5 Promising Startup Ideas
Daivik Goel
Building a better way for brands to manage creators | Co-Founder of Superstar | I also throw events | Ex-Tesla, Cisco Meraki | Podcast Host | uWaterloo Eng Grad
“I want to do a startup but I don’t have a startup idea. Everything seems solved already.”
I hear this constantly. I used to say it myself. The reality couldn’t be more different. Countless opportunities await the right founder to bring them to life.
A couple weeks ago, I wrote about shifting my approach to finding great startup ideas.
Today, let’s explore some concrete opportunities. These ideas span different industries, from Fintech to Farmtech. My only request? If one works out for you, remember who sparked the idea and send me an invite to the Yacht Party :)
Here are 5 promising startup ideas you can run with.
Insurance Models in an Autonomous World
Tesla just unveiled Robotaxi, painting their vision of a fully autonomous future. San Francisco, Phoenix and Los Angeles streets already buzz with self-driving Waymos carrying passengers to their destinations. Most new vehicles include some form of autonomy.
This shift creates ripples across industries, but insurance faces a particularly fascinating evolution. Traditional insurance premiums factor in car type, location, age, and health to calculate risk.
The autonomous era introduces entirely new variables:
The opportunity? Build a risk determination model for insurance companies incorporating these new data points.
For the ambitious founder, launch an insurance company focused exclusively on autonomous vehicles.
SEO for AI models
AI models now guard the gates of information. When someone asks Claude or ChatGPT about “the best project management software,” responses flow from training data, not Google rankings.
This reshapes how businesses must approach visibility.
The market potential explodes as companies scramble to understand AI content optimization. Keywords fade in importance. Content structure and AI-friendly formatting take center stage.
A startup in this space could focus on:
It gets really interesting when you realize that unlike traditional SEO where you optimize for relatively stable algorithms, AI models are rapidly evolving, introducing new ranking factors and patterns.
This creates endless opportunities for a startup specializing in understanding and optimizing for these emerging AI-specific factors.
The potential for first-mover advantage in this space is massive, as businesses will increasingly need experts who understand both the technical aspects of AI and the strategic elements of digital visibility.
Farm-Based Green Data Centers: Turning Cow Methane into AI Infrastructure
Here’s a mind-blowing number: Cows generate 14.5% of global greenhouse gases. These animals produce methane through digestion.
While researchers chase methane reduction methods, a bigger opportunity emerges in turning an environmental problem into technological gold.
It sounds crazy but what if we could power the future of AI using cow burps?
Data centers face two massive hurdles: skyrocketing energy needs and pressure for sustainable power. While one YC company shoots for the stars with space-based data centers, farms sit on an untapped energy goldmine, methane floating into the atmosphere.
This creates a perfect opportunity for convergence. A typical dairy farm with 100 cows produces enough methane to power more than just its own operations. By installing biodigesters to capture and convert this methane into electricity, farms could become host sites for edge computing and AI infrastructure.
Imagine rural America dotted with small-scale, green data centers, all powered by energy that would otherwise be contributing to climate change.
The technology exists now. Biodigesters work. Data center designs stand ready. The missing piece? A business model connecting these dots.
Tech companies need computing power and green credentials. Farmers could tap multiple revenue streams:
Tech companies gain distributed, green computing power and an environmental win. This solution transcends environmental benefits — it sparks rural economic revolution. As AI companies hunt for computing power while targeting carbon reduction, farm-based data centers offer the answer.
We transform agriculture’s biggest environmental challenge into digital infrastructure’s foundation, while creating rural prosperity.
App For Couples in a Long Distance Relationship
Ask anyone who has been in a long distance relationship and they will tell you how much it sucks. However, as the world becomes more interconnected and we spend more time within our digital selves, these types of relationships are more prevalent.
This presents a lot of opportunities.
Current solutions scatter across platforms, calendar apps for scheduling, Instagram for photos, various gaming services, and clunky Netflix extensions for shared watching. The market lacks a unified platform built specifically for nurturing love across distances.
Imagine an app that combines shared experiences, routine building, and meaningful connection in one place. Features could include:
The magic lies in features strengthening relationships through distance. Many couples report improved communication skills during separation — this app could accelerate this growth while easing the burden.
The market expands daily. Remote work permanence, international education growth, and rising digital nomad lifestyles make long-distance relationships increasingly common. Modern love stories often start or grow across distances.
There is a large revenue potential as well. Long-distance couples already spend heavily on travel, gifts, and digital services. A platform enhancing their connection while simplifying their lives commands premium subscription rates.
Recommended by LinkedIn
A Credit Card for Coffee Lovers
It is reported that 75% of the US population drinks coffee every day.
The average American coffee drinker spends over $2,000 annually on coffee, yet this massive spending category lacks a dedicated rewards card.
Remember how Bilt Rewards transformed the credit card industry?
They turned rent payments, a huge monthly expense for young professionals, into a rewards category. They captured a generation by understanding core spending habits.
Coffee presents similar potential with higher transaction frequency.
Imagine a card offering a complete coffee ecosystem:
Just as Bilt created a community around rent payments by adding valuable perks like credit building and points toward home ownership, this card could build a community of coffee enthusiasts with features like automatic credits for coffee subscription services and members-only events at partner roasters.
From a bank’s perspective, the business model is compelling. The demographics mirror Bilt’s success, young, urban professionals with disposable income who are just starting their credit journey. But while rent is paid once monthly, coffee purchases happen daily, creating more consistent interchange revenue and engagement.
These are exactly the customers banks want to capture early, as they’re likely to need mortgages, investment products, and business banking services in the future.
Customer acquisition costs could be significantly lower than traditional credit cards by targeting customers directly at coffee shops, turning each daily purchase into a potential signup opportunity.
The lifestyle alignment drives higher engagement and card usage, making it more likely to become the top-of-wallet card for all purchases, not just coffee — similar to how Bilt became the primary card for many renters due to its rent payment feature.
Rising specialty coffee culture and focus on sustainable, ethical sourcing opens more possibilities. This transcends standard rewards cards, it becomes a lifestyle card transforming daily coffee runs into rewarding experiences while connecting banks to premium customers.
The beauty of these ideas lies in their flexibility. Each one opens multiple paths or might spark entirely different solutions. The core opportunity matters most.
Identify it and start building.
Because the idea ultimately is just a small fraction of the picture, success will be determined by excellent execution, timing, and persistence.
Featured Events
Events that I host, will be at or think might be worthwhile to check out
👋 - I plan to be there, feel free to say hi!
🎊 - I am hosting! Please feel free to swing by!
San Francisco
10/28 - SF Founders Brew Mixer 🎊- Register
10/30 - Founder Friends in SF #Disrupt2024 - Register
11/01 - AI x The Future of Work: TechCrunch Disrupt Side Event- Register
Toronto
10/28 - TO Founders Brew Mixer 🎊 - Register
11/05 - Generate The Future: Toronto AI Mixer 🎊- Register
11/09 - Stripe Press Pop-Up: Toronto - Register
New York
10/29 - Hardtech Halloween - Register
10/29 - Contrary NYC Tech Talk - Register
11/07 - Inside: South Park Commons- Register
Check out this Podcast Episode!
You can also listen on Spotify, Apple Music, and Google Podcasts
In this episode of Building Blocks, we dive deep into the world of AI-powered content creation with Neel Balar, co-founder of Clueso.
Neel shares his journey from IIT Madras to Y Combinator, and how he pivoted from his initial startup idea to building Clueso, a platform that transforms screen recordings into polished video tutorials and documentation.
He offers valuable insights on product development, customer acquisition, and scaling a global SaaS business.
Thanks for reading,
Daivik Goel
Investor/Entrepreneur, Speaker
2moStartup ideas are like sleep. The harder you try, the more elusive they are. The law of fractals comes in real handy with startups. Because knowledge is ever growing and there is almost always more than what meets the eye in most anything we do, following one’s curiosities and learning almost inevitably leads to noticing inefficiencies in our areas of interest. Holes that seem obvious to you and the fact that no one else sees them blows your mind. Stripe and Google were those kinds of ideas. For the record, I don’t think there is any particular industry that perfect for startups; in fact, most great startup ideas seem sh*t to others (Uber and Airbnb are great examples). Some industries are for sure better and more ‘scalable’ than others but there is always opportunity. Opportunity is industry-agnostic.
Helping owners scale w/o burnout by strategically replacing themselves
2moShift perspectives. Opportunities abound when vision meets effort.
Founder & CEO, Dealership Accelerator & Drive AI | Revolutionizing Dealerships with AI Sales Engagement
2moThis is a refreshing take! Many aspiring founders get discouraged, thinking every problem is already solved. But there’s always room for innovation, especially with AI.