The market nobody wanted | Alex Jekowsky

Cents builds software, payments, and hardware for the laundry industry, serving laundromat operators and other commercial laundry businesses. The company is the only venture-backed company operating at scale in a market that most technology companies had overlooked, and has reached approximately one in six U.S. laundromats.

In a recent episode of BUILDERS, we sat down with Alexander Jekowsky, CEO & Co-Founder of Cents, to learn how the company grew to serve roughly one in six U.S. laundromats by building technology for operators that most software companies had written off.

Topics Discussed: How Alex discovered the laundromat industry while looking to buy a small business after selling his previous company, a payment system for college campuses Why laundromats generate durable cash flows -- 30% margins, 20-plus year equipment lifespans, and leases that can outlive their operators How Cents became the only venture-backed company in the laundry software space and what Alex means by "first executor advantage" Why 70% of Cents's early sales were inbound -- and what that revealed about how badly the market was underserved How trade shows became Cents's "Super Bowl" and why they staffed booths 25 to 50% heavier than planned The tension between brand building and product credibility in SMB tech, and the question operators ask when they see a high-profile marketing spend Why the laundromat business is "a highly services-based business" despite appearing commoditized on the surface How AI and robotics fit into laundry -- and why improving efficiency without improving service quality is "net worse" Why Cents describes its role as digitizing, not transforming, the laundromat industry

GTM & Technology Adoption Lessons:

Build in markets where buyers are already searching. Alex said 70% of Cents's early sales were inbound. The market was ready -- operators were actively looking for product. Know who you're actually selling to. Laundromat operators are not the unsophisticated buyers that investors and technology companies assume. Alex said they are often "more cash generative than any of the portfolio companies of a seed or series A investor." The insult embedded in that assumption had left a massive gap -- and Cents walked into it with 70% inbound demand. First executor advantage is more durable than first mover advantage. Cents was not first to try selling software to laundromats. But Alex described the company's edge as "first executor advantage" -- being the only company willing to raise the capital and build the balance sheet to actually execute at a level operators were searching for. Use events as trust infrastructure, not just brand exposure. Trade shows were Cents's "Super Bowl." The company staffed booths 25 to 50% heavier than planned because Alex believed the people behind the brand were what converted attention into trust. Earn the right to innovate before leading with transformation. Alex described Cents's job as "to not transform or change" the laundromat business -- it's to "digitize, create optionality, and earn the opportunity to drive innovation over time." Understand why the business looks commoditized but isn't. Two laundromats can use the same equipment, detergent, and labor pool and still deliver entirely different customer experiences. The laundromat business is actually "a highly services-based business." Adoption required understanding that operators cared deeply about how customers felt in the store, not just about technology features.

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