Brian Monaghan never thought he would end up in Memphis, but he couldn’t be happier with his decision to come here.
When it comes to being accepted into the Summer of Acceleration, it doesn’t matter where you come from. If you have a killer business idea that solves pressing problems in the home services industry, we will welcome you to Memphis with open arms. In this case, Brian, who is co-founder and CEO of Pest Pulse has come all the way from Dublin, Ireland to grow his business.
Pest Pulse is aiming to disrupt the pest control industry with advanced technology. They use smart devices and an advanced reporting and management platform to dramatically improve the service offering for pest control customers. They are a part of the Launch Delta Home Services Accelerator, powered by ServiceMaster and Start Co., whose goal is to disrupt the home services industry through technological innovation. I had the chance to sit down with Brian and have an interesting conversation about his business, background, and his time here in Memphis.
Q: Coming all the way from Ireland, what drew you to want to come to Memphis for the Summer of Acceleration?
A: The reason why this accelerator is more attractive to us than Y Combinator or TechStars is the partnership with ServiceMaster, who owns world’s largest pest control company: Terminix. We had interviews with Y Combinator but decided, ultimately, that Memphis is the best place for our company right now. Start Co. has a reputation as a world class accelerator and we knew we would gain a lot of value out of coming to Memphis. The fact that it’s a great accelerator and the corporate partnership with ServiceMaster made it a no-brainer for us to come to Memphis.
Q: Since you are in the Launch Delta Home Services Accelerator, tell me more about the innovative Ground Floor space and how ServiceMaster helped you grow your business.
A: The innovation team at ServiceMaster has been very helpful in terms of helping with our technology. They have been really open in trying to help startups in their ecosystem. The collective sharing of knowledge in their Ground Floor Space has exponentially improved how we look at our business and has given us a holistic approach to how we design our product. What they are doing is a very progressive thing to do; a lot of corporations don’t open their door like ServiceMaster does to startups. Rather than making us their competition, they are seeing how we can be mutually beneficial to each other. It’s a win-win for everyone.
Q: Why are you passionate about your business?
A: My co-founder Tim’s family business is a pest control company. He worked with them for 15 years. For the longest time, he’s complained about the lack of technology in the pest control industry. He’s really passionate about trying to improve pest control. I was just coming out of an exit in my last startup and we decided there was a great opportunity to improve both hardware and software in the pest control industry. The application of modern technology in this industry is just as important as it is in other industries. We think there is a big space for us to disrupt pest control.
Q: Tell me about your background and how you got into startups.
A: I’ve always been passionate about starting my own business. I studied finance and economics in college. After I left college and joined a fintech startup, the startup quickly went out of business as it was during the financial crisis of 2007. Running a startup is not like everything you see in TechCrunch or in the movies. It’s a lot of hard work and a lot of failures, but you learn that these failures are what makes your company or yourself better in the long-run. Then, I joined a big, multinational company – one of the largest online gambling companies in the world and spent 7 years there. I learned a lot of important things about business there. In 2012, I decided to get back into the world of startups and joined an early stage FinTech company called Currency Fair. I was Employee #10, and we did a seed round and successful Series A as it grew to about 110 employees. The company is doing very well now even though I eventually left. I joined another company called Zoomer that was just out of Y Combinator. It was a venture-backed Delivery As A Service company as the company grew to 200 people and then that company was sold in early 2017. After these two startup exits, I talked to Tim and my other co-founders and we decided it was time to start a company ourselves. That is how we got to where we are today with Pest Pulse. Throughout the process, there has been continuous learning and growing as we iterate and figure out what does and doesn’t work for your company.
Q: How has working on other startup companies prepared you for running your own startup?
A: It’s affected me hugely. The most important thing is that you have to realize you are going to mess up. Everyone on startups makes loads of mistakes. It’s about learning from them, recovering from them, and making sure they’re not fatal mistakes. IIf you have 10 decisions, and only get 2 or 3 of them right, that’s a great ratio. Once you make the mistake once, you can apply that and not make the same mistakes again. That’s why my startup experience helps so much.
Q: What has been the biggest challenge so far as an entrepreneur?
A: There’s nearly infinite number of challenges when you’re an entrepreneur. Everyday there’s something different and everyday has its own array of problems. One of the biggest challenges for us has been getting the right team in place. If you don’t have the best team, you won’t be able to execute properly, and that’s easier said than done. Another big challenge we have is getting in front of enough companies and getting them to close deals and move as fast as we want them to move. Those are our two biggest challenges: one tees everything else up, which is the team, and the other we haven’t quite solved yet.
Q: What are the toughest challenges you have faced at Start Co.?
A: We’ve had our head down on the business with hitting milestones and goals, but we never really focused on style or how we pitched and present ourselves. How do package our business together and present it to potential investors and stakeholders within the industry? We undervalued its importance before we came here. Coming here to Start Co. has crystallized its importance and how much we really need to improve with our pitches. We never even had an elevator pitch before this accelerator but now we have multiple types of elevator pitches.
Q: Where do you see your company 3-5 years down the road?
A: We are currently selling hardware and software to pest control companies. Our vision is that we would have multiple smart devices and a best-in-class software feature set. You will be able run your whole pest control company through our software and a number of different smart devices. We want the hardware and software to be fully built out and to have thousands of customers in Europe and the United States. Initially, this will be in Europe because that’s where we currently have a line of customers. However, by the end of 5 years, we see ourselves in the United States market as well. By the end of 5 years, we will have significant revenue, positive cash flow, and operation in two major continents with a top-of-the-line product.
Q: What do you do for fun outside your business?
A: I have a baby, and he’s about 20 months old. For your first-born kid, you don’t mind doing these kinds of things like changing the baby’s diaper. I love seeing him learn and grow everyday. I’m gone from him all summer, so I’m hoping he remembers me when I get back to Ireland! I also like to follow sports from around the world. Whether it’s soccer, the NBA, or the Tampa Bay Buccaneers, I love keeping up with sports. It’s important to find activities to engage in outside of business, especially as an entrepreneur, in order to stay sane.
Brian started his career in Corporate Development in a multi-billion dollar corporation. Having played the role as the acquirer of startups, he saw the light on the other side of the table and joined an emerging fintech startup CurrencyFair and helped scale it. Next, he repeated that in food-delivery-as-a-service startup Zoomer which was then acquired by GrubHub and EatStreet. Now as the CEO of Pest Pulse, he’s looking to create a successful startup himself.
By Jonah Baer