Podcast Summary: Making It with Jon Davids

Episode 222 - "This Guy is Making Millions of Dollars From Toilets" | with Dave Garden

Date: October 21, 2025
Host: Jon Davids
Guest: Dave Sowers (note: Dave Garden in title, Dave Sowers in transcript)

Overview

This episode of "Making It with Jon Davids" features a candid, engaging conversation with serial entrepreneur Dave Sowers. Jon and Dave deconstruct Dave’s extraordinary journey from humble beginnings—driving a van to collect surplus electrical equipment—to building a $100M+ business in circuit breakers, making millions from quick pivots and hustling, capitalizing on market inefficiencies, and now launching a tech-forward, hyperlocal app for small businesses called Kiwi. Along the way, Dave shares riveting stories, including a lucrative Hurricane Katrina deal, hard-earned lessons in customer service, and the realities (and perils) of angel investing and post-exit life. The episode unpacks actionable business frameworks, founder instincts, and the necessity of operational excellence, using both grit and innovation.

Key Discussion Points & Insights

1. Origins: From Dirty Beginnings to Luxury Restrooms

• [00:48-02:12] Dave’s entrepreneurial instincts were inspired by witnessing the lackluster state of public porta-potties while with his children at a festival. He and his engineer friend designed a luxurious, upgraded version—"Royal Restrooms"—turning a basic need into a premium experience and tapping into a fast-growing, high-margin niche within the $8B portable toilet market.

  • Memorable quote:
    “Why are we stuck in 1753 technology with outdoor plumbing? Like we're just taking a piss into a hole here.” – Jon Davids, [01:00]

  • The company’s big break came during Hurricane Katrina, when FEMA and relief agencies needed premium portable sanitation for displaced families and workers.

  • Framework introduced:
    Upgrade the Blah—Identify “boring, dirty, ugly” parts of an industry and radically upgrade them.

    • Examples:
      • Royal Restrooms: from gross porta-potties to luxury trailers
      • Buc-ee’s: upgrading rest stops
      • Small business touches, like instant customer attention or unique offerings for kids in restaurants

2. Customer Service as Disruption

• [04:39-12:29] Dave’s first company in electrical distribution grew by breaking industry norms: live human customer service (no voicemails, answer in one ring), lightning-fast shipping (same day, no matter what, investing in labor to fulfill promises), no minimum orders or shipping fees—years before Amazon popularized this approach.

  • Dave’s philosophy:
    “Do something that people don't expect in business. When you do that, it creates a memorable experience and people really come back and the loyalty is there.” – Dave Sowers, [05:05]

• Impact:

  • Customers noticed and appreciated these policies, which led to rapid, sustained growth, double-digit increases every year, and a reputation that set them apart.

• Notable anecdote:

  • Dave started by cold-calling contractors using stacks of Yellow Pages, buying surplus electrical parts, and bootstrapping from a $1,500 van.

3. The Hurricane Katrina Windfall

• [17:31-22:23] Dave recounts his company’s pivotal moment: post-Katrina, he received a multimillion-dollar order for rare, obsolete circuit breakers. Through connections, quick thinking, and supply chain arbitrage, he sourced and fulfilled a massive order, never even touching the product.

  • Quote:
    “We never even touched the product. It would ship directly from Florida to Mississippi... You're talking millions and millions and millions.” – Dave Sowers, [21:41]

  • He also notes that they donated a significant portion of profits to hurricane relief efforts.

  • Key lesson:
    Luck often comes from preparation and relationships (“Luck is when preparation meets opportunity”—Jon Davids, [22:23]).

4. From Big Exit to Angel Investing—and Tough Lessons

• [23:41-29:07] Dave sold his company in 2011 and entered the world of angel investing, supporting friends, family, and startups. He candidly shares that passive (silent) investments rarely work unless you can be actively involved or at least offer some guidance—otherwise, relationships and money are often lost.

  • Quote:
    “If you're silent, then you're just going to be that. If the founder wants zero involvement from you, then I think it's a red flag.” – Dave Sowers, [26:18]

  • Stressing the importance of transparency and investor updates, Dave says failed investments don’t bother him—lack of communication does.

5. Launching Kiwi: Hyperlocal Tech for Small Business

• [29:39-39:10] After a 10-year non-compete, Dave is back, this time with Kiwi—an app that empowers small businesses to offer real-time, hyperlocal, geotagged deals to fill customer gaps during off-peak hours.

  • Core proposition:

    • Merchants turn deals on/off at will
    • Instant cash out, fair commission (15% cap)
    • Hyperlocal targeting—start with Long Beach, California

  • Quote:
    “When you walk into 90% of [small businesses] during off-peak hours, they're dying... put a deal on our app, get someone in your door, fill the seats, turn it off.” – Dave Sowers, [30:39]

  • Market pain:

    • Current big platforms (DoorDash, ClassPass, Groupon, etc.) “absolutely rape the business” with high fees and bad economics for merchants and consumers

  • Kiwi differentiation:

    • Lower fees, control for merchants, real-time geotagging, and rapid merchant/consumer matching
    • Targeted city-by-city rollout vs. world domination from day one

  • AI in product:

    • For merchants with limited English, Kiwi’s AI will generate deal copy instantly, auto-translating and setting up offers based on menu/listings ([43:40-44:33])

6. Post-Exit Life, Poker, and Personal Evolution

• [44:33-46:46] After selling his company, Dave “retired” at 37, lived on the beach, and played poker extensively—sometimes with A-list celebrities. This lifestyle quickly lost its appeal, leading to boredom, losses in poker, and ultimately a renewed drive to build again. He is now fully committed to making Kiwi a billion-dollar company.

  • Quote:
    “If I had to do it all over again, I never would have stopped working, that's for sure.” – Dave Sowers, [44:46]

7. Founders, Growth, and Execution

• [47:15-49:07] Dave emphasizes that success is “all execution”:

  • Both product and team matter; great teams can’t save a bad product.

  • Start hyper-focused—dominate a single city (Long Beach with 480,000 population and 17,000 businesses) before expanding.

  • Avoid mistakes of spreading too thin geographically, as some competitors did.

  • Jon’s final insight:
    “Everybody... has visions of world domination from day one. And I love the fact that you're in Long Beach, California, and that's it... You don't need to go to 15 cities; just start with one.” – Jon Davids, [48:41]

Notable Quotes & Memorable Moments

• “Why are we stuck in 1753 technology with outdoor plumbing? ...it's a disaster.”
  — Jon Davids, [01:00]

• “Do something people don’t expect in business... It creates a memorable experience and the loyalty is there.”
  – Dave Sowers, [05:05]

• “We did Amazon before Amazon did it.”
  – Dave Sowers, [09:05]

• “The win in business... is in the buy, not the sell.”
  – Dave Sowers, [16:47]

• “We never even touched the product. ...it would ship directly from Florida to Mississippi in trucks... You're talking millions and millions.”
  – Dave Sowers, [21:41]

• “If you're silent, then you're just going to be that.”
  – Dave Sowers, [26:18]

• “When you walk into 90% of them during off-peak hours, they're dying. ...put a deal on our app, get someone in your door, fill the seats, turn it off.”
  – Dave Sowers, [30:39]

• “I lost more money in poker. For sure.”
  – Dave Sowers, [45:35]

• “You can have the best team in the world. If you don't have a good product, it’s not going to work. So it really takes a combination of both.”
  – Dave Sowers, [47:15]

• “Everybody... just has these visions of world domination... I love the fact that you're in Long Beach, California, and that's it... just start with one.”
  – Jon Davids, [48:41]

Timestamps for Important Segments

• [00:48-02:12] – Inspiration for Royal Restrooms; “upgrade the blah” framework
• [04:39-12:29] – Early company culture: customer obsession years ahead of the market
• [17:31-22:23] – Hurricane Katrina arbitrage success story
• [23:41-29:07] – Selling business & the tough realities of angel investing
• [29:39-39:10] – Launching Kiwi, hyperlocal strategy, hyper-targeting, and pain points in today’s tech-for-merchants apps
• [43:40-44:33] – Using AI to help non-English-speaking business owners
• [44:33-46:46] – Life after exit: gambling, poker, and finding meaning
• [47:15-49:07] – Advice on growth: focus, execution, and learnings from competitors

Final Thoughts

Dave Sowers’ journey is a blueprint for relentless, clear-eyed entrepreneurship—solving real problems, building customer loyalty by over-delivering, seizing market opportunities, and executing with focus and integrity. His new venture demonstrates that technology can still disrupt legacy models—if deployed thoughtfully, with empathy for merchants and leveraging sharp operational lessons from a lifetime in business.

For more info and updates on Kiwi, follow Dave’s team and their journey as they launch in Long Beach and beyond.