🧭Simulated Alien Civilizations keep dying from Climate Change (Founder's Compass)
Hello there and welcome to Founder's Compass, a good way to get oriented around the labyrinthian world of startups.
Tool of the week: Misgif (pronounced Mis-jif)
Ok, let’s have some fun now: What if you could add your face to any GIF to personalize it? Similar to what’s going on with stickers on Whatsapp.
This is what Misgif allows you to do: Slap your face on the funniest, cringiest, most idiotic GIF’s of the internet.
You might be wondering: “What the hell would I use this for?”
Simple, personal branding. Writing a longer post? Use this to capture everyone’s attention.
Is it a gimmick? Yep. Does it work? Yep.
Video of the week: Porn Games are getting good
The gaming platform that’s bigger than Steam, even though it only serves Adult (as in, 18+, ultra-sexual) games.
Spoiler alert: the platform is owned by MindGeek, one of the shittiest corporations in the sex-tech space. Have a look at their growth trajectory though, there’s some tactics you can learn from them:
Top 5 stories of the week
“Product Hunt is just like that hip and cool coffee house that was started in an affordable part of the city. All those community members gathered in that space, which made that space more attractive, which eventually led to others with money want to be in that same space, and in turn increased competition, and made it more crowded, and therefore harder to get attention.”
“Following its reveal earlier this year, leading 3D-printed architecture firm Icon is now busy constructing its ambitious El Cosmico campground hotel project in the Texas desert. Billed as the world's first 3D-printed hotel, it will include camping areas, vacation homes, and shared amenities – plus some permanent starchitect-designed residences for sale too.”
“From years of running what is known as the NA62 experiment, particle physicist Cristina Lazzeroni of the University of Birmingham in the UK and her colleagues have now established, experimentally observed, and measured the decay of a charged kaon particle into a charged pion and a neutrino-antineutrino pair.”
“Since a customer can choose only one service provider, that choice directly impacts the health of the open source project. When a customer selects a Maker, part of their revenue is reinvested into the project. However, if they choose a Taker, the project sees little to no benefit. This means that open source projects grow faster when commercial work flows to Makers and away from Takers.”
“And it's not looking good. They found that the aliens kept dying off within just 1,000 years because their planets would always get too hot to remain habitable. Not even totally switching to renewables changed their fates: their worlds would still slowly toast themselves to death, all the same.”
Update from ReaktorX & Creative Motion.
Here’s what’s going on from our side:
Last chance to get our website offer where we build websites in under 8 hours or they’re free. Take a look here.
“Roast My Startup” recording is coming this Wednesday. Stay close to get notified ;)
Startup idea of the week: Patent Tracker
Problem:
Many businesses miss out on valuable opportunities because they aren't aware when key patents/copyright or industrial models expire. Identifying these moments can unlock massive potential for innovation and new product offerings, but tracking patent expirations is tedious and difficult without the right tools.
Target:
Tech companies, startups, and entrepreneurs looking to capitalize on expiring patents for new business ideas or innovations. Specifically, large R&D departments in established companies who have the resources to act quickly.
Solution:
A platform that tracks expiring technology patents and alerts businesses and founders when relevant patents are about to expire, giving them the chance to leverage these ideas.
How It Works:
Users sign up and provide information about their industry and business goals.
The platform integrates with the U.S. Patent Office’s API and EU’s Patent Office to find patents expiring in relevant fields.
Users receive alerts for patents of interest nearing expiration.
A searchable database allows users to browse and track specific patents over time.
Benefits:
Helps businesses and entrepreneurs identify overlooked opportunities.
Gives users a competitive edge by offering timely information on expiring patents.
Saves time and effort by automating the patent tracking process.
Go-to-market:
Target large tech companies with sizable R&D departments as early adopters, as they are more likely to pay for premium services. Expand later to startups and individual innovators.
Challenges:
Gaining access to up-to-date and comprehensive patent data.
Educating potential users on the benefits of tracking patent expirations.
Convincing larger corporations to trust a third-party platform for patent insights.
Stick close for the next one.