GM. This is Needs to Exist (aka NTE), delivering you a startup idea to unite creators, build reach, and fund the future.

2k+ Ideas you can get right now with NTE Pro.

🚨 Partnership Alert! Apollo, the all-in-one AI Sales Platform, is offering the NTE community 50% off your first year – redeem your offer here. New customers only (corporate email required), with 20 or fewer employees. Discount applies to up to 5 seats on Basic or Professional annual plans.

Plus, if you sign up for Apollo we will give you NTE Pro for 50% off!

Here’s what we’ve got for you today.

• Daily Idea - Creators. Collective. Capital.

• Find Your True Fans

Creators assemble. Audience builds. Fund.

Inspired by this tweet

The One Liner

New media collective → audience → fund. Creators eat, together.

The 140 character tweet (or X) version

What if you combined 10 up-and-coming creators, built a media brand around them, then used the audience to launch a fund?

The Longer Story Version

The Problem
Being early is lonely.

There are thousands of talented writers, podcasters, and creators out there — smarter than the talking heads you see on every panel, funnier than the top TikTokers, and more original than 99% of LinkedIn.

But here’s the problem:
No audience. No funding. No leverage.

You can grind for years, get 500 loyal fans, and still be broke. Because algorithms don’t reward originality — they reward optimization.

So you’ve got this ocean of undervalued creative talent… just sitting there.

That’s dumb.

The Solution
What if you picked 10 of these underrated creators and made them a crew?

Each one is building in public — a Substack writer, a niche podcaster, a TikTok philosopher, a newsletter nobody knows about (yet).

You wrap them in a media brand. Like Barstool, but for the modern misfits.

Now instead of 10 people with 10k followers each, you’ve got a collective with a 100k reach.

But here’s the power move:

You use that reach to launch a fund.

A small fund (initially), that backs their growth. Marketing, gear, collabs, distribution — whatever they need. Eventually, equity in the things they build.

You’re not betting on one creator. You’re building an index of next-gen voices.

It’s YC for content. A guild for misfits. A media DAO (but don’t call it that).

How We’d Build It

📦 Curation Tools

• Use Suno.ai to scout audio talent.

• Use Readsom and Zette to surface emerging writers.

• Tap into Substack Notes for underrated thinkers.

📈 Growth Stack

• Distribute via Beehiiv (newsletter) and Headliner.app (pod snippets)

• Use Whylabs to analyze audience behavior and fine-tune what hits.

💸 Fund Structure

• Run it like a rolling fund (shoutout AngelList).

• Investors get exposure to a portfolio of rising stars.

• Creators get a mix of salary + upside.

🏗 Platform

• Launch on Webflow or Typedream

• Host content + bios + “join the collective” CTA.

• Monetize early via Gumroad, Sponsors.dev, and Whop

Why It Needs to Exist
The next wave of creators isn’t lacking talent — they’re lacking leverage.

You can be brilliant and broke if no one sees your work.
You can be early and invisible if you’re not part of a crew.

This model changes that.
It’s a distribution engine. A career-launcher. A collective with compounding momentum.

And for the people funding it?
It’s a bet on what comes after traditional media.

Not a solo act.
A squad.
With a mic.
And a mission.

Needs To Exist Pro

2,000+ Startup Ideas You’ll Wish You Thought Of First

Just $99/year to shortcut your next big thing.

💡 Endless Inspiration, Zero Fluff
From solo hustles to VC-backed beasts—new, buildable ideas added every week.

🔍 Search Like a Founder
Filter by category, market size, or speed to launch. Find what actually fits you.

🧠 Curated by Obsessed Nerds (Us)
We go down the rabbit holes—across podcasts, newsletters, founder threads, and obscure whitepapers—so you don’t have to.

🚀 Go From Idea → Execution
Each idea comes with mini playbooks to validate, launch, and grow it. No guesswork.

The Best Startup Ideas Start Small

Let me tell you something weird:
Most billion-dollar companies didn’t start with a billion-dollar idea.

They started by doing something small… but doing it extremely well.
So well that a tiny group of people said: “This is the only thing like it. I love this.”

That’s your signal.

Big markets are discovered, not declared.
The mistake most founders make is looking for a “huge opportunity” right out the gate. But huge opportunities often show up dressed in niche clothes.

Reddit? Started with just tech nerds.
Stripe? Just developers who hated PayPal.
Barstool? A local gambling flyer in Boston.

The Trick: Find Tiny Obsessions

Here’s a better way to find startup ideas:

Look for tiny obsessions.
Things that are small but beloved. Not “kinda cool” — I mean irrational love.

Ask:

• What are people making spreadsheets about for no reason?

• What shows up over and over in niche Discords or subreddits?

• What does someone not shut up about on TikTok or Substack, even with 300 followers?

People don’t do that for things they kinda like. They do it because they care deeply. That’s your goldmine.

You don’t need 10 million users at first. You need 100 maniacs.
Find those people. Serve them better than anyone else. Then scale it.

Add Leverage, Watch It Multiply

Once you’ve got the niche, it’s time to stack leverage. That’s how you go from “cool project” to “real company.”

Some ways to add leverage:

• Aggregation – Bring the scattered niche into one place.
  Tool: Mighty Networks to launch a branded community instantly.

• AI – Use AI to do what creators/fans are doing manually.
  Tool: AgentOps to build agents that automate content, scheduling, or research.

• Distribution – Help creators in the niche grow their reach.
  Tool: Typeshare + Beehiiv for audience building.

• Curation – Be the editor for people drowning in content.
  Tool: Mailbrew to create automated newsletters pulling in everything the niche loves.

• Monetization – Add products, subs, or exclusives.
  Tool: Gumroad or Lemon Squeezy for fast monetization.

Small audience × High leverage = Big business.

Don’t Make the Product, Make the Platform

Here’s the unlock:
You don’t always need to be the creator. Be the one who organizes the creators.

If 10 people are writing newsletters about a niche, make the bundle.
If 1,000 people follow a tiny podcast, make the fan club.
If 500 creators are building in a new category (like AI, ADHD, or tiny homes), create the media brand.

Barstool did it with degenerate sports fans.
Morning Brew did it with business news nerds.
You can do it with anything — just go one level higher and become the platform, not just another player.

Steal This Thinking

When you're brainstorming your next idea, skip the TAM slides.
Don’t ask “how big is this market?”

Ask: “What do 500 people irrationally love… and how can I throw leverage at it?”

Then build the rails, the aggregator, the monetizer, the multiplier.
Because niches may start small, but obsession is fuel. And leverage is fire.

Find what people love. Make it easier, better, louder, faster.
That’s how you go from “this is cool” to “this is inevitable.”

One More Meme