Startup Ideas Nobody Asked For

Startup culture has a few reliable templates: take an ordinary activity, add an app, add a subscription, maybe add a blockchain. Applied to the right problem, the templates work. Applied to everything, they produce the ideas on this page.

We grouped them by which template they abuse. Look at the Need score first; it is the number that most often decides whether an idea is a product or a punchline.

We wrote these sixteen pitches for this page and scored them with the live judge on 10 October 2026; the verdicts, roasts and dimension scores below are its actual output. Checks used: Is My Idea Stupid?.

Everything is a subscription

When the business model is the only part of the product anyone thought about.

• A smart toothbrush that needs a monthly subscription to unlock the bristles. GLORIOUSLY STUPID. 88% stupid

  Technically viable. Emotionally unnecessary.

  Biggest problem: Weak customer need. · Need 0/10 · Clarity 4/10 · Money 2/10 · Originality 8/10 · Difficulty 4/10

  Need scored zero and the verdict was gloriously stupid at 88%. Locking the one part of a toothbrush that does anything behind a paywall is a business model looking for a reason to exist.

• A subscription box of mystery cables, none of which fit anything you own. GLORIOUSLY STUPID. 86% stupid

  Solves a problem nobody has. Efficiently.

  Biggest problem: Weak customer need. · Need 1/10 · Clarity 2/10 · Money 2/10 · Originality 6/10 · Difficulty 0/10

  86% stupid and clarity only 2/10. Most homes already have a drawer of cables that fit nothing; this would just make it arrive monthly.

It’s like a marketplace, but for…

Two-sided platforms with one side missing.

• An on-demand app for borrowing a cup of sugar from neighbours, with surge pricing at dinner time. PRETTY STUPID. 76% stupid

  People will love it right up until the checkout page.

  Biggest problem: Weak path to making money. · Need 3/10 · Clarity 9/10 · Money 2/10 · Originality 6/10 · Difficulty 2/10

  Clarity 9/10, money 2/10. Borrowing sugar works because it is free and friendly; surge pricing removes both reasons at once.

• A platform for renting out the back seat of your parked car for naps. PRETTY STUPID. 72% stupid

  Great hobby. Tough business.

  Biggest problem: Weak path to making money. · Need 4/10 · Clarity 8/10 · Money 4/10 · Originality 8/10 · Difficulty 3/10

  72% stupid, with originality 8/10. Need reached 4/10, which suggests the judge has met tired commuters, but there are not many people willing to pay for a stranger’s back seat.

• A marketplace for selling the guilt from your unused gym membership. PRETTY STUPID. 71% stupid

  People will love it right up until the checkout page.

  Biggest problem: Weak path to making money. · Need 4/10 · Clarity 7/10 · Money 2/10 · Originality 8/10 · Difficulty 2/10

  71%. The roast says people will love it right up until the checkout page, which is exactly how gym memberships work too.

• A swipe app for choosing roommates based on photos of their dirty dishes. QUESTIONABLE. 62% stupid

  Great hobby. Tough business.

  Biggest problem: Weak path to making money. · Need 5/10 · Clarity 8/10 · Money 3/10 · Originality 8/10 · Difficulty 1/10

  Questionable at 62%, need 5/10. Cleanliness really is the top roommate argument, so this is half a good idea. The swiping is the other half.

AI and gadgets, unfortunately

Hardware and software that work exactly as described, which is the problem.

• An AI life coach whose only advice is to drink a glass of water. PRETTY STUPID. 82% stupid

  Great hobby. Tough business.

  Biggest problem: Weak path to making money. · Need 1/10 · Clarity 6/10 · Money 1/10 · Originality 6/10 · Difficulty 0/10

  Money potential 1/10. The advice is not wrong, but people only pay for it once.

• A wearable that vibrates whenever someone nearby is having more fun than you. GLORIOUSLY STUPID. 86% stupid

  Technically viable. Emotionally unnecessary.

  Biggest problem: Weak customer need. · Need 1/10 · Clarity 5/10 · Money 2/10 · Originality 9/10 · Difficulty 7/10

  86% stupid, with execution difficulty 7/10. Measuring other people’s fun would be a scientific breakthrough, used here exclusively to make you sad.

• A delivery drone that brings you exactly one french fry. GLORIOUSLY STUPID. 88% stupid

  Technically viable. Emotionally unnecessary.

  Biggest problem: Weak customer need. · Need 0/10 · Clarity 8/10 · Money 1/10 · Originality 9/10 · Difficulty 6/10

  Need 0/10, originality 9/10. The judge rated it gloriously stupid at 88% and noted it is technically viable, which somehow makes it worse.

• A VR headset that simulates being stuck in traffic, for people who miss their commute. PRETTY STUPID. 81% stupid

  Technically viable. Emotionally unnecessary.

  Biggest problem: Weak customer need. · Need 0/10 · Clarity 7/10 · Money 2/10 · Originality 8/10 · Difficulty 3/10

  81% stupid. Need scored zero, because the number of people who miss traffic is, as far as the judge could tell, nobody.

• A smart doorbell that rates visitors' outfits before deciding whether to let them in. GLORIOUSLY STUPID. 89% stupid

  Technically viable. Emotionally unnecessary.

  Biggest problem: Weak customer need. · Need 0/10 · Clarity 5/10 · Money 2/10 · Originality 9/10 · Difficulty 6/10

  The worst score on the page at 89%. Doorbells have one job and the rating feature makes sure it stops being done.

A social network, but for…

Proof that every noun can be followed by “but social”.

• A social network exclusively for people who don't like social networks. QUESTIONABLE. 64% stupid

  Technically viable. Emotionally unnecessary.

  Biggest problem: Weak customer need. · Need 4/10 · Clarity 6/10 · Money 4/10 · Originality 8/10 · Difficulty 3/10

  64%, questionable. Originality 8/10 and need 4/10: the audience is real, but they will not be signing up.

• A dating app for houseplants. PRETTY STUPID. 68% stupid

  Technically viable. Emotionally unnecessary.

  Biggest problem: Weak customer need. · Need 1/10 · Clarity 7/10 · Money 5/10 · Originality 9/10 · Difficulty 1/10

  68% stupid with originality 9/10. The plants have shown no interest, and their owners would mostly be swiping for themselves.

• A professional networking site for pets. QUESTIONABLE. 63% stupid

  Technically viable. Emotionally unnecessary.

  Biggest problem: Weak customer need. · Need 2/10 · Clarity 6/10 · Money 6/10 · Originality 7/10 · Difficulty 1/10

  63%, and money potential reached 6/10, the highest on the page. Pet owners do spend money on their pets’ online presence, so the joke has an unexpectedly real market.

• An app that turns your calendar into a daily podcast read by a dramatic narrator. QUESTIONABLE. 62% stupid

  Technically viable. Emotionally unnecessary.

  Biggest problem: Weak customer need. · Need 2/10 · Clarity 9/10 · Money 5/10 · Originality 8/10 · Difficulty 1/10

  Clarity 9/10, need 2/10. Hearing “at 2pm, the budget review” in a movie-trailer voice is fun exactly once.

Blockchain, as a last resort

One entry, because one was enough.

• A blockchain for tracking which roommate finished the milk. PRETTY STUPID. 78% stupid

  Great hobby. Tough business.

  Biggest problem: Weak path to making money. · Need 3/10 · Clarity 8/10 · Money 0/10 · Originality 7/10 · Difficulty 1/10

  Money potential 0/10, the lowest possible. The argument it settles is real; the price of settling it with a distributed ledger is higher than the milk.

None of the templates are bad on their own. They become bad when the template arrives before the problem. If you have a real idea and want an honest first read, run it through the judge; it scores need first for a reason.

More collections

• Ideas That Sound Smart for 7 Seconds: Pitches that survive exactly one sentence, then the scores.
• Stupid Business Ideas: Twenty terrible ideas, ranked from merely stupid to glorious.
• Bad Ideas With Surprisingly Good Scores: Ideas that sound silly but scored not stupid, and why.
• All examples and collections