Building Klau in the Open, Week 19: Why a Public Benefit Corporation

I've been obsessed with the PBC (public benefit corporation) idea this week. It's taken up more of my thinking than any feature or roadmap item.

This is new ground for me. I only discovered the PBC structure this week. My goal is direct: build Klau into the software company the solid waste industry deserves. It's an industry I care deeply about, and one that's left me with plenty of scars.

The PBC structure adds friction. There's no tax break or grant making it easier. I'm not chasing a financial angle. The friction is the point. I want a corporate charter and fiduciary duties that legally and morally lock in what matters: customer needs, better software, and positive impact on the solid waste industry, above pure financial extraction.

Something that can be passed down

This goes deeper for me personally. Part of this is building something generational. The kind of SaaS company that can be passed down the way the best family-run waste hauling companies have been for decades. My son is 12 (almost 13). If he ever develops the interest, I want him to be able to step into this company and help carry it forward without the mission, ethics, or customer-first culture getting diluted or extracted along the way.

A PBC is the right vehicle for that. It writes the founder's values, moral code, and long-term goals directly into the corporate charter and governance. So even decades from now, long after I've stopped steering, the company will still have a legal obligation to operate the way I would today: customers first.

Profitability matters. But innovation, fair pricing, and better software are compatible with building a strong, sustainable, multi-generational business. What I've watched (and left) is the opposite pattern: once the spreadsheets take over, innovation stalls, costs shoot up, quality drops, and customers get locked into tools that no longer serve them. That's what I'm determined to prevent this time.

Right now I'm heads-down on roll-off dispatch automation and optimization, and self-service ordering. The bigger picture stays clear. I want to raise the bar for the whole solid waste software ecosystem. Less frustration. Much better experiences. Real partnerships.

That's my obsession.

If you've watched good technology get financialized and diluted in any industry, or if you've worked under the PBC structure, I'd like to hear how you think about long-term alignment and building things that last.

Still building.

Originally posted on LinkedIn on May 15, 2026.