Pressbox and Tide Cleaners: Vijen Patel. The $1.99 Gamble That Built a National Brand
How I Built This with Guy Raz
- Published
- October 6, 2025
- Duration
- 1h 6m
- Summary source
- description
- Last updated
- Jun 24, 2026
Discusses What if the best startup isn’t sexy at all? In 2013, Vijen Patel left private equity to pursue “the …
Summary
What if the best startup isn’t sexy at all? In 2013, Vijen Patel left private equity to pursue “the least-worst idea”: dry cleaning. No patents. No app wizardry. Just laundry lockers in high-rises, ruthless unit economics, and a $1.99-a-shirt price that was seared into America’s brain.From bootstrapping routes at 5 a.m. to breaking even in 6 weeks, Vijen …
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Show notes
What if the best startup isn’t sexy at all? In 2013, Vijen Patel left private equity to pursue “the least-worst idea”: dry cleaning. No patents. No app wizardry. Just laundry lockers in high-rises, ruthless unit economics, and a $1.99-a-shirt price that was seared into America’s brain.From bootstrapping routes at 5 a.m. to breaking even in 6 weeks, Vijen and co-founder Drew McKenna scaled Pressbox to hundreds of locations, stared down well-funded competitors, and ultimately sold to Procter & Gam