Categories: AI Shopping Assistant

SMDeal: The Startup Graveyard That’s Actually Genius

As someone who lives and breathes SEO and digital trends, I spend a lot of time digging through the internet’s nooks and crannies. I’m always on the hunt for the next big tool, the clever new platform, the diamond in the rough. The other day, I stumbled upon a name that piqued my interest: SMDeal. The initial description I found was for an AI chatbot designed to simplify IT purchases. “Brilliant,” I thought. Anyone who’s ever had to navigate the labyrinth of enterprise software or hardware procurement knows it’s a special kind of nightmare.

So I went to check it out, ready to see this clever bot in action. And I was met with… well, not what I expected. First, a 404 error on one of the links. Okay, that happens. But the main page was something else entirely. It wasn’t a product page. It was a list of experiments. A sort of digital laboratory.

It turns out, the story of SMDeal is far more interesting than just another SaaS tool. It’s a story about entrepreneurial wisdom, killing your darlings, and the genius of testing ideas before you bet the farm on them.

So, What Was SMDeal Supposed to Be?

Let’s rewind for a second. The original concept for SMDeal was genuinely compelling. It was born from a simple, painful truth: buying IT is too hard. The creator envisioned an AI-powered chatbot that would act as your knowledgeable guide, helping you navigate specs, compare options, and ultimately make smarter, faster purchasing decisions. I mean, who wouldn’t want that? It promised to be the sherpa for your trek up Mount Procurement.

This is an idea with real legs. The B2B purchasing process is notoriously clunky, often bogged down by endless sales calls, confusing pricing tiers, and feature-creep. An AI assistant could cut through all that noise. But, as we see so often in the tech world, a great idea is only part of the equation. The project is currently offline, the chatbot is unavailable, and development is on hold. A moment of silence for what could have been.

Visit SMDeal

The Pivot: From a Single Tool to an Idea Factory

This is where the story gets really good. Instead of a dead end, the SMDeal domain has transformed. It’s now a public testament to a founder’s new mission statement: “Testing startup ideas before wasting time building them.”

This, my friends, is the lean startup methodology in its purest form. It’s a philosophy I’ve championed for years, one that was famously articulated by Eric Ries in his book The Lean Startup. The core principle is to stop building things nobody wants. Instead of spending months or years in a garage perfecting a product in isolation, you create a “Minimum Viable Product” (or in this case, just a landing page) to test your core assumptions with real people.

The creator of SMDeal, a self-described “semi-technical entrepreneur,” is doing exactly that. He’s using simple landing pages as probes, sent out into the market to see what gets a bite. It’s not a graveyard of ideas; it’s an incubator. Each concept gets a name, a one-line pitch, and a simple goal: collect interest and validate the problem.

A Glimpse into the Lab: Nazgûl, Raaspberry, and More

The range of experiments on the page is fascinating and shows a mind buzzing with possibilities. You have:

• Nazgûl: An enterprise intelligence platform for analyzing employee communications to flag organizational risks. This is a heavy-hitting B2B SaaS play aimed right at the C-Suite. It’s currently live for testing and collecting waitlist signups.
• Violet Crown Vertical: A complete shift in gears. This is a kitchen cabinet vertical farm system for fresh herbs. A hardware and sustainability play for the home and garden market.
• Raaspberry: A tool for creators that turns cooking videos into formatted recipes for Pinterest and blogs. This one targets the booming creator economy and food tech space.
• Remora: A dive into the world of wearables with a concept for a wearable computer for hands-free productivity.

From enterprise risk to kitchen herbs. You can’t get much broader than that. But each one is just a concept, a ghost ship sent out to see if anyone tries to board. The currency here isn’t revenue; it’s email signups and expressions of interest.

Why This “Failure” is More Interesting Than a Success Story

I see so many founders fall in love with their first idea. They mortgage their house, drain their savings, and spend two years building something, only to launch to the sound of crickets. It’s heartbreaking, and it’s usually avoidable.

The SMDeal approach is the antidote to that. It’s like an architect building a dozen tiny, cheap cardboard models to show clients before they even think about pouring a concrete foundation. This process of validation before creation is where the real magic happens. It’s about finding that elusive product-market fitt before you’ve written a million lines of code or ordered a container full of parts.

Some might see a list of “Coming Soon” projects and a defunct chatbot as a sign of failure. I see the opposite. I see intellectual honesty. I see a founder who values their time and resources enough not to waste them. This public-facing process is a masterclass for any aspiring entrepreneur. It’s a reminder that the goal isn’t just to build something; it’s to build something people will actually use and pay for.

Lessons for Marketers and Founders from the SMDeal Approach

We can all learn something from this. Whether you’re a founder, a marketer, or just a product manager, these principles are gold.

First, validate before you build. It’s the most obvious lesson and the most important. A simple landing page, a survey, or a series of customer interviews can save you from a world of pain. Your goal is to find evidence that the problem you think exists is a real, painful problem for a specific group of people.

Second, appreciate the power of a simple landing page. Look at the SMDeal experiments. They are just a few sentences and a call to action. You don’t need a fancy, animated website to test an idea. You need a clear value proposition and a way to measure interest. That’s it.

Finally, be willing to kill your darlings. The creator was passionate enough about the IT purchasing problem to start SMDeal. But he was also wise enough to see that his priorities had shifted or that it wasn’t the right time to pursue it. Putting an idea on the shelf, even one you love, to pursue a more validated path is not failure. It’s strategy.

What’s the Status of SMDeal Now?

To be clear, the SMDeal AI chatbot for IT is not a thing you can use. It’s offline, and the founder has moved on. The SMDeal name now represents this process of experimentation. There’s no pricing, no feature list, no product to buy. There is, however, an email address—john@smdeal.app—for anyone who wants to connect with the mind behind this fascinating approach.

Frequently Asked Questions

What was the original SMDeal?

The original SMDeal was a concept for an AI-powered chatbot designed to assist with and simplify the process of purchasing IT hardware and software.

Is the SMDeal chatbot still available to use?

No, the SMDeal chatbot is currently offline and unavailable. The development and maintenance for that specific project are on hold.

What is the SMDeal website showing now?

The website has pivoted to become a showcase for the founder’s current startup experiments. It’s a series of landing pages used to test different business ideas—like Nazgûl and Raaspberry—and gauge public interest before any significant development.

Why is the SMDeal approach considered smart?

It’s considered a smart application of the lean startup methodology. Instead of spending significant time and money building a full product that might fail, the founder is testing multiple ideas cheaply and quickly to find one with proven market demand (product-market fit) first.

Are any of the “experiments” like Nazgûl or Remora live products?

Based on the website, Nazgûl is live for testing and collecting waitlist signups, while the others are in the “Coming Soon” phase, focused on collecting initial interest. They are not fully-fledged commercial products at this stage.

How can I contact the creator of SMDeal?

The creator can be reached via the email address provided on the landing page: john@smdeal.app.

A Toast to the Smartest Graveyard on the Web

In an industry obsessed with unicorn valuations and launch day fireworks, there’s something refreshingly honest and incredibly wise about SMDeal. It’s a quiet, humble corner of the web that teaches a more valuable lesson than a hundred breathless press releases. It reminds us that the path to success isn’t always a straight line. Sometimes, it’s a series of smart, calculated experiments. And the willingness to admit an idea isn’t working is not a failure—it’s the first step toward finding one that will.

References and Sources

• The Lean Startup by Eric Ries – The foundational book on the methodology discussed.
• SMDeal Website (smdeal.app) – The landing page for the startup experiments.