BUSINESS IDEA | STARTUP

LMNT for Fiber 🖥️

Get your sh*t together

Available Domain: Ultragut.com

1. Problem/Opportunity❓

The Problem/Opportunity: There’s a problem that 95% of all Americans share. And no, it’s not crippling student loans, a collapsing stock market, or a healthcare system that defies all logic…

It’s fiber. We’re not getting enough of it, and our guts are silently screaming into the void (probably while we’re on the toilet, scrolling TikTok). And while supplements like protein, creatine and electrolytes have become more and more mainstream, fiber hasn’t had its breakout moment yet. That’s why it’s time to create the definitive fiber supplement brand. Think AG1 (+$500m revenue/yr) or LMNT (+$200m revenue/yr), but for fiber. Here’s what we have in mind.

Market Size: The global fiber supplements market was worth around $6.9bn in 2023

2. Solution ✅

The Idea: A high-dose, zero-BS, performance-focused daily fiber supplement brand

How it Works:

• Each packet is a flavored powder stick pack that contains 10-15g of soluble fiber (e.g., PHGG, inulin, acacia fiber) which is mixed with 8–12 oz of water for consumption

• Sticks come in different natural flavors such as orange, lemon and lime, berry etc.

• The formula contains no sugar, no artificial flavors or colors and supports gut health, digestion, satiety, and regularity in one’s gut

Go-to-market: Position as “AG1/LMNT for your gut”, run Twitter/X and Instagram ads targeting health fanatics

Business Model: DTC subscription model (30-stick box/month)

Startup Costs: You’ll need $20k - $25k to start this for formulations, ordering initial inventory, packaging design and some early marketing

Competitors: There are some gummy fiber businesses out there, but the LMNT form factor has yet to be nailed by anyone in this space

3. How You’ll Get Rich 💰

Exit Strategy: Get acquired by a supplement giant like Unilever who buy and invest in these brands

Exit Multiple: 2x–5x revenue is the benchmark for a healthy DTC CPG (consumer packaged good) brand

TOGETHER WITH OMNISEND

Jordan Welch on growing fast, failing hard, and scaling smart

You’ve probably heard of Jordan Welch, but you may not know his story.

In this podcast he shares the unfiltered story of how he went from broke teenager to seven-figure ecom founder. You’ll hear exactly what it takes to grow a successful ecommerce business today, from finding winning products to scaling smart with email, SMS, and TikTok.

Get to know how Jordan Welch scaled his first Shopify store to $100K/month. Did Omnisend help with it?

Let's figure it out and watch it now!

DRUNK BUSINESS IDEA

Cheetos Lip Balm

• Do you love Cheetos? Wish you could experience that intense, cheesy goodness without having to consume all the calories and wash the dust off your fingers?

• Well now you can with Cheetos Lip Balm. Infused with the bold essence of cheese (we think) and nuclear-orange dust, this balm hydrates your lips in the most delicious way possible.

• Cheetos Lip Balm – because beauty should come with a side of artificial flavoring.

Vote

• ✅ Yes this actually exists

• ❌ Nope you totally made this up

JUST THE TIP

Trend 📈: Luxury Survivalism

• Doomsday prepping was once the domain of tinfoil-hat conspiracy theorists and basement hoarders. Now? It's a status symbol for the ultra-wealthy hedging against the collapse of... well, everything

• This is a trend where ultra-wealthy individuals are preparing for the apocalypse, but in style. Like Sam Altman’s hideout in Big Sur or Peter Thiel building a bunker in New Zealand.

• We’re just waiting for someone to start the “Cribs” of Billionaire bunkers. I would 100% watch.

Business Ideas

• Bunker as a Service: Fractional ownership of high-end bunkers, like NetJets for apocalypse shelters.

• Legacy Capsule Builder: A service to create digital and physical legacy archives for your family in case of collapse or death.

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THE MONEYSHOT

From $0 to a $1m Exit in 8 Months

Great founders never give up.

Take this guy who, after 4 failed startups, built a business which got acquired by a tech giant after just 8 months.

This is his story.

Courtland Allen has always dreamed of being a founder.

And he took his first steps into entrepreneurship as a junior at Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) where he launched a project called Fmail, which was “Gmail for Facebook”. But after getting rejected by Y-Combinator, Courtland decided to shut the site down. Strike 1.

Then after graduating in 2009 with his degree in computer science, he founded his second start-up called Syphir, an advanced Gmail filter software solution, but this idea too never gained much traction. Strike 2.

A year later though Courtland had his big breakthrough (or so he thought), after he launched Taskforce, software which converted emails to tasks (this guy loved starting email startups right?). He landed a place in YC’s W11 batch and the business even grew to over 100,000 users, but over time it still fizzled out. This was strike 3, but Courtland still wasn’t out.

By 2012 he had abandoned Taskforce to start Siasto, project management software that raised $750,000 from angel investors. But alas, this never gained meaningful traction either. Surely he was done? Well…kinda.

By this time Courtland was burned out on Silicon Valley. Maybe he just wasn’t destined for success. And reading about all the unicorn startups in the news everyday wasn’t helping him…but it did get him thinking.

Startups in the media were always raising VC, trying to get big fast. But what about the indie founders who just quietly built great businesses and hit $10k/month? Courtland wanted to hear their stories.

So he started cold-emailing bootstrapped founders and asking if he could interview them for a new website he was working on. He ended up emailing a total of 140 people, and only 10 responded.

By August 2016 with a handful of these in-depth stories he was ready to launch his blog.

He founded Indie Hackers.

After the site was launched it was an instant hit. Indie Hackers hit #1 on Hacker News the day it was launched and had 50,000+ visitors in its first week after going live.

Pretty soon the site hit $5k per month in revenue from affiliate links and over time Courtland slowly shifted his focus from just publishing stories to building a community.

By early 2017, Indie Hackers was making about $8k/month, enough for Courtland to live off. But then a tech giant came knocking. Stripe.

One day Courtland received an email from Stripe CEO Patrick Collison with the subject line "Acquire Indie Hackers”. Stripe’s mission to “grow the GDP of the internet” aligned perfectly with Indie Hackers’ mission of creating more founders. So in April 2017 Stripe acquired Indie Hackers for an undisclosed sum, but we estimate it was in the $750k - $1m region.

With Stripe’s support, Indie Hackers evolved into a community of 100,000+ founders and a vibrant forum with daily stories, questions, and product launches. And Courtland achieved what he always dreamed of, etching his name in Silicon Valley legend forever.

All because of one thing. He never gave up.

So if you want to etch your name in Silicon Valley too, you can never give up either. Not until you make it.

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