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 one big book. Thank you Lauren for getting in touch with us. How would you solve their pr...

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 luggage and the airport official asks what brand it is and you say "July" and they say "no, I didn't ask when you're trave...

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 and a half rolls are later cut down to the bog rolls you know and love and use but until then Naked Sprout ha...

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 asked us how to get drivers to buy EVs over gas guzzling petrol monsters. Some of our ideas: Pushing the benefits ...

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 to be at, make a law stating you can only get married if you are good at the game, put tables in ...

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 in a hat Thank you Amy Renyu Jin, Water and Wine’s Head of Marketing, for getting in touch with...

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: brainsontheoutside@gmail.com Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/brainsontheoutside/&...

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 you solve his problem? Email us at: brainsontheoutside@gmail.com Instagram: https://w...

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 theme music: https://soundcloud.com/rich-marsh Keep your brains on the outside! ...

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 us a line at brainsontheoutside@gmail.com Keep your Brains on the Outside xoxo

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 problem you want us to solve with an innovative business then please drop us a line at brainsontheoutside@...

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 you want us to solve with an innovative business then please drop us a line at bra...

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 and Alex's plane replacement aim to fix that. Thank you to our mystery listener for sending in such...

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 at brainsontheoutside@gmail.com Keep your Brains on the Outside! xoxo

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 innovative business then please drop us a line at brainsontheoutside@gmail.com Keep your Brains...

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 whether shrink wrapping yourself or moving to Arrakis or one of the many, many other innovative ideas our creative ...

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 business then please drop us a line at brainsontheoutside@gmail.com Keep your Brains on the Outside! xoxo

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 us to solve with an innovative business then please drop us a line at brainsontheoutside@gmail.com&nbs...

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 graffiti) you want us to solve with an innovative business then please drop us a line at brains...

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) you want us to solve with an innovative business then please drop us a line at brainsontheoutside@g...

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're going to be looking extra hard for listener problems to solve and then we're both going to p...

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 in your business idea, please email us at brainsontheoutside@gmail.com - we will ...

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 a review wherever you listen to your podcasts, follow us on Twitter @brainsoutside or Instagram...

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 give away their problems. If you want to send in your business idea, please email us at brainsontheoutside@...

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 brains on the outside xo

Living in the city, it's hard to grow your own food. Allotments are expensive, and gardens are rare. We have a solution! Let us come to your house with 5 tonnes of topsoil and we can transform any of your rooms into a garden. 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 p...

What if there was a restaurant you could order takeaway food too? A "Deliveroom", if you will? Why don't Ikea open after hours, using their showroom bedrooms as hotels, and their kitchens and dining rooms as places to eat out? Prepare for a hungry and food-related Brains on the Outside this week, as we plan the future of food. 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 y...

Alex proposes the future of shopping - a shop you are allowed to steal from. Andrew desperately wants to pull the lever on the train that causes it to do an emergency stop, and is willing to start a business to do it. 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, pl...

Some shoes light up, some have wheels in them, and some make you taller. Aside from that, shoes are fairly dull - where's the innovation? What's new? Luckily for Adidas and Nike, Alex has hundreds of ideas on how to improve the shoe - ones to make you shorter, a shoe that makes you sound different, a shoe to brand the ground you walk on! 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 ...

Are you worried you are about to embarrass yourself? Don’t worry, our new app can send someone to be a distraction! Thank you Henry for sending in an idea - 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 on Instagram @brainsontheoutside, and please, please, please tell your friends! Keep your brains on the o...

Andrew had so many great ideas planned for this episode - instead, he pitches the wine flight hat, a classy and portable way of consuming a selection of wine. Increasing the classiness of the episode, we also pitch a reusable strawpedo straw, allowing even the environmentally conscious to get drunk fast. Our listener Rich sends us an idea to make sure a watched pot will always boil. If you want to send in your business idea, please email us at brainsontheoutside@gmail.com - we will send merc...

This is our first-ever live show! In front of an audience of real humans, Andrew pitches an advent calendar for every holiday, and Alex pitches Cameo for shopping - an app to make Steve Buscemi go shopping for him. Thank you to everyone who came along, and to everyone who pitched their own business idea! Thank you to Rich, for doing the sound engineering on this episode. Finally, thank you to the Station House in Durham for letting us use their bar as a venue for all our ridiculous business i...

Paw Patrol, Fireman Sam, and Postman Pat give kids a false and whimsical impression of what grown-up jobs are like. Andrew pitches the chance to try out any job before committing your life to it. We get sidetracked and ask: what if you could become 1/140th of a Doctor? Andrew ranks all the crimes and decides that robbing a train on a horse is the coolest. 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!...

Plenty of people are NIMBYs ("not in my backyard!") but what about those of us who are more amenable? What about the YIMBYs? The "yes in my backyard!" people? Do you need to build a wind farm in someone's garden? Open a prison on someone's property? Dispose of weapon's grade nuclear waste? Alex's new app will find the exact place to put it! Plus, we have a live show on the 22nd of February at the Station House, Durham. Please come along! If you want to send in your business idea, please em...

Welcome to our 1 year anniversary of Brains on the Outside! Over the last 365 days, we have released 52 previous episodes with over 100 ridiculous business ideas! If you've never listened to an episode, this is the perfect place to start! The first innovative pitch idea of year 2 is for a food subscription box for processed foods - half chemistry set, half Mindful Chef. Plus, we have a live show on the 22nd of February at the Station House, Durham. Please come along! If you want to send in...

Alex's idea for a CEO training academy for babies meets some scepticism as our guest Ashmita asks some (pretty fair) questions. If you want to send in your business idea, or a problem you need solving, please email us at brainsontheoutside@gmail.com - we will send merch to everyone who writes in with an idea! Give us a rate and review us on Apple Podcasts or Spotify or where ever you get your podcasts, follow us on Twitter @brainsoutside or on Instagram @brainsontheoutside, and pleas...

Morning routines are slow, but they could be fast. Really fast. Like, REALLY fast. If you want to send in your business idea, or a problem you need solving, please email us at brainsontheoutside@gmail.com - we will send merch to everyone who writes in with an idea! Give us a rate and review us on Apple Podcasts or Spotify or where ever you get your podcasts, follow us on Twitter @brainsoutside or on Instagram @brainsontheoutside, and please, please, please tell your friends! Keep your brai...

Inside us all is the desire to dig a really really deep hole. Now, with Andrew's newest holiday destination, you can rent a shovel, a JCB, or a Bagger 288 and dig to your heart's content. If you want to send in your business idea, or a problem you need solving, please email us at brainsontheoutside@gmail.com - we will send merch to everyone who writes in with an idea! Give us a rate and review us on Apple Podcasts or Spotify or where ever you get your podcasts, follow us on Twitter @brainso...

The rise of ChatGPT and AI has rendered the magic 8 ball obsolete. Alex has a pitch though: the Magic 8.1 ball, an AI-enabled decision maker. If you want to send in your business idea, or a problem you need solving, please email us at brainsontheoutside@gmail.com - we will send merch to everyone who writes in with an idea! Give us a rate and review us on Apple Podcasts or Spotify or where ever you get your podcasts, follow us on Twitter @brainsoutside or on Instagram @brainsontheoutside, a...

Prepare to be able to reheat food anywhere - the portable microwave is here. With an ergonomic and timeless design, inspired by the lighter, Alex and Andrew are sure the portable microwave will change the way you view the humble microwave. Would you like some free and amazing merch? Well, listen until the end of this week's episode to find out how! We also want to thank Helen for your business idea about local hotel goodie bags! If you want to send in your business idea, or a problem you ...

We are starting the new year with the second part of our awards show! This time we are nominating the business idea we would invest real money into, if we had enough real money to make investments! If you have a business problem, ad or idea you'd like us to discuss you can contact us using our Google Form: https://forms.gle/oNTu6FJ5gV91isRNA or by email: brainsontheoutside@gmail.com Give us a rate and review us on Apple Podcasts or Spotify or where ever you get your podcasts, follow us on T...

Viability is in the eye of the beholder. We host our first Brains on the Outside awards show, as Andrew and Alex try to choose what they believe is the most viable business they pitched this year. If you have a business problem, ad or idea you'd like us to discuss you can contact us using our Google Form: https://forms.gle/oNTu6FJ5gV91isRNA or by email: brainsontheoutside@gmail.com Give us a rate and review us on Apple Podcasts or Spotify or where ever you get your podcasts, follow u...

It's our Christmas special today and who better to discuss Santa with than Molly, an 11-year-old! We try to get the inside scoop on what Santa has been up to this year and what Molly thinks we might be able to do to help him out. We then try to understand, through a child's eyes where the best place to hide presents in your house might be, to make sure no one finds something they shouldn't! Thank you Anne for writing in with an idea! If you have a business problem, ad or idea you'd like us t...

more balls! more players! more voting! Now that the World Cup is wrapping up, Andrew and Alex wonder what rules will be included in the sequel to football: Football 2. The two business-pitching buddies get nostalgic about a Lord of the Rings themed bar they once visited and wonder what the most innovative theme a bar could have. If you have a business problem, ad or idea you'd like us to discuss you can contact us using our Google Form: https://forms.gle/oNTu6FJ5gV91isRNA or by email: brains...

This week, as you crack open that little door and feast upon the chocolatey (or crunchy) snacks behind you can listen to our thoughts on advent calendars, present regifting and Hallmark Christmas Movies including Gretchen Wieners, dinosaurs and a reindeer with a genetic health condition. If you have a business problem, ad or idea you'd like us to discuss you can contact us using our Google Form: https://forms.gle/oNTu6FJ5gV91isRNA or by email: brainsontheoutside@gmail.com Give us a rate and...

An anime dating sim to teach you coding! A banana to tell you to sell bitcoin! An annoying alarm! A social media with a timer! This week is packed a smorgasbord of innovative ideas from Durhack, a Durham University hackathon Thank you to all our guests in today's episode! If you have a business problem, ad or idea you'd like us to discuss you can contact us using our Google Form: https://forms.gle/oNTu6FJ5gV91isRNA Give us a rate and review us on Apple Podcasts or Spotify or where ever you...

You can see a cover band version of The Beatles, but why isn't there a tribute version of theme parks? Or a tribute version of Formula 1, or art, or restaurants? After we pitch a tribute of everything, Alex plays havoc with the spacetime continuum to make it easier to work with Australia. Thank you so much Rhianne for sending us your business idea to make leather easier to wear! 'If you have a business problem, ad or idea you'd like us to discuss you can contact us using our Google Fo...

Elon has made it clear: no idea is bad enough to not be considered included in a future update to Twitter. We are more than happy to help speed up its death spiral by throwing more ideas into the mix. Tackling another type of melt-down, we discuss the Long-term nuclear waste warning message problem: how can you convince people to leave nuclear waste alone, forever. If you have a business problem, ad or idea you'd like us to discuss you can contact us using our Google Form: https://forms...

We are back with another episode recorded in Brewdog Waterloo's podcast recording studio! The restaurant Dishoom lets loyal customers roll dice to give you free food - can other companies apply this gambling concept to their own business? Then, Alex teaches everyone what a skinner box is, and how the future of everything will be based on them. On top of all this, this episode is unique: we have finally found a real-world business idea as outside-brained as this show. Let us introduce you to O...

It's Halloween! Monsters and candy are everywhere! Today is a day for the supernatural! No matter how much has changed, however, innovative business ideas are constantly important. Join us as we discuss the new businesses required to keep the monster society going. If you have a business problem, ad or idea you'd like us to discuss you can contact us using our Google Form: https://forms.gle/oNTu6FJ5gV91isRNA Rate and review us on Apple Podcasts or Spotify or where ever you get your podcasts...