Minimum Viable - Oct. 17, 2025

🌊 LiDAR for Flood Prevention
🏀 Founder Friday with Rick Kern of Hoops Laboratory, Inc.
❓ Boom/Bust: The HQ Trivia Story
📖 Have books turn the pages for you

🛬 🌊 LiDAR for Flood Prevention

IDEA: In February of this year, Eastern Kentucky was hit with yet another catastrophic flooding event. According to the National Weather Service, there were a total of 30 flood warnings issued for the area during the weekend of February 15th and 16th. This resulted in 21 deaths, 40,000 without power, 1,000 water rescues, 300 road closures, and widespread damage to a region still recovering from past floods. And EKY is not the only area experiencing weather events; they have become much more common in recent years. So what can be done to help prevent devastating floods and save lives? Well, LiDAR could be utilized.

PRODUCT: LiDAR stands for Light Detection and Ranging and is used to create geospatial surveys and 3D environmental mapping. The ‘point clouds’ that are developed from scans can be used to build detailed maps of terrain and waterways which will lead to more accurate flood models. The more accurate a flood model is, the better one can identify vulnerable areas and placements for flood prevention structures. Populations near vulnerable areas can also be notified much more quickly, saving lives.

MVP: Develop LiDAR scans of public areas to compare against existing models to prove accuracy. Identification of potential flooding areas based on previous events.

REVENUE MODEL: Contractual. Secure long-term contracts with local, state, and federal authorities like FEMA.

EXIT STRATEGY: Partner with a federal organization like FEMA or sell to a national weather organization for 6x revenue.

This Founder is literally changing the game. I had the pleasure of meeting Rick at a startup founders event and his passion for the game is truly unmatched. Here is what the Springfield (Delco), Pennsylvania, native has to say about his journey into entrepreneurship.

What are you working on now?

Right now, we are working on changing the game of basketball with our flagship product, Hoop. This mobile application is going to change how players find games, trainers, and leagues; allow players to interact in a way they never have before (through peer-to-peer scouting); and enable colleges, universities, pro and semi-pro teams to recruit players in a way that was never available before—again, via peer-to-peer scouting.

Why did you want to become an entrepreneur?

Until very recently, I still hadn’t thought of myself as an entrepreneur. Looking back, the way I think and the things I am good at are the same as those that make people successful in business. But I never sat down and said I’m going to go into business for myself no matter what. Back in 2015—and maybe even before that—I had the idea for an app that would change basketball and how people who love basketball interact. Over the years, I’ve honed the idea, sculpted features that would appeal to the target market, and identified a way to make sure it wasn’t just a novelty but would have staying power. All of that is to say that for me, the idea led to my becoming an entrepreneur and not the other way around. I’m not sure that without the idea for Hoop, I’d have gone down this entrepreneurial path.

Was there a specific moment or a “that’s it” reaction that made you make the jump?

There have been hundreds of moments since this idea came to me over a decade ago when I should have jumped but was too scared. I’d make excuses—some good, some bad—as to why it wasn’t the right time. For whatever reason, back in February of this year, I was lying in bed and finally convinced myself that if I didn’t do it now, I never would, and I’d regret it for the rest of my life. Fast forward to today, and we are a couple of weeks away from launching.

What is something that we should know about the early days of starting a company?

Truthfully, it’s awful. It’s an incredible feeling to start working toward something you are so passionate about, and at the same time, it’s so, so hard not to get discouraged and quit. As far as ideas go, mine was pretty polished. As I said, I’d been thinking about every aspect of this for years: the UI/UX designs, an exhaustive list of creative revenue streams, market research, exit strategies, etc. Every single minute detail planned out… and yet, no one could see what I could see. I’d talk to friends and family and of course they’d listen and smile and say “that’s great,” but they didn’t truly believe. And at every step of the process, there is someone there ready to take the wind out of your sails. Creating a successful business is extremely difficult, so most people assume business ventures will fail and statistically, they’d be right. If you aren’t passionate and you don’t believe even if others don’t, you are going to fail. So starting a company? Yes, it’s very cool. Having your own logo and business card? Also cool. But what they don’t tell you is how difficult it is to be the only person who believes in something and to risk it all to do it anyway.

Is entrepreneurship for everyone? And what is something people should be 100% sure about before they start?

I think the vast majority of people have the capacity to be entrepreneurs. Most people have something they are good enough at to make money from, even if they don’t know it. There IS a certain understanding of the world you need to have to be successful in business, but that isn’t the biggest thing standing in the way for most people. There are two things that you have to have to be a successful entrepreneur: a true passion for what you are doing and an undying belief that you have what it takes. Without those two things, you will end up failing. Every step of the way, people will doubt your idea and doubt you. And sometimes you’ll doubt yourself. But that is why you need passion and an unhealthy level of self-belief in your ability to succeed. If you have those two things, you have the right foundation to be an entrepreneur.

Publication: Reuters

Link: US tech startup Anthropic unveils cheaper model to widen AI's appeal

Summary: Anthropic has introduced Haiku 4.5, an upgraded version of its smallest AI model, costing about one-third as much as its mid-tier model, Sonnet 4, and one-fifteenth the cost of its flagship, Opus. On many tasks, including coding, Haiku 4.5 matches or outperforms Sonnet 4. Anthropic says the move aims to broaden AI adoption beyond tech firms, making it economical to embed AI across internal systems at scale. Around 80% of its revenue comes from enterprise clients.

Spin: This is really big news. One of the largest barriers to AI adoption at the enterprise level is cost. I expect other AI companies to follow Anthropic’s lead here and release lower cost or even free versions of smaller models. Training an AI model, according to the article, can cost up to $100 million, so they tend to push their most expensive models. But, with this lower cost version, they are hedging their bets, potentially cutting their training costs, and increasing adoption at the same time.

Remember HQ Trivia? The blip on the radar in 2018 that entranced us all for 15 minutes twice a day? Even though it fell apart as quickly as it appeared, there is a lot that we can learn about its 15 minutes of fame. The meteoric rise is something that we have not seen since the likes of WeWork and its tumultuous collapse is something we haven’t seen since… well, also WeWork.

IDEA: Have you ever been so warm under a blanket that the thought of pulling your arms out into the cold is unfathomable? I have. Let’s say you’re reading a book on your Kindle and you just got to the end of the page. Wouldn’t it be nice to look at an icon on the screen and have the page turn itself?

Create an e-reader with built-in eye-tracking technology that will allow users to perform certain tasks without touching the screen. Call it iReader.

Fair warning: Apple will probably have an issue with that name.

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