# CleanOS - Key Decisions & Research Gaps (March 8, 2026)

## What's Validated
- Market gap exists: no "ServiceTitan for cleaning" yet
- Maid-specific tools are glitchy and behind on AI
- Generic FSM tools overpriced for cleaning (per-seat model kills contractor-heavy businesses)
- AI receptionist is table stakes but nobody does cleaning-specific booking correctly
- ServiceTitan IPO ($9B) proves the exit path exists in home services SaaS
- Mike has authentic domain expertise (10 years, $713K business)

## Open Questions / Research Gaps
1. **Go-to-market without a sales team** - how to get to 1,000 customers?
2. **AI moat** - how to build defensibility beyond just plugging in Claude/GPT
3. **Pricing validation** - will SMB cleaning companies pay $99-199/mo?
4. **Employee model support** - most cleaning companies use W2 employees, not contractors like NMC. Product must handle both.
5. **API/integrations strategy** - should CleanOS have a public API? Marketplace?
6. **Advisor/investor targets** - Rohan Gilkes (cleaning industry), Dan Martell (SaaS)
7. **Customer acquisition cost** - what does it cost to acquire an SMB cleaning company customer?

## Priority Order
1. Ship MVP (dogfood on NMC)
2. Get 20-50 paying customers
3. Show velocity + prove AI booking > human
4. Then fundraise ($2-5M seed)

## Key Insight from Mike
- Vast majority of cleaning companies have employees, not contractors
- Product MUST support both models from day one
- API/integrations could be a differentiator and moat-builder