James Dickerson sizes the U.S. plumbing-and-HVAC market at 112,000 companies averaging $2.5 million a year in revenue — and says only 14% of their owners consider AI fully part of how they run the business.
While most AI builders are chasing "AI-pilled" customers in San Francisco, James Dickerson, owner of Diesel Dudes and creator of Boring Funnels, told Greg Isenberg on The Startup Ideas Podcast that the real opportunity is pitching AI-built marketing funnels to Main Street trades owners who have never heard the phrase "AI agent."
"There's 112,000 of them roughly doing roughly two and a half million dollars a year on average. 14% of owners say AI is fully part of how they run... there's a huge delta out there and a massive market gap." — James Dickerson
James built Boring Funnels, a tool that scrapes Google Maps, Google and Yelp to find and size prospects in about a minute, and he proved the pitch on himself: he's grown Diesel Dudes, his own mobile diesel-repair business in Charlotte, North Carolina, with the same ads, funnels and local SEO he now sells to other owners.
The full interview is covered here so you can skip it. 44 minutes of audio, 8 minutes of reading.
Here are the 7 takeaways that matter.
The Startup Ideas Podcast · Oct 26, 2026 · 44m · 36m saved
With James Dickerson, Owner of Diesel Dudes and creator of Boring Funnels
Key Takeaways
Never say "AI" to a trades-business owner — pitch booked jobs and phone calls instead
He tested an AI voice receptionist on his own business and got voicemails from callers hanging up the moment they suspected it was AI
112,000 plumbing and HVAC companies average $2.5M a year, and just 14% of owners say AI is fully part of how they run
Four of five audited Dallas plumbers broke the ad-to-landing-page message match, and three of five hid their own Google rating
A broken funnel can waste $2,600 a month on a $13,000 lead budget — and one $1,714 job pays for 13 of those wasted leads
Chet Holmes's "Dream 100" took six months to land 28 clients in a single month, a patience James pairs with lumpy mail and local meetups
Branding a Main Street agency like Stripe or Apple is a mistake — the aesthetic impresses other builders, not the trades owner paying the bill
Do the first job free for a case study, then use that one proof point to start charging
1. Sell Jobs, Not AI
James's pitch to Main Street trades owners never uses the word "AI." Business owners' eyes "glaze over" at the word, he says, and many don't even know what an AI agent is.
Owners care about revenue and ROI, not the technology behind it
"A lot of people talk about, I'm going to start an AI automation agency... or I'm going to sell AI agents. Customers don't care about any of that. They care about revenue. They care about ROI." — James Dickerson
He tested that the hard way on his own business, running an AI voice receptionist on Diesel Dudes and getting voicemails from callers who hung up the moment they suspected it was a machine.
Leading with "AI" actively repels the buyer he's selling to
"Never lead with I'm implementing AI into your local company. Their eyes glaze over... a lot of them don't even know what an AI agent is — they think of a real estate agent." — James Dickerson
