Minimum Viable - Oct. 1, 2025

⛳️ 🏌🏽‍♀️ $10,000 Hole-in-One Golf Range

IDEA: Golf participation has been exploding in the US since the pandemic. Even though restrictions have been lifted, the game has continued to grow year over year. There is a demand for innovative ways to play and, with the decline of Topgolf, there is an opportunity. Offer a new, gamified golf game that focuses solely on the most satisfying shot in the sport: the hole-in-one. But why would people decide go to your range over a standard driving range, an 18-hole course, or Topgolf? Well, because if a golfer hits a hole-in-one at your range, they win $10,000.

PRODUCT: A driving range overlooking a small body of water with a green floating on top. Golfers would purchase a bucket of balls and attempt to hit a hole-in-one. If the golfer succeeds, they win $10,000.

Here’s why it works: An average golfer, as described by the USGA is a golfer that shoots around a 94 on an 18-hole course. The odds that an average golfer hits a hole-in-one is 12,500 to 1. Now, surround the green in a water hazard and have fully stocked bar easily accessible and you would have to imagine those odds get a lot steeper. Attempts would be plentiful; payouts would be few and far between.

MVP: Floating green with hole on a small body of water and a few bays with clubs, balls, and tees.

REVENUE MODEL: Transactional, charge per session or bucket of golf balls.

EXIT STRATEGY: Retain equity and transfer daily operations to a local golf course manager for passive income or sell to prominent golf supplies manufacturer for 5x revenue.

There’s only one place where CS leaders at the cutting edge will gather to explore the incredible opportunities presented by AI Agents: Pioneer.

Pioneer is a summit for AI customer service leaders to come together and discuss the trends and trajectory of AI and customer service. You’ll hear from innovators at Anthropic, Toast, Rocket Money, Boston Consulting Group, and more—plus a special guest keynote delivered by Gary Vaynerchuk.

You’ll also get the chance to meet the team behind Fin, the #1 AI Agent for customer service. The whole team will be on site, from Intercom’s PhD AI engineers, to product executives and leaders, and the solutions engineers deploying Fin in the market.

Join Pioneer in-person or online on October 9th, 2025. Register today.

Publication: TechCrunch

Link: These YC founders pivoted 5 times before building a social app that nabbed 300K users and over $1M ARR in 6 months

Summary: Alex Ruber and Parth Chopra, two Y-Combinator founders, were in what they called “pivot hell”. They spun their wheels bouncing from idea to idea until one finally stuck. What started as an AI-powered shopping app called Encore, slowly but surely turned into a lucrative app. After as many as ten ideas failed and five pivots fell flat, the duo finally landed on Candle, an app with daily prompts and conversation starters meant to keep close friends and loved ones connected.

An intern posted a video about the app on TikTok where it blew up across Europe. After 6 months, Candle has 300,000 users, 250,000 daily active users, and expect $1 million annual recurring revenue. That intern now leads the marketing team.

Spin: There are hundreds of apps and websites that are meant to help users meet new people. Ruber and Chopra went against the grain and gave users a way to stay closer to the people they already love. Ninety-nine percent of people would have given up after a couple ideas fell flat, but the mark of a true entrepreneur is the ability to get back up. A couple million in YC backing doesn’t hurt either.

Moral of the story: Never ever stop iterating and Tinder for insert industry always plays.

Today’s Motivation comes from one of, if not, the best podcasts ever created covering the startup journey. Alex Blumberg, a former public radio host, branches off on his own to start his podcast company, Gimlet. Not only does he talk about his journey, he records every major conversation he has with his wife, investors, his cofounder, and employees and displays it in a way that makes you feel like you are on the journey with him. It is one of my personal favorite podcasts and has been one of the single greatest motivators in my journey.

The episode linked is Season 1, Episode 1: How Not to Pitch a Billionaire.

IDEA: No, not the amusement park ride; the little circle or square on which you rest your beer. Isn’t it annoying that every time you need to move your drink you have to:

Wouldn’t it be way cooler… if the coaster had wheels and all you had to do was move everything once? Perhaps a sturdy ceramic base with wheels or ball bearings that lock in place. Introducing, the Roller Coaster. Coming to a bar near you.

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