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Drop the ego and prove "I could make that so much better"

blog.lawnstarter.com

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Re: Drop the ego and prove "I could make that so much better"

#41

Post by mikeg8 »

caw wrote: post #40
mikeg8 wrote: post #29

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Same here. I want to make a battery powered noise canceling headphone that automatically shuts off if the jack isn't plugged in. Why should a 250 dollar pair of headphones not do this automatically when the battery is required for the experience!?

Because there's a niche market for people like myself that wear noise canceling headphones without music? Seriously though, if I go in a server room I'm putting noise canceling on. I still need to hear if someone is talking to me, so no music unless I'm doing repetitive work.

Fair enough. I think you are a very small niche though and my proposal would save tens, if not hundreds of thousands of people from wasting expensive batteries. Worth it.

Re: Drop the ego and prove "I could make that so much better"

#42

Post by ronaldx »

lmm wrote: post #14

Lawns are conspicuous consumption at its finest; improving them is not making the world a better place. This is one case where the guilt is telling you something.

Would you prefer to have a road/more dense urban space/a parking garage?

I agree with you in that I wouldn't find my own personal lawn satisfying, but lawns are not nearly the worst option. Humans need outdoor space - the lawn also benefits people passing by.

Re: Drop the ego and prove "I could make that so much better"

#43

Post by icebraining »

ohwp wrote: post #13
icebraining wrote: post #5

We all have a list of things or industries that “we could make so much better”. We do?

Don't you? I've got a list of things that I think could be improved. For instance: The interface of the remote control? Could be improved for elderly. The price of a CNC router? Could be cheaper. The atmosphere of that bar? Could be nicer. Easy to say, hard to do.

Don't you?

No, not really. I mean, sure, I can think of things that could be cheaper or nicer, but that's almost anything. It'd be easier to make a list of everything that couldn't possibly be improved.

Re: Drop the ego and prove "I could make that so much better"

#44

Post by jt2190 »

rjf90 wrote: post #35
jt2190 wrote: post #30

> For some reason, I bought into this premium that our > community puts on companies that produce gimmicky > technology and raise massive rounds without having any > real revenue streams. I got so caught up in this > mentality that I was literally embarrassed to be working > on a company that was making money in a less than sexy > industry. Anyone who is looking to take VC money needs to be able to convince investors…

I'm guessing they aren't looking for companies like Uber and Handybook, you know because they're in predictable industries like taxi cabs and house cleaning...

My phrasing was poor. I should have said "companies with predictable growth", not "predicable growth industries." I've edited my post.

Re: Drop the ego and prove "I could make that so much better"

#45

Post by rdudek »

jfasi wrote: post #21

I consider this post part of a nascent trend to de-bullshit the startup and technology scene. For years the narrative has been "we in the tech industry are standard bearers leading society into a bright new tomorrow." The recent protests around the Google buses, as well as John Oliver's takedown [1] of the tech industry seem to be striking a chord with the public, and there's a lesson to be drawn: we tech folks are n…

Agreed. We should stop calling everything a "startup". This shit is getting old. Business is business. People do things to solve problems, and by doing so, they generate income.

Re: Drop the ego and prove "I could make that so much better"

#46

Post by benihana »

wreegab wrote: post #8
stickydink wrote: post #3

The author touches on being embarrassed. As a game developer making games that many players would call evil (IAPs, IAPs everywhere.), I tend to prefix my "what do you do?" with "Oh uh, it's not something I'd actually play, but it's called ...". Shame, really.

What is "IAP"?

The latest in a string of things people who don't handle change well are saying is killing the game industry.

Re: Drop the ego and prove "I could make that so much better"

#47

Post by bpyne »

lmm wrote: post #14

Lawns are conspicuous consumption at its finest; improving them is not making the world a better place. This is one case where the guilt is telling you something.

Lawns, as in well-manicured grassy areas, are not typically the only thing a lawn care company does. The ones in my area do full landscaping, possibly excavating, and they have someone with a landscape architecture background. In the Fall they do leaf removal, which is changing now to leaf shredding. In the Winter, they do snow removal.

We have a mix of elderly and families with young children in my neighborhood. Having affordable lawn care companies helps us tremendously.

Re: Drop the ego and prove "I could make that so much better"

#49

Post by JonnieCache »

pekk wrote: post #22
tluyben2 wrote: post #17

It's one of those things you (well I at least :) learn when you get older; you have a few years to do what you came here for and then you expire, so feeling embarrassed or otherwise caring about the negative things people might think about you is not very interesting and should best be not at all even in your brain at any time. Took me about 34 years to learn that and it's not actual advise you can give someone as pe…

Is your attitude toward bragging about income culturally typical for Dutch people?

Is certainly typical in the UK. Income is considered an intensely personal matter. You may as well walk into a party and proudly start telling people your genital measurements.

Here's an amusing video on the subject: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=E837tnxRVS0

"It's essentially a distillation of the problem we always have with american behaviour that's different from ours: Are they being admirably honest and upfront, cutting through the cant and failing to be hamstrung by old-world prejudices and preoccupations, or are they just being rude?"

The video is actually about asking other people their income, rather than stating your own. The point is basically the same.

Re: Drop the ego and prove "I could make that so much better"

#50

Post by thejteam »

nkozyra wrote: post #15

While I assume this is really the intent of posting this - I did end up going to the main site. I'm missing how this is disruptive in any way. Maybe I'm totally not getting it.

It is a different way of doing business in the industry. For a typical lawn care company you: 1) Call to schedule a consultation 2) Person comes out, looks at your yard, gives you a list of options and schedules. 3)You select the options, the person performs the "giving of the quote" ceremony 4)You choose whether to accept the quote, possibly negotiating further.

It's labor intensive on both sides. Lawn care companies don't emphasize individual residential customers. They want commercial contracts. The ones servicing individuals are generally one man operations, new the the business, or just use them to fill in time between commercial contracts.

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