Advice for Disrupting an Industry and Starting Your First Business with Ajay Prakash

Money Rehab with Nicole Lapin

Money News Network

Self-improvement, Education, Business

4.6 • 1.7K Ratings

🗓️ 18 December 2024

⏱️ 33 minutes

🔗️ Recording | iTunes | RSS

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Summary

In recent years, private equity has taken a special interest in old-school businesses like plumbing, electrical and laundry. Today, guest host Morgan Lavoie talks to someone who saw that potential a long time ago: Ajay Prakash, CEO and co-founder of Rinse, a company that is building the first national brand in laundry and dry cleaning. Ajay unpacks how to find, test and scale those old-school businesses that are ripe for innovation. Plus, he shares advice for anyone who has a New Year's resolution to start a company. Check out more of Ajay’s work at Rinse here: https://www.rinse.com/

Transcript

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0:00.0	I'm Nicole Lapin, the only financial expert you don't need a dictionary to understand.
0:07.0	It's time for some money rehab.
0:09.0	It's Morgan, the EP of the show filling in this week for Nicole while she's out on Matt leave.
0:33.7	A few weeks ago, Nicole did an episode about old school businesses that are finally having their day in the sun and getting real props for their recurring revenue, businesses like plumbing companies, pest control, and laundry.
0:39.1	According to data from Pitchbook, private equity investors have bought over 800 plumbing,
0:45.1	electrical, and HVAC companies since 2022. Today, I'm talking to someone who saw this potential long ago, a J. Prakash, co-founder and CEO of Rince, a company that is building the first
0:51.3	national brand in laundry and dry cleaning.
0:58.1	And you might be thinking, how excited could someone really get about running a laundry business? The answer will surprise you. My fiancé Jack bought and operated a laundry business
1:03.4	in college with some of his friends. One of his partners in that business, Aiton,
1:08.1	hi Aiton, went to work at, you guessed it, Rince, after college, and you
1:12.4	should see how excited Jack and Aiton get when they talk about laundry even now. So in my conversation
1:18.1	with Ajay, I wanted to see what all the fuss was about. And I have to admit, I'm kind of excited
1:23.1	about laundry now. A J and I chat about how to find, test, and scale these old school businesses
1:29.0	that are ripe for innovation. But we also go beyond that. AJ is a really excellent leader.
1:35.2	You can tell that just by listening to how thoughtful he is about how he manages his company
1:39.2	and team. And as we're staring down at the final days of 2024, I wanted to get some advice.
1:46.4	Ajay gives a framework for founders on how to set goals for your company in a meaningful and
1:50.9	achievable way. And also, advice for anyone who's thinking 2025 might be the year they finally
1:56.8	take the leap and start their own company. Here's our conversation.
2:05.5	Ajay Prakash, welcome to money rehab. Thanks for having me. So happy to have you here. Of course we have to start with the origin story of Rince. Can you take us through it?
2:10.0	Yeah, sure. So I started Rinse with one of my best friends from college in early 2013.
2:15.2	So it's been almost 12 years now.
	...

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