Brains on the Outside: A Business Ideas Podcast

Lauren Beukes is the author of award-winning novels like Afterland and Zoo City, with her book Shining Girls was adapted to an Apple TV+ show. She has asked us about how to poison AI and whether there are methods to get it to stop stealing everyone's work.  Some of our potential ideas: Fill books full of ads, destroy technology and go back to town criers, or put every book in your house into...

July make luggage. Beautiful, useful, perfect luggage. They've got a big problem though - they decided to name themselves after the month of July and now, well, they've got all sorts of SEO and searchability problems. When their customers tell their friends about July their friends think they're talking about the month. When you're standing in the airport having lost your lugga...

Naked Sprout make toilet rolls out of bamboo. They're super sustainable and the company prides themselves on using no fossil fuels in 99% of their process. That remaining 1%, that's what they wanted us to help with. They currently have to use one gigantic diesel forklift truck to lift the enormous mother rolls of toilet paper that come off their manufacturing process. These huge tonne an...

AutoTrader is the UK's largest digital automotive marketplace. You can buy cars. You can sell cars. You can swap cars. (Maybe? Does it work like that? Like football stickers or Pokemon cards? I don't drive. I don't know about car stuff.) AutoTrader are on a mission to make the world a better place by getting people to buy second hand cars, especially electric ones! They've aske...

Toucan make really nice table tennis equipment. In Germany, where they are based, you can find table tennis tables outside in parks and public spaces. However, how can Toucan make sure they can help you find one that is free? What about in winter? How can they convince you to play out in the cold? Some of our ideas: a table tennis battle pass, a drone to attack people playing at a table you want t...

Water and Wines make jigsaws designed to teach you about wine. Designed by sommeliers and their passion for oenology, each jigsaw transports you to a wine region around the world. However, just like many of us, they are haunted by an existential question: what is the best way to solve a jigsaw? Some ideas: an AR app to help you find a piece, a jigsaw you put together based on taste, a wine flight...

Allbirds design and make shoes and footwear with a focus on nature and the environment. They have got in touch wondering how to convince people to shop more sustainably.  Some of our potential ideas: try to save all the birds, mad max VR experience, make a living seed bank using CRISPR  Thank you Lee Price, Allbirds' Director of Global Communications for getting in touch with us. How would yo...

Wave is an ecologically focused phone case manufacturer, coincidentally based near us in the North East of England. They need help though: why do Apple keep releasing so many iPhones, each needing a unique case?  Some of our ideas: springs, goo, and strict government regulation. Thank you Ross Longhorn, Wave Case's Co-Founder, for getting in touch. How would you solve his problem? Email us at...

Season 2 of Brains on the Outside begins on the 30th of September 2024! This year, we are joined by a range of businesses like Allbirds, Autotrader, Naked Sprout and more as we solve some of their largest challenges in the most ridiculous ways. Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/brainsontheoutside/  Tik Tok: https://www.tiktok.com/@brainsontheoutside  Thank you to Rich Endersby-Marsh for our the...

Slugs. The worst of all the garden creatures. Slimy. Slithery. Leaving gross trails all over the place. Ugh. This week Corinne has written to us to ask whether we could start up a business to deal with these pests. And honestly our business proposals couldn't be more politically different. Thanks Corinne. If you have a problem you want us to solve with an innovative business then please drop...

Metal detecting is such a mixed bag. Finding cool stuff is undoubtedly amazing but having to dig things up all the time is not only a drag it's also inaccessible. Listener Kat has messaged us this week to ask whether we could dream up a business that brings metal detecting to more of the population while also making the boring bits well... less boring. Thanks so much Kat! If you have a proble...

Two factor authentication?  More like EW factor authentication.  Nobody likes all the hoops you have to jump through in order to log into your bank, your email, your social network of choice or the Warhammer website these days and this week our listener and long time friend of the show, Elliott, has asked us to solve this problem once and for all.   Thanks so much Elliott! If you have a problem yo...

Andrew done goofed today and accidentally recorded the whole episode without turning his nice mic on. He is very sorry about this - please forgive him  Aside from just having to live through it, jet lag is something that no one has a solution to. Setting your watch as you get on the plane or rubbing your feet on the carpet, just don't work. Andrew's new app to send a herald in your place...

Is your cat getting attacked by the other mean cats in your neighbourhood? How are you stopping it? Andrew and Alex have two innovative businesses that will definitely solve this, and make you a lot of money in the process. Thank you Ashmita for sending in such a violent problem. If you have a problem (not related to cats) you want us to solve with an innovative business then please drop us a line...

Losing your glasses robs you of the thing you really need to find your glasses - your ability to see. So far, even after thousands of years of glasses development, there is no solution to this problem. Can Andrew and Alex pitch a business that will change that? Thank you Jasmine for sending in such a optometristy problem. If you have a problem (not related to glasses) you want us to solve with an...

Hayfever sucks. It's nothing like nightfever or that fever that you can only cure with more cowbell. It just stinks. You feel terrible but you're not actually ill and you don't have an actual fever and nobody really feels that sorry for you. It's the worst. After an email from a very sniffly listener, Alex and Andrew decided to tackle this problem head on. Have a listen and see...

Selling your house is a stressful, expensive, and long process. Lets make it quicker. Alex and Andrew pitch two revolutionary, next-generation, Estate Agents that will sell your house faster and for more money (well, Alex's idea definitely won't). Thank you James for sending in such a homely problem. If you have a problem (not related to houses) you want us to solve with an innovative bu...

So much of our infrastructure is wasted most of the day. Once it gets to 5pm offices, opticians, chocolatiers, EVERYWHERE, closes. Even the humble ice rink closes. But isn't this a waste of potential? A failure of imagination? Surely, there is a way of making money in an ice rink at 2am? Thank you to Gary for sending in such a wet problem. If you have a problem (not related to ice) you want u...

The world has had enough of crude graffiti, surely we are better than just covering everything with spray-paint drawn willys? Andrew and Alex are here to help, as they both pitch their own ideas for businesses to make vandalism more unique and less NSFW. Listen and decide for yourself whose idea was better! Thank you to Hannah who sent in such a crude problem. If you have a problem (not related to...

Why can we not Shazam smells? There's Google image search, why not a Google smell search? Alex and Andrew pitch two businesses that will aim to make it possible to really understand what you are smelling. There are wine sommeliers, why aren't there smell smelliers?  Thank you to Elliott who sent in such a wonderful and smell-focused problem. If you have a problem (not related to smelling...

When kids are little, parents get to witness so many of their achievements. However, as they grow up, the distance grows. Job interviews, driving tests, exams - parents can’t be in the room as this happens. Or can they?  This is very special episode! It is the first episode in our NEW NEW format! We're actually gonna stick with this one for a good long time. We promise. From this moment on we...

Is your significant other pissed with you?  Do you not know why?  Have you recently bought (or not bought) a zoo?  Well, our new consultancy service is here to help. With experts trained at Deloitte, McKinsey and IDEO we'll help you to make better life decisions, to understand why everyone is annoyed with you, and to reconnect with your dad over a shared love of timber.  If you want to send i...

After 64 episodes, Andrew and Alex are broken. Help them, dear listeners, understand what Brains on the Outside should be. Prepare for 20 minutes of, effectively, podcast therapy, as they go through their ideas for podcasts to launch if this one fails. If you want to send in your business idea, please email us at brainsontheoutside@gmail.com - we will send merch to everyone who writes in! Give us...

Your problems may seem insurmountable to you but to somebody else they might be easy-peasy! Our new app lets someone attempt to solve your problem for you, as long as you try to solve theirs. It's Strangers on a Train, but for cleaning your drains or doing your taxes. It's the next step of that neighbourhood group chat where people give away their old stuff, but now they are trying to gi...

Alex discusses his perfect shopping experience: a trip to a Spam concept store. If you want to send in your business idea, please email us at brainsontheoutside@gmail.com - we will send merch to everyone who writes in! Give us a review wherever you listen to your podcasts, follow us on Twitter @brainsoutside or Instagram @brainsontheoutside, and please, please, please tell your friends! Keep your...