
Prim Laundry Startup Throws In The Towel - bensw
http://techcrunch.com/2014/01/06/prim-laundry-shuts-down/
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danielrhodes
"Here, there are services that make life easier but not necessarily better,
and that lose money every time they do business but exist thanks to their
deep-pocketed investors."

It sounds like Prim did exactly what it was supposed to do: test the market.
If there was indeed a strong enough market, they could work on creating a more
efficient business without the need for outside capital. Investors are not in
the business of throwing money away so people can get their laundry done, yet
that seems to be exactly what the author is trying to say.

"Perhaps that money could be better spent helping people in need, and maybe so
could the founders’ time."

Startups are incredibly capital efficient at testing needs. Even if there is
nothing there, a lot of experience and knowledge is attained. Could such
capital have been better allocated elsewhere? Probably not when you look at
the potential upside.

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001sky
_Could such capital have been better allocated elsewhere? Probably not when
you look at the potential upside._

This is a worthless analysis without data.

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sparkman55
If you think technology-enabled laundry service in San Francisco is a good
idea, you might give Rinse ([https://www.rinse.com](https://www.rinse.com)) a
shot. We have a focus on making sure the price and product work in a
competitive market, and on using spectacular customer service and quality
assurance to build a solid brand.

It's surprisingly difficult to build an efficient delivery service. To succeed
you need knowledge of the peculiarities of the delivered goods, effective
management of the delivery staff, and of course clever software. Route
optimization and dispatch are interesting problems, but quality tools for
drivers and other staff are just as important!

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zach
This seems like a great business to develop in the college market. The options
students often have are overpriced and inflexible laundry service or
schlepping their duds half a mile into town. Any college you can get access to
will be a great testing ground at least.

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sjg007
College students have no money...

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markatto
That's not necessarily true, I live in a college town and many students have
loads of money. Most of the new off-campus housing targeted at students is out
of my price range, and I'm single, work full time, and payed very well for the
area.

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codex
Through Prim, these Stanford grads invented low paying jobs with long hours,
even by YC standards. I wish somebody would have told them what a terrible
idea this is in advance--but more likely than not it would have fallen on deaf
ears. People fall in love with the idea of being a startup founder and only
hear what they want to hear.

