BUSINESS IDEA | STARTUP

Goodreads for Academic Papers 🔬  

A cite for sore eyes

Available Domain: Citenation.io

1. Problem/Opportunity❓

The Problem/Opportunity: In 1943 American psychologist Abraham Maslow unveiled his “Hierarchy of Human Needs” to the world. His theory of human motivation postulated that humans need their physiological, safety, love/belonging, esteem and self-actualization needs met in order to thrive. But like all good pyramid schemes Maslow was wrong. Take Sanje Horah who only has one need in her life…

Cool idea Sanje. And one look at the comments on the tweet shows that people are crying out for this idea. So let’s break it down.

Market Size: There are around 15m active researchers globally and around 3m new papers published each year

2. Solution ✅

The Idea: A platform which allows users to track, discover and discuss academic papers they are reading

How it Works:

• A user signs up and gives details about themselves and the research areas they’re interested in

• Core features of the platform include tracking what academic papers a user is reading, has read or wants to read. They also receive recommendations on papers to read, have the ability to rate and review papers and set personal challenges and reading goals for the amount of reading they want to do. Users can also access AI summaries of academic papers on the platform

• Finally you could overlay social features on top of the platform, such as the ability to follow authors, participate in discussion groups on topics etc.

Go-to-market: Start by focussing on fields with the highest academic paper consumption (likely psychology or computer science) and expand from there

Business Model: Freemium model - free for basic features and $9.99 per month for advanced features (like AI summaries)

Startup Costs: You could build a cheap MVP here with just the core features relatively cheaply

3. How You’ll Get Rich 💰

Exit Strategy: Sell to one of the large online academic paper publishing platforms like ResearchGate

Exit Multiple: You could exit for 6x - 10x revenue here to the right buyer

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DRUNK BUSINESS IDEA

2-in-1 Glass

With the New Year almost upon us many of us around the world will be raising a glass to celebrate. Some will be raising a beer glass, others will be doing shots.

But whatever your drink of choice, the 2-in-1 beer and shot glass combo has you covered.

Quite literally a “drunk business idea”.

JUST THE TIP

Trend 📈: Caffeine Pouches

Nicotine pouches have become hugely popular in recent years. But more recently caffeine pouches have also been gaining some traction. These are small, tobacco-free pouches (similar in format to nicotine pouches or snus) that are placed between the upper lip and gum. These provide a more targeted release of caffeine for people out there who don’t drink coffee (believe it or not these people do exist). We think these could be huge, so if you get in early you could build a great business.

Business Ideas

• Athletic Performance Pouches: Develop caffeine pouches specifically formulated for athletes and fitness enthusiasts as a replacement for pre-workout supplements

• Natural Ingredient Caffeine Pouches: Create pouches using only plant-based caffeine sources (green tea, guarana, yerba mate) and target health-conscious consumers

THE MONEYSHOT

From Getting Laughed at to Building a +$1bn Business

Being a great founder is about having massive conviction, even when no-one else believes in you.

Like these founders who were laughed at on multiple occasions, but went on to build a +$1bn business. Talk about getting the last laugh.

This is their story.

Danny Winer (left) has always dreamed of being rich and famous.

So in his younger years Danny moved to LA with dreams of making it big in the entertainment business. Instead though he found himself slinging drinks as a bartender. Not exactly what he imagined. But a trip to visit a friend would set Danny on a new course towards entrepreneurship.

One weekend he visited NYU with a friend and overheard him talking about selling cookware at a local county fair. Danny was intrigued that you could make a couple of thousand dollars in one weekend selling pots and pans. Danny wanted in.

So he found a sales job with a cookware company and went to work for them, rising through the ranks to become their VP of Sales. At the time huge direct-to-consumer businesses like Casper were springing up and Danny pitched senior leadership on his idea to create a direct-to-consumer cookware business. But they laughed him out of the room, something Danny never forgot.

Danny realised that starting a business was the next step for him so he and his colleague, Cole Mecray, started dreaming up business ideas in their spare time. Eventually in 2013 they landed on their business idea and launched JuicePresso, an at-home juicing machine.

They started to get some early traction. In fact at its height in 2015 they were bringing in between $5 million and $6 million in revenue per year. But then sales started to decline and one day, while standing in line watching a girl put a $7 green juice on two credit cards, Danny realised that people didn’t care that it was cheaper to make juice at home. It was a tough decision, but they shuttered the business, meaning Danny and Cole were looking for their next idea.

Desperate for a new idea in 2015 Danny went to a trade show in China looking for inspiration. Pretty quickly he found it. He started chatting to a team of inventors who had figured out how to laser hexagons onto stainless steel, creating a pan that was non-stick but easy to clean up. From his years of experience in the cookware industry Danny knew this was a winning product.

He struck up a a partnership with the inventors and set about completely redesigning the cookware to launch in the US, which they did in 2016.

They had founded HexClad.

In order to manufacture and sell the pans in the US however, Danny and Cole needed money. So they started speaking with investors hoping to get some cash into the business. Not for the first time though Danny was laughed out of the room.

With no other choice Danny and Cole decided to fund the business themselves. Danny cashed out 90% of his savings and retirement accounts, they maxed out credit cards and took out a small-business loan from American Express all to manufacture and market their product. In fact they spent more than $500,000 of their own cash to get this idea off the ground. It was a huge risk to take on. But boy did it pay off.

After launching they started to get some early traction with online sales, but everything changed for the business in November 2017 when HexClad landed an in-store demonstration at Costco. They sold $5,000 worth of pans that day. It was finally working and Danny couldn’t contain his joy, crying in the car park after leaving Costco that dat.

After landing a rotation in Costco HexClad started flying off the shelves and was profitable the next year. And from there growth hasn’t slowed down. Through in-store and online sales the brand has become a staple in the cookware market, bringing in $170m in sales in 2022.

Earlier in 2024 the business raised $100 million in investment from Studio Ramsay Global, a partnership involving chef and professional swearer Gordon Ramsay. And sure they’ve had to work through some controversy about the use of plastics in their cookware, but they seem to be coming out of the other side of that.

Today, HexClad is one of the fastest-growing cookware brands globally, with annual revenue exceeding $350 million. As for Danny? Well instead of being laughed out of rooms, Danny’s laughing all the way to the bank.

All of which goes to show that in business you have to have courage in your convictions. If you fold every time someone tells you you’re going to fail you won’t make it.

So ignore the noise and keep going.

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