- Needs To Exist
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- Idea Of The Day - You can build the Vice Media for grown-ups.
Idea Of The Day - You can build the Vice Media for grown-ups.
Needs To Exist
May 27, 2025
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GM. This is Needs to Exist (aka NTE), delivering you a startup idea to normalize taboos and monetize trust.
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Here’s what we’ve got for you today.
Daily Idea - Taboo → Trust → $$$
Shame = $$$
Destigmatize. Educate. Monetize. Repeat.
If this is an idea you are looking to do, reply with what topic.
The One Liner
Normalize taboo topics. Monetize with trust.
The 140 character tweet (or X) version
The biggest opportunity in media? Stigmas. Educate on taboo topics like sex, weed, and psychedelics, then sell trusted products behind it.
The Longer Story Version
The Problem
Everyone’s talking about AI and crypto. Meanwhile, the real trillion-dollar shift is hiding in plain sight: stigma.
Cannabis. Psychedelics. Sexual wellness.
These industries are exploding. But they’re stuck in the “whispers and winks” phase. People are curious. People are buying. But no one wants to be seen talking about it.
That’s the opportunity.
Legacy media won’t touch it. Influencers dance around it. And brands? They’re dying for a legit place to educate and convert customers without feeling like they’re selling drugs out of a van.
There’s no trusted guide. No go-to voice. No platform that treats these subjects with the mix of science, storytelling, and no-BS commerce they deserve.
The Solution
Build the media company for what people are googling at 2am but won’t bring up at brunch.
The model is simple:
Educate: Launch binge-worthy content (YouTube, TikTok, newsletters, podcasts) around sex, cannabis, and psychedelics. Think Hot Ones, but for sexual health. Think Explained, but for psilocybin.
Normalize: Use real experts, not shock jocks. Combine research, personal stories, and legit humor. Build trust.
Monetize: Behind the content? A high-trust product layer. Curated products. User reviews. Personalized recs. You build the content moat, and brands line up for shelf space.
This is what Goop could’ve been if it started with shame instead of skincare.
How We’d Build It (3 Stages)
Stage 1: Proof-of-Content
Stage 2: Build the Engine
Use Whop or Lemon Squeezy to test product sales without full ecom dev.
Build community with Geneva or Circle for deeper convos, UGC, and feedback.
Start layering in affiliate or drop-ship partnerships with quality brands.
Stage 3: Own the Funnel
Launch your own Shopify store with product bundles built around personas (e.g. “Anxious Sleeper,” “Curious Couple,” etc.).
Use Octane AI for quizzes to personalize product suggestions.
Go full-stack: custom video series, product reviews, doctor collabs, even branded supplements.
Retarget content viewers with product ads using Triple Whale to track attribution.
Why It Needs to Exist
Every media company is chasing hype cycles. But taboo is timeless.
Cannabis is getting legalized. Psychedelics are being approved for mental health. Sexual wellness is moving from the shadows to the shelves.
But without trust, growth stalls. People need guidance. Brands need distribution. And culture needs a voice that’s not trying to be edgy, just honest.
If you can create that voice, you don’t just build a media brand. You become the platform of record for the most personal, high-margin, culturally relevant purchases of the next decade.
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Shame Is a Billion-Dollar Market
We all missed it.
While we were busy trying to build the next AI copilot or optimize SaaS pricing pages, the biggest opportunities were hiding in people’s browser histories under “Private Mode.”
Shame is the silent killer of good products. But it's also the mother of great businesses.
Every taboo topic is basically a market waiting for someone brave (or shameless) enough to build around it.
Look Where No One’s Looking
You want startup ideas? Don’t look up. Look down. Look where people don’t make Instagram reels about their journey.
Some examples:
Snoring & Sleep Apnea: 1 in 4 people. It ruins sleep, relationships, and health. Nobody wants to admit they sound like a lawnmower at night. But CPAP machines? Gross. No one’s rebranding this yet.
Financial Shame: Can’t budget, maxed cards, secret debt. No one flexes that on social. But they all Google “how to stop impulse spending at 2am.” There’s a reason apps like YNAB and Cleo exist but they’ve only scratched the surface.
Hair Loss & Premature Graying: No one’s proudly announcing it on LinkedIn. Yet it’s a multi-billion dollar market. Most solutions are snake oil or prescription-only. Where’s the Klarna-for-your-confidence play?
Parenting Guilt: Every new parent has 42 browser tabs open on “Am I a bad mom if…” There’s white space in media, mental health, products, and community here especially for dads, who have zero real resources.
Menopause & Aging: Youth gets the glow-up brands. Aging gets silence. But 50M+ women in the U.S. go through menopause, and their purchasing power is wild. Nobody’s building the Glossier of hot flashes yet.
Digestive Health: Gas. IBS. Bloating. "Embarrassing" symptoms with mass appeal. People will literally do anything for a more predictable poop schedule. You laugh. But go look at Seed’s revenue.
Tools to Mine Shame Gold
Here’s how to dig into it:
Reddit – r/TooAfraidToAsk, r/confessions, r/IBS, r/relationships. Raw signal, zero filters.
TikTok Search – Plug in phrases like “is it normal if…” or “can’t stop…” — instant window into collective insecurity.
Perplexity.ai – Ask: “What health problems go untreated due to embarrassment?” or “Common issues people hide from doctors.”
BuzzSumo + Glasp – See what taboo topics are actually getting read and bookmarked.
AnswerThePublic – Type in anything slightly awkward. See what thousands of people are searching for but not tweeting about.
Build the Bridge
Startups that succeed here do one thing well: they replace shame with trust.
They make the uncomfortable feel understandable. The awkward feel normal. The hidden feel seen.
That’s the wedge.
Create content. Build community. Then offer the solution.
You’re not selling a product you’re offering relief.
Why This Works
Markets follow culture. Culture follows shame. Shame turns into acceptance. Acceptance turns into explosive spending.
If you're early enough, you don't just ride the wave, you define it.
Startups aren’t always about genius ideas. Sometimes they’re just about having the guts to say the quiet part out loud.
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