
Drop the ego and prove "I could make that so much better" - stevencorcoran
http://blog.lawnstarter.com/post/76623724133/drop-the-ego-and-prove-i-could-make-that-so-much
======
jfasi
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 not as important as we think we are.

A business is just that: a business. Not a humanitarian aid mission dispatched
from your benevolent head into a world made unbearable by its lack of
smartphone apps and productivity software. It's an organization that is
focused on delivering a product that people will pay for. I'm thrilled for the
author that he found something he can profitably produce, and I commend him on
his exit from the messiah complex echo chamber that's plaguing our industry.

[1] [http://techcrunch.com/2014/02/11/john-oliver-kills-at-
crunch...](http://techcrunch.com/2014/02/11/john-oliver-kills-at-crunchies-
with-jokes-about-san-franciscos-gentrification-the-nsa-techs-cartoon-
villains/)

~~~
ryanSrich
"Join us and help change change the world" \- _every valley startup ever_

~~~
ulfw
The world must be one hell of a shitty place if it needs to be changed so much
every single time.

~~~
vdaniuk
The world is extremely shitty place and you dont see that only because, I
assume, you are the part of the top earning cohort.

~~~
lmm
And how many tech startups serve any other cohort?

~~~
vdaniuk
Most startups are b2c and serving mass markets. This is fairly obvious if you
look at their target audience.

------
tluyben2
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 people don't listen or cannot do it, but it
will make everything a lot easier (and more successful as well).

Also people looking down on you are usually not better off either; I had a guy
at a party talk to me about my 'little company', 'little moneys', 'little
investments' (these words don't translate well; in Dutch you have 'small'
words geldjes, investerinkjes which I don't know how to translate). He was a
banker guy making E500k/year after tax (the fact he said that makes him a
loser already imho); when he told people about his job my ears started
bleeding out of boredom. I would not trade places with him for any amount of
money let alone be bothered about him belittling what I do :) It's not often
(never...) that belittling/offensive people actually have a life to be jealous
about; that's why they are offensive and give you shit; they envy you.

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

~~~
JonnieCache
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](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.

~~~
tluyben2
Good one that video. I'm not sure if that's it in the Netherlands either.

When thinking about it; why do you tell or conversely, why do you ask? Why you
tell without being asked, to me, is just a sign of you having a very small
penis (it's usually guys). Asking it; are you really interested? Or are you
comparing to yourself in some kind of oh i'm really not interested what you
answer I make more anyway and really want to tell you that!? Or do you want to
feel bad about your own income in some kind of sadomasochistic manner people
seem to enjoy? Or do you want the other person to feel bad because you know he
makes crap or is 'in between jobs'?

I'm trying to figure out what the upside is here; I don't mind telling what I
make per se but I'm curious why anyone would want to know and when I think
about it I cannot come up with any positive reasons. And so it never came up
as a question from or to me and the only people I heard talking about it are
guys I suspect were picked on a lot in high school. But maybe someone can
enlighten me here? :)

------
kyro
I experienced a similar change in mindset regarding the valley and the tech
scene, catalyzed by recent trips out to SF that left me with a very uneasy
feeling.

The uneasiness, I think, came from realizing that the community I wanted to be
a part of for so long consisted largely of the same young, inexperienced
recent college grads with self-appointed expertise in a variety of abstract
fields (marketing, social behavior), who peddle the same formulaic and shallow
insights on business and life, all with the belief that they are changing the
world for the better. And look, there's nothing wrong with being inexperienced
and wanting to do big things, but what irritates me is the semblance of
expertise, arrogance, and contribution startup people put on without putting
in their time to attain a deep understanding of any one area, especially since
I come from a medical background where you know the people you work with are
intelligent, have run the gauntlet, and prove themselves on a daily basis.

Or maybe that's how you hack wealth and I'm growing old and grumpy.

~~~
beat
That's how I was feeling about the recent article on the Bitcoin robbery at
Silk Road 2. A lot of libertarian-minded tech nerds are all hot about
"disrupting" frumpy old fiat currency with its baroque rules and distasteful
whiff of authority. Now they're finding out that there's a _reason_ for that
frumpy old system and all its baroque rules.

------
stickydink
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.

~~~
wreegab
What is "IAP"?

~~~
minikomi

        Spend 100 karma to view this reply? 
        [yes] [no] [purchase]

------
fit2rule
I make roads for a living. (Well, my software does.)

Actually this has been a bit of a boon for me - whereas in the past peoples
eyes would glaze over when I told them about SIL-4 practices and other such
nonsense involved in keeping the trains running on time (safely), nowadays I
can just point at the road and say - software makes this happen, now.

Software is boring. What the software _does_ \- now _that_ captures peoples
interest!

~~~
arethuza
My view is that software is fascinating _and_ the real world problems you can
solve with it are also fascinating - so it is a double win!

~~~
fit2rule
I of course meant in the social context - if I didn't think software was
interesting I wouldn't be involved with it. But I have to say that this is an
article about the social effect of explaining what you do to people - so many
times, young developers come to the scene wanting to be rock stars, whereas
that's just simply not going to happen in software. If you want to be a rock
star, learn to play the guitar and rock ass.. but if you want people to
understand why your job as a developer is so cool, you have to be prepared to
explain it to them. If a person doesn't have the humility to describe your
task in a way that people will understand - they've got a ways to go as a
developer.

Saying "I make a logistics/analysis/solver system for mowing lawn - i.e. I'm a
gardener" is not so easy when all you want is praise for doing something cool
.. right .. coz mowing lawns isn't cool. Well it sure is, if you're using
software to do it ... better.

------
lmm
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.

~~~
ronaldx
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.

~~~
lmm
More dense urban space, yes. Once you increase the housing density you can
have walkable/cycleable cities and decent public transport rather than urban
sprawl.

I'm in favour of open, green spaces for people to play or relax, but that
doesn't happen on lawns; public parks (at least as implemented here in Europe)
offer much more chance for everyone to enjoy, and socially rather than on
their own.

------
JackFr
A quote I once heard from a very bright hedge-fund guy: "My gardener drives a
Mercedes SUV. There is no one I can't learn something from."

~~~
michaelochurch
_A quote I once heard from a very bright hedge-fund guy: "My gardener drives a
Mercedes SUV. There is no one I can't learn something from."_

That actually sounds crass and a bit stupid. Any idiot can buy an SUV on
credit, and SUVs just show that one has shitty, suburban taste in vehicles.

I agree with the sentiment of, "Don't assume someone's an idiot because he
does physical labor". But it shouldn't take a fucking ugly hunk of metal to
make someone learn that. If you actually go out and talk to people who aren't
like you, you learn that there are some extremely intelligent people in blue-
collar labor by, I don't know, high school at the absolute latest.

~~~
beachstartup
> Any idiot can buy an SUV on credit

i take the point that you hate cars, but this isn't actually true.

~~~
michaelochurch
I don't hate cars. I hate when people buy unnecessarily large, unsafe, and
environmentally irresponsible cars as a status symbol.

~~~
beachstartup
guessing you've never had to drive around with a bunch of gardening equipment,
or potted plants, or bags of soil, or take a crew of 5 out to lunch.

------
haydenjameslee
Interesting company - refreshing to see some different ideas out there.
Congrats on making the plunge!

------
jt2190

      > 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
that they'll have a 100M+ exit within seven to ten years. Investors who are
looking to make these "long-shot" bets are not looking for solid companies
with predictable growth like a lawn care business.

It's _really_ important to understand the investor's point-of-view when
considering a position at a VC-funded company, otherwise the company's
behavior may seem irrational.

~~~
rjf90
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...

~~~
jt2190
My phrasing was poor. I should have said "companies with predictable growth",
not "predicable growth industries." I've edited my post.

------
mikeg8
Loved this piece.

> 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.
> Seems ass-backwards to me...

Spot on! I wish you much success in your venture. Oh and in my opinion, a
freshly cut baseball field is waaay sexier than any mobile app haha

~~~
wuliwong
I like that he had some personal revelation but he loses me when he assumes
that everyone else working on "the next" Facebook or Snapchat is suffering
from his same ego problems. There is a much more benign explanation for the
glut in the consumer internet/app space; domain experience.

------
amwelles
I'm actually working for a company now that specializes in online
marketing/websites for lawn care and pest control companies. There's a guy in
the area that was a programmer for a big corporation (IBM, maybe?) and he saw
an opportunity in pest control, so he started his own company and pretty much
wiped out all the competition. Then he bought the agency I'm now working for
so we could focus on similar lawn/pest companies across the states.

I don't think that's really your plan at all, but it's awesome that you're
looking into a market that is full of outdated websites and definitely has
room for improvement!

------
morphar
Innovation is to make something better than the current state... Anybody who
does that, are more creative and daring than most!

If you actually help people and make them happy - then you've got a something
to proud of, in my opinion! :)

------
nkozyra
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.

~~~
watwut
Disruptive means potentially viable business. It used to mean something else,
but it is not used that way anymore.

~~~
nkozyra
Well, uh, either definition would apply here.

Which isn't to say that any given lawn care service is not viable, but the
whole "we're doing it _differently_ " would indicate something more than, you
know, setting it up online.

That's just me and I'm a cynic. But I feel like if you're going to take a stab
at a paradigm shift in an industry, you should aim higher than this.

Keep in mind, this is precisely how I found and set up my lawn service, which
is just two guys. :shrug:

[ And do keep in mind that I realize that self-promotion requires a healthy
dose of hyperbole, but save it for the customers, not your peers ;) ]

------
wuliwong
People build products related to fields they are familiar with. The percentage
of us that have experience with lawn care or some other specific industry is
far less than the percentage that have experience with Facebook and the like.
People are wary (and rightfully so) of building a startup to "disrupt" an
industry that they have no experience.

------
dubcanada
The photo of Kate Upton on their "customer satisfaction" part of their main
website really helps this.

~~~
hablahaha
I was slightly impressed after reading the blog post and then completely
turned off by seeing that image. I almost thought they might have forgotten to
take it off, but it seems pretty intentional. It's just so completely
irrelevant to their message. It might be funny to men, but I can't imagine
many women who would find that charming, so you're alienating the demographic
that schedules services for their homes.

~~~
loomio
That was what stuck out to me most of all, after initially actually thinking
it was a pretty good idea. I was totally turned off as a woman, and it make me
feel immediately that this service, whatever it was, wasn't targeted at me.

~~~
hablahaha
Seems like they copped up to it and said they forgot to remove it in their new
HN piece.

------
brianberns
The validity of this approach depends entirely on your goals. If you just want
to run a successful business, then by all means, mow lawns for a living.
However, if you have passion for a particular market or technology, then
you'll be bored mowing lawns, even if you make money at it.

------
waterfowl
I grew up with a father who owned garbage companies and caught a lot of shit
about it when I was a kid, but for as "unsexy" as garbage is, it's a
goldmine(esp things like owning landfills). I live in DC, if I had a
lawn(condo) I would have you cut it. Good luck

~~~
agentultra
That's pretty cool. I've always been curious about how well served waste
management has been with technology and innovation over the years. It doesn't
seem like we'll ever stem the tide of consumerism and the relentless torrent
of disposable crap we manufacture and throw away. Have we progressed beyond
digging holes and filling them up or dumping it all in the ocean?

I've heard about incinerator technology in some Baltic country that uses
liquid magnets to extract precious metals from the ash piles.

Makes me wonder if there's some way to reclaim other materials... though I
don't have the chemistry/physics background to know if it's worth following
through.

Still... garbage companies are important!

------
cordie
Sounds like you're on the right path. Nothing to be ashamed. Although you do
get that feeling when you're not "changing the world" . But if you're helping
people in reality you are changing their world for the better.

------
icebraining
_We all have a list of things or industries that “we could make so much
better”._

We do?

~~~
ohwp
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.

~~~
mikeg8
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!?

~~~
caw
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.

~~~
mikeg8
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.

------
jasmueller
LawnStarter, happy to give you a revenue arm - www.yourlawnsucks.com - it
provided beer money in college. Condition: slightly old - looks like fb code
snippet needs some love as well.

------
chalgo
Dedicated lawn genius and part time red carpet crawler.

~~~
stevencorcoran
Hahaha, impressed you saw that, redid the site yesterday and forgot to swap
pictures before going live :)

------
nilkn
I'm really happy for the author and simultaneously really disappointed because
I have recently started work on a very similar venture.

------
EGreg
People should do what they enjoy! If you enjoy the lawn mowing, don't feel
embarrassed about it.

------
MyNameIsMK
RESPECT!

------
michaelochurch
For me, it's not about ego. It's about practicality.

There are hundreds of places where I see inefficiencies and _know_ I could
make it better. It happens every day. But I'm also humble enough to know that
superior capability does _not_ mean that I'm guaranteed to make money doing
it.

Two examples come to mind for me personally. First, venture capital. What they
do (picking companies to fund) I could do better, guaranteed. I wouldn't fund
zeroes like Lucas Duplan. I'd fund people with actual capability, not fuckups.
However, VC is a business with a lot of variance and a lot of corruption
(connections really matter) so, as to whether I'd actually make money, who
knows? Given enough time and money for the noise variables to even out, I'd
beat the leading players, but the world can stay random longer than one can
stay solvent.

Second in that vein, games. Game quality is something at which the main
players are failing miserably. I have no doubt that if I ran those studios,
the games would be higher in quality. Would that automatically ensure more
money? Fuck if I know. I don't know all the details of the business. I know
that I'm better at one kinda narrow thing (technical excellence) but that
doesn't mean I would run a more profitable enterprise. Maybe they produce
shitty games because, guess what, shitty games make a lot of money for minimal
effort.

Competence is only a small part of the equation. (If it weren't, then VCs all
over the Valley would be calling me up every damn day to run their companies.)
Connections and political leverage and just plain luck are also huge factors.

So, what people like me tend to end up doing (and this may be a bad strategy,
but that's another discussion) is to try to stay fairly general in business
scope while diving deep on a technical specialty. At this point, I'd rather
climb the ladder at a boring company (and gain general technical skills and,
more importantly, the relationships and credibility to advance later on) than
start a potentially world-changing game company, knowing that the skills and
credentials that come from the former are more transferrable. You can say that
resume culture is the devil, and that it's making us all mediocre in our
ambitions, and you'll be right... but I don't have the power to change it.

The real issue is that no one insures the careers of the people who start
"real world" businesses. If fixing, say, the moving industry had the landing
pad that being Staff Engineer at a Twitter did, then more people would do it.

