Hardware Podcasts

Pressbox and Tide Cleaners: Vijen Patel. The $1.99 Gamble That Built a National Brand

How I Built This · 6 Oct 2025 · 1h 06m

What this episode covers

Vijen Patel, co-founder of Pressbox (now Tide Cleaners), explains how he and co-founder Drew McKenna bootstrapped a dry cleaning business by installing SMS-enabled lockers in Chicago high-rises, achieving 40% margins by eliminating storefront rent and labor. They scaled to hundreds of locations, outcompeted well-funded rivals like Washio through superior unit economics and strategic building partnerships, and ultimately sold to Procter & Gamble, which rebranded the service as Tide Cleaners. Patel details the operational challenges of vertical integration, staffing, and retention, before launching The 81 Collection, a VC fund focused on boring, asset-heavy businesses.

Most relevant to

early-stage companies, companies scaling up and large enterprises

Topics

Mentioned

Companies
Procter & Gamble, Washio, Rinse, The 81 Collection, McKinsey, U.S. Bank
Products
Pressbox, Tide Cleaners, Digilock
Tools
Twilio
Also
Notre Dame

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