Jonathan Courtney Gave Away 3 Crazy Cash-Flowing Business Ideas

May 1, 2024

AI Summary

5 min read

The Brown Noise Business and Other Unsexy Goldmines

Jonathan Courtney, CEO of AJ&Smart, walked into the Startup Ideas Podcast with a confession: he doesn't build startups. He builds small businesses that max out around $10–18 million in revenue, and he's fine with that. But he has ideas he wants other people to build — and he's willing to invest.

The most surprising thing he brought was a sleep hack that he claims has improved his sleep more than any supplement, blue-blocking glasses, or expensive mattress cover. It's deep brown noise — a low-frequency sound that sounds like being inside a plane. He found it through a Spotify podcast called "Ad Free White Noise and Sleep Sounds 12 Hours," specifically the "Deep Brown Noise" track. Skip the first 20 seconds to avoid the ad.

His claim is striking: when he uses deep brown noise, his Eight Sleep sleep score hits 95. When he turns it off, it drops to 85. He says it covers neighbor footsteps, street noise, and even the sounds from the Eight Sleep mattress itself — while still letting him hear his daughter if she needs him, which earplugs wouldn't allow.

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What you'll learn

1 (00:00) **Intro & Framing** - Jonathan Courtney introduces himself as a small business owner who loves repackaging boring things and selling them at a premium.
2 (04:54) **Idea #1: The "Eight Sleep for Brown Noise"** - A smart, AI-powered brown noise machine for sleep.
3 (24:22) **Idea #2: A Sophisticated Male Sex Toy Brand** - The market lacks an Apple-like, non-creepy brand for men's self-pleasure devices.
4 (28:50) **Idea #3: Non-Spiritual, Non-Psychedelic Retreats** - A gap in the market for practical, unplugged retreats without yoga, meditation, or psychedelics.
5 (33:15) **Idea #4: A "Zero" for Digital Addiction** - Build a brand, education, and media company around phone addiction, using a physical blocker (Brick) as the anchor.
6 (43:11) **Masterminds & The Russell Brunson Defense** - A debate on the value of paid masterminds and a deep dive into direct response marketing.
7 (61:41) **Wrap-Up** - Jonathan's contact info and a promise to post the unfiltered episode.

+ Full timestamped outline available in the app

Show Notes

I’m joined by Jonathan Courtney, Co-Founder and CEO of AJ&Smart, a Digital Product Design agency. We discuss various $1M-$10M business ideas, including an AI-powered brown noise device, a more sophisticated brand of male sex toys, an infoproduct to break phone addiction, and so much more.

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Episode Timestamps

00:00 First business idea: AI-powered sleep device
24:19 Second business idea: Sophisticated sex toys for men
28:38 Third business idea: Non-spiritual retreats
33:55 Fourth business idea: An infoproduct around digital addiction
47:50 How entrepreneurs can benefit from masterminds