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My First Million5 Business Ideas With High Demand & Low Supply | Start These In 2022 (#374)
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CHAPTERS
- 0:00 – 9:37
A/B Testing Software for QR Code Restaurant Menus
Steph Smith pitches software that lets restaurants A/B test their digital QR menus the way internet companies test landing pages. Shaan Puri shares his own early restaurant experiments with higher prices and descriptive wording, and the two discuss how a tool could work with POS data.
- •Many restaurants still use QR code menus, but few test menu designs
- •Steph cites a menu designer who raised revenue by $9 per customer through layout changes
- •Shaan's sushi startup tested a 50% price increase and got a higher conversion rate
- •Adding descriptive words like 'hand-caught Alaskan salmon' made people order more
- •An A/B tool could pass final cart values back and be sold as a $50/month service
- 9:37 – 12:21
Optimizing Delivery Listings and Rebranding Restaurants
The conversation extends menu optimization to DoorDash and Uber Eats listings. Shaan describes a startup that created rebranded clones of local restaurants on delivery platforms and grew them without operating any restaurants.
- •Long Uber Eats menus can cause decision fatigue
- •An Uber engineer could build A/B testing into the platform to keep restaurants there
- •A startup rebranded local restaurants with better photos, trimmed menus and new packaging
- •It claimed 200 restaurants and about $17 million in GMV, with restaurants getting roughly 30% extra revenue
- •Shaan didn't invest because he worried it could be blocked
- 12:21 – 16:51
Inflections: The Food Pyramid and College Athlete NIL
Steph raises the changing food pyramid as an inflection point that might create business opportunities. Shaan then turns to the NIL law allowing college athletes to monetize their image, and suggests a marketplace connecting athletes and brands.
- •A new food pyramid could change who can label products 'healthy'
- •Shaan describes the NIL rule change and how he booked a player by Instagram DM
- •No dominant marketplace yet connects college athletes with paying brands
- •Barstool launched an athlete program taking 0% cut
- •Influencer marketing built brands like MVMT and Sugarbear Hair, and college athletes are an unsaturated channel
- 16:51 – 21:01
Choosing a Product to Sell Through College Athletes
Steph asks what product Shaan would build for the athlete channel. Shaan favors a credit card or a high-margin, repeat-purchase consumable such as an energy drink or deodorant, and the two riff on campus-specific scents.
- •A credit card for 18-21 year olds could be the best category
- •Good e-commerce traits are repeat purchase, high margin, low shipping cost and lock-in
- •Native deodorant is cited as an example of those traits
- •Shaan suggests an energy drink or deodorant as the leading candidates
- •Campus-specific scents could build rivalry and brand affinity
- 21:01 – 24:38
Breakup Businesses and the Empty Box Startup
Steph cites a stat that the average person spends $1,500 after a breakup and notes related search interest. Shaan suggests viral products from meme accounts, and the pair riff on voodoo dolls, the fake Empti startup and a breakup box.
- •A stat Steph saw in a newsletter claims about $1,500 is spent after a breakup
- •Search volume exists for divorce party ideas and breakup cakes
- •Shaan imagines a meme account launching breakup cakes or a revenge body kit
- •He estimates such a product could make $2 to $10 million a year organically
- •The breakup box idea echoes the fake Empti startup, with a video of the box being burned
- 24:38 – 31:45
Contagious Laughter and Why People Love the Podcast
Steph shares her theory that listeners love the show for the contagious laughter, which she links to a subreddit of people laughing. Shaan discusses selling a co-host's joke and gives his advice that great podcast guests are a bit 'insane' and don't turn their volume down.
- •The r/contagiouslaughter subreddit has 4.5 million subscribers
- •Shaan describes a TikTok trend where laughing on purpose becomes real laughter
- •He criticizes podcasts where co-hosts don't 'sell the joke' and calls the counter-move the 'homie move'
- •His earlier advice to Steph was not to be too normal, though he admits Lex Fridman is a counterexample
- •Asking blunt questions consistently becomes a show's shtick and gives permission to be direct
- 31:45 – 38:26
The Chess Cheating Scandal
Steph introduces the wave of cheating scandals in chess, poker and fishing, and Shaan explains why controversy draws people in. They go through the Magnus Carlsen and Hans Niemann dispute, the evidence cited, and the difficulty of proving cheating.
- •Carlsen lost to Niemann, then said he believed Niemann cheated without saying how
- •Shaan cites Dana White's fight-in-the-park argument for why controversy captures attention
- •Carlsen said Niemann didn't look like he was trying, and past games matched engine moves at up to 100%
- •Steph asks how cheating can be proven and how federations will catch it
- •Shaan compares it to doping, where retests years later catch earlier cheats
- 38:26 – 45:06
Anti-Cheat as a Business Category
Shaan draws on his gaming startup experience to explain anti-cheat software, arguing offline competitions will need similar providers. Steph suggests planting traps like Peter Levels' fake data, and Shaan relays Elon's email-fingerprint story for catching a leaker.
- •Gaming has dedicated anti-cheat companies serving many games, and chess, poker and fishing may need similar security
- •Steph describes Peter Levels planting a fake city in Nomad List data to catch copiers
- •She wonders whether engines could use planted incorrect moves to catch cheaters
- •Elon's tweet described sending slightly different spacing in an email to find a leaker
- •Shaan says the best cheater is always one step ahead when money is involved
- 45:06 – 52:11
Poker Scandal, Social Engineering and Ethical Hacking
Shaan recounts a high-stakes poker hand suspected of cheating and explains how most hacks rely on tricking humans rather than technical skill. The discussion moves to phishing-simulation businesses, an ethical hacker exposing Indonesian government databases, and the fast-growing security company Wiz.
- •A poker hand with weak cards triggered a crowdsourced investigation, with a suspected vibrating device and an insider
- •Shaan says many hacks are social engineering, such as phone calls to get security answers
- •Steph notes SIM swapping exploits the same human weakness
- •Companies sell fake phishing tests to employees and report who clicked
- •Steph mentions Wiz reaching $100M ARR; Shaan adds it did so in 18 months
- 52:11 – 59:21
Internet Portfolios: Evidence Over Confidence
Steph explains her principle that evidence beats confidence and shows personal portfolio sites as proof of skill. Shaan reacts to interactive examples from Bruno Simon and Robby Leonardi, then tells how a custom website helped him land a job at Monkey Inferno.
- •Steph argues that in the social media age people should show their work rather than claim expertise
- •Bruno Simon's site lets visitors drive a Jeep to explore his projects
- •Robby Leonardi's resume plays like a Mario game
- •Shaan applied to Monkey Inferno with a tailored website that included skills he was weak in
- •The hiring manager told him the website was why they hired him despite lacking qualifications
- 59:21 – 1:05:30
Neal.Fun, Open Pages and Sharing Income Publicly
They look at Neal Agarwal's interactive projects and discuss Steph's public open page tracking her side-project revenue and goals. Steph considers writing about her income history, and Shaan explains why he thinks public income sharing makes sense only when you're growing, then they talk about goal-hitting rates.
- •Neal.fun turns common curiosities into games like absurd trolley problems and internet debates
- •Steph's open page shows her side-project income and personal goals, and draws the most inbound contact
- •She wants to write about her monetary ascent but expects backlash
- •Shaan says he would share strategies and tactics openly but numbers only with trusted people
- •Steph hits about 50% of her goals and says hitting 100% means goals aren't ambitious
- 1:05:30 – 1:08:53
Salty Bowls, Smelly Water and Wrap-Up
Steph presents two products that make food or drink taste better without changing intake: Kirin's electric-current bowls and chopsticks, and Air Up's scented bottle ring. The episode closes with where to find Steph and her new a16z podcast.
- •Kirin in Japan uses a weak electrical current in bowls and chopsticks to make food taste saltier
- •Air Up scents the ring of a bottle so plain water seems flavored
- •Air Up raised $68 million, and Glimpse estimates $100 million a year in revenue, which Steph couldn't verify
- •Steph can be found at stephsmith.io and on Twitter
- •Her new show is called the a16z podcast
