BUSINESS IDEA | STARTUP

AI Regulation Change Tracker 👨‍⚖️

AI rest my case

Available Domain: Regtrack.ai

1. Problem/Opportunity❓

The Problem/Opportunity: New AI companies seem to be cropping up every single day. And it’s no wonder, since in this market, they’re only companies getting funded.

But as the AI market is exploding, regulators are starting to catch up. Over the next few years AI regulation will invariably grow, meaning all of these companies will need to keep track of these regulation changes. So let’s build a platform to help these companies to stay on top of this changing regulatory landscape.

Market Size: The market for AI technologies is vast, amounting to around $200 billion dollars in 2023

2. Solution ✅

The Idea: A platform that automatically monitors, analyzes, and alerts AI companies about regulatory changes in the different jurisdictions they operate in

How it Works:

• A business signs up to the platform and gives details about their business, including what jurisdictions they operate in

• The platform ingests data on regulation changes in different countries and updates businesses to regulation changes what will affect them

• Companies are also offered step-by-step instructions on what they need to do to comply with these new regulations

Go-to-market: Since the EU loves regulation, it probably makes sense to start in that market then to expand to the US in the future

Business Model: Monthly subscription fee

Startup Costs: By leveraging existing AI models you should be able to make a version of this software platform relatively cheaply

3. How You’ll Get Rich 💰

Exit Strategy: Acquisition by a large RegTech company like Onetrust

Exit Multiple: Expected multiple range here would be 8x-15x ARR, depending on growth, churn etc.

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DRUNK BUSINESS IDEA

Forksticks

Asian food is delicious. Noodles. Dumplings. Ramen. The list goes on. But we’ve all been in the situation in a restaurant where we’re presented with chopsticks and after some trial and error eventually give up and ask for a fork.

Well these forksticks solve this problem. It combines chopsticks and a fork into one incredible utensil so you can switch between the two seamlessly.

Truly a revolutionary product.

JUST THE TIP

Trend 📈: Remineralizing Gum

Remineralizing gum is a type of chewing gum designed to promote dental health by helping to restore and strengthen tooth enamel. It typically contains active ingredients like calcium, phosphate, and sometimes fluoride, which work together to replenish essential minerals in areas of the teeth affected by demineralization. This product is primarily aimed at individuals looking to prevent cavities, reduce tooth sensitivity, and improve overall oral health. We’re pretty early to this trend and predict a lot of businesses will be built around this type of gum.

Business Ideas

• Remineralizing Candy Brand: Develop a candy brand with similar properties to remineralizing gum

• Oral Health Kit Subscription Box: A monthly subscription box where you receive everything you need for perfect oral hygiene, such as new toothbrush heads, floss, remineralizing gum and so on

THE MONEYSHOT

The Husband-Wife Duo Who Started a +$100m/yr Drinks Brand

There’s an old adage that you should never mix business and family life.

But this couple completely ignored that advice and worked together to build a +$100m/yr business.

This is their story.

Allison Ellsworth has spent much of her career on the road.

She worked in the oil and gas industry for 7 seven years and spend most of her time on the road, which took a toll on her health. She wasn’t eating particularly well and found herself experiencing gut health issues.

So in order to stay healthy Allison would take a shot of apple cider vinegar each day to improve her health, despite the disgusting taste.

Which is when she had her lightbulb moment. What if she could find a way to make drinking apple cider vinegar more bearable?

She and her husband Stephen started brewing up batches of tasty apple cider vinegar sodas in their kitchen, aiming to create a tasty, fruity, shelf-stable, drink that was low in sugar.

When friends and family drank the couple’s concoctions they were big fans, so Allison and Stephen realised they were on to something. So they decided to turn it into a business.

It was 2015 and they had just founded Mother Beverage (but that’s not what it’s called today…)

After a small production run Allison started selling her drink at a local farmers’ market and after just three weeks of selling at the market the company had their first breakthrough. A buyer from Whole Foods approached Allison and they secured a listing in Whole Foods after only a few weeks of trading, something which is unheard of in the beverage industry.

The pair raised $125k from friends and family to kickstart production and to start fulfilling orders.

The brand built on this early momentum and in 2018 Allison and Stephen appeared on Shark Tank, looking for $400k for 10% of the business, even while Allison was 9 months pregnant. They attracted investment from Rohan Oza, a veteran of the beverage industry, who gave them $400k in return for 25% of the business.

Despite selling out after their Shark Tank appearance however the brand ran into a legal issue. Trademarks. They couldn’t trademark the word “Mother” which meant in 2019 they had to rename the product. They also used this rebrand as an opportunity to switch the product’s positioning from an “infused apple cider vinegar alternative” to a prebiotic soda.

The rebranded to Poppi.

The rebrand breathed new life into the business and in 2020 they started selling primarily on Amazon because…well…they had no other option. Covid was such a fun time.

As the lockdowns lifted Poppi started to secure new retail listings with shops like Sprouts and in 2021 Poppi raised $13.5m to support its growth.

Growth remained super strong and in December 2022 the team raised a further $25m to expand into even more retailers.

Today Poppi is available in major retail outlets including Amazon, Target, Costco, Kroger and claims to be the top selling brand on Amazon, although we don’t have the sales data to back that up.

Poppi's retail sales across all channels for 2023 was $116.3m and as of 2024, Poppi is attracting a lot of attention from major players in the beverage industry. Reports suggest that Coca-Cola is among several interested parties seeking to acquire Poppi. And if the brand was acquired it would be no surprise at all since it’s grown so quickly.

All of which goes to show that you don’t always have to follow conventions when starting businesses.

You just need to follow your intuition and do whatever you think is right, it’s most likely the right thing to do.

INFLUENCER IDEAS

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