Founder's Compass: Week 1
Hello there and welcome to Founder's Compass, a good way to get oriented around the labyrinthian world of startups.
Tool of the week
WorkOS is an awesome tool for startups with corporate clients. Why? Onboarding corporate clients becomes easy, you just connect their enterprise SSO with your app in a couple of minutes. Look at this:
// Get a userโs access token and
// profile data from an Identity Provider
import WorkOS from '@workos-inc/node';
const workos = new WorkOS('sk_example_123456789');
const profile = await workos.sso.getProfileAndToken({
code: '01E2RJ4C05B52KKZ8FSRDAP23J',
clientID: 'client_123456789',
});And response:
Response {...}
"access_token": "01DMEK0J53CVMC32CK5SE0KZ8Q",
"profile": {
"id": "prof_01DMC79VCBZ0NY2099737PSVF1",
"connection_id": "conn_01E4ZCR3C56J083X43JQXF3JK5",
"connection_type": "okta",
"email": "alan@foo-corp.com",
"first_name": "Alan",
"last_name": "Turing",
"idp_id": "00u1a0ufowBJlzPlk357",
"object": "profile",
"raw_attributes": {...}
}Video of the week
Startup funding can get confusing. Fast. Sometimes too confusing. "Fugayzi, fugazi. It's a whazy. It's a woozie. It's fairy dust." Slidebean explains very well in this video how it really works.
Startup Idea of the week
Upgradable white goods ๐
๐ฃ๐ฟ๐ผ๐ฏ๐น๐ฒ๐บ:
30 years ago, when you bought a fridge, it would last for at least 30 years. Nowadays, buying a white good (that is fridges, washing machines, stoves etc.) means a significantly shorter life span (we're talking 8-10 years in the case of fridges if you're lucky). One part of that is thanks to the incredible advancement in tech these devices go through, with new features popping up every generation. But the other side is fuelled by economic growth at all costs, selling as many of these devices as possible.
๐ง๐ฎ๐ฟ๐ด๐ฒ๐:
Consumers, commercial partners (hotels, restaurants, prisons).
๐ฃ๐ฟ๐ผ๐ฝ๐ผ๐๐ฒ๐ฑ ๐ฆ๐ผ๐น๐๐๐ถ๐ผ๐ป:
A modular, reliable frame for each type of white good that can be upgraded over time. If well engineered from scratch, a washing machine can have all of its parts replaced over time. Now you don't need to sell a new device every year, but let consumers decide when and which parts to upgrade.
I have personal insight into this industry thanks to my father's (now closed) business which was offering servicing for professional-grade washing machines. The situation is dire, this industry is screaming for a disruption, with a lot of consolidated brands actively making their products worse over time.
๐๐ฒ๐ป๐ฒ๐ณ๐ถ๐๐:
โ Potentially incredibly profitable business, since these appliances are now a requirment in every household, we can't imagine living without them.
โ The need is clearly out there, with articles on top of articles of how bad this industry has gotten over the years.
โ A lot of business model opportunities: Retain product ownership and sell access to the tech, follow a yearly optional upgrade plan or one-time buy with guarantee included for X years.
๐๐ต๐ฎ๐น๐น๐ฒ๐ป๐ด๐ฒ๐:
โ Incredibly expensive to start: We're talking about hardware with hundreds if not thousands of moving parts. Engineering and material costs will go through the roof.
โ Regulatory environment: There are very strict regulations in this space the new products would have to respect. It's not easy building something people use daily.
โ Very hard market to penetrate: When you have an oligopoly, taking it down becomes a challenge itself. Musk could do it though, and carve out his own niche with Tesla. It is possible, but you need to be very good.
What would you do differently to get this startup off the ground? Do you think this would work? Let's talk in the comments ๐ค
Some news as well
That's it for this week's edition. Stick close for the next one.
Pssst... Are you looking to generate awesome ideas like the one above? You can work with us and create a hackathon for your team: https://creativemotion.io/creative-labs/
If you already have an awesome idea and an awesome team to boot, don't shy away and apply to our accelerator: https://reaktorx.com/