BUSINESS IDEA | CASH FLOW BUSINESS

Community for Retired Athletes 👟 

A victory lap

Available Domain: Athletealumini.com

1. Problem/Opportunity❓

The Problem/Opportunity: The summer Olympics are just around the corner, a beautiful time every 4 years where my self-esteem plummets, I get really into some incredibly niche sport (I’m feeling the steeplechase this year) and most importantly…new memes are born.

But for athletes of all sports there comes a time when they have to throw in the towel, hang up their boots, or do whatever symbolic action applies to their sport when they retire. So let’s build a business around this.

Market Size: There are a few hundred thousand athletes across all sports in the world. You don’t need a huge number of customers to build a big business here.

2. Solution ✅

The Idea: A highly vetted, private network for retired athletes

How it Works:

• Athletes who have recently retired from their sport can apply to join the community, with strict criteria to ensure it’s an elite community

• They are arranged into small core groups (6 - 10 people) who meet regularly to discuss projects they’re working on, ideas and anything else on their mind

• They also have access to the wider community and wider community events which includes access to a slack group, guest speakers from other fields, regular dinners and monthly or quarterly retreats for members

Go-to-market: Your early customers are at the end of an intense googling session of athletes who have just retired

Business Model: Monthly membership fee

Startup Costs: You could literally start this with $0 if you wanted to

3. How You’ll Get Rich 💰

Hold: This is the kind of cash cow business that you would hold forever for the power of the network you have access to

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DRUNK BUSINESS IDEA

ThrowApp

Since time immemorial, people (mostly dudes) have stood around and argued whose the strongest person in the room.

Well with our new app you can settle it once and for all. You all simply download the app, throw your phone as hard as you can against a wall and the accelerometer measures who threw their phone the hardest (measured in Gs).

What could possibly go wrong?

JUST THE TIP

Trend 📈: E-commerce Funding

If you’re looking to raise money for your e-commerce business, it’s tougher than ever to do so, with funding to e-commerce businesses down c.97% from the dizzying heights of 2021.

This is driven by a general pullback in venture funding, but more specifically by poor performance in large TC businesses. Some examples:

• Allbirds (Footwear) - down 97% from peak.

• Blue Apron (Food) - acquired for 95% below their peak.

• Smile Direct Club (Teeth aligners) - went bankrupt.

• Honest Co (Eco-products) - down 83% from peak valuation.

So if you’re looking to start or scale an e-commerce business, don’t rely on equity funding to get you there.

THE MONEYSHOT

The Newsletter that Became a $5bn Business

How does a simple email newsletter evolve into a $5bn behemoth?

Well this is the story of how one founder did exactly that.

Back in 1993 (before we were even born), Craig Newmark had spent 17 years working for IBM before he decided to move to San Francisco to take up a new job.

But during his time in San Francisco, like that time I ate some bad oysters, Craig caught a bug. The startup bug.

So he decided to start a simple email newsletter which shared a list of public events going on around the Bay Area.

His newsletter exploded in popularity and pretty soon requests poured in to feature everything from apartment listings to items for sale.

So Craig decided to turn this into a website (which I hope you’ve guessed by now)

He started Craigslist.

Over the years the site gained huge traction and Craig monetized to capitalize on all this traffic. The website makes money by charging people a small fee to list their website. Super simple.

Today, despite looking the same as it did in 1995, Craigslist brings in 187m visitors per month and took in $700m in revenue last year, with the company valued in the $3bn - $5bn range.

What’s just as incredible is Craigslist mark on Silicon Valley, since so many tech apps are basically just spin-offs of different sections on Craigslist.

Who knows, your next business idea could be staring you in the face right this second on this timeless website.

INFLUENCER IDEAS

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