Craig Elliott

Sold my HVAC company after 15 years. Now I help local businesses grow at Fixit, build apps at Black Boxx Labs and write print books. Big on AI + crypto.

[Craig Elliott @CraigElliott_jr]

@noahiglerSEO The handoff is the part I'd test hardest. We tried AI on customer calls at my HVAC company way too early and people hated it. If a chat sits an hour, that's the next guy's job.

[Craig Elliott @CraigElliott_jr]

@Codie_Sanchez Summer in HVAC tests this every year. Every AC in town breaks the same week and everyone's behind. If the owner panics on the phone, the whole office hears it, and so does the customer.

[Craig Elliott @CraigElliott_jr]

@SahilBloom 15 years running an HVAC company was 15 years of people calling with problems. Now I build apps the same way. Find the thing people keep putting up with and fix that.

[Craig Elliott @CraigElliott_jr]

@gregisenberg Editing was never what stopped local businesses. Knowing what to say on camera was. A plumber explaining why water heaters fail will beat a polished ad any day.

[Craig Elliott @CraigElliott_jr]

@heyblake Same with service businesses. Nobody plans their way to 2,000 maintenance agreements. You keep showing up and doing the next call right.

[Craig Elliott @CraigElliott_jr]

@whop Went from tech to owner too, almost 20 years ago. Knowing the work gets you started. Booking, follow-up and recurring service are what let it grow past you.

[Craig Elliott @CraigElliott_jr]

@StevenCravotta Service calls worked the same way. If the homeowner understood their options in the first few minutes, they stuck with you for years. Apps aren't much different.

[Craig Elliott @CraigElliott_jr]

@coreyganim The approve and revise queue is the part I'd keep forever. We put AI voice on our customer calls years ago, way too early, and people hated it. A human checking the draft fixes most of that.

[Craig Elliott @CraigElliott_jr]

@HelenGuo_ From the seller side, the less of the business lives in a few people's heads, the less this matters. Documented processes and years of CRM history were what my buyer cared about.

[Craig Elliott @CraigElliott_jr]

@Codie_Sanchez Mine was a pay cap. Top tech, fresh master license, and my boss said I'd never earn more. So I started my own HVAC company. Kenn got his education in the cockpit, then bought the whole thing.

[Craig Elliott @CraigElliott_jr]

@gregisenberg When I sold my HVAC company, the buyer valued the CRM with years of history behind it, not anything I said about the numbers. If your ARR only lives in a screenshot, it's a guess.

[Craig Elliott @CraigElliott_jr]

Last visit for Invisalign treatment today, it was a rough start but well worth the journey.

I built an app Smilo to track my journey and keep me on track. It worked well and now we have 200 subscribers and growing

[Craig Elliott @CraigElliott_jr]

The year I got my master license and a national NATE award as a top tech, my boss told us there was a pay cap.

Nobody could ever earn more than I was making right then.

So I started my own company. 15 years later I sold it with 40 trucks on the road.

[Craig Elliott @CraigElliott_jr]

https://t.co/DBl6Hh8weY

[Craig Elliott @CraigElliott_jr]

When I sold my HVAC company after 15 years, the buyer didn't care much about the trucks.

Or the customer list.

I'm writing up what they did care about, plus a checklist for owners who are still the whole business.

Goes up later this morning.

[Craig Elliott @CraigElliott_jr]

@davidim Followed

[Craig Elliott @CraigElliott_jr]

@ycombinator @igmarinelli @tractian need this for the residential HVAC space - hvac is most expensive appliance in the home 10-20k easy. imagine you could avoid replacement and costly repairs for longer.. whos building this?

[Craig Elliott @CraigElliott_jr]

I used new tools in my HVAC company early. Sometimes way too early. Broke some things.
Remote agents on customer service before that was normal. Automated scheduling. A CRM with every customer's history.
15 years in, someone wanted to buy it.
They weren't buying my trucks. They were buying the systems.

[Craig Elliott @CraigElliott_jr]

Looking to connect with more builders on here:

App developers
SaaS founders
Small and local business owners
Devs working with AI and new tech

I build apps and help local businesses that serve their community grow online. Say hi or drop what you're working on 👇

[Craig Elliott @CraigElliott_jr]

Sat in a company meeting and realized there was no next step for me there.

I was the tech who could fix any call. Good sales, good scores.

Didn't matter.

So I bootstrapped my own. Ran the truck, the customers, the systems, all of it.

If you're the best one in the building and the ceiling is right there, that's your sign.