BUSINESS IDEA #1 | VENTURE STARTUP

404 Page Ad Network 4️⃣0️⃣4️⃣

404 error: Sorry, this idea isn’t available

1. Problem/Opportunity❓

All internet users have experienced the frustration of the 404 error page. I have no idea what a 404 error is, just know that it means something broke. That said, some of them are brilliant. Like Justin here using mint’s 404 page to find himself a date.

But when we think about the millions and millions of 404 pages out there being served up everyday this is prime real estate across every website on the internet that’s not being used. Google’s ad network for example doesn’t allow businesses to place ads on their 404 pages.

So let’s create an ad network which does allow this.

2. Solution ✅

Here’s the idea, create an ad network which allows businesses to place ads on their 404 error pages to earn extra revenue.

Here’s how it works. The business signs up to the ad platform and adds some JavaScript snippets that request ads from the platform’s servers and display them on the business’ website. The business can then manually select ads they want to appear on their site or select autopilot mode, where the platform decides what ads to serve on their site.

The platform engages with advertisers who are looking to advertise on sites and they decide how much they’re willing to pay for impressions or clicks. Over time, with more websites and more advertisers on the platform, more targeted ads can be placed on websites to increase clicks and conversion rates.

For some businesses this could provide extra income for no extra work. Others could actually use this tool as a performance metric where they want to minimize the amount they earn through the platform, since the less they earn the less errors they’ve served up to users. Either way the platform makes money.

3. Business Model 🏦

Go-to-market: start by working with small websites in a particular niche looking to earn extra money and advertisers looking to advertise to their audience, then build from there

Monetisation: Take a % fee on each ad served on the platform

Startup Costs: Building the technology here will be pricey so you’ll need some skilled engineers to build this as well as working with a some salespeople to get advertisers on board. Doing a small raise here may be a good idea.

4. How You’ll Get Rich 💰

You could exit here to another ad network, such as Criteo or VideoAmp. In Q4 2022, the median EV/EBITDA multiple for AdTech companies was 11.6x, so if you grow topline revenue and stay profitable and you could get a tasty exit here.

TOGETHER WITH SAASTOCK

Win a Free Ticket to SaaStockUSA 2024

Worth $999 each

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We’ve teamed up with the SaaStock team to giveaway 10 General Attendee tickets (worth $999 each) to the conference for FREE so 10 of our readers can join the 1,500 SaaS founders, investors and operators at the conference. This is an incredible opportunity to meet with B2B SaaS Founders, Operators and Investors from Pre-Seed all the way to Series C.

To enter just click the link and fill out the Google Form (takes < 30 seconds). Good luck 🫡

BUSINESS IDEA #2 | CASH FLOW BUSINESS

Storyworth for Startups 🖊️

Every startup has a story

1. Problem/Opportunity❓

We all have a story. In fact some people are far too quick to share their entire life story.

And Storyworth, a service that collects a person’s favorite stories and memories and makes them into a book, built a monster business around this premise.

But every business has a story too and oftentimes the early days of startups are the most exciting times for a business that get documented years later.

So let’s build a platform for founders to document this journey.

2. Solution ✅

Here’s the idea…create a platform which enables startups to document key milestones and events on their company’s journey.

Here’s how it works. The startup founder signs up to the platform and gives some basic details about their business. Every week the fonder receives a prompt from the app to fill out where they can write about any key events or milestones that week. They can also share any relevant pictures or videos on the platform too, all of which are securely stored. Over time a repository of data is built up and this data, at the founder’s request, can be turned into a physical or digital book, photo albums or videos with all of the content edited together to tell the company’s story in whatever format they want their story to be told.

3. Business Model 🏦

Go-to-market: Start by selling into startup accelerators where company’s have raised some money and have strong growth prospects where documenting their journey will be important

Monetisation: charge a subscription fee and a fee for any items produced too

Startup Costs: costs here will be very low, it’s a pretty simple service business

4. How You’ll Get Rich 💰

This probably won’t lead to a huge exit but could be a hugely profitable cash flow business for whoever starts it

DRUNK BUSINESS IDEA

Duolingo for Swearing

Are you looking for new, creative ways to swear? Don’t want people around you to know what you’re saying?

Then look no further than Rudeolingo. Learn 100s of swear words in hundreds of different languages to take your vocabulary to the next level.

Coming soon to an app store near you.

BIG DECK ENERGY

Bubble’s $100m Series A Deck

Year: 2021

Stage: Series A

Amount: $100m

Bubble is a no-code development platform for creating web and mobile applications without having to learn to code.

Back in 2019, after 7 years of bootstrapping and tinkering with the product, co-founders Emmanuel Straschnov and Josh Haas secured a $6.5 million seed round secured a $6.5 million seed round.

After achieving huge growth the company raised a $100m Series A in 2021, led by Insight Partners. Here’s the deck they used to do it.

THE MONEYSHOT

Jason Derulo’s Unsexy Billion Dollar Business

Jason Derulo is a pretty big deal.

He’s brought us hits like Talk Dirty and Wiggle, as well as flops like When Love Sucks. He’s even performed at the Super Bowl. So you might imagine that Jason makes all of his money from music right?

Wrong. In fact Jason, by his own admission, makes far more money from a much less sexy business. Washing cars.

Don’t believe us? Here’s Jason speaking about it himself.

@gritcapital

Jason Derulo shared his most lucrative Business Rocket Carwash, valued at $2 billion. #jasonderulo #networth #rocketcarwash #financenews ... See more

That’s right Jason makes most of his money today from Rocket Car Wash. The company is the Netflix of car washing, offering a monthly subscription for unlimited car washes.

Derulo is an investor in the business (he ain’t out there washing cars that’s for sure) and the company is valued at $2bn, doing hundreds of millions in revenue per year.

Proof of one of our long held beliefs about businesses…the less sexy the business, the better.