Founder's Compass: Week 3
Hello there and welcome to Founder's Compass, a good way to get oriented around the labyrinthian world of startups.
Tool of the week
For this week's tool, I'm bringing one of the most powerful tools you can use to tell a story: data. And Flourish helps you show that data beautifully. Free and with a lot of customizability, this is perfect for showcasing all the relevant info about your startup.
P.S: This segment, Tool of the week, isn't sponsored and will never be. Only great, top-of-the-line tools are showcased here based on direct experience with them.
Video of the week
While everybody is busy with the new AI kid on the block, there were some awesome developments happening in the web. This video from Fireship Tech showcases a couple of them brilliantly.
Some standouts: dialog windows, popovers, and especially WebGPU (which allows your browser to tap into your GPU's resources).
Startup Idea of the week
Carbon-fiber rebar ๐
๐ฃ๐ฟ๐ผ๐ฏ๐น๐ฒ๐บ:
Cement production is the worldโs third highest producer of man-made, global-warming CO2. Cement is used in making concrete (yes, cement is an ingredient for it, not the same thing). The less concrete (and by extension cement) we make, the more we can reduce our Co2 output. But what does that have to do with rebar?
๐ง๐ฎ๐ฟ๐ด๐ฒ๐:
Construction companies, contractors, developers.
๐ฃ๐ฟ๐ผ๐ฝ๐ผ๐๐ฒ๐ฑ ๐ฆ๐ผ๐น๐๐๐ถ๐ผ๐ป:
When building, we use a lot of concrete to cover steel rebar in order to protect it from rust. If we replace the steel rebar with carbon-fiber strands (which are also stronger than traditional steel) we can cut the use of concrete significantly, making much thinner concrete pillars with the same tensile strength.
TU Dresdenย actually has finished the first carbon concrete building (pictured here) quite recently. Read more here.
๐๐ฒ๐ป๐ฒ๐ณ๐ถ๐๐:
โ Stronger than traditional solutions with fewer materials overall.
โ Thinner layers of concrete also opens up the world of design and opens new doors for arhitects to explore.
โ Versatility: Carbon fiber can be used for rebar, but also for thin sheets, angled sections and channel sections.
๐๐ต๐ฎ๐น๐น๐ฒ๐ป๐ด๐ฒ๐:
โ Cost: Of course the cost is higher for this, but think about the savings in the long-term on maintenance and repairs.
โ Availability: Carbon Fiber isn't as available as steel is thanks to production demands, so this will drive costs even higher.
โ Specialized process: It's not as simple to produce carbon strands compared to concrete ones, it's high setup cost for the factory.
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: