Hate a task? Invent a Solution

The wife of one of my HBS classmates told her software developer husband that she hated reconciling their checkbook, “Couldn’t you write a small program to do this?” Scott Cook could and did. The small program involved into Intuit. OK, that’s the origin story that was told at our reunion; I didn’t actually hear it from Scott or his wife.

A Minnesota college student hated shoveling snow and decided to invent a “Roomba for snow.”*

“During his educational career, Minakov founded a startup called Nivoso, which means ‘snowy’ in Latin. The company touts its game-changing product: a self-activating snow-clearing robot for driveways and sidewalks.” It is monitored by an operator – from inside.

At $12K/unit, it’s not for the average homeowner, but can be quite helpful to institutions like hospitals and colleges. It’s being piloted at large senior living facilities.

What do you hate to do and how can you automate it?

*A college student invented a 'snow removal Roomba.' Now, it's clearing snow in residential neighborhoods, Jan 7, 2025, CBS News