How does the Roach Coach biz work?

Our company’s offices are in a non-descript, two-story, mixed-use, brick building out on the Route 128 loop. The roach coach visits twice a day, relatively promptly at 10:00 and 13:00. It is the only roach coach that comes by the building. I wish Peet’s or Starbucks had roach coaches that came to visit, alas…

I grok (generally) the basic economics of how this particular guy’s business works. What I don’t grok is how routes and properties get sorted out and maintained.

The fare of this particular outfit is nothing to get excited about. Well, let’s be honest: actually it varies from crappy to scary. I’ve spoken with a number of the folks who hit the truck regularly to try to understand why, especially given the sub-optimal results of my own experimentation with his wares. Uniformly, I’ve been told that it stinks, but it’s all there is, so that’s that. Seems like a clear case of an unserved market opportunity.

So where’s the competition? How are these routes and “building ownerships” set and enforced?

If I go buy a truck tomorrow and show up on Tuesday at 10:00 and 13:00, what will happen? Will some guy named Tony arrive at my home and break my legs? Will the building owner sue me? Or is there just an unwritten code of honor among roach coach owners?

S

Evan is starting to happen….

Evan Dando is back. I stumbled upon Fred Wilson’s post about an MP3 pre-release of one of the songs from the upcoming album. I didn’t even know there was an upcoming album!

If you don’t know about The Lemonheads, the BIO on the official site is pretty amusing. The commentary about the constant lineup changes is something I bumped into personally. In the latter half of the 80s I played bass (and tried not to sing too much) for a band you’ve never heard of. But we were in Boston, and the community was relatively small. A drummer I knew (though hadn’t played with) at Brandeis played with The Lemonheads for a very short period of time – and may in fact be the guy referenced in the bio.

I’ve had the track running on repeat while I’ve typed this. I dig! Gonna try to catch the show in Boston in December….

S

Welcome to Blog 2.0

Some of you might remember my first blog. I started it in early 2004 and it lasted a few months. The content is presumably gone or buried somewhere in TypePad’s servers, never to be found again. Blogging wasn’t doing it for me back then, but I’ve been bugged relentlessly by numerous folks over the past year or so to get back in the game. And the muse has struck as well. Kismet!

Giving WordPress a try. Wish me luck!