VERBATIM – Uncut transcript of a taped interview with storied business consultant, J. P. Pierogiczikowski—affectionately known as Joe Perogi—as told to John Jonelis
Tonight I stop at a downtown Chicago drinking establishment and run into Joe Perogi. There are several good events going on the same time. Maybe I’ll get lucky and find out about one I missed. Joe may come off as rough around the edges but don’t let that fool you. He’s a really bright guy. He’s coached plenty of startups to success. I respect his opinion.
I set my recorder on the bar. “So, Joe,” I say. “You pick up anything at BNC tonight?”
Joe takes a long draw on his glass of stout and smacks his lips. “Yeah, a number of things.
- ”Old houses don’t need to waste so much energy no more.
- ”Foot traffic is gonna be high tech.
- ”Car dents aren’t gonna be a problem.”
He goes on: “These are high-tech solutions to everyday stuff. There’s this interesting company.” He shows me their card then slips it back in his pocket.
I quickly scribble the contact info on a pad.
MyHomeEQ – Christopher Coleman – www.MyHomeEQ.com
“They wanna make old single family homes energy efficient. ‘Course you know, the biggest share of carbon emissions comes from older homes, right?”
That’s news to me, so I just sip my scotch and let him make his point. And he does.
“So you got all these old houses—fifty million of ‘em,” he says.
Fifty million? I take in my breath and straight scotch goes down my windpipe. I bend over coughing.
Joe pounds me on the back till I clear my throat. “You okay?” When I nod and wheeze out my thanks, he goes on: “Anyway, these guys give you what they call an EQ score.”
I clear my burning throat and wipe my eyes. “EQ—Energy quotient?”
“Yeah it’s like MPG for a house. Here’s where it gets good. The multiple listing service is gonna want that score so they can post it along with the price. And who’s gonna buy a house with a lousy EQ? So you gotta fix it. Maybe you don’t know what needs doing or who does that kinda work. Maybe contractors don’t follow up. Maybe you wonder if you can re-capture the cost. So waddaya gonna do?”
“Probably the wrong thing.” I take a gulp of water and it goes down good. “And maybe hire the wrong people.”
“Right—and spend too much. These guys solve all that. You get on their website. Enter your address. That’s it. They got access to a lotta data. The specs on your home. Your history of energy use. What projects cost. Which ones give the biggest bang for the buck. You get a list of ready, willing and able BPA and LEAD certified contractors to choose from—all free and confidential—and the company sets up an appointment for you. And the guy that shows up already knows what needs doing.”
“How do you monetize that?”
“Don’t play dumb with me. They handle all the logistics. Take a percentage off the contractors. Take a percentage off the material providers. The thing I like is they even make money off their advertising ‘cause the MLS pays ‘em for the EQ score.”
I finally get it and smile. Joe goes on. “Hey, they won a $400K competition for this idea, right here in Chicago.
“Who else was there tonight?”
Joe massages his brow with a finger as if trying to recall. “Gimme a minute—it’ll come to me, but the thirst—the thirst—”
I signal the bartender to refill his Guinness. When a tall glass of black beer shows up, Joe grins and downs three fingers worth then sighs with obvious satisfaction. “There is one interesting little outfit.” He plunks down a business card in front of me and I look at a thin sheet of paper made from a reused road atlas.
Green Guestbook – Ellie Carleson – www.greenguestbook.com
“This one’s really early stage—just two people right now: the gal and her developer. Still needs a management team. But it’s a proven model. She’s already doing it for museums and it works for them. Now she’s pivoting from not-for-profit to direct marketing.” He takes another draw on his stout and I wonder how a startup that small can catch his attention. Joe charges really high fees.
“It’s a digital guestbook for any arena with lotsa foot traffic. Customized. Uses touch screen technology insteada paper. It gets your email addresses Does surveys. Collects demographics. All the stuff you wish you could do when you run an event. Some systems give you a list of who’s there but this one’ll let you send a message to the ones wearing pink neckties.
Thing I like best about this outfit is the gal running it. Felt confident about her right away. Lotsa smarts. Lotsa energy. Good sensa humor. People usually give phony emails and she calls ‘em “sacrificial lambs”—that was rich. Her system offers incentives so people cough up their REAL email. Central database. Good privacy protocol. Pilot projects in restaurants, wineries, park districts, trade shows. This one won an award too and got 92% of the votes.
“She needs a lotta help. And John, keep out on this one. You been takin’ too many jobs away. If you wanna invest, okay. If you want a spot on the management team, glad to have ya. I’ll be sure to call you when it comes time to get the writing done. But I’m coaching this one if I can land it. Like I say, I believe in Ellie.”
I go along with that because Joe is passionate about the company. But Loop Lonagan would be better still because he’s not so expensive. I’m not sure he’s available–have to ask. I signal the bartender to fill Joe’s glass and he continues his account.
“There was one more outfit but I don’t think the guy needs much help—just capital so he can scale.” Joe shows me the card.
Dent Recon – Brendon R. Halcott – www.dentrecon.com
“This guy’s really got his act together. University of Chicago. Harvard Business School. Former investment banker. Company’s already profitable locally and looking at a new contract with a major company. He needs to scale and do it fast.
“Okay, I’m impressed. So what does he do?”
“It’s like Pea Pod for dent repair on your car.”
“You’re joking.”
“No it’s for real. Say you lost an argument with a taxi. It takes a lotta time and hassle fixing a fender-bender. Running around for estimates. Driving a rental car. Now lets say you pull into the parking garage and they can fix your car while your at your office. Or maybe you want it fixed at your home. This guy inflates a special painting booth and works anywhere. Car’s ready when you are. No hassle. Oh yeah, these guys do the paint too, not just the dent.
“Anytime you needed their help, just get on the Internet. Smartphone works for that. Put in your VIN number and some info. Instant quote. Oh, that’s right—you’re too cheap to own a smartphone so you gotta find a hotspot for that laptop you lug around.” He grins.
“I like my laptop. I like my Trakfone.
“Okay, okay—don’t work up a sweat. Point is, you get an automatic estimate instantly. Complete the transaction right then. And that’s just the retail side. They white label this thing for any company. Car dealerships, car washes, parking garages, anything. Their people are trained. Neat. Professional. I expect to see this one launch soon.”
My antique Palm Pilot lets out an alarm. Time to head for the train. I drop some bills on the bar, say my goodbyes and hoof it to the station.
Find BNC – Business Network Chicago at: http://www.bnchicago.com/Groups.php?group=8
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© 2012 John Jonelis – All Rights Reserved.
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I’d like to meet this character you’ve created and have a beer with him.
You need to provide a link to BNC.
Oops, I’ll fix that right away.
Here’s the link to BNC:
http://www.bnchicago.com/Groups.php?group=8
I’ll put it in the article, too.
equation.Anyways, it’s like this…If you have a child that is really misinhavbeg in a store (say they’re after a toy in the toy department and you’re trying to make it over to the laundry detergent aisle with them in tow without too much headache). In this scenario, you’ve but two options really. You can purchase the toy for your ill behaved tot or you can remove them from the aisle and the store altogether, bring them home and scold them.I do suppose there is another option in that you could purchase a toy of lesser value for your child. Even still, it has the same effect as would purchasing the toy they desired in that you are sanctioning this improper behavior.In a political sense, it was such that this latter option was being entertained and adopted with respect to the Republican party.The Democrats were offering us Collectivism by the pound whereas the Republicans were offering it perhaps by the teaspoonful. Granted it was a matter of degree here but still, both left a sour taste in the mouth.I am not a collectivist. While collective effort is a fine practice, it must be done so voluntarily. I would never even think to do any such thing as to foster and sanction government and their exclusive monopoly on force to employ the practice.I did not wish to sanction McCain and the Republican party’s actions by way of voting for them. Supposing I had (and they had actually won the election), I’d then have no clout or standing with which to negotiate with. It becomes increasingly difficult to defeat the ideology and policies of your adversaries if you are in turn adopting their premises (if even a fraction of them). And yet, many Republican voters told themselves “Well the Republican party better get their act together and embrace conservativism or what have you or I’m not going to support them next time.” as they often do. Yet, that is merely up until the next election when one such individual again places the party over the principle and pulls the party lever because well…”they just can’t fathom the alternative.”I’ll never again do it. I’d much rather die than live a life without my individual freedom and liberty. And to me, there is little sense in living if in cherishing those values I am working against them in any fashion.
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