Company referrals as a service, the economics of data businesses, ...

Hey,

this is Jakob Greenfeld, author of the Business Brainstorms newsletter - every week I write this email to help you level up your entrepreneurial game.

Let's dive into today's ideas, trends, and opportunities.

💡 Social Listening

• “referrals are tough ever since rooftop slushi shut down” - comment in a Telegram group I’m part of

  • Note: Rooftop Slushi was a platform that made it easy to request a referral from verified employees working at top companies like Google, Facebook, Amazon. It recently announced that it’s shutting down.

• “I just read a study that found that okra can be used to remove [microplastic] from drinking water.” - Twitter

  • Note: Microplastic is a problem more and more people are becoming aware of. There seems to be a link to rapidly decreasing testosterone levels. So anything that helps people reduce the amount of microplastic they get into their bodies presents a huge opportunity.

• “I wish Paddle had an app like Gumroad’s” - Twitter

  • Note: Paddle is a popular merchant of record. But it’s definitely a lot more complicated to use than Gumroad. Some more thoughts here.

📈 Trend Signals of the Week

• Speedy Eats is a fully automated restaurant startup.

• They are planning to open restaurants that are essentially high-tech vending machines which they put in parking lots and other locations, where they’ll serve pizza, chicken and barbecue around the clock.

• A smokeless fire pit is a device that functions as a campfire, but it produces no smoke.

• Read more here.

• Seems like more and more people are quite unhappy with the direction Reddit is moving in.

• Here’s an interesting discussion on the topic at Hacker News.

👨‍🎓 Framework of the Week

• The Framework: Find an info product that sells well and turn it into a SaaS.

• Explanation: Danny Postma turned an eBook with 200 headline formulas (into a headline generator SaaS called Headlime (which he later sold for ~$1M). The TweetHunter founders were inspired by simple templates sold on Gumroad that help people come up with tweet ideas.

💭 Prompt of the Week

• Prompt: What's an example where you could introduce a more expensive, premium product into a market that traditionally had cheap, low-quality items?

• Example: A premium, luxury brand of cereal that is made from the finest ingredients.

💸 Revenue Signals of the Week

brought to you by Revenue Watcher

• Nureply reaches $4k MRR. (“Cold Email Personalization Assistant, Powered by Next Generation AI”)

• Pneuma makes $200k per month. (“We help companies refine their messaging, hone in their sales process, and grow their pipeline - all with a new website.”)

• AutoForward SMS grows to $11k MRR. (“AutoForward SMS will reliably forward & deliver your messages wherever they go.“)

• Scribbl hits $1,887 MRR. (“Transcription for Google Meet“)

• SVG Backgrounds is now at $1,500 MRR. (“Customize and apply
  backgrounds fast“)

📚 Business Read of the Week

Everyone is talking about SaaS, e-commerce, or selling agency services, while data businesses usually fly completely under the radar.

This article does a great job at breaking down what it takes to build a profitable one.

The Economics of Data Businesses

📢 Shoutouts

• Stew Fortier writes a short email each week for people with broad interests. He shares ideas from unrelated sources that all illustrate a similar principle. Highly recommend.

• The Loaf by Creatorbread is a newsletter that shares personal finance & business tips for freelancers & creators.

• Alts.co is the absolute best newsletter to learn more about alternative investment opportunities. It was started by my friend Stefan von Imhof, later merged with the Fractional newsletters by Wyatt Cavalier, and has since then quickly become one of the largest players in the industry. Their piece on newsletter economics is a perfect example of what makes their newsletter great.

🤖 AI Idea of the Week

• The Idea: An Uber for Plumbers, Handymen, and Repairs

• The Pain Points: Homeowners and renters often struggle to find a reliable and skilled plumber, handyman, or handywoman.

• The Opportunity: I think there's an opportunity to create a platform that connects homeowners with home repair providers. No such platform exists in many countries.