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Pathjoy (YC S10) Offers Affordable Housecleaning With Easy Web Booking

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Re: Pathjoy (YC S10) Offers Affordable Housecleaning With Easy Web Booking

#21

Post by famousactress »

pg wrote: post #16
famousactress wrote: post #13

Pathjoy might be great, but at this point fluf-pieces from techcrunch about ycombinator companies make my brain turn off.

For you this is just another startup, but for the founders this is their big moment. So please show at least enough respect not to dismiss them without evaluating them.

Wow. I'm definitely sorry if I've offended, but as tptacek pointed out I was talking about techcrunch's coverage which feels formulaic, bland, and unconvincing to me at this point (perhaps especially for these YC coming-out posts).

I think this is actually potentially constructive feedback, since if other people are feeling this way then it might signal a need to think about TC write-ups differently. That said, the comment received effectively zero votes, so I'm probably in the minority and can be safely ignored.

At any rate, I certainly didn't mean to dismiss Pathjoy at all. I'll be much more careful next time I comment on YC/TC.

Re: Pathjoy (YC S10) Offers Affordable Housecleaning With Easy Web Booking

#22

Post by andrewljohnson »

ryanglasgow wrote: post #12
andrewljohnson wrote: post #10

No way the $20/hour rate is going to stay that low in the Bay Area, unless they run it as a loss leader. You cannot get any cleaning person around here for less than $30/hour. I don't think it would be possible to pay people the legal minimum wage and make profit at $20/hour.

I currently pay $20/hour (in SF proper) for an independent cleaner who does an excellent job. Language barrier is a major issue tho, and I'd much rather schedule cleanings online. If minimum wage is <$10, why would it be impossible to profit off charging $20/hr?

One more comment...

Not to be crass, but do you think that your cleaner is both a legal alien, and pays income tax? Do they prefer to be paid in cash?

One thing about PathJoy-type services is they will not be able to skirt the laws that an independent contractor can. I have hired cleaners, yard workers, handymen, etc, and for whatever reason they like getting paid in cash, and they will often even discount the services if you agree to do so.

Re: Pathjoy (YC S10) Offers Affordable Housecleaning With Easy Web Booking

#23

Post by [deleted] »

andrewljohnson wrote: post #19
ryanglasgow wrote: post #12

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I currently pay $20/hour (in SF proper) for an independent cleaner who does an excellent job. Language barrier is a major issue tho, and I'd much rather schedule cleanings online. If minimum wage is <$10, why would it be impossible to profit off charging $20/hr?

Minimum wage is 10.24 in SF, and rising. On top of that: * there will be refunds (grubhub gives a lot of refunds for bad food) * they will need insurance (remember airbnb?) * there will be legal challenges - like Uber, this kind of startup walks a fine line - if you employ 50 maids, you would usually have to provide workers comp at least, and maids seem more prone to file a claim than lots of professions * there need…

[deleted]

Re: Pathjoy (YC S10) Offers Affordable Housecleaning With Easy Web Booking

#24

Post by johnrob »

I'm not sure if "housecleaning for the masses" is the ideal message. I'm willing to bet that most people either value time (already have cleaner) or money (clean their own house). You normally need a pretty big price drop to create a new segment - even 2x is not enough in my opinion.

My message would be "a better housecleaning experience, at a better price".

Re: Pathjoy (YC S10) Offers Affordable Housecleaning With Easy Web Booking

#25

Post by bravoyankee »

pg wrote: post #16
famousactress wrote: post #13

Pathjoy might be great, but at this point fluf-pieces from techcrunch about ycombinator companies make my brain turn off.

For you this is just another startup, but for the founders this is their big moment. So please show at least enough respect not to dismiss them without evaluating them.

"Pathjoy might be great" doesn't sound like a dismissal, and these TC announcements are uninteresting to me as well. The YC startups look like widgets coming off a conveyor belt.

A little personality can go a long way.

Re: Pathjoy (YC S10) Offers Affordable Housecleaning With Easy Web Booking

#26

Post by [deleted] »

andrewljohnson wrote: post #22
ryanglasgow wrote: post #12

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I currently pay $20/hour (in SF proper) for an independent cleaner who does an excellent job. Language barrier is a major issue tho, and I'd much rather schedule cleanings online. If minimum wage is <$10, why would it be impossible to profit off charging $20/hr?

One more comment... Not to be crass, but do you think that your cleaner is both a legal alien, and pays income tax? Do they prefer to be paid in cash? One thing about PathJoy-type services is they will not be able to skirt the laws that an independent contractor can. I have hired cleaners, yard workers, handymen, etc, and for whatever reason they like getting paid in cash, and they will often even discount the servic…

[deleted]

Re: Pathjoy (YC S10) Offers Affordable Housecleaning With Easy Web Booking

#27

Post by ryanglasgow »

andrewljohnson wrote: post #19
ryanglasgow wrote: post #12

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I currently pay $20/hour (in SF proper) for an independent cleaner who does an excellent job. Language barrier is a major issue tho, and I'd much rather schedule cleanings online. If minimum wage is <$10, why would it be impossible to profit off charging $20/hr?

Minimum wage is 10.24 in SF, and rising. On top of that: * there will be refunds (grubhub gives a lot of refunds for bad food) * they will need insurance (remember airbnb?) * there will be legal challenges - like Uber, this kind of startup walks a fine line - if you employ 50 maids, you would usually have to provide workers comp at least, and maids seem more prone to file a claim than lots of professions * there need…

You're vastly overestimating the costs involved. It's common for such P2P services to take 20-30% to cover everything you've mentioned and make a profit. Lyft takes 20% cut from drivers and faces much stiffer regulation, guarantee's drivers $18/hr, and has a $1M insurance policy. PathJoy faces smaller overhead and taking 20% should be plenty profitable.

Re: Pathjoy (YC S10) Offers Affordable Housecleaning With Easy Web Booking

#29

Post by FireBeyond »

andrewljohnson wrote: post #10

No way the $20/hour rate is going to stay that low in the Bay Area, unless they run it as a loss leader. You cannot get any cleaning person around here for less than $30/hour. I don't think it would be possible to pay people the legal minimum wage and make profit at $20/hour.

On the flipside, while not surprised at $20/hr, I read "First, she said Pathjoy is more affordable, charging only $20 an hour, compared to the $40 charged by most other cleaning services" and thought "Wow, where?", before realizing "Bay Area".

A quick look at maid services in Seattle - even from agencies showed typically $15-25/hr, certainly none charging $40/hr.

And in any case, do people really think the "value-add" of an agency for housecleaning amounts to $20/hr?

Edit: not to mention, Pathjoy's $20/hr doesn't include the $5-10 "supplies fee".

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