BUSINESS IDEA | STARTUP

BetterHelp for Speech Therapy 🗣️ 

Talkin’ the talk

Available Domain: Speechjoy.ai

1. Problem/Opportunity❓

The Problem/Opportunity: According to the National Institute on Deafness and Other Communication Disorders (NIDCD), roughly 7.5 million Americans have difficulties using their voices. Although we all know a certain group of people that have no issue using their voices.

These difficulties can include stuttering, speech sound disorders, lisps or other speech impediments. And speech therapy can be a very effective means for overcoming these difficulties, if a person desires to do so. But there’s a problem. Weekly speech therapy sessions are super expensive and not everyone can afford them. So let’s build a platform to give more people access to speech therapy than ever before.

Market Size: The global speech therapy market size was valued at $10.8 billion in 2023, with a projected CAGR of 10.2% through 2030.

2. Solution ✅

The Idea: An AI-powered telemedicine platform designed to deliver effective, cost-efficient speech therapy services to patients

How it Works:

• A patient signs up for the platform and completes a video consultation with a licensed speech-language pathologist

• They then put together a plan for the person to follow, which usually involves practicing new speech patterns

• These speech exercises are completed on the platform with AI providing real-time feedback on how they are progressing. The speech and language therapist can check in on their progress and talk to the patient every few weeks

• Patients pay a subscription for the duration of their treatment and the therapists receive a portion of their fee. This means therapists can work with far more patients while still getting paid regularly

Go-to-market: Find and onboard speech and language therapists to the platform and go from there

Business Model: Patients pay a subscription fee for the length of their treatment, with the speech therapist receiving a portion of this recurring revenue

Startup Costs: Building out the tech here could be expensive, so you’ll need to partner with a great programmer to make this work

Competitors: Online platforms for speech therapy exist already, like Expressable and Great Speech, but by leveraging AI and innovating on the business model you can beat them

3. How You’ll Get Rich 💰

Exit Strategy: Sell to a telemedicine company, like Teladoc

Exit Multiple: Teladoc acquired Livongo for 10x revenue, so that’s what you could expect here

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DRUNK BUSINESS IDEA

Microplastics Seasoning

Since microplastics are so unavoidable these days, why not lean into them and give your food the extra kick it needs?

Well now you can with this microplastics seasoning. Put it on fish, eggs, fruit, wahtever you want. They already contain microplastics anyway. Who knows, maybe you’ll end up with superpowers if you consume enough microplastics.

Only time will tell.

JUST THE TIP

Trend 📈: Founder-led Marketing

What do Tesla, Acquire.com and beehiiv all have in common? It’s not that we want all of them to sponsor us (trust me, we do). It’s that all of these companies engage in “founder-led marketing”, something other companies are going to emulate in the future too. Their founders (Elon, Andrew and Tyler) all produce content, build audiences then funnel traffic to their products, all in very different ways. In fact it’s so effective that Tesla spends no money on marketing. Tyler Denk meanwhile has over 70,000 people subscribed to his newsletter BigDeskEnergy. Founder-led marketing is the future, so get in there before everyone else does.

Business Ideas

• Founder Ghostwriting Agency: A specialized writing service that captures a founder's unique voice

• Founder Journey Documentation: Professional videography of key founder moments to create mini documentaries

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THE MONEYSHOT

The $1bn Shoe Company that Sold for Just $1m

One of the most famous cautionary tales in business in the story of Roy Raymond, the founder of Victoria’s Secret. Why? Because he sold the business for just $1m before it became into a billion dollar fashion empire.

Well these little-known founders did something very similar, selling a business for $1m that went on to become a billion dollar shoe brand we’ve all heard of.

This is their story.

Nicolas Mermoud and Jean-Luc Diard have always loved running. But not just running, because that would be far too easy. No these guys have always loved ultra running, trail runs, all the stuff I have nightmares over.

The French duo met while working at Salomon, a leading sporting goods company. And while they were working there they spotted a gap in the running shoe market…

While other running shoes were focused on keeping their shoes hyper lightweight, Nicolas and Jean-Luc wanted to create a more durable shoe with extensive cushioning and protection for longer runs. Particularly for ultra-marathon runners. So they started working on creating a prototype of their shoe.

The first shoe featured an oversized midsole, a unique meta-rocker geometry (which I totally understand) and lightweight materials to keep the overall weight of the shoe in check.

With their first prototype created the pair had started their company.

They founded Hoka.

They presented this initial prototype at a trade-show where they met Mark Plaatjes.

Mark was the co-founder of the Boulder Running Company and the 1993 world marathon champion. And he was so impressed by the design that he ordered 770 pairs on the spot to sell at his retail store in Boulder, Colorado.

They were off to the races.

Doubling down on their niche focus on ultra-marathon runners, Hoka poached ultra-runner Karl Meltzer from La Sportiva and inked an exclusive deal where Karl would only compete in Hokas. Karl is basically the Michael Jordan of ultra running, so this was a huge win for them.

Within 3 years Hoka had become the go-to footwear for ultra runners and by 2013 the brand was doing $3m in sales. This is when Deckers Brands stepped in. Deckers Brands is a portfolio of fashion and lifestyle brands. They own UGG, Teva and Sanuk. And they wanted to add Hoka to their portfolio, which is exactly what they did.

They acquired Hoka for a reported $1m. Why the low multiple? Hard to say, but maybe the business was losing money. But since then Hoka hasn’t had any money problems.

Decker injected capital in the business to help it expand to more retail locations around the world. They also expanded the product focus from beyond ultra-marathon running to everyday wear. Today runners and even non-runners wear Hokas.

By 2018 Hoka had earned its own line on Deckers’ financial report when it reached $154 million in sales. And since then the company has been compounding at an incredible rate. Between 2018 and 2023 Hoka has experienced an astounding 51% compound annual growth rate, with revenues topping $1.8 billion in 2023. And the brand shows no signs of slowing down.

So did the founders sell too early? It sure looks that way. But maybe without Deckers stepping in the brand wouldn’t be where it is today. It’s unknowable. But one thing we know for certain from Hoka’s story is that, like so many great ideas, you can start in a tiny niche and over time grow and expand into new markets, products and verticals.

No-one would have believed that a business which sells shoes for ultramarathon runners could become a billion dollar business. Yet here we are.

So never be afraid to start too small. The riches are in the niches after all.

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