| I don’t want to read into this too far but I hope the author doesn’t blame himself for all this. I thought the article was an indictment of our culture’s relationship with death more than anything being wrong with Grace itself. So many families simply don’t have a plan for what happens after they die. They leave it until the death actually happens, a time when nobody really wants to be talking money. Of course, Grace never actually turned a profit. While the author felt like he was being dirty, simultaneously the payments he was taking weren’t even covering the cost of doing business. I’d say the only clearly shady behavior was the hospital data integration, something that I’m sure is a fixture of funeral services companies. For sure, the business of death isn’t for everyone. I could make an analogy to how I’d never be a power line technician or wind turbine maintenance person. Nothing you can say and no safety mechanism will ever convince me to willingly climb a ladder higher than 3 feet tall. Perhaps the lesson here is to think about why you’re starting a business before you do it. Who are you doing it for? Is it your idea or someone else’s idea? Is it a product or service you’re already passionate about? If it is, you’re probably going to have a much easier time with it. |
I dunno, the whole "business turned me into a monster" bit is a little thin given that he opens his story with a VC pitch that he secures by melodramatically faking grief over his uncle's death.
The guy seems like a little bit of a psycho, who became a little more of a psycho through desensitization.