> I have absolutely no idea why he feels that someone who has cleaned homes for 20 years is an incredible success story. It's almost as patronizing as it is naive.

Project much?

> What would be at least somewhat interesting is if she figured out a way to get paid 2x the hourly rate and/or get houses cleaned in 1/2 the time.

How do you know that she hasn't?

He says that she's happy. He doesn't know much about how it makes happy or how it has developed. You think that you do and you think that she's doing it wrong....

"Project much?"

Guilty as charged.

"How do you know that she hasn't?"

Well then that's a pox on his house for not bringing up that very important point in a discussion related to how much he admires her when discussing business.

"You think that you do and you think that she's doing it wrong...."

My issue isn't at all with the cleaning lady. It's with the specific example of using the cleaning lady to make this point:

"She’s been doing it some twenty-odd years, and that’s just an incredible success story. To me that’s far more interesting than a tech company"

I don't even think he really means that actually. I fail to see what makes that "far more interesting than a tech company".

I don't really think we can get anywhere with speculation: he might see her happy because people are pretty good at putting on a mask in professional situations. Or maybe she just really is happy.

However, in the aggregate, I'd be willing to bet on most cleaning people preferring the income, and freedom that 37 signals have. With that kind of money, you have a lot of options that someone making cleaning wages just doesn't have.

"Or maybe she just really is happy."

Not speaking about this person (who neither of us know) but strictly about people in general by using an example of cows in a field.

A cow in a field can stand there all day and just graze on grass. Our cat can sit there all day and just do nothing. Could you do that? All day, every day?

People with brains are more complex. In general if she is happy doing cleaning work we can presume she doesn't have the same brain or needs, of, say someone with higher intelligence. People are different in what their needs are.

"he might see her happy because people are pretty good at putting on a mask in professional situations."

True.

> People with brains are more complex. In general if she is happy doing cleaning work we can presume she doesn't have the same brain or needs, of, say someone with higher intelligence. People are different in what their needs are.

That's almost as patronizing as it is naive.

Well ok then what are you basing your thoughts on? I'm basing mine on a lifetime of meeting thousands of people from all walks of life and the story as presented by the OP.

I stand behind what I have said.

Would you be happy doing the simple tasks of cleaning houses everyday? Or do you prefer something more challenging like what you are doing (software development it appears). Or at least managing others doing the drudge work?

From the OP it doesn't appear that we are talking about someone making their way to something greater by cleaning houses but somebody who's station in life is cleaning houses.

Regardless of whether she was forced to clean houses because, for example, she was an immigrant or needed to feed a family she could have, with greater intelligence, risen to employ others to do the work for her at the very least. (My cleaning lady, from Brazil, has about 5 people working for her and I've seen examples of this with all sorts of people who start doing a task and rise to employ at least a few people to help out).

> From the OP it doesn't appear that we are talking about someone making their way to something greater by cleaning houses but somebody who's station in life is cleaning houses.

Why do you have this mindless obsession with ranking things in some arbitrary manner and then requiring that people climb your ladder?

His point was that it is a sustainable business, which is not something that can be said of most Silicon Valley startups (in his opinion).

"it is a sustainable business"

If you set your sites low enough you can have a sustainable business. You can mow lawns or you can paint houses. That's being self employed with essentially what amounts to a job. That would be appropriate to talk about in a post about why it's better to do that rather than work for a large company.