BUSINESS IDEA | VENTURE STARTUP

AI Travel Companion 🗺️

Siri-ously good trips

Available Domain: Globetrotbot.ai

1. Problem/Opportunity❓

The Problem/Opportunity: Travelling is one of the great joys of life. You explore new cultures, have amazing experiences and get to meet new people, even though travelling can be pretty expensive…

But travelling does come with its own difficulties. Finding an internet connection can be tricky. And if you lose your phone or wallet it can be an absolute disaster. But we think you could build a single-purpose device for all the globetrotters out there to make the most of their travel. Here’s our pitch.

Market Size: The global tourism market was valued around $11.4 trillion in 2023

2. Solution ✅

The Idea: An AI-powered hardware device for travellers to bring with them and enhance their travel experience

How it Works:

• A customer buys the device and initiates the setup process

• Before going on a trip the user can download maps and key information about the area they’re going to, with the device deliberately designed to work with no internet connection.

• While on a trip the user can take pictures with it and use the device to learn about their surroundings, such as taking a picture of a statue and asking the in-built AI assistant for more information on the statue

• The device also has safety features built in such as an option to share GPS data with friends and family so they know your whereabouts, as well as the ability to contact local police in an emergency

• You could expand this into a range of other features too

Go-to-market: Start off by creating an app to test out the different features this device would have, then start building the hardware

Business Model: Charge for the device, $49 - $69 price range. You want to position this as a backup to a smartphone

Startup Costs: To build the hardware here you’ll need to do a very big raise, in the millions. So early validation is key here before you start talking to investors

3. How You’ll Get Rich 💰

Hold: While you could try to exit to a large travel company this could be a business that you hold for the long term

TOGETHER WITH HONEYBOOK

Don’t let that lead be the one that got away

Did you know that 86% of clients choose the business that responds to them first? Be the first every time with these 3 steps:

• Make a lasting first impression

• Stay connected with personalized follow-ups

• Seal the deal with simple sign and pay processes

Start capturing leads with HoneyBook

DRUNK BUSINESS IDEA

Shoe Umbrellas

Ever been out in the rain with your feet getting soaked? It’s the worst.

Clearly you need a pair of shoe umbrellas.

Keep your shoes dry with this incredibly practical and stylish solution.

JUST THE TIP

Trend 📈: Rage Rooms

Rage rooms are, pardon the pun, all the rage right now. For those unfamiliar they’re businesses which provide spaces/rooms where people can vent their rage by destroying objects, like smashing old computers or printers with hammers. It’s a great way to blow off some steam, and if you own one, make some money.

Business Ideas

• Rage Park: Create a large scale park where people can use machinery like diggers or steamrollers to break large items like old cars

• Rage Room/Escape Room Hybrid: Create an experience which combines rage rooms and escape rooms into one

• Rage Room for Kids: Create a chain of rage rooms where kids can smash things which are safe to break so they can’t get injured

THE MONEYSHOT

How a Pair of Shoes Led to a $3.7bn Business

Sometimes in life a seemingly insignificant event can change everything.

Like for these two college friends, where the purchase of a pair of shoes was the spark that ignited a $3.7bn business idea.

This is their story.

Sneakers have always been a huge part of Daishin Sugano’s (right) life.

In 1990, back when he was 10 years old, Nike debuted a pair of shoes called the Air Jordan 5 Grapes. He wanted them. He needed them. But he didn’t have the money to buy them. But luckily for Daishin his Dad bought them for him, a purchase that would later change his life…and the entire sneaker industry.

Daishin went on to study at Berkeley, where one fateful day on a basketball court, he met Eddy Lu (left). The pair bonded over their shared love of sneakers and roomed together after college.

The two held corporate jobs for a while, but didn’t feel fulfilled. In fact they both quit their jobs on the very same day. Goals am I right?

The pair decided to start their own business. Or to be more precise, they tried to start lots of businesses. They tried starting an import/export business, a golf apparel company, an online tea business and built countless 99-cent gaming apps for iPhone users. But nothing worked. They even started a Beard Papas franchise selling custard-filled cream puffs in 2008.

In 2010 they even moved to Chicago to more actively manage one of their Beard Papas franchises, but didn’t know anyone in the city. They wanted to meet more people so they started a social dining app called GrubWithUs. They thought this was their killer idea so they moved back to LA (where they’d both grown up), were accepted into YC and raised a $6 million Series A for the app. They were on the fast-track to success right?

Wrong. The app never became very popular. They pivoted a few times but the business never found its footing. They were down and out. Until 2013 that is…

That year Nike re-released the Air Jordan 5 Grapes 23 years after it debuted. Daishin wanted to buy them for himself this time so he turned to eBay, which was then the largest sneaker marketplace at the time. He searched far and wide on the site for the shoe, ordered it, and was ecstatic when it showed up on his doorstep. Unfortunately though, there was a problem. The shoes were fake.

Daishin was devastated. He was annoyed. How had nobody solved this problem yet?

That’s when Daishin and Eddy decided to make it their mission to solve this problem. The founders went out and raised $7.6 million in funding from a handful of venture firms, including Reddit cofounder Alexis Ohanian.

They used the funds to build their sneaker marketplace and by July 2015 they were ready to go live.

They launched GOAT.

The killer feature of the app was their authentication process. Sellers were required to apply before they could sell on the platform and for every listing hd to take standardized photos from different angles of the shoe. GOAT could then use a combination of image recognition and machine learning to determine if a shoe is legit or not.

While they had the tech nailed, GOAT didn’t have any users. So after four months of operation, in November of 2015, the then-nobody company launched a Black Friday campaign discounting the hottest styles of the year at retail prices.

The campaign went mega-viral and over 100,000 users installed the app to take advantage of the sale, causing the newly-launched startup app to crash repeatedly.

From there the brand kept growing and went on to raise huge funding to support its growth. They raised $25m in 2017, $60m in 2018, $100m in 2019 and 2020 and $195m in 2021 at a $3.7bn valuation. Incredible.

The latest available figures tell us that as of May 2023 the GOAT Group reported over $2 billion in gross merchandise volume with more than 50 million members globally and over 700,000 sellers. Quite the come-up.

All of which proves that even something as innocuous as buying a pair of sneakers can be the beginning of a multi-billion dollar business. You just have to pay attention and keep your eyes open.

Since inspiration can strike at any moment.

INFLUENCER IDEAS

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