one-time purchase and cannot be combined with other promotions or offers. Offer expires 10/22/2027. Terms apply.
🔍 Everything Else From Today
🚀 Just Launched: OpenAI just launched ChatGPT Wallet, which gives agents a secure way to pay on a user's behalf.
📚 Must-Read: Feel like everyone else is already ahead? Peter Thiel’s take on why people don’t start is worth a read before you shelve another idea.
🎧 Must-Listen: What happens when OpenAI launches your feature? Wondercraft’s CEO talks through that problem on the EU-Startups podcast.
✖️ Trending Tweet: This guy bought a €479 plane ticket for €159 with Claude. Can someone productize this please?
⭐️ Reader’s Pick: Yesterday’s readers were most interested in Nikunj Kothari’s request-for-startups list. Five problems with making AI agents useful beyond a demo.
🍻 Drunk Idea: Robot Barista
Looking for the perfect latte every morning? Prefer not to discuss your weekend first?
Introducing Botista™, the robotic barista that grinds, tamps, steams and pours your coffee (latte art included). This is the future we all want.
Botista™ - Grounds for replacement.
Vote:
👋 That’s All Folks
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