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From listening to a podcast or two, my impression is that the Public Bathroom Problem is an economic one. There were many paid public bathrooms in the past in t

by mxwsn 4y ago

From listening to a podcast or two, my impression is that the Public Bathroom Problem is an economic one. There were many paid public bathrooms in the past in the US, but they were deemed sexist and banned. Then cities didn't want to foot the bill, so they closed many of them. What's this startups' business model?

eru 4y ago
Yes, it sounds like their very business model is banned in large parts of the country. Perhaps they'll do some 'regulatory arbitrage' like Uber? Ie just operate in what's at best a legal grey area, and then use lobbying and lawyers to legitimise your business model?
jjulius 4y ago
Took me a while to find how they make money, but I ended up finding this[1] on the most godawful of websites (seriously, either use an adblocker or fucking avoid it entirely, good god)... >Currently, businesses and other public entities can rent a Throne on a monthly basis, which includes cleaning and servicing. But Heinzelman said the company is also exploring an option to purchase a Throne or to rent a larger volume at once. So far, the startup has raised seed funding primarily from angel investors and will be looking to raise a Series A in mid-2023. Thanks to that Series-A comment, my pessimistic take is that these will be "public" and "free" for now, and eventually we'll see them implementing monthly fees/subscriptions and/or microtransactions or whathaveyou. Edit: Seems I'm ignorant in this area and that paid public toilets are against the law in many areas. Still can't help but be pessimistic, though. [1]https://agadir-group.com/dc-startup-throne-is-bringing-tech-to-portable-bathrooms-around-the-city/ https://agadir-group.com/dc-startup-throne-is-bringing-tech-...
hot_gril 4y ago
Price fixing, with price set to 0, and no subsidy. Yep.
borski 4y ago
What I’m really interested in is why they were deemed sexist; in Europe, which I just came back from visiting, paid toilets were everywhere and they were not usually particularly clean.
- freeone3000 4y ago
  A fee was charged for stall use, but not for urinal use.
  - borski 4y ago
    …oh. So can we just charge for both?
  - rhdunn 4y ago
    So put the charge on the entrance to the bathroom so you have to pay to get into the bathroom. That is how bathrooms in London train stations and airports work. Then it does not matter if you are going to use the urinal or stall, or even the wash basins.
maxbond 4y ago
> [T]hey were deemed sexist and banned To expand on this, they were specifically coin operated _bathroom stalls_ - they didn't charge for _urinals_, and this put a disproportionate burden on women were charged for number one and number two. Here's a Lockpicking Lawyer where he picks & demonstrates the coin operated lock: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=D0foSHWP7rc https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=D0foSHWP7rc

by mxwsn 4y ago

eru 4y ago

Yes, it sounds like their very business model is banned in large parts of the country. Perhaps they'll do some 'regulatory arbitrage' like Uber? Ie just operate in what's at best a legal grey area, and then use lobbying and lawyers to legitimise your business model?

jjulius 4y ago

Took me a while to find how they make money, but I ended up finding this[1] on the most godawful of websites (seriously, either use an adblocker or fucking avoid it entirely, good god)... >Currently, businesses and other public entities can rent a Throne on a monthly basis, which includes cleaning and servicing. But Heinzelman said the company is also exploring an option to purchase a Throne or to rent a larger volume at once. So far, the startup has raised seed funding primarily from angel investors and will be looking to raise a Series A in mid-2023. Thanks to that Series-A comment, my pessimistic take is that these will be "public" and "free" for now, and eventually we'll see them implementing monthly fees/subscriptions and/or microtransactions or whathaveyou. Edit: Seems I'm ignorant in this area and that paid public toilets are against the law in many areas. Still can't help but be pessimistic, though. [1]https://agadir-group.com/dc-startup-throne-is-bringing-tech-to-portable-bathrooms-around-the-city/ https://agadir-group.com/dc-startup-throne-is-bringing-tech-...

hot_gril 4y ago

Price fixing, with price set to 0, and no subsidy. Yep.

borski 4y ago

What I’m really interested in is why they were deemed sexist; in Europe, which I just came back from visiting, paid toilets were everywhere and they were not usually particularly clean.

freeone3000 4y ago
A fee was charged for stall use, but not for urinal use.
- borski 4y ago
  …oh. So can we just charge for both?
- rhdunn 4y ago
  So put the charge on the entrance to the bathroom so you have to pay to get into the bathroom. That is how bathrooms in London train stations and airports work. Then it does not matter if you are going to use the urinal or stall, or even the wash basins.

maxbond 4y ago

> [T]hey were deemed sexist and banned To expand on this, they were specifically coin operated _bathroom stalls_ - they didn't charge for _urinals_, and this put a disproportionate burden on women were charged for number one and number two. Here's a Lockpicking Lawyer where he picks & demonstrates the coin operated lock: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=D0foSHWP7rc https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=D0foSHWP7rc