The painting industry has been suffering from a labor shortage for quite some time. However, not everyone in similar industries recognizes the severity of the matter. PaintJet was established when founder Nick Hegeman recognized the scale of the painting industry’s manpower shortage after witnessing it himself. He and co-founder Steve Wasilowski worked together to solve the scarcity problem until they recognized they were dealing with a much bigger issue.

The Founders

Nick Hegeman worked for ExxonMobil prior to founding PaintJet. He left his job to purchase a CertaPro Painters franchise and quickly understood the extent of the painting industry’s manpower shortages. He had to dismiss a crew and paint the job himself with his 7-month pregnant wife at one point. It was at this time that he realized there has to be a better method to get painters to paint faster, better, and without breaking the bank.

Steve Wasilowski, on the other hand, has worked in the paint industry his whole career. His father ran a painting firm for 35 years, and it was there that he got his first-weekend job. He owns and operates his own painting business and has experience in all aspects of the painting industry, including working for paint manufacturers.

Nick had started working on PaintJet while Steve was working for a big paint company. Nick asked Steve about being a co-founder around this period. Although the two had begun working together, the company was still in the planning stages until 2020. The two got the opportunity to seriously focus on the new firm during the Covid-19 shutdown.

The Journey: The Start of PaintJet

Nick and Steve chose to have a roadshow in 2020, demonstrating their MVP, or minimum viable product, which they refer to as version 1. They were still considering selling the device to artists at the moment. They traveled across the country for a nine-city road tour, from Nashville to Texas to California during COVID’s peak in June 2020. The goal was to demonstrate their unique technology to all of these painters, CertaPro Painters, seasoned painting contractors, and franchise owners. At the moment, the machine was not functioning properly. It would fall apart, and putting it back together would take too long. Although they had no idea what the product did, they nonetheless provided us with deposit checks.

The demand indicated that business owners are searching for a way to tackle the workforce shortage. They want automated equipment, but Nick and Steve won’t be able to afford it with a budget of $50,000 to $100,000. The duo needed to raise a lot of money and do a lot of things. The roadshow revealed that there was a demand, but it would take a lot more technology to provide it. They could see the demand, but couldn’t meet it since they didn’t have the right product. That’s when they understood they were dealing with a larger issue that required a more pricey remedy.

The two understood after some time working on the solution that they would never merely sell gadgets to artists. There aren’t enough painters, and painters don’t have enough money, but that doesn’t mean we won’t find a way to solve the situation.

An Innovative Way of Solving a Crisis

Because of the labor scarcity, there aren’t enough excellent painting businesses to go around. This is an issue that clients are experiencing as well. It became evident that PaintJet would be the robotics solution supplier, and that it would revolutionize the industry. It’s not about selling widgets; it’s about providing robots as a service and selling them directly to customers.

With Nick’s technical expertise and Steve’s painting and paint industry knowledge, the two are able to come up with a solution that will have a huge influence on the painting business. It’s not simply a means to alleviate the labor scarcity; it’s also a way to assist painters in doing their jobs better and faster.