💌 Storyworth for Couples, B2B Gifting, Local Launch Houses

Brainstorms Issue #22

Idea #1: Storyworth For Couples

The Backstory

I was scrolling through Facebook the other day when I was hit with an ad from a company called Storyworth. I had never heard of this company, so I figured I’d check it out.

Here’s the gist - Storyworth is a company that helps you discover family stories from your parents or grandparents that you never knew through a unique process:

1. Once a week, they send the grandparent or parent an email with questions to uncover stories

2. The participants respond with a written story that’s sent to you each week

3. At the end of the year, the stories are bound into a book.

After looking at their landing page, I immediately fell in love with their business.

Based on my “back of the napkin” calculations, I estimate that they do about $400-600K/month in revenue.

The Opportunity

I started thinking about other places where the Storyworth model could work, and I think romantic partners are the perfect fit - aka Storyworth for couples.

My girlfriend and I recently played 36 Questions That Lead to Love, a game that asks thought-provoking questions to help you get to know your partner better. Not only was it a fun experience, I felt closer to my girlfriend afterward.

If you take the same concept of 36 Question That Lead to Love and apply it using the Storyworth model, I think you'd have a winner.

Current Solutions

• Love Book - It’s a similar concept as Storyworth for couples, but they only create a book - they don’t ask questions or do any of the other pieces that make Storyworth valuable.

• Book of Us - Same thing as Love Book.

Idea #2: B2B Gifting

The Backstory

A few weeks ago I was coaching a startup in the B2B space that had a sales funnel that produced amazing results - way above industry standards.

Luckily, I had the privilege of seeing what was going on behind the scenes.

While I can’t reveal everything, I can say that gift cards (or “tokens of appreciation” as they called it) played a big role.

Basically, after-sales calls, demos, and other meetings, they would send digital gift cards for Netflix, coffee, local restaurants, etc… as a way to say thanks for taking the time to meet with me.

When I asked them how they managed all that, they said it was a pretty manual, time-intensive process.

Which sounded like an opportunity to me…

The Opportunity

Someone should build a tool that plugs into a company's CRM and allows them to send digital gift cards with a click of a button.

You could customize the tool to send certain gifts based on where someone is at in your funnel. The closer contact they are, the better gifts they get.

I love this idea because it follows one of the most basic laws of social psychology The Reciprocity Principle, which states -

“When someone does something nice for you, you will have a deep-rooted psychological urge to do something nice in return. As a matter of fact, you may even reciprocate with a gesture far more generous than their original good deed”

☝ There’s your pop psychology lesson for the week boys and girls.  

Current Solutions

• Sendoso - They have mostly focused on large enterprises and their pricing starts at about $20,000/year

• Thnks - This looks like the closest competitor. If you want to pursue this idea, I’d look at what they are doing.

Idea #3: Local Launch Houses

The Backstory

I am in a startup community with a guy who started a project called Launch House. Basically, a group of makers and creators stay at a beautiful house, work together, and hang out for four weeks with some startup curriculum sprinkled in.

It’s pitched as an incredible way to network and accomplish your goals with a group of like-minded individuals.

But most importantly, they sell the experience that you’ll have and the memories/connections you’ll walk away with. That’s the real power of what Launch House is doing.

Launch House started mid to late 2020 and has done surprisingly well according to the founder. They are launching more locations and looking at expanding operations.

The fact that they were able to successfully start a company that’s based around people gathering in 2020 tells me that there’s something here.

The Opportunity

There’s a lot of room for competition in this space. Launch House’s model has growth constraints built-in - currently, they are only running one cohort/month, in one city, with ~20 people/cohort.

You could find ways to differentiate, but even creating an identical offer might work if there’s enough demand.

Heck, you could even try to partner with Launch House to get the makers/creators that don't make it in.

Admittedly, I don’t think this is the most lucrative opportunity I’ve talked about. That said, I see this as being a fun way to create value, meet interesting people, and make some money while doing it.

Current Solutions

• Launch House - Obviously.

• Local Coworking or Incubators - In a lot of ways you can get connections and accountability from coworking or incubators, but they are missing the critical ingredient… the experience.

Thanks for reading - now get out there and build it! 

Catch ya next week, 

Keevin ✌

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