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- Idea Of The Day - Make Tipping Fun Again: Flip a Coin, Get Free Coffee (or Pay Double)
Idea Of The Day - Make Tipping Fun Again: Flip a Coin, Get Free Coffee (or Pay Double)
Needs To Exist
May 14, 2025
In partnership with
GM. This is Needs to Exist (aka NTE), delivering you a startup idea that’ll make tipping joyful, viral, and rewarding.
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Here’s what we’ve got for you today.
Daily Idea - Flip, Tip, Repeat
For the Socials
Flip, Tip, Win — Everyone Smiles
Inspired by the MFM Podcast Episode 540
The One Liner
Flip for free. Or tip big. Either way, baristas win.
The 140 character tweet (or X) version
This café lets you flip a digital coin after you order:
Heads? Your coffee is free.
Tails? You pay double—and the barista gets the tip.
Tipping, but fun.
The Longer Story Version
The Problem
Tipping is broken.
You get your coffee, the screen flips, and suddenly you’re hit with a digital guilt trip. 15%? 20%? More?
It’s awkward. It’s expected. And most of the time, it feels like a joyless button press—something we do to avoid shame, not to feel generous.
Meanwhile, service workers rely on these tips to survive. But when tipping becomes a transaction instead of a gesture, everyone loses.
The Solution
What if tipping felt good again?
Imagine this: you buy your coffee, and instead of picking a tip amount, you get to flip a digital coin.
Heads? Your drink is free, courtesy of the house.
Tails? You pay double, and that extra goes straight to the barista.
It’s unpredictable. It’s fun. And it changes the whole vibe of the experience—from “ugh, the tip screen” to “let’s gooo, I’m flipping today.”
It works because everyone wins.
Customers feel like they’re playing a game, not doing a chore.
Baristas get bigger tips and excited regulars.
The café builds a brand moment that people want to talk about.
It’s made for TikTok. You can already imagine the flips being filmed, reactions going viral, and people tagging their favorite local spot to try it.
How We’d Build It
Stage 1: MVP for Indie Cafés
POS Integration: Start with Toast or Square—build a lightweight extension that intercepts the tip screen with the flip UI.
Payments: Use Stripe Terminal + Plaid to split “double” payments and route the bonus to baristas seamlessly.
Flip Logic: Randomized frontend toggle with a clear backend audit trail to ensure fairness.
Stage 2: Optimize & Test
Stage 3: Viral GTM
Partner with barista TikTokers and Gen Z café creators. Seed the experience with social-first cafés.
Offer free installs for the first 50 locations.
Loop in loyalty card or payment apps to distribute “free flip” promos.
Why It Needs to Exist
Because tipping fatigue is real—and no one enjoys that awkward final moment of the transaction.
This flips the script. Literally.
It reintroduces delight into a broken moment, boosts barista earnings, and turns everyday customers into superfans. The cost is the same, but the feeling is wildly different.
Most tipping tools optimize for guilt.
This one? Optimizes for joy.
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What habits are ripe to be reshaped into TikTok-worthy, shareable experiences?
Look around — everything people do in public is a signal. What you drink, where you sit, how you pay. These are all tiny rituals that used to go unnoticed. Now? They're content.
But here's the kicker: the best rituals feel personal but are designed for performance. Think clinking espresso cups over a laptop, shaking your Stanley water bottle like it’s a cocktail shaker, or scanning your phone at checkout while holding eye contact with the barista like you’re in a Bond movie.
These aren’t just habits. They’re moments. And moments are where startups can play.
The big unlock? Turn quiet habits into loud signals. Build around the behaviors people already have, then remix them with surprise, emotion, or identity. If you can make it fun to do and fun to film, you're sitting on a gold mine.
Look for these:
1. Micro-interactions hiding in plain sight
How people unlock things (face scan, fobs, passwords)
How they say thank you (digital tips, Venmo emojis, post-purchase ratings)
How they wait (lines, load times, hold music)
Ask: Could this 3-second moment feel more satisfying or expressive?
2. Everyday choices that could be statements
Ordering at a kiosk
Splitting the bill
Picking a playlist or background for Zoom
Ask: How do I turn this choice into a performance or status signal?
3. “Boring” actions that want to be fun
Most UX optimizes for frictionless. That’s great — until it’s invisible.
But humans don’t share invisible.
Ask: What would make this interaction worthy of a 5-second TikTok?
Tools That Can Help You Build These:
Play.ht + ElevenLabs – Generate fast, high-quality audio or character voices to bring playful rituals to life (think audio receipts, digital mascots, etc.)
Runway ML or Pika – Prototype visual experiences that make small actions cinematic (drop-in slow-mo, lighting shifts, effects)
SnapKit or TikTok SDK – Embed camera or share-to-story tools directly in your product for ritual capture
Nami ML – Great for testing gamified UX or converting low-lift actions into shareable wins
Fermat or Glide – Spin up mobile-first MVPs to test rituals in IRL environments like coffee shops or retail popups
Final Prompt for Your Brain:
If this thing people already do had been invented on TikTok, what would it look like?
That’s where your next idea lives. Rituals aren’t just repeated actions — they’re repeated stories. Build the moment they want to tell.
One More Meme
