Recorded in a coffee shop. The founder is wearing a gilet. The developer is wearing the face of a man who has just been told the coffee is on him, and so is the risk.
Founder: Thanks for meeting. I’ve got an idea that’s going to change everything.
Developer: Okay.
Founder: It’s like Uber.
Developer: For taxis?
Founder: No. For lawnmowers.
Developer: You want people to order a lawnmower to their house.
Founder: On demand. Tap, mow, done. “Mowber.”
Developer: Most people with lawns already own a lawnmower.
Founder: That’s legacy thinking.
Every great startup begins with a problem. Most begin with a problem nobody has, and end with a problem only the founder’s parents have.
The Feature List
Founder: It also needs a social feed. People share their lawns.
Developer: Why would anyone share their lawn?
Founder: Engagement. And there’s a token. MowCoin.
Developer: Stares at the sugar bowl until it stares back.
Founder: And AI. The AI tells you when to mow.
Developer: When the grass is long.
Founder: Exactly. But with AI.
The Budget
Developer: What’s the budget?
Founder: So, I was thinking equity.
Developer: Equity in what?
Founder: In Mowber.
Developer: Mowber doesn’t exist.
Founder: That’s why it’s such a good time to get in.
Developer: How long do you think it’ll take to build?
Founder: My nephew said a weekend.
Developer: Then your nephew should do it.
Founder: He’s doing his GCSEs.
Developer: Stands. Leaves. Pays for own coffee. It is the most money he will make this month.
Six Months Later
Mowber has not launched. Its founder has launched a podcast about launching things. Episode one is “Why Developers Don’t Get Vision”. It has 31 listeners. Eleven are his mum’s devices.
The nephew passed his GCSEs. He has been asked to build “Uber for umbrellas”. He asked about equity. The founder called this “a very exciting conversation”, which in founder language means the nephew is now a co-founder of nothing, with a gilet on order and a share of zero.