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Idea Of The Day - Turn steps into TikTok time - someone build this already.

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Needs To Exist
April 16, 2025

GM. This is Needs to Exist (aka NTE), dropping a startup idea that trades your steps for screen time.

For only $99 you can get close to 2,500 more startup ideas - right now with NTE Pro.

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Here’s what we’ve got for you today.

  • Daily Idea - Move. Earn. Scroll.

  • Bad Habits = Opportunity

Walk more. Scroll more. Earn.

The One Liner

Walk to scroll. Move your feet to move your thumb.

The 140 character tweet (or X) version

Earn TikTok time by walking. 1,000 steps = 10 minutes. A dopamine trade that tricks your brain into choosing health over habit.

The Longer Story Version

The Problem
We’ve all been there—five minutes on Instagram turns into fifty. You didn’t mean to. But these apps are engineered to hijack your brain.

You know you should go outside. Move. Touch grass. But the couch is comfy and that scroll hits just right.

So what if we flipped the script?

What if screen time wasn’t free?

What if every minute on a distracting app had to be earned?

The Solution
Trade steps for screen time.

Here’s the play:

  • Walk 1,000 steps → unlock 10 minutes on TikTok or IG

  • Run 5K? Congrats, that’s 50 guilt-free minutes to rot your brain.

  • Sit on your ass all day? Guess what—no scroll for you.

The app taps into your phone’s motion sensors or wearable data (Apple HealthKit, Google Fit, Fitbit, Whoop, etc.). It monitors your movement and controls your access to time-wasting apps.

It’s not a blocker. It’s a barter system.
Earn your dopamine.

How We’d Build It
💡 Sensors & API Access

🛠️ No-Code Build (MVP)

🎒 Addictive Design

  • Daily streaks, leaderboard with friends, push notifs like: “3 more minutes of walking gets you back on IG.”

📊 Bonus Tools

  • ReTool for internal dashboards

  • PostHog for open-source analytics (track what behavior really sticks)

  • RevenueCat to manage the freemium model

Why It Needs to Exist
Because 3 hours on TikTok a day isn’t the flex you think it is.

This app doesn’t guilt-trip you. It gamifies your worst habit.

It turns distraction into a reward. Movement into a currency. Dopamine into discipline.

And most importantly—it does it without feeling preachy. Just fun, fair, and frictionless.

No nagging. No shame. Just: “Walk more, scroll more.”

If you’ve ever said, “I just need the right idea…” — this is it.

🔥 2,000+ Proven Ideas (and counting)
From low-lift solo hustles to VC-backable beasts. We add new ones every week.

⚡ Blazing-Fast Search, Zero Fluff
Find what fits you—ideas are sorted by industry, business model, and difficulty. No “Uber for Dogs” nonsense.

🧠 Curated by Actual Nerds
We dig through obscure research, deep-dive podcasts, and operator tweets so you don’t have to.

🚀 Step-by-Step Launch Plans
Picked your idea? We’ll hand you the cheat code: how to validate, build, and go live.

Turn Bad Habits Into Growth Hacks

Most people try to fix bad habits by fighting them.

Founders? They build startups around them.

Let me show you what I mean.

🧠 The Framework

Here’s the simple formula:

BAD HABIT → EARNED REWARD SYSTEM → GOOD BEHAVIOR

Pick a bad habit people already do daily.
Make it the reward, not the enemy.
Attach a small but meaningful task they must complete first.

It’s not blocking.
It’s bartering.

You’re still giving them the dopamine hit… they just have to do one push-up first.

💡 A Quick Example

We shared the idea that trades walking steps for social media time.
That’s one.

Now let’s cook up a few more using the same lens:

🧪 Startup Ideas Using This Framework

1. Watch to Learn

  • The habit: Netflix binging

  • The swap: 30 minutes of streaming unlocked after 15 minutes on Duolingo

  • Why it works: Learn first, veg later. Reward the brain with candy after the broccoli.

2. Spend to Save

  • The habit: Impulse shopping

  • The swap: To check out, auto-transfer $5 to savings

  • Why it works: Makes spending a guilt-free trigger for good behavior

3. Inbox for Access

  • The habit: Opening IG 19 times a day

  • The swap: Unlock IG after achieving inbox zero

  • Why it works: Leverages compulsive behavior to power productivity

4. Swipe to Stretch

  • The habit: Dating app doomscrolling

  • The swap: Stretch for 2 minutes before unlocking swipes

  • Why it works: Light friction = micro-health wins before micro-rejections

5. Scroll to Solve

  • The habit: Doomscrolling Twitter

  • The swap: Answer a daily trivia or brain teaser to unlock feed

  • Why it works: Gives your brain a win before feeding it chaos

🛠 Tools to Build Fast

Use no-code or low-code to move quick:

🚀 Why It Works

You’re not changing human behavior.
You’re just charging for it.

When something’s already addictive, don’t delete it—tax it.
Let people have their vice. Just make them work for it.

Every “bad” habit is a signal.
It tells you where the demand is.
Your job is to make the supply chain just a bit healthier.

Next time you see a behavior that looks dumb or self-destructive…

Ask yourself: What would someone be willing to do to earn this?

That’s your startup.

One More Meme