The Startup Ideas Podcast - Claude's Agent Mode was LEAKED (First Look)

Episode Date: December 17, 2025

In this episode, I go over one AI news item I can’t stop thinking about, one trend you can build a business around, two tools I’m using, one startup idea you should steal, and one framework to end on. I start with a leak suggesting Anthropic is productizing “agent mode” for Claude with structured task buckets and a progress/context UI. Then I use Hyrox as an example of how I validate trends quickly with search data (and what “low competition + cheap CPC + explosive growth” signals). I wrap by pitching a hotel guest-communication concierge and the “thousand people framework” for getting to clarity on your ICP and what they’ll reliably pay for. Timestamps 00:00 – Intro 00:32 – AI New Item: Anthropic leak: Agent Task Mode for Claude 04:47 – Trend: Hyrox 08:59 – AI App: Krea and Notebook LLM 12:23 – Startup idea: Digital Hotel Concierge 15:59 – Framework: The “1000 People” For founders doing $50k+ MRR+: https://startup-ideas-pod.link/offline-mode Key Points Agent workflows get “productized” when the UI guides the task (not just a blank prompt box). Trend validation can be fast: look for explosive growth + low competition + cheap CPC, then ideate apps around it. NotebookLM’s slide generation is an underrated workflow for turning sources into clean decks. The “Guest Guide” concept is a simple AI/QR wedge: answer repetitive hotel questions and monetize per property. The thousand-people exercise forces clarity: who exactly buys, what they pay yearly, and how you reach them. Section Summaries The Claude Agent Mode Leak I break down a leak claiming Anthropic is preparing a more structured “agent mode” for Claude, organized into buckets like research, analyze, write, and build plus choices like depth, format, and outputs. The big shift is moving from “open chat” to “delegating distinct tasks” with visibility into progress and context. Productized Prompts = Better Output I explain why a blank text box can be daunting, and why UI that scaffolds intent (validate/compare/forecast, quick vs. thorough, doc vs. slides vs. spreadsheet) can make results meaningfully better. To me, it points at a future where you “check in” on agents like teammates. Trend Hunting I use Hyrox, an indoor fitness competition that’s “like the new CrossFit,” as a real example of how I sanity-check whether something is becoming a business opportunity. The workflow is simple: I see it in culture, then I go straight to Idea Browser to pull search/CPC/competition signals. Two Tools I’m Testing I call out Krea as a creative AI subscription bundling multiple models, and then I highlight NotebookLM’s slide/infographic feature as the underrated part—turning a source (including transcripts) into clean, well-designed slides with strong hierarchy. Steal This: Guest Guide I pitch a hotel digital concierge that handles common guest questions via QR-code guides, priced per property with affiliate upside, and I reference Sadie as an adjacent AI hospitality product (more on calls/reservations). Then I close with the “thousand people framework”: define the real ICP, map what they’ll pay yearly, and figure out distribution—because clarity is the driver. The #1 tool to find startup ideas/trends - https://www.ideabrowser.com LCA helps Fortune 500s and fast-growing startups build their future - from Warner Music to Fortnite to Dropbox. We turn 'what if' into reality with AI, apps, and next-gen products https://latecheckout.agency/ The Vibe Marketer - Resources for people into vibe marketing/marketing with AI: https://www.thevibemarketer.com/ FIND ME ON SOCIAL X/Twitter: https://twitter.com/gregisenberg Instagram: https://instagram.com/gregisenberg/ LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/gisenberg/

Hey everyone, today's episode, we are going to cover a news item, an AI news item that I can't stop thinking about. One trend that you can build a business around, one app, one AI app I'm using that I think you should take a look at. I'm going to give you one startup idea. And then we're going to end this episode with one startup framework that I think you'll really enjoy. Let's get right into it. So the first news item, we're going to talk about what leaked. So Anthropic is preparing new and genetic task mode for Claude. So you can see here the image.

There's actually a leaked video. I'll zoom in here. And what's really cool about it is, so you have basically five different buckets, research, analyze, write, build, and do more. So if you click, let's say, write, you can pick the format. Do you want to dock? Do you want slides? Do you want spreadsheet?

Do you want a step by step, first draft, citations? You know, if you click analyze, you can actually pick the approach that you want. So it's gone ahead and like product ties a lot of the stuff that we're doing anyways. But validate, compare, forecast. You can pick the depth. Do you want it quick? Do you want it thorough? And then build, you know.

This is, you know, where a lot of us are using clode, clod, whatever you want to call it, to actually build a lot of software. So you can have the output as an artifact, a cloud artifact or code. You can pick the layout. You can pick the theme. And research, which I think is really cool. You can pick where do you want it to search from? Do you want it to search from the Internet?

Do you want it to search from, you know, different MCPs, your connectors, you know. So then you can see here, help me research about testing catalog. And then you'd be able to actually go into. do it. So I think that this is a huge leap for AI in general. This, you know, up into this time, you've basically created, you know, output via just a text box. And I don't know about you, but I go to a Chad, ChbT or a Gemini or any of these LLMs, and I find it daunting. I don't know exactly what to put in there. So I think that by having some of this stuff here, productizing some of this, it's going to get way better output and it sort of leads to this idea around you'll have

agents actually go and do these things for you. So this is a big piece of leak news. This isn't out yet. Testing catalog is the people that broke the news. You can see here Anthropics is expanding previously discovered Claude Agent Mode with a multifaceted task delegation interface positioning the sent as a more autonomous tool for structured workflows. The updated interface introduces a toggle for switching between classic chat and agent modes, allowing users to focus on delegating distinct tasks rather than only having open-ended conversations. In agent mode, users are agreed with five core sections. We talked about that.

Each accessible from the main screen point to specialized capability in use cases. This is really interesting. So it says these functions appear alongside a progress tracker and context manager on the right side of the interface. The progress view will break down each delegated task while the context manager lists the resources Claude is using, allowing users to monitor and potentially adjust active inputs. This setup could benefit professionals, students, and teams seeking guided step-by-step basis on complex projects. This is the future of work. So let's just go ahead back into here, see this. I can imagine you prompting this interface.

based on the task I want, and then on the left-hand side, seeing these agents actually going and doing it and checking in on them, just like you check in on teammates in Slack, right? I think that's what this is trying to be. And if it works, then it's going to be huge. So I think this is a big deal. I don't know why more people aren't talking about it. but if this actually gets created or this actually gets posted production, this is going to be big. And you heard it first here on the startup ideas pod. Subscribe for more of that sort of stuff in the future.

So that's the news item. Okay, let's go to a trend. Let's talk about a trend because, you know, I know that you love that. I know that you guys love, you know, different trends and how to actually, you know, go and build business around them. If you have a business that's doing at least $50,000 a month in revenue, I've got something interesting for you. It's called Offline Mode. It's a two-day event that me and my team are putting on at a 20,000 plus square foot mansion. Yes, this is what it looks like on January 23rd and January 24th in Fort Lauderdale, Florida. I'll include a link in the description if you're interested in coming.

But it's basically for people who have a business that's kind of cranking, but they really want to put it in Rocket Ship. mode. They want to create a set of businesses that generate tons of money, tons of cash flow, tons of product market fit, tons of impact, but they're not just quite there yet. It's also about making your business AI first, how you can actually build not just one product, but multiple products, and you're going to leave with tactical answers to your questions. So if that's you, and this sounds interesting, I'll see you there. So I don't know about you. You. I don't know about you, but I've heard this thing recently over the last few weeks, Hi Rocks. So High Rocks, which is a global indoor fitness competition combining eight

kilometers of running, split into one kilometer segments with eight different functional workout stations, alternating between running and strength, endurance, and challenges. Designed as a sport for everybody for fitness levels from novice to elite athletes. It's basically like the new CrossFit. And I keep hearing about it. keep hearing about it and because of that you know if if i hear about something or i see it on ticot you know that the first place i go to is idea browser so uh let's go ahead and check the search data and on it and see you know it you know is there an opportunity to actually build a business around around this trend so uh usually what i do is i you know i go to my

dashboard i'll click uh my trends here i click recent search a trend. And then you have the ability to do quick check or deep discover. So, you know, I'm just going to do a quick check, 15 seconds. So this is actually going to tell us what, you know, what is the search volume? What is the CPC? So, you know, came back already. And this is what you love to see. So you have a low competition. I just changed the search date at all time. Look at this. Basically, no one was searching it a few years ago. And now it's absolutely blown up. 5,525% growth in the last five years. Cheap CPC, low competition.

So you know that there's a business to be created here. Maybe there's a mobile app business, and we can talk more about that. Usually when I do a quick search and I'm more interested, then I'll do a deep research, which just basically goes and just goes and gets more deep insights. This takes longer. but it gives you this sort of report around it. But the point here is there's something here. There's something here.

So if you want to create a mobile app, maybe it allows you to track your high rock, your high rocks workouts. Maybe it's recommendations on products. Maybe it's your high rocks, you know, buddy that every day checks in with you and gives you. and tells you something to do or compares you. So there's a lot of opportunity to, you know, just when I, like I said, when I see something

like this and I see this amount of growth with little competition, it's a gift. So it's a gift for not just, not just me. I'm giving it to you. And I hope you do something with it. And, you know, let me know in the comment section. If you've heard of high rocks before, I've only actually started hearing about it for the last few weeks. So I don't know if I'm late to the party, but here we go. The next thing I wanted to talk about is, you know, I'm actually going to give you two apps that I've been using.

One's kind of, you know, an app you might have heard of, but you haven't played with recently. And ones maybe that you haven't heard of. So one app is KREA. So this is probably something that you haven't used. I just started using it over the last little bit. So I wouldn't say I'm a pro with it, but it is one of those creative AI tools that brings in, you know, V-O-3 and Topaz and all these different, you know, video 3D creative models in one subscription. I've done a review on glyph before, which is a similar sort of idea. But I want to play with this a little bit more and just see how it does.

Because I've been hearing that it's absolutely amazing. And just like seeing on the website, it looks really good. I'm not affiliated with these people at all. You'll know when I'm affiliated with something. But I just think that on the website, it looks really cool. Can it actually do the output here? As good as it says? I don't know.

But I wanted to put that on your radar as a tool that I'm checking. out right now. The other product I want to talk about is, and you've probably heard of it, it's Google Notebook LM, but there's a feature that you probably haven't looked at, which is the slides feature. So they've added a new feature for infographics and slide deck. So what can you do? So how do you use this? You basically put in a source. can be like it could actually be an image. It could be a blog post. It could be a transcript on YouTube, right?

You can go and use perplexity comment, transcript to YouTube video and put it in here. Or just put the YouTube video right here. You can upload things from Google Drive. And then you can do fast research and deep research. But the cool thing here is you can actually generate a slide deck and it looks pretty you good. So I actually did a whole episode on how you can 10x prompt better using tools like Claude and stuff like that. And I just find like these, on the right hand side, like these are really beautiful designed slides. I think it's clear. I think it's, you know, the hierarchy is really

nice. So I think a lot of people know Notebook L.M for just like, you know, you put in a source and you get a podcast out of it. But using it as an AI slide designer is super, super underrated. And I want to tell you about it. I want to tell you about it. And I'm really enjoying that. So those are the two apps. Well, one app that you probably haven't heard of and one app that's a bonus. A feature you probably haven't heard of, but an app that you've probably heard of. The next section is I wanted to give you a startup idea to get your creative juices flowing. So I saw this startup idea, which I actually funded in 2011, I funded an app that did this and it didn't work out, but I think the timing was wrong and now the timing is right. So someone please steal this idea. So a digital concierge platform that automates guest communication for hotels. Hotel managers waste hours answering repreditative guest questions like, what's the Wi-Fi password?

When is breakfast served? Where should we eat nearby? Guest guide creates interactive digital guides to handle 90% of guest inquiries automatically. Guests scan a QR code at check-in to access everything they need, walk through videos, local recommendations, amenities instructions, or bridge contacts. So you basically charge hotels $29 to $79 per property based on features. And then you do affiliate, you know, partnerships with local businesses. I think this is an interesting business.

I think hotel messaging, like being the, also creating like a AI concierge for hotels is a huge opportunity. And when you look at hotel messaging, look at that volume, right? It's absolutely crushed it. So I just think that there's an opportunity to use AI, use QR codes to help guests in their stay. And there are people who are doing, you know, versions of this. I saw that there was a company that VALSOF funded. VALSOF is a conglomerate. I forget the name of the company, but SADI, yeah.

So, you know, Sadi is a company that, you know, convert your missed calls into booking. Sadie is the market-leading AI hosts built for. for hospitality answering every call taking reservation orders. So this feels like more around like the sales side. But I do think that there's an opportunity to do something more on like the guest experience side. And that's why I do like that idea. It gives you, you know, it gives you some ideas around how you can structure the offer. I always try to, this always gives me ideas.

So you can create a lead magnet, which is like an interactive digital welcome guide template. Your front-end offer could be something like a basic digital guide subscription, a pro offer with video tutorials. Then you do your local and affiliate offers. And then you do your enterprise plan with custom integrations. So that's your back-end offer. I always try to structure my businesses with a value ladder. Why value ladders work, builds trust incrementally. and maximizes customer lifetime value,

helps segment your audience, and creates predictable revenue. So whatever it is you're creating or building, I do think that a value ladder is worth your time. And there's something here in the AI hotel space. And by the way, this is a free idea. You can grab it on Idea Browser. We're doing 24 days of startup ideas.

So, you know, usually, you know, sometimes we charge for ideas. these are 24 free ones that you can keep forever. So I'll include a link where to get that and where to get your free ideas in the description. The last thing I want to talk about is a framework. You know, I love a good framework. And this one is I'm calling the 1,000 people framework. How do you find a small market and create a clear solution for it?

So, you know, I think that we all want to build big things. We all want to make, you know, millions of dollars, create a huge amount of impact. But it's just so helpful to actually get to know and dial into the thousand people who are the same. So whatever it is your building, think about who are the thousand people, who is your ICP? And when I say ICP, I deal customer profile, I don't mean the millions of people that could buy your thing. Who are the people who are most likely to buy your product? And, you know, what is, you know, try to picture them. And, you know, one thing that I like to do is I'll go to a Gemini, chat, GPT, whatever,

and I'll be like, you know, create personas for these people. You know, what do they do on a daily basis? You know, what is their job? How much money do they make? What do they like about their job? What do they hate about the job? Really get to know these people. Then ask, what will they pay 50 to 100?

for every year. And, you know, some people here are built, you know, for the thousand people, maybe it's more than $100 a year. Maybe it's, they're selling enterprise and it's a million a year. But whatever it is, like, what will they pay some amount of money for every year? Keyword every year. And then ask yourself, well, how do I reach all those thousand people? How do I reach all those thousand people and come up with ideas for that? And this is like a prompt. for you to get really clear about who these people are, what are their most painful problems that they have, and how you can reach them.

And I think as we're getting into 2026, it's important to actually dial into this. The clarity is the most important. The clarity is what's going to help you actually increase the probability of success in whatever business you're going to create. It's not the best product. It's not the best marketing. It's ultimately the clarity.

clarity is going to drive everything, right? Yes, it actually, you know, it will actually end up creating the best marketing and the best product of it. Because if you have good clarity, you will be able to do it. But it all starts. My point, I guess, is it all starts with clarity. And the 1,000 people framework, it's going to help you. And you can use this with your co-founder and do this as an exercise with your co-founder. You can do this with chat, GPT, or an LLM as your partner and try to figure this out.

And or you can also just speak to your target audience. But a lot of people are busy. They don't have time to just answer surveys and stuff like that. So I don't know if you'll be able to speak to all 1,000. But kudos if you can. So 1,000 people framework. I hope you enjoyed that one. So that's the episode.

That's the episode. I thought this is the second time I've done this sort of episode where you know, give you a news item, like the anthropic leak that I think that a lot of people don't know about. I'll give you a trend that I think is underrated and there's an opportunity to build businesses with. I'll give you an app that I'm using that I think is interesting and underrated. I'll give you a startup idea that I want you to steal and go build something from it or at least like get your creative juices flowing there. And then I'll give you a framework so you have the foundation for actually building out these ideas.

ideas. This is the startup ideas podcast in a nutshell. My goal with it is to increase the probability of your success and whatever it is you're doing, either if you're working at a startup, you're working at a big company, or you want to build something of your own one day or doing it right now. And that's what I'm here for. I'm rooting for you. If you like this format and you want me to do more of it, please let me know. I read every single comment. I appreciate it. I appreciate every single like. And if you want more of it, you know where to subscribe. And well, I guess we can end it here.

You can get back to building and I'll get back to building too. Catch you later. Thanks, everyone.