ARLINGTON, Va. – A survey of several Internet company CEOs shows that a majority choose to let other people mow their lawns, according to a July 12 article in USA Today by Kevin Maney. More than half of the respondents said they hired professionals to do the work, while some do it themselves or hire non-professionals.
| 20 Internet CEOs Who Mow Their Lawns |
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Of the 20 CEOs who responded to the survey, 11 of them pay a professional service to mow their lawns. Mahendra Vora, CEO of Intelliseek in Cincinnati, falls in that category. "In the past 10 years that I have owned houses, I have mowed my lawn once – because we had a guest and our regular service person did not show up and obviously because my wife demanded it," said Vora. "I have been thinking about buying a lawn mower. I think it would be a great break."
According to Maney, most of those CEOs who use a service said it is not because they hate mowing, but they don't have the time due to long work days and constantly travel.
Maney received an e-mail from Dave Tolmie, CEO of YesMail, stating that he was previously unaware of how his lawn got mowed. The e-mail read, "I called my wife to ask her why our lawn always looks so good, and she tells me that we have a lawn service do it weekly. I'm feeling more like a homeowner already."
Only one respondent, Royal Farros, CEO of iPrint in Silicon Valley, said he employs a gardener, which is considered hired help as opposed to a service. "We don't have kids …," Farros said. "And we don't really have any neighborhood kids (who could be hired to do it)."
Three of the CEOs actually do the mowing themselves: Jim Iuliano, CEO of E Ink in Cambridge, Mass.; Rowan Gibson, who heads Rethinking Group based in Germany; and Alan Ramadan, CEO of San Francisco-based Quokka Sports. However, Ramadan barely fits in this category as he doesn’t quite adhere to the typical mowing maintenance schedule for his lawn. "I have a lawn but have only mowed it three times since I purchased the house three years ago," he said. "It's 3 feet tall, but it doesn't grow that fast in California. The deer like it."
Only Fulton Breen, CEO of XSInc. in Raleigh, N.C., has his child mow the lawn. But getting Ryan Breen, 13, to do it takes "almost as much effort as it takes to do it myself," Breen said.
Because these people surveyed are at the forefront of technology, Maney was surprised that not one of the respondents uses the latest technology in lawn mowing – automatic mowers. In this class of mowers for the homeowner is the Robomow RL500, manufactured by Friendly Robotics. The unit has proximity sensors and bumper sensors so it can maneuver around trees and gardens. A wire is tacked around the perimeter of one’s lawn to keep Robomow inside the property. Lee Blaylock, CEO of Service Lane.com, said he checked out the Robomow web site but didn't buy the unit. Sheldon Laube, CEO of CenterBeam, was only interested if Robomow could do more than mow. "If they can get the Robomow to pull weeds, I am ready to sign up," he said.
Lawn equipment manufacturer Husqvarna also manufactures similar automatic mower models, including a solar-powered model.
Information compiled from "Delegating solves Internet CEOs’ pain in the grass" by Kevin Maney, USA Today, July 12, 2000.