My parent's gas furnace quite working so they called the local HVAC shop that originally installed the furnace, thinking it might be still under warranty. The repairman said it wasn't under warranty and to replace the part it would cost $850.00 plus a service call of $75.00 They declined the work and paid the service call but the repairman would not tell them what part was bad. Parents called me. The furnace has self diagnostics on it and the light indicated that the ignitor had failed. I installed a new one, it cost $22.00. It had one screw and one connection, only took 5 minutes to install. Total time for diagnosis to repair and verification of proper operation was less than a half hour and I am not an HVAC guy! Yet the HVAC company wanted to charge my parents $850.00. Now I am not against a business trying to earn money but this is robbery in my book

“One of my life’s callings is to make sure that we get this message out: Business is not just about driving profitability for the shareholders, it is absolutely about taking care of people”

The money system needs to change. PE makes money by rolling up existing businesses, firing everyone who built them, and replacing them with low-cost labor. Then they sell to an even bigger PE firm that needs to park money somewhere stable. VC makes money by betting that another VC or investor will want your shares in 5 years or so. Most VC is gambling on a popularity contest. Both, for the most part, abstract away everything tangible about a business. We’re still early in the reindustrialize movement. Early enough that most investors haven’t had the rude awakening that you can’t roll up manufacturing the way you roll up HVAC companies, and you can’t expect manufacturing companies to scale like SaaS. We need a new funding model that values reality. People are irreplaceable, location matters, and long-term outlooks are necessary. What does this kind of investment model look like?

The thing I loved about the underside of Hot Wheels is gone. The long goodbye of details.

I have a chance to buy an HVAC company and everything in me tells me no…unless I have someone partner with me that knows how to perform HVAC.

Upfront Heating & Air Conditioning

Re: name brands at Costco Just because it says Peter Miller, Orvis, CK, Tommy, etc, DOES NOT mean it’s the same product you buy from the brand Most is made by a licensee using the brand name or by the brand but specifically for Costco to hit the lower price point This does not apply to Kirkland clothing,, which are of course among the finest garments money can buy