AI Apps vs. Pool Cleaning: A Tale of Two Entrepreneurs

The Siren Song of the AI Gold Rush

In the world of tech and startups, there’s a prevailing belief that the next big thing is always just one brilliant idea away. For one developer, that siren song was the AI revolution. Convinced he’d found the ultimate “cheat code” to building a successful software business, he embarked on an ambitious 14-month journey.

The plan was simple: mass-produce AI “wrapper” apps. These were tools that leveraged powerful AI models to solve niche problems. He built a whole portfolio of them—eleven apps in total. An AI-powered resume reviewer, an intelligent meal planner, a study buddy, a tool for generating journal prompts. The list went on. The effort was immense, consuming an estimated 1,400 hours of his time.

The result? A combined revenue of just $2,847. After factoring in the hours, his grand venture into the future of tech amounted to an hourly wage of about $2. It was a sobering, painful lesson in the gap between hype and reality.

The Boring, Profitable Alternative

While this developer was chasing the digital dream, his friend was building a business that couldn't be more different. No code, no servers, no complex algorithms. Just a truck, some chemicals, and a net. His friend started a pool cleaning service.

It’s the kind of unglamorous, “boring” business that rarely gets featured in tech magazines. Yet, while the 11 AI apps struggled to earn a few thousand dollars, the pool cleaning service cleared an astounding $94,000 in profit.

The Lesson: Value Isn't Always Complicated

This stark contrast tells a powerful story about entrepreneurship. The developer was building solutions for problems that were interesting but perhaps not urgent or valuable enough for people to pay for consistently. He was selling a novelty. The pool cleaner, on the other hand, was solving a tangible, recurring problem for homeowners who valued their time and a clean pool. He was selling a non-negotiable service.

It's a crucial reminder for anyone in the business of creating: are you building something that's trendy, or are you solving a real, persistent problem? As one Reddit user’s story illustrates, sometimes the most profitable path isn't the most glamorous one. Sometimes, the most direct route to success is found not in chasing the future, but in mastering the needs of the present.