Minimum Viable - Nov. 24, 2025

🍼 Microplastic and PFA-free Baby Food Brand - Verified by Blockchain
🌇 Controversial San Francisco Cheating Startup Moves to New York
🧿 Sam Altman’s Eye-scanning Company Says “No.” to Work/life Balance
💪 3 Ways to Stay Motivated While Building a Startup (blog)
🏠 HOA’s for HOA’s

🍼 Microplastic and PFA-free Baby Food Brand - Verified by Blockchain

IDEA: All parents, especially first timers, are incredibly concerned about what they feed their baby. With baby bottle companies being sued for microplastics in their products within the 18 months, that concern is only growing. Parents need a company that they can trust to keep their children safe. Creating a microplastic and PFA (“forever-chemicals”) free baby food company is one thing, but being able to prove it is what will set you apart. But how do you prove it? Easy, the blockchain.

The Blockchain is a digital, decentralized ledger that has been become popular thanks to cryptocurrency. The ledger is not controlled by a single entity but is distributed among a peer-to-peer network that works to verify transactions. So how does this help baby product sourcing trust? Well, it is immutable which means that it cannot be deleted or altered without a record of the action that was taken meaning the blockchain is a definitive source of truth.

PRODUCT: Develop an online marketplace offering baby food and products that runs on the blockchain. Every step of the process from formulating the food and sourcing product materials, to assembly and delivery will be documented and available for all users to see. Partner with an infant health and safety non-profit and implement a system that records all products used and certifies a chain of command.

MVP: Develop blockchain and online marketplace. Make blockchain easily visible for all products.

REVENUE MODEL: Transactional, charge per product.

EXIT STRATEGY: Sell to a large grocery chain like Kroger or online retailer for 6x revenue.

Publication: San Francisco Standard

Link: San Francisco’s most controversial startup is moving to New York

Summary: Startup Cluely, known for its provocative “cheat on everything” AI app, announced it is relocating from San Francisco to New York. The move comes after regulatory scrutiny. The company’s SoMa headquarters, where several employees lived and worked, was reportedly zoned only for office use, and a formal complaint is under review. CEO Roy Lee said the relocation reflects New York’s stronger ecosystem for consumer startups and content creation. Cluely has recently pivoted to serve as an AI meeting-assistant company amidst slower growth and admitted “tech debt.”

Spin: So, the company that developed AI to help applicants cheat on coding assessments is in trouble for not following the rules? Color me shocked. In startup life, there are going to be some late nights that end up with you sleeping at the office. And if there is one place that would understand that, it’s San Francisco. It must have been really obvious for them to get caught.

Publication: Fortune

Link: Sam Altman’s eye-scanning orb startup says employees should only care about work—for the good of humanity—otherwise ‘you should just not be here’

Summary: Startup Tools for Humanity, building the eyeball-scanning “Orb” device for identity verification, has been reported to enforce an extreme work culture. Its CEO, Alex Blania, told employees that only the company’s mission should matter and that if they cared about anything else, “you should just not be here.” He stated the organization doesn’t care about politics, DEI initiatives or other distractions—only performance, merit and excellence. This approach reflects a growing “hard-core” start-up culture in tech.

Spin: Not that I would ever be qualified enough to work here, but hard pass. If work/life balance can be visualized with a scale, one side would be straight up in the air while the other would be crashing through the floor. How could anyone think that this is a good idea? Even if you pay your employees extremely well, it’s not like they get to enjoy it. I give it about 6 months before burnout and turnover gets too ridiculous and they get rid of the policy.

Today’s motivation comes from a blog post on YFS Magazine. Intrinsic motivation is very important, but it can fade especially when you are on your own. One line that was a little corny but stuck out as true was “People often say that motivation doesn’t last. Well, neither does bathing, that’s why we recommend it daily.” See the full blog below.

IDEA: Ah, the Home Owner’s Association, the bane of many homeowner’s existence. The best HOA is the one that you never hear from. It keeps things clean, keeps lawns cut, and stays the heck out of the way. There are some that way overstep though. They enforce the most unnecessary rules, enter properties without notice, and hand out fines like they’re candy. The flip side of that are the HOA’s that do literally nothing except collect dues. The problem is that HOA’s go seemingly unchecked. There needs to be a Home Owner’s Association Association that keeps HOA’s from being the worst people on the planet.

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