This is a long list updated here for the first time on 22nd Feb 2026.
The ideas themselves are from 2013 onwards, I’ll keep updating this page.
These were in various google sheets or docs or notebooks, I’ve just compiled them with a short intro for each.
Long List
A cap that you can attach to any pen through which all transcription can be done automatically
A universal pen cap with embedded sensors (accelerometer/gyroscope) that captures handwriting motion and digitizes it in real-time. Pairs with a phone app for instant transcription. Ideally should work across any standard pen/pencil form factor.
hardware, handwriting, transcription, IoT
[2013]
Crew - Core ReWriting assistant using pre-build hooks
A developer tool that identifies and fixes recurring code patterns and anti-patterns automatically as a pre-build or pre-commit hook. Like a linter on steroids that understands your codebase’s conventions and enforces them through automated rewrites.
developer-tools, automation, code-quality
[2014]
Smell simulation - the only sense we haven’t added as a modality
A device or digital interface that can generate and transmit scent signals, completing the multi-sensory digital experience. Applications in VR/AR, e-commerce (smell before you buy), therapy, and entertainment. Somehow this still remains unsolved although there have been attempts towards this.
hardware, VR, sensory-tech, deeptech
[2016]
Retrofit cars - Convert petrol/diesel cars into EV cars
A service/product that retrofits existing non-EV vehicles with electric drivetrains. Avoids the waste of scrapping functional vehicles and makes EV transition affordable for the masses.
EV, automotive, sustainability, hardware
[2016]
Minimal cars - Cars that can reduce in size when capacity is not needed
Vehicles with modular or mechanically adjustable frames that shrink for solo commutes and expand for family trips or cargo. Solves urban parking and congestion while retaining utility. Think transformer-style engineering for everyday cars.
automotive, hardware, urban-mobility, modular-design
[2017]
Conserve memories + thoughts and recreate a person
A system that captures and preserves a person’s memories, thought patterns, and personality, enough to reconstruct a meaningful digital representation after they’re gone. Part journaling tool, part AI training pipeline. Heavily inspired by what luka.ai used to be.
AI, BCI, digital-immortality, deeptech
[2017]
Make humans immortal (i know)
Radical life extension through a combination of gene therapy, nanomedicine, organ regeneration, and consciousness transfer. The biggest TAM imaginable. Literally everyone is the customer. Incremental progress in longevity biotech makes this less sci-fi every year.
biotech, longevity, deeptech, moonshot
[2017]
Google Translate + Wifi Calling - auto translate in realtime
Real-time voice translation baked into the calling layer so two people speaking different languages can have a natural phone conversation. Goes beyond current translate apps by being always-on and integrated at the telecom/OS level. (Now very possible thanks to llms, in fact Google Translate has this built in.)
AI, telecom, translation, consumer-app
[2017]
App user interface modification library
A library/SDK that dynamically adjusts an app’s UI based on user behavior patterns, error rates, and usage analytics. Surfaces frequently used features, hides unused ones, and adapts layouts automatically.
developer-tools, UI/UX, SDK, AI
[2017]
Change management and feature building solution for large orgs
A platform that manages the lifecycle of feature requests, change approvals, and rollouts inside large organizations. Bridges the gap between product, engineering, and compliance teams. Not a very specific idea, just that this is hard and always worth coming up with a new solution for.
SaaS, enterprise, product-management, change-management
[2018]
Pay someone to store your stuff when you don’t have space
A peer-to-peer storage marketplace, like Airbnb for spare closet/garage space. People with extra room rent it to those who need temporary storage. Cheaper than self-storage units and more distributed.
marketplace, logistics, peer-to-peer
[2018]
Education Investing - invest in someone’s career and partake in upside
A platform where investors can fund a student’s education in exchange for a small percentage of their future income (Income Share Agreement model). Creates aligned incentives, investors are motivated to help their investees succeed through mentorship and networking. I actually tried to build this startup when I went to Singapore with Entreprenur First.
fintech, education, ISA, marketplace
[2018]
Something you can spray on clothing to repel stains
A consumer spray product that creates an invisible, breathable nano-coating on fabric that repels liquids and stains. Apply once, lasts through multiple washes. Huge DTC potential with visual demo marketing (pour wine on a white shirt).
consumer-product, materials-science, DTC
[2018]
Brain mapping to reduce friction between thought and action using a BCI
A brain-computer interface that shortens the loop between intention and execution, think something, do something. Applications from accessibility (paralysis recovery) to productivity (thought-to-text). Neuralink is chipping away at this but the space is wide open. This might be hardest problem on here. This one was heavily inspired by someone I met in Singapore whose Phd was in BCI.
BCI, neuroscience, deeptech, productivity
[2019]
Device to make sea water drinkable
A portable, affordable desalination device for personal or community use. Existing solutions are industrial-scale and expensive, the gap is a consumer-grade product. Solar-powered variants could be game-changers for coastal communities in developing nations.
hardware, cleantech, water, deeptech
[2019]
AI generated music
A platform or tool that generates original music compositions using AI, from background scores to full tracks in any genre. Useful for content creators, game devs, advertisers. Suno and Udio have since validated this space massively.
AI, music, creative-tools, generative
[2019]
Remove accent from speech
A real-time voice filter that neutralizes or transforms accents while preserving the speaker’s identity and intent. Effectively removes bias. Massive use case in call centers, international business, and content creation. Sanas.ai is now doing exactly this.
AI, speech, voice-tech, SaaS
[2019]
Blockchain based social network
A decentralized social network where users own their data, content is censorship-resistant, and monetization flows directly to creators. Identity is portable across platforms. Farcaster and Lens Protocol are exploring this space now.
blockchain, social-media, web3, decentralization
[2019]
Alternatives to Google Photos
A privacy-first photo storage and management platform that doesn’t mine your images for ad targeting. Self-hosted or encrypted cloud options with the same smart features (search, memories, sharing) that make Google Photos sticky.
consumer-app, privacy, cloud-storage, photos
[2019]
Packaged food restaurant - only packaged food cooked for you with defined ingredients
A restaurant concept where every dish is made from commercially packaged ingredients with full nutritional transparency. You know exactly what’s in every meal because every input is barcoded and trackable. Health-conscious dining with zero ambiguity.
food-tech, restaurant, health, transparency
[2019]
An app that tells you wait times for restaurant tables near you
Crowdsourced real-time wait time data for restaurants, reported by customers already there. Like Google maps but for restaurant queues. Could integrate with reservation systems and incentivize reporting through gamification or discounts.
consumer-app, marketplace, crowdsourcing, food-tech
[2020]
Shoelaces that never untie
Engineered laces using materials or knot geometry that maintain tension through movement. Could use shape-memory materials, magnetic closures, or micro-locking mechanisms. Simple problem, mass-market product, strong DTC potential.
consumer-product, hardware, DTC, materials-science
[2020]
Books with glow in the dark ink
Printed books using photoluminescent ink that lets you read in low-light conditions without a separate light source. Great for children’s books, camping reads, and bedside reading. Could also layer hidden content visible only in the dark.
consumer-product, publishing, materials-science
[2020]
VR for fitness - treadmill, weights
A VR fitness ecosystem where your real-world exercise equipment (treadmill, dumbbells) maps into immersive virtual environments. Run through alien landscapes, lift in an ancient building.
VR, fitness, gaming, hardware
[2020]
Site to vote on the quality of a news article
A community-driven platform where users rate news articles on accuracy, bias, depth, and sourcing. Aggregates into a trust score per outlet and per article. A crowdsourced reputation layer for journalism and news.
media, crowdsourcing, trust, consumer-app
[2020]
App proctored user research
A platform where user research sessions are proctored and recorded through the participant’s own device. Automates scheduling, screen capture, eye tracking (via camera), and transcript analysis. Remote usability testing made scalable.
SaaS, UX-research, automation, product-management
[2020]
Bloglist
A curated directory and discovery platform for blogs, like Product Hunt but for independent writers. Helps readers find quality blogs by topic, and gives bloggers distribution beyond SEO and social media algorithms.
content, discovery, community, consumer-app
[2020]
Content curation platform
A tool that helps individuals or teams curate, organize, and share content from across the web into themed collections. Goes beyond bookmarking, adds context, commentary, and collaborative curation. A knowledge layer on top of the open web. I tried building this one out as well, maybe not the right timing, but, I also quickly ran out of steam.
content, curation, productivity, SaaS
[2020]
Marketplace for offline advertisement boards
A platform connecting businesses that want to advertise with owners of physical ad spaces (billboards, shop fronts, community boards). Digitizes the fragmented offline ad market with booking, pricing transparency, and performance tracking.
marketplace, advertising, local-business
[2021]
AR/VR powered ecommerce - walk around a virtual store
A virtual shopping experience where you walk through a 3D store, pick up products, examine them, and buy them all from home. Bridges the tactile gap in online shopping. High potential in luxury, furniture, and fashion retail.
AR/VR, e-commerce, retail, consumer-app
[2021]
Plug and play referral system
A drop-in referral program SDK/widget that any SaaS or e-commerce company can integrate in minutes. Handles tracking, rewards, analytics, and fraud detection out of the box. Shopify-app-store-level simplicity for referral programs. A friend and I tried to build this for newsletters right when substack was peaking.
SaaS, growth, SDK, e-commerce
[2021]
Fashion trend based auto creation of SKUs through Midjourney
A system that monitors fashion trends from social media, runway shows, and street style and then auto-generates product designs (via generative AI) that match emerging trends. Compresses the design-to-shelf cycle from months to days.
AI, fashion, generative, e-commerce
[2022]
Personal finance GPT
A conversational AI that connects to your bank accounts, investments, and expenses and then acts as a personal financial advisor. Answers questions, spots patterns, suggests optimizations, and helps you plan. Mint meets ChatGPT with actual account access.
AI, fintech, consumer-app, personal-finance
[2022]
Simulated testing for non-CS grads
A testing platform that evaluates non-cs graduates through simulated work environments. Tests for judgment, communication, problem-solving in realistic business scenarios.
HR-tech, assessment, education, SaaS, AI
[2023]
Subscription based analysis of news
A paid service that delivers daily/weekly analysis of newsm, not just what happened, but why it matters, who benefits, and what’s likely next. Curated for decision-makers, not doomscrollers.
media, subscription, analysis, content
[2023]
Signature on images/videos that’s cross platform for content authenticity
A universal digital watermark or cryptographic signature embedded in media files that verifies the original creator and chain of custody across platforms. Solves deepfakes, content theft, and attribution. C2PA standard is moving toward this.
content-authenticity, cryptography, media, trust
[2023]
Write once - generate multimedia per platform
A tool where you write content once and it auto-generates platform-optimized versions, a blog post becomes a Twitter thread, LinkedIn post, Instagram carousel, YouTube script, and podcast outline.
AI, content, automation, creator-tools
[2023]
AI powered Learning Tool - Anki Flash Cards
An AI-enhanced spaced repetition system that auto-generates flashcards from any source material (textbooks, lectures, notes), optimizes review schedules per concept difficulty, and adapts to your learning patterns.
AI, education, learning, productivity
[2023]
Monitor webpages and track changes in realtime
A service that watches any webpage for changes and notifies you, price drops, content updates, regulatory filings, competitor moves. Goes beyond simple diff-checking with AI-powered semantic change detection and alerting rules.
SaaS, monitoring, automation, intelligence
[2023]
Always on finance analyst
An AI agent that continuously ingests financial reports, earnings calls, SEC filings, and market data, then generates personalized analysis, alerts, and reports automatically. Your own junior analyst that never sleeps. For investors, CFOs, and fund managers. I looked into this a bit, wrote a couple of posts as well.
AI, fintech, automation, analysis
[2023]
Automate interpretation of blood test results
An AI tool that takes your blood test report, interprets every marker in plain language, flags abnormalities with context (not just range), correlates with your history, and suggests next steps. Replaces the “Google your lab results” anxiety spiral.
AI, healthcare, consumer-health, automation
[2023]
Dream listening using BCI
Using brain-computer interfaces to record and decode dream activity, turning neural patterns during REM sleep into viewable/auditable content. The ultimate frontier of consciousness exploration. Could unlock creativity, therapy, and self-understanding at unprecedented levels. Maybe this is a little too out there, but, I think its an eventuality given enough time.
BCI, neuroscience, deeptech, moonshot
[2023]
LLM powered security services
AI-powered video surveillance that goes beyond motion detection, uses vision LLMs to understand context, identify threats, distinguish between routine activity and genuine security events, and generate real-time alerts with natural language descriptions. Eliminates the need for humans staring at camera feeds 24/7.
AI, security, computer-vision, services
[2023]
Personal API - an LLM powered connector for everything you use
A universal personal API layer that connects all your apps, accounts, and data, controlled by an LLM that understands your intent. Ask it to “move money from savings to pay rent” or “find that document from last week” and it orchestrates across services.
AI, automation, personal-productivity, integration
[2023]
Gen AI for sports
Generative AI applications in sports, from AI-generated training plans personalized to an athlete’s biometrics, to synthetic game footage for tactical analysis, to AI commentary and highlight generation. The sports industry is data-rich and AI-poor.
AI, sports, generative, analytics
[2023]
Always on counsellor for sales and personal use
A low-power, always-listening AI assistant that coaches you through conversations in real-time, during sales calls, difficult personal conversations, or conflict resolution. Whispers suggestions in your ear (via earbuds) based on tone, context, and goals.
AI, coaching, sales, wearable
[2023]
Podcast guest marketplace
A two-sided marketplace connecting podcast hosts with potential guests. Hosts post topics they want to cover, guests pitch their expertise. Handles scheduling, prep docs, and promotion. Solves the “how do I find good guests” problem at scale.
marketplace, media, podcasting, creator-tools
[2023]
Creator feedback - analyse suggestions in YouTube/Insta comments and DMs
An AI tool that scans a creator’s YouTube comments, Instagram comments, and DMs to extract, categorize, and rank audience suggestions and feedback. Turns the firehose of audience input into actionable product/content insights.
AI, creator-tools, analytics, social-media
[2023]
Niche datasets
A marketplace or brokerage for hard-to-find, domain-specific datasets, agricultural yields by micro-region, niche consumer behavior, industrial sensor data. Discovery and access for niche datasets is broken.
data, marketplace, AI, analytics
[2023]
Prompt to AutoCAD solution
A tool where architects and engineers describe what they want in natural language and get a CAD-ready output. Bridges the gap between design intent and technical drafting. Could start with simple floor plans and scale to complex mechanical drawings.
AI, CAD, architecture, engineering
[2024]
Help companies convert internal data into secure vectorized datasets for LLM training
A service that takes a company’s messy internal data (docs, emails, databases), cleans and structures it, converts it into vector embeddings, and sets up secure retrieval-augmented generation (RAG) pipelines. The “data preparation” layer for enterprise AI adoption.
AI, enterprise, data, services
[2024]
Non-liquid soaps and detergents
Detergents/Soaps in solid, powder, or sheet form that eliminate plastic bottles, reduce shipping weight (no water), and simplify dosing. Eco-friendly, space-efficient, and e-commerce friendly. There are a few players in market for this now.
consumer-product, sustainability, DTC
[2024]
Buy micro-SaaS companies and build SaaS + services biz around them
An acquisition-led strategy of buying small, profitable SaaS products and wrapping managed services, integrations, and consulting around them.
acquisition, SaaS, business-model, micro-PE
[2024]
Luxury health retreats - health as a status symbol
Premium wellness retreats combining cutting-edge diagnostics (full body MRI, genomics, biomarker panels) with luxury hospitality. Health optimization is the new luxury good. Target audience: HNIs who spend on longevity the way they used to spend on watches.
health, luxury, hospitality, longevity
[2024]
Semiconductor packaging
With chip production volumes exploding (AI demand + IoT + EVs), the bottleneck shifts to advanced packaging, chipsets, 3D stacking, heterogeneous integration. Companies solving packaging at scale will capture massive value in the semiconductor supply chain.
semiconductor, hardware, manufacturing, deeptech
[2024]
Generate questions from support and sales CRMs and turn that into FAQ
A tool that mines support tickets, sales call transcripts, and CRM data to auto-generate and maintain an FAQ/knowledge base. Surfaces the actual questions customers ask, ranked by frequency and revenue impact. Self-updating documentation.
AI, SaaS, customer-support, automation
[2024]
Outcome based software service company
A software services company that charges based on business outcomes delivered (revenue generated, costs saved, metrics moved) rather than hours billed or headcount deployed. Aligns incentives completely with the client. Requires strong measurement infrastructure.
services, business-model, SaaS, consulting
[2024]
Geriatric care company - Assisted solutions using AI
An AI-powered elder care platform providing remote health monitoring, medication management, companionship (via conversational AI), and caregiver coordination. The aging population is exploding and care infrastructure isn’t keeping up. AI fills the gap.
healthcare, AI, elder-care, services
[2024]
Product ingredient database and explainer
A comprehensive database of product ingredients (food, cosmetics, cleaning supplies) with plain-language explanations of what each ingredient does, its safety profile, and alternatives. Scan any product, understand everything in it.
consumer-app, health, transparency, database
[2024]
Real world encryption - store things in plain sight without access
Physical security solutions that let you store valuables in plain sight but make them inaccessible without the right “key”, biometric locks disguised as everyday objects, spatial authentication, or materials that only respond to specific stimuli.
hardware, security, cryptography, consumer-product
[2025]
ELO rating for skills - AI benchmarks for humans
A standardized rating system (like chess ELO) that measures human skill levels across domains : coding, writing, design, negotiation by having humans compete against calibrated AI outputs in blind evaluations. Objective skill measurement.
AI, assessment, HR-tech, gamification
[2025]
Gamified health insurance
A health insurance product where premiums decrease based on verifiable healthy behaviors, steps walked, gym attendance, sleep quality, diet adherence. Turns insurance from a grudge purchase into a game you want to win.
insurance, health, gamification, fintech
[2025]
A gym that sells insurance tied to your attendance
A gym membership that doubles as a health insurance plan, attend regularly and your coverage improves / premiums drop. Creates a closed loop between fitness behavior and insurance underwriting. Gym gets retention, insurer gets healthier pool. I wrote a couple of posts about this idea
insurance, fitness, business-model, health
[2025]
consequence.ai - Analyze a meal or grocery item and tell you what it’ll do to you
Point your camera at a meal or scan a barcode, the app breaks down ingredients, links them to your personal health data and published research, and tells you the actual consequences of eating it. Personalized nutrition with receipts.
AI, health, nutrition, consumer-app
[2025]
Inception - incept a problem into your dream and wake up with the solution
Using neurostimulation, audio cues, or BCI to plant specific problems or creative prompts into your dreaming mind, leveraging the brain’s unconscious problem-solving during sleep. The ultimate productivity hack: work while you sleep. Maybe the most out-there idea on here, who knows.
BCI, neuroscience, deeptech, moonshot
[2025]
Insulated hiring centres - blind arena test candidates against LLM output
Physical or virtual testing environments where job candidates solve problems in a blind evaluation alongside LLM-generated solutions. Evaluators don’t know which output is human vs AI. Measures whether a candidate adds value beyond what AI can already do.
HR-tech, AI, assessment, hiring
[2025]
Alternate models of energy production to reduce grid requirement
Distributed, unconventional energy generation, roads with embedded solar cells powering streetlights, piezoelectric sidewalks, kinetic energy harvesting from traffic. Reduces dependency on centralized grids and makes infrastructure self-powering.
energy, cleantech, infrastructure, deeptech
[2025]
LLM powered agentic platform to takedown copies of a brand’s IP
An AI agent that continuously monitors the internet for unauthorized copies of a brand’s intellectual property, counterfeit products, stolen content, trademark violations, and automatically initiates takedown procedures across platforms.
AI, brand-protection, legal-tech, automation
[2025]
Judgement building using the blind arena
A training platform where people develop better judgment by repeatedly evaluating outputs (human vs AI, expert vs novice) in blind comparisons. Like an ELO system but for the evaluator, sharpens critical thinking, calibrates confidence, and builds domain expertise.
AI, education, assessment, decision-making
[2026]
Data for robotics startups
A marketplace or service providing curated, labeled training data specifically for robotics applications, manipulation tasks, navigation, object recognition in physical environments. As robotics scales, data becomes the bottleneck, not hardware.
AI, robotics, data, marketplace
[2026]