America's new millionaire class: Plumbers and HVAC entrepreneurs

Can this be the next thing tech democratizes?

Nope. The average tech worker would be screaming about these working conditions being unreasonable for any human by the end of Day 1.

I’m being partially sarcastic, but partially honest in that tech workers are often ludicrously blind to how good they have it.

“Shit rolls downhill” is different in plumbing. Much more literal. You might be standing in some. You might have to stick your hand in some.

A lot of people just aren’t ready for that kind of work.

I worked when I was a teenager digging a 6 foot pit under a house, that was located next to a stream. Almost no visibility, pit filling with water as you dig, almost no room to shovel dirt out. I also worked on the 12th story of scaffolding grinding out mortar joints on bell towers.

I have little respect for when people complain that just coming into an office will affect their mental health outcomes.

Some people’s tolerance for “stress” makes me question how we ever got this far.

Not quite the same level of hands on, but I spent some time working in chemical plants.

The safety training includes “you will die” many times. What do you do if you hear an alarm? What do you do if a cloud of ammonia comes your way? Where are the escape bags? Which way does the wind sock show the wind blowing?

Stories about people being shredded, falling, poisoned, dying, etc.

Reverting to snapshot when a maintenance goes poorly is just not the same kind of stressful.

Quick edit: I do, however, find office life stressful. I’ve never been happier overall than when working from home. Those stresses are real too, but different.

How would tech do it? Uber for plumbers? Theranos for electricians? Juicero for HVAC?

The trades are pretty democratized as it is. Every service company I use with is hiring at all levels. Training is available. If you have to get a certificate before you start, that's a barrier to entry, but a nearby community college is likely to have classes.

The real barrier is it's a hard job, and other work is more tempting for a lot of folks.

Tech for trades either looks like a centralized dispatch service that takes 10-30% of the fees and results in a new person showing up for every job (no thanks! Once I find a plumber I like, for non emergency use, I prefer to work with the same one) or maybe something per company that helps organize appointments, scheduling, billing, and notifications about arrival times. This may reduce / eliminate office managers / answering services for busy firms, and could help improve communications for owners that have no employees; but I think it already exists.

How ludicrously blind are the heirs who collect dividends on Oracle stock to how good they have it?

I guess the workers doing the work and creating the wealth are lucky that Steve Jobs, Eric Schmidt etc. illegally conspired to do wage-fixing so that they and the heirs they work for could get more of the wealth that others created.

> I have little respect for when people complain that just coming into an office will affect their mental health outcomes.

I have shovelled many tons of chicken shit. I have also felt the stress of my screw-up jeopardizing a multi-million dollar contract the company depends on.

There are many many advantages to a tech job. But shovelling chicken shit is better for your mental health.

I didn’t say “screw-up jeopardizing a multi-million dollar contract” shouldn’t cause stress. I totally understand that.

I’m talking about people offended just by needing to show up and function in a normal office.

If someone is offering me $120K; I’ll physically show up in a suit if you want.

Traffic jams are also more mentally stressful than shovelling chicken shit.

You still have to drive to work to clean up chicken shit, unless you live with your employer.

Generally no traffic jams in places near chicken shit.

There's also potential for planning / drawing / information tools. Augmented reality and stuff. Knowing and recording where the pipes and things are. Sourcing materials. Things like that.

Say what you want about Juicero but it was a beautifully over engineered machine.

The "psychological safety" crowd would need a ketamine drip by the end of day 1 as a plumber or hvac tech.