Story of Painjet

1. The PaintJet Story The painting industry has been suffering from labor shortage for quite some time. Unfortunately, not everyone working in related industries knows the scope of the problem. The idea for PaintJet was conceived when founder Nick Hegeman realized the scope of the labor shortage in the painting industry after he had experienced it himself. He and co-founder Steve Walowski have worked together to find a solution to the shortage until they found themselves looking at a much bigger one. Before starting PaintJet, Nick was an ExxonMobil engineer. He quit his job to buy CertaPro Painters franchise and immediately realized the scope of the labor shortage in the painting industry. At one point, he had to fire a crew and paint the project himself with his then 7-month pregnant wife. It was during this time where he thought that there must be a better way to make painters paint faster, better, and cheaper. Steve, on the other hand, has always worked in the paint industry. His dad owned a painting company for 35 years, where he worked his first job during the weekends. He runs his own painting company and has worked in every aspect of the painting industry, including for paint manufacturers. While Steve was working for a large paint manufacturer, Nick had already started working on PaintJet. It was during this time that Nick approached Steve to become a co-founder. Although the two have started working together, the business was at a planning stage up until 2020. It was during the Covid-19 lockdown that the two had an opportunity to seriously work on the new business. In 2020, Nick and Steve decided to have a roadshow, featuring their MVP or minimum viable product, they call version 1. At the time, they were still thinking about selling the widget to painters. They went across the country to do a 9-city road show - all the way from Nashville to Texas, to California during the heart of COVID around June of 2020. The idea was to show all

2. these painters, CertaPro Painters, seasoned painting contractors, and franchise owners, their unique technology which can make the job easier. The machine didn't really work at this time. It would break down, it would take too long to put together. Despite not really seeing what the product does, they still gave us deposits cheques. The demand confirmed that business owners are striving for a solution for the labor shortage. They want automated equipment, but Nick and Steve won't be able to do it with fifty or a hundred thousand dollars. The pair needed to raise big money and go big. That was the eye- opening of the road show - that there was a demand but it's gonna take a lot more tech. They saw the demand, but didn't have the product. That's when they realized that there was a bigger problem and a more expensive solution. After some time while working on the solution, the two realized they were never just going to sell widget to painters. There's not enough painters, there's not enough money that painters have, but that doesn't mean that we're not making a solution to the problem. The problem is not one that just painters feel, it is one their customers feel because there aren't enough good painting companies because of the labor shortage. It became clear that PaintJet will be the robotics solution provider and it's going to change the way the industry is made. It's not selling widget, it's robots as a service and direct to customer. With Nick's background in engineering and Steve's experience in the painting and paint industry, the two are able to create a solution that will have a significant impact in the painting industry. It's not just a solution to the labor shortage, but a way to help painters get the job done better and faster.