👶 Parents love this startup

Plus: NYC's crypto donations, Wicked meets "Rollercoaster Tycoon," and more.

Share The Hustle: https://thehustle.co/join?ref=7598767985 Check your referral progress & prizes here 👋  Good morning. If you felt yourself reverting to childhood while visiting your parents over the weekend, you might not have been imagining it. Researchers at the University of Cambridge scanned the brains of ~4k people and found that the human brain stays in adolescence until the ripe age of 32, with the four major brain phases taking place at 9, 32, 66, and 83. There's always next year? STARTING UP Mining the moon… What could go wrong? ❌  The problem: Some things don't exist on Earth. A perfectly ripe avocado, a stress-free Monday morning meeting, or a call to your mom without a passive aggressive comment, for example. Also, apparently, Helium-3 — an in-demand isotope that could one day be used in fusion power plants, quantum-computer cooling, and nuclear-security tech.  💡  The pitch: Seattle-based Interlune wants to fix the shortage and make a pretty penny — the material costs ~$20m per kilogram (that's ~150x more expensive than gold). Interlune plans to collect Helium-3 straight from the surface of the moon using an excavator built to handle the moon's low gravity and unique soil, per CNET.  🚀  The outlook: Interlune has already built a full-scale prototype of its excavator and has plans to start slinging Helium-3 to customers in 2029. The orders are already rolling in: Tech company Bluefors spent $300m+ on tens of thousands of liters of the isotope, according to The Washington Post, the largest purchase yet of a natural resource from space. NEWS FLASH   Did you swear to your parents that gaming is a career? Find Your Grind, a platform where young people can discover new passions, wants to help you make right on the promise. The startup focuses on alternative professions such as content creator, esports player, and pop-punk bandmate — possibly because it was founded by Nick Gross, drummer of pop-punk band Goldfinger. A new funding record: Nebraska's CompanyCam, a construction project management and site documentation platform, hit a $2B valuation following the largest single equity investment round in the state's history. CEO Luke Hansen founded the startup in 2015 after struggling to find software to manage jobs at his family's roofing business. Not that you need another subscription, but Polish startup Juo is developing tech to help businesses build and manage subscriptions for physical products, like supplements, toiletries, meal kits, and more. Co-founder and COO Alina Prelicz told EU-Startups that subscribers order 2x as much as returning customers, which we believe based on our piles of unused vitamins and haircare. Oops. Make no mistake: AI startup Harmonic says its "Mathematical Superintelligence" is AI focused on advanced reasoning so that it doesn't hallucinate or make factual errors, something that will ultimately be useful in fields like aerospace and finance. Now, if we could only do the same to our human brains. BUILD A WINNING BRAND A master's plan for building, branding, and brainstorming   You don't know Eric Ryan, but that's why this exists. He's the creative brain behind eye-catching Target aisle darlings like Method soap and Olly vitamins.    His thoughtful, simplistic designs are filled with go-to-market wisdom. Save his product playbook for turning blah products into brilliant brands.    What we bundled: Proven framework: 5 of Eric's high-creative tactics.  Live product lab: Workshopping ideas with Sam and Shaan (My First Million). 10 rapid-fire rules: For brilliant product positioning. Product (marketing) pro tips   THE BIG IDEA Good news for parents who don't want to clean slushie vomit They say successful businesses start by identifying a problem and finding a way to solve it. For this small business, that problem is sticky car seats. Young children are required by law to ride in car seats, but given their propensity to spill snacks, drinks, and generally make a mess, those car seats can often become dirty and sticky. Seat Spa, an Owensboro, Kentucky, business, will clean them for you, per The Owensboro Times. Founded by Kaelyn Arblaster, a stay-at-home mother, and her husband, who enjoys detailing cars, Seat Spa offered the couple a flexible side hustle where they could spend time together and make money while their two children slept. How it works Seat Spa picks up car seats in the evening, inspects them for damage, and disassembles them. Then, they use diluted vinegar, air compressors, and brushes to remove dirt, crumbs, and, if present, potentially dangerous substances like mold (which can occur if milk or food is spilled into the cracks). Seats are reassembled and returned in the morning. It's a service that one Redditor — whose son vomited blue slushie on his car seat — said they'd pay "an inordinate amount of money" to receive.    So, naturally, there are others: BabyQuip — a baby gear rental service — will clean items including car seats, strollers, high chairs, and more. Basic cleans, which include 30 minutes of vacuuming and wiping down, are ~$20, while a full 90-minute deep clean is ~$80.  Buckle Bath services New York and New Jersey with plans for future franchising. Cleaning starts at $69 per car seat, and the company also partners with preschools and daycares for on-site cleaning.  Niche cleaning services… … work because they provide a service that most people can't or don't want to do. That applies to forensic and crime scene cleaners, of course, but also those that specialize in rugs and fabrics, pools, chimneys, air ducts and vents, and natural disasters where there may have been fires or flooding damage. But car seat cleaners are tapping into a specific demographic: busy parents who don't have time to deep clean their own car seats even if they want to. And that's a ripe market: Sherah is a platform that connects working moms to assistants who complete tasks, like booking appointments.  Otter matches working parents looking for sitters to stay-at-home parents looking for a side hustle. Little Spoon is a meal prep service for babies and toddlers.  Peanut matches moms looking for friends and communities. And finally, here's a fun one: Cradlewise, a smart crib that will rock your baby to sleep for you, replete with soothing sounds.  🔗   HIGHLY RECOMMENDED   From wallets and bacon to surfboards and sneakers… mushrooms were everywhere with the promise of replacing plastic and leather. But why hasn't it happened yet?   NEWSWORTHY NUMBER How much some New Yorkers will receive in crypto as part of a cash transfer pilot program funded by nonprofit GiveDirectly through donations from Coinbase. The digital funds are being distributed to 160 low-income residents in NYC, where the crypto ecosystem is more supported compared to other cities, through February, per Business Insider. The initiative is similar to guaranteed basic income programs being trialed around the US and globally. What sets it apart is the $8k lump sum participants received in November, which will help them invest in more substantial things like housing and education, according to GiveDirectly, and, given the timing, maybe even a present or two. 'Tis the season, right?   AROUND THE WEB 📅  On this day: In 1959, Antarctica was made a military-free continent when 12 nations signed the Antarctica Treaty. 🖼️  That's cool: Drag objects to make an art gallery. 🎢  Haha: "Rollercoaster Tycoon" meets Wicked. 🤔  That's interesting: Are we living in a simulation? 😍  Aww: Behold, eggs. SHOWER THOUGHT If you go to a prison and stand there long enough, eventually you get to stay. SOURCE   Today's email was brought to you by Juliet Bennett Rylah and Singdhi Sokpo. Editing by: Sara "Slushie slayer" Friedman.   Was this email forwarded to you? Sign up here. Working on something big? We've got a whole library of business-building resources for you. Subscribe to our other newsletters Stay up-to-date on AI: Mindstream  |  Expert insights: Masters in Marketing  |  Sell better: The Science of Scaling Follow The Hustle on YouTube, LinkedIn, and Instagram. HubSpot Media, 2 Canal Park, Cambridge, MA, 02141, USA, +1 888.482.7768 Never want to hear from us again? Break our hearts and Unsubscribe.