Rohan Gilkes

Rohan Gilkes is a serial bootstrapped entrepreneur who builds home-service businesses and the software that runs them. After being laid off during the real estate downturn, he started Maids in Black, an on-demand cleaning service, with about $450 and a website posted to Craigslist; it reached $1 million in sales in roughly 18 to 24 months and, by his account in 2020, had grown past $15 million in revenue while he kept ownership with a general manager running it.

He went on to build Launch27, a booking and management SaaS for service businesses, which he sold in 2019 for about $2.5 million, and owned and later sold the Wet Shave Club subscription box. He says he has never raised money or taken on debt, and usually partners with people who bring skills he lacks.

Today he runs Mopp (Moppworks), an AI-assisted hiring platform for cleaning companies, alongside newer products such as Convert Labs and the Ava chatbot, plus a 30-day hackathon. He also teaches through a home-service business bootcamp course, a podcast and a newsletter he says reaches more than 90,000 readers.