Ep 69The Man Who Left Wall Street to Find Meaning and Millions
If it's obviously a great idea, the opportunity is already gone
The best feedback you can get as an entrepreneur is you're crazy because you're right.
Mort Fertel
The Man Who Left Wall Street to Find Meaning and Millions
with Mort Fertel
The best feedback you can get as an entrepreneur is you're crazy because you're right.
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Quotes
“Marriages don't improve by fixing what's wrong. They improve by making new things right.”
“Poplin is the largest laundry service company in the world, and we don't own a washer, we don't own a dryer, and we don't inventory detergent.”
“I get very nervous when people love my ideas.”
“If it's obviously a great idea, it's unlikely that the opportunity is still available.”
“As your income grows, your spending shouldn't grow. Your savings should grow.”
“Money in the bank gives you freedom.”
Takeaways
- 1 Fertel started his first business at 18, franchised it to seven cities and sold it as a Wharton senior. He left Wall Street because it was only about money and wanted work that made a difference.
- 2 After selling his direct-mail company at 29, he traveled Asia searching for meaning. A trip to Israel led him and his future wife to Torah observance, and he spent about five years learning, living on savings.
- 3 After the loss of three children strained their marriage, the couple rebuilt it. He turned what worked into Marriage Fitness, a book (2004) and one of the first online self-help programs. No credentials needed: people want solutions that work.
- 4 Poplin began from one comment by his wife about endless laundry. His 16-year-old son built an Uber-style app, launched in Baltimore with Google Ads, and the family did the first loads themselves.
- 5 Pricing started from worker pay: aim for $15-30 an hour for laundry pros, who keep 75% of what the customer pays.
- 6 It is a two-sided marketplace. Customers get back hours each week, and workers get a rare manual-labor, work-from-home gig using their own washer and dryer. Top laundry pros earn over $5,000 a month.
- 7 Asset-light platforms (Airbnb, Uber, Poplin) are tech companies. Network effects make these markets winner-take-all, which is why Poplin raised a $10 million seed round from 5 VCs and about 20 angels.
- 8 Raised money went to product velocity (a bigger tech team) and new marketing channels. Founders must learn to vet experts and let go instead of micromanaging.
- 9 COVID helped: no-contact service, more casual clothes and more people wanting home-based work. The US laundry market is about $300 billion, so they are staying focused on laundry.
- 10 Money is freedom to control your time. Save the increases in income, moderate your lifestyle so neighbors don't feel pressure to keep up, and don't hand children wealth that robs them of earning it.