“These big companies [and governments] are getting away with a lot,” Browder tells me. He hit a breaking point when frustrated with the process of appealing parking tickets. He built DoNotPay to cut through hassles designed to separate us from our money. In April it raised a $3.5 million seed round led by Felicis to develop an Android version after picking up early funding from Andreessen Horowitz. Surprisingly, the startup has never been sued.
Corporate cost-cutting and new technology have resulted in the advent of automated systems that can make the on-hold experience even more frustrating. It can feel near-impossible to get a human on the phone these days, which a national survey conducted by Consumer Reports found to be Americans' second-greatest annoyance, after hidden fees but beating out inaccurate weather reports and dog poop. Green observes that often people call as a last resort, because something on the website wasn't clear, perhaps, and they really need an answer quickly. So callers are captive listeners, a state often associated with the gridlock of waiting, whether in line at a Starbucks, in a dentist's chair, or in the proverbial elevator making its slow way up.

Most writers get into the business because they want to work in seclusion. They’re attracted to the myth of being alone with nothing but a keyboard and a computer, scribbling their thoughts. Yet, comedy writing isn’t like traditional writing.
A study by Infomax inc found that callers tend to stay online for 25% longer if there is a mix of on hold messaging and not just plain music. So you need to mix it up.