Co-Star's Playbook for Founders
How "decision hygiene" became a $3B category — and why timing tools are the next founder productivity unlock
Weekend Project
Fast-start ideas that can be built in days, not months. Lightweight tools, digital products, or services perfect for testing markets with minimal cost or risk. Ideal for solopreneurs and early builders exploring traction and learning through doing.
The Shopify Moment for AI Labor: Owning Worklines on MuleRun
MuleRun hit 600K users offering promotional economics to fill their marketplace. Workline owners capture value; single-agent builders get commoditized.
Review Gardening Agents: Build the Revenue Layer for Google Business Profile
Turn every Google review into repeat visits. Shops hit 90% response rates and capture 10-30 VIP contacts monthly from reviews alone.
The Amazon Launch Manager Play
Book launch services jumped from $5K to $50K+. Nobody owns the middle market turning founder manuscripts into qualified leads.
The Black Book: Build a Private Intel Network for the Anti-Viral Economy
TikTok made gatekeeping valuable again. Build a paid trust network for recommendations that never go viral—and charge venues for access.
The Living Room Franchise
Silent reading events surged 223% while commercial real estate bleeds off-peak. The format scales, the membership model is missing.
The Missing macOS Layer for Dasung's $2,000 E-Ink Monitors
E-ink monitor displaying crisp text, macOS menu bar, eye strain relief icon, Dasung company logo, VS Code editor interface
Offline Ritual Kits (aka the House Phone Comeback)
A Stanford grad's $280K handset launch proved people pay for phone boundaries—but the durable business is owning offline ritual formats, not selling another cute gadget.
The 5:30 Club: "Early Dinner" Category Play
Early dining bookings now exceed late-night slots. The opportunity is building recurring social infrastructure, not another deal marketplace.
Compliance-First Script Engine for Beauty Creators
Beauty influencer trust dropped 8 points while ingredient transparency became Gen Z's top driver. The gap is a compliance infrastructure opportunity.
The Creami OS Heist
Viral kitchen appliances are training millions in process engineering. The software layer for troubleshooting complex workflows doesn't exist yet.
Weekly Template Drop Platform
CapCut templates hit 50,000+ uses each. Meta just launched a competitor. The formats people copy are becoming infrastructure.
Trust Layer for TikTok Shop
TikTok Shop users regret 23% of purchases. Build the trust layer that captures post-viral buyers seeking quality over hype.
Longevity Distribution Platform from Japan
Japan's FOSHU-certified longevity products lack Western distribution while affluent 55-75 year-olds pay premium for credible healthspan solutions.
Leadership Practice Simulator
Leadership development hits $82B annually while 60% of new managers fail. PwC validated VR training works—nobody owns the simulation layer yet.
Premium Physical Notebook Brand Platform
Premium notebooks are growing 4–5% annually while Amazon KDP cracks down on AI spam—opening a compliance moat for curated physical products.
Solo Dining Discovery & Certification Platform
Solo dining searches up 271% on Yelp, reservations spiking 22% on Toast—but no platform owns the discovery layer or certification standard.
Vertical AI Tools for Creative Micro-Cultures
Vertical AI hit $5B in legal. The $115B market is expanding at 24.5% CAGR—but creative micro-cultures remain underserved by generic tools.
Pinterest-Style Affiliate Commerce Platform
Pinterest trained 522M users to shop by aesthetic, but creators can't monetize this behavior outside walled gardens. The embed economy awaits.
Desk-Friendly Breakfast Brands
Hybrid workers skip breakfast 39% of the time, eating at desks when they do—creating a TikTok-native convenience play beyond traditional CPG channels.
Modular Fragrance Layering System
Gourmand fragrance searches exploded 77% while Kayali's pistachio scent went viral—but nobody's built the modular system TikTok's layering culture actually wants.
Social Accountability Platform for Personal Improvement
TikTok's Winter Arc accidentally proved social accountability drives 85-90% course completion versus 3-15% for self-paced learning, creating a platform opportunity.
Couples Relationship Tests App
TikTok couples are running relationship tests with 56M+ views. No product captures the data. Gottman's research proves the science.
Mobile-First Brand Worlds for VRChat
VRChat's mobile launch opened mass distribution. Studios still design for headsets. Brands need phone-first worlds—nobody's shipping them yet.