BUSINESS IDEA | VENTURE STARTUP

Pre-workout Bars 🔋 

Making (monetary) gains

Available Domain: Ampdbar.com

1. Problem/Opportunity❓

The Problem/Opportunity: The “gym bro” is a fascinating creature. Part scientist, part motivational speaker, always dishing out the same advice to anyone no matter their circumstances…

And one of the many tools in their arsenal is of course pre-workout. But for many people eating something 30 - 45 minutes before a workout is just as important as consuming pre-workout, which is also taken around 30 minutes before training. See where we’re going with this? Why not combine your pre-workout drink and snack into one. Here’s how.

Market Size: The global sports nutrition market was valued at $50bn as of 2024

2. Solution ✅

The Idea: A pre-workout bar that combines caffeine, protein and carbs to maximize performance in the gym

How it Works:

• The bar contains caffeine (50mg), protein (10 - 15g) and fast digesting carbs (25 - 30g) which is consumed 30 - 45 mins before the workout to fuel the consumer during it

• The bars are made from all natural ingredients including natural caffeine from green tea extract or guarana, raw honey, dates, oats, and pea protein and comes in a variety of flavors (you can decided them yourselves)

• They can be purchased once-off or as monthly subscriptions online and eventually in stores

Go-to-market: Start as an e-commerce business, then move into retail stores like GNC as you expand

Business Model: One-off and subscription purchases of the bars

Startup Costs: You’ll need some cash to get this off the ground to create the product, do testing, buy inventory, packaging etc.

3. How You’ll Get Rich 💰

Exit Strategy: The goal here is to exit to a large protein bar brand in the space like RxBAR in a few years

Exit Multiple: Revenue multiples for consumer packaged goods companies are a little depressed right now (2x–5x revenue) but you can get good EBITDA multiples (8x–15x), so focus on profitability to maximize the exit here

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DRUNK BUSINESS IDEA

Napbnb

• Are you tired of pretending to be productive between meetings? Ever wish you could just slip away from the office for a quick nap during your lunch break?

• Well now you can with Napbnb, the world’s first micro-napping rental platform. Simply sign up and find a stranger’s couch to nap on for 30 - 60 minutes.

• Don’t worry all hosts are extensively vetted through our rigorous "Not Too Creepy to Sleep in Their House" certification. Optional extras include weighted blankets, stuffed animals and an alarm service in case you’re a heavy napper

• Coming soon to a city near you

Vote

• ✅ I legit need this in my life

• ❌ It’s a no from me dawg

JUST THE TIP

Trend 📈: Colostrum

• Colostrum. No, it’s not that procedure where a camera goes on a magical journey through your intestines (that’s a colonoscopy it turns out).

• No colostrum is in fact the first form of milk produced by mammals right after giving birth and today health gurus are supplementing with bovine colostrum (from cows) for its purported health benefits.

• Colostrum is rich in antibodies, growth factors, proteins, vitamins, and enzymes and is said to help with immune system support, digestive disorders, skin health and even athletic performance. You could probably run your car on the stuff it’s so versatile

• The supplement has taken off in popularity, which is why there are businesses to be built here

Business Ideas

• Natural Supplements Business: Create a supplements business which only sells naturally occurring supplements like colostrum

• Probiotic Ice-cream: High-protein, gut-healing ice cream or popsicles made with colostrum, collagen, and probiotics

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THE MONEYSHOT

Turning $80k into a $200m/yr Business

Overnight successes are usually years in the making.

Take these founders who spent two years creating a product, nearly had their business destroyed by COVID but now are doing over $200m/yr in revenue.

This is their story.

Dimitri O (right) and Maarten Bodewes go way back.

They’re childhood friends who have had a lot to bond over, from studying engineering to their shared love of music and nightlife later in life. But their love of nightlife and concerts gave them something new, and very unpleasant, to bond over…tinnitus.

That’s right, after years of loud music both of these friends started suffering from a persistent ringing in their ears. So they started exploring different ear plug options on the market that they could wear to lessen their pain. But they found nothing. Well that’s not strictly true. What they found was a gap in the market…

So for the next two years they spent their free time researching earplug acoustics and designs and testing prototypes on electronic dummies in rented echo-free chambers. Try explaining that newfound hobby to your friends or family.

Each co-founder sunk around $40,000 into the endeavour, knowing that if they kept going they’d eventually strike gold.

By 2016 they had designed prototypes of their new, modern ear plug products and got accepted into a startup accelerator in Brussels called Start It @KBC to pursue their idea. In fact they were accepted on a Friday and quit their jobs on Monday, dedication to the cause.

This was the beginning of Loop Earplugs.

Through loans and small rounds of funding from angel investors, Loop’s earplugs hit the market in 2018, landing in retail chains like CVS in the U.S. and Saturn (a german electronic store chain) in Europe.

The business started gaining some momentum until 2020 when COVID came along and wiped out their revenue. Sales collapsed from $100k per month down to just $10k per month. Ouch. In fact at one point Loop was “two weeks away from not having any money.” They were on the edge of disaster so they had to act decisively…which is exactly what they did.

So they completely changed their model, morphing into a direct-to-consumer business and keeping costs as low as possible by shipping their products in simple envelopes.

Through this strategic shift the startup managed to clear $1.2 million in 2020 revenue and raised $1 million in seed funding that year. They weathered the storm, and from there Loop went nuclear.

They pulled in $44 million in 2022, $126.5 million in sales in 2023 and over $200m in 2024. An overnight success that just four years earlier was on the brink of failure.

Loop is not unique story. Every company goes through tough times, but it all comes down to how you adapt during these times. Only the strong survive.

And if like Dmitri and Maarten you’re able to get through the tough times in your startup, then you too can become an overnight success years in the making.

It’s only a matter of time.

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