"Pen and paper is still one of the largest competitors that construction tech has."

That's what Kalyn Lengieza, owner of Grindstone Consultants, told us during our latest conversation. And honestly, it hit different.

In today's episode of Bricks & Bytes, we had Kalyn and we got to learn about why authenticity beats fancy tech features, how relationships still drive deals in our industry, and the real secrets behind successful construction tech marketing... and many more!

Tune in to find out about:

✅ Why deals still get done on golf courses and job site trailers

✅ The time, talent, treasure framework for resource allocation

✅ How to use AI and tools like Gong to understand your customers better

✅ Why most construction tech companies are positioning themselves wrong

This episode is packed with actionable insights for founders, marketers, and anyone trying to crack the construction tech code.

Listen now on Spotify and let us know what resonates with you in the comments.

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# Podcast Timestamps

00:00 Intro

01:56 Introduction and Unique Connections

05:10 The Importance of Authenticity in Construction Tech Marketing

07:46 Kalyn's Role and Daily Involvement in Grindstone

10:55 Building Relationships and Customer Acquisition Costs

14:00 Leveraging AI and Tools for Marketing Efficiency

16:41 Time, Talent, and Treasure Framework for Startups

19:53 Prioritizing Marketing and Sales Initiatives

22:47 Testing and Iterating Marketing Strategies

26:03 Maintaining Customer Touchpoints and Nurturing Relationships

28:54 Final Thoughts on Marketing in Construction Tech

32:50 Creating a Cohesive Marketing Strategy

34:58 Winning at Product Marketing

36:07 Understanding Your Customers

37:48 Common Positioning Mistakes

41:08 Effective Messaging Frameworks

42:57 Tailoring Messaging for Different Personas

47:59 Key Metrics for Success

52:33 Generating Qualified Leads

55:53 The Best Channels for Customer Engagement

59:17 Radical Changes in Go-to-Market Strategies

"WhatsApp processes billion-dollar construction orders while ERPs sit unused as glorified data entry systems in Africa.."

In today's episode of Bricks & Bytes, we had Kagure Wamunyu from Jumba and we got to learn about how African tech companies must build entire ecosystems from scratch, why 60% of Kenya's GDP runs on mobile money, and how construction distribution works in emerging markets... and many more!

Tune in to find out about:

✅ How Uber Kenya became the first 100% cash market using manual Excel reconciliation

✅ Why Kenyans build homes instead of buying them due to 15% mortgage rates

✅ The reality of building construction tech in Africa where you become multiple businesses

✅ How WhatsApp has become the primary business operating system across African companies

From civil engineering to dropping out of Oxford PhD to revolutionize construction supply chains across Africa, Kagure shares the untold story of adapting global tech solutions to local market realities.

Her journey from handling driver strikes as Uber's face in Kenya to building Jumba shows how founders in emerging markets navigate challenges that don't exist elsewhere.

Watch now on Youtube to hear the full conversation about building in markets where traditional assumptions don't apply.

00:00 Intro01:55 Kagure's Journey: From Nairobi to Tech Innovator04:52 The Uber Experience: Adapting Technology to Local Markets07:53 Understanding Mobile Money: The Backbone of Kenyan Transactions10:53 Navigating Challenges: From Uber to EdTech13:59 The Birth of Jumba: Merging Construction and Technology16:48 Jumba's Business Model: Connecting Hardware Stores and Manufacturers20:09 Strategic Product Focus: Cement, Steel, and Beyond22:56 Scaling Operations: The Role of Hardware Stores in Construction25:45 SaaS Development: Building Technology for the Construction Industry28:30 Streamlining Financial Processes with SaaS29:35 Building Tech Products in Africa34:35 Navigating Talent and Fundraising in Kenya39:35 Understanding African Market Dynamics43:54 Sales Strategies in Construction Tech48:30 Challenges and Advantages of Being a Female Founder49:57 Lessons Learned and Future Ambitions

"We reacted too late to the labor shortage. Now we need to work smarter - it has to happen."

In today's episode of Bricks & Bytes, we had Tyler Campbell, host of Construction Brothers Podcast, and we got to learn about why construction tech keeps failing, the reality behind the $13 trillion industry myth, and how major projects still run on Excel spreadsheets... and many more!

Tyler shared eye-opening insights from his journey building FieldProof and interviewing hundreds of industry leaders.

Tune in to find out about:

✅ Why RFIs have become weapons for project delays

✅ The real reason construction apps fail to get field adoption

✅ How a £100 million project runs entirely on Excel

✅ Why robotics and AI agents are the only path forward

The construction industry is more fragmented than we think. Time to face the hard truths about where we're heading.

Watch now on Youtube to hear the full conversation about construction's biggest challenges and what comes next.

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Chapters

00:00 Intro

01:50 Introduction and Podcast Origins

04:53 The Fragmentation of the Construction Industry

07:43 The Journey of Starting a Podcast

13:50 Content Creation and Audience Engagement

19:55 Challenges and Issues in the Construction Industry

28:14 Comparing Construction Markets: US vs UK

32:04 Mindset and Risk-Taking in Construction

36:17 The Role of Technology in Construction

39:36 Data Collection Challenges in Construction

44:44 The Future of Robotics in Construction

51:21 Human-Centric Technology in Construction

This physicist turned construction revolutionary by building houses faster than McDonald's serves burgers!

In this episode of Bricks & Bytes, we sits down with Oleg, co-founder of Cuby, who's cracked the code on industrial-scale homebuilding with mobile micro-factories that can pump out a 2,000 sq ft house every single day.

Key topics discussed:

Why construction is still stuck in the stone age (and how Cuby is dragging it into the future)

The mobile micro-factory concept: bringing manufacturing directly to construction sites

How they're producing homes at $100/sq ft with just 4-person assembly teams

The IKEA + Starbucks approach to standardized, quality housing

Why most construction tech startups fail (and what Cuby does differently)

400,000+ engineering hours invested in solving the "kit of parts" puzzle

Plans to deploy 200 factories across the US in the next 10 years

"If you solve the logistic problem, you will solve the construction problem. But one of the main problems is not easy just to solve the logistic problem. Because we are speaking not only related the logistic of materials. This is the logistic of tools. This is the logistic of information. This is the logistic of assembling." - Oleg

From lean manufacturing principles borrowed from Toyota to AI-powered quality control, discover how this team is industrializing an industry that hasn't changed since Jesus was a carpenter.

"I make a horrible employee. I'm not a good employee at a big company."

That's how Nitin Bhandari, third-time founder and CEO of Planera, describes why he keeps starting companies instead of joining them.

In today's episode of Bricks & Bytes, we had Nitin Bhandari and we got to learn about his journey from wireless networks to construction tech, the critical mistakes first-time founders make, and why scheduling software has stayed stuck in the stone age while every other industry moved forward... and many more!

Tune in to find out about:

✅ Why he spent 9 months just learning construction before building anything

✅ How he landed customers who wanted to invest their own money in his company

✅ The real reason construction scheduling is broken (it's not what you think)

✅ Why hiring for culture fit matters more than most founders realize

Listen now on Spotify and discover how an outsider is transforming one of construction's most critical workflows.

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Chpaters

00:00 Intro

01:30 Introduction and Background

03:28 Nitin's Journey as a Founder

07:43 The Importance of Product Management

09:21 Lessons Learned as a Third-Time Founder

10:40 Entering the Construction Industry

12:17 Understanding the Construction Market

13:30 Hiring for Culture Fit

16:20 Selling the Vision to Employees

20:28 The Motivation Behind Founding Planera

22:32 Identifying the Core Problem in Scheduling

26:30 Innovating Scheduling Solutions

31:20 Landing Initial Customers

34:24 Evolving Sales Strategies in Construction Tech

38:17 Effective Go-to-Market Channels

40:02 Shifting Focus: From Product to Customer

41:39 The Role of Marketing in Growth

44:21 The CEO's Evolving Role

47:16 Communication as a Team Sport

49:13 Hiring Key Talent: The Head of Sales

51:41 Running Effective Meetings

54:55 Challenges in Construction Tech

56:49 Understanding Total Addressable Market (TAM)

01:00:39 Innovative Pricing Strategies

01:03:27 Navigating Tough Times as a Founder

01:05:23 The Role of AI in Construction Tech

01:07:15 Exciting Initiatives and Future Plans

"We don't want this data to exist because if the owner knows it exists, they'll be all over us."

This shocking confession from a contractor reveals the massive information gap plaguing the $2 trillion construction industry.

In today's episode of Bricks & Bytes, we had Ardalan Khosrowpour, CEO of OnsiteIQ, and we got to learn about why contractors intentionally hide project data from owners, how 95% of construction projects don't even use their BIM models, and the brutal reality of 3% profit margins that force underbidding... and many more!

Tune in to find out about:

✅ Why the construction industry suffers from deliberate information asymmetry

✅ How network effects can create monopolies in vertical markets

✅ The stark difference between contractor mindset ($1.5M profit) vs owner mindset ($150M asset)

✅ Why selling to capital allocators beats selling to contractors every time

Listen now on Spotify to discover how one founder is revolutionizing construction oversight by working with owners instead of contractors.

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Chapters

00:00 Intro

01:45 The Power of Network Effects in Real Estate

04:47 Understanding the Construction Intelligence Platform

07:38 Data Capture and Its Impact on Project Management

10:40 Misalignment of Incentives in Construction

13:46 The Role of Transparency in Construction Projects

16:44 Challenges in Selling Technology to Owners

19:52 Monitoring and Analyzing Construction Progress

22:45 Quality Control and Data Comparison in Construction

34:14 Building a Data-Driven Construction Model

39:45 Challenges in Selling to Owners

43:13 Outbound Sales Strategies and Market Dynamics

48:59 Generating Demand Through Product Value

54:25 Defensibility and Competition in the Market

Could mobile factories revolutionize homebuilding and solve the housing crisis? One company thinks they've cracked the code.

In this episode of Bricks & Bytes, we sit down with Alex Gample, co-founder of Cuby, who's tackling America's housing shortage with a radical approach: containerized micro-factories that can be deployed anywhere to manufacture homes at $100-110 per square foot—significantly cheaper than traditional construction.

Key topics discussed:

How Cuby's mobile micro-factories work and why they chose a distributed model over gigafactories

The company's ambitious plan to deploy 275 factories over the next decade

Why construction productivity hasn't improved in decades while other industries have transformed

How they're using unskilled labor with advanced software guidance to replace skilled construction workers

The regulatory challenges that have killed previous housing innovation attempts

Their partnership model with local developers and the economics behind it

Why Eastern European engineering talent is giving them a 7-10x cost advantage

The three-phase master plan from factory deployment to vertical integration

"For every seven folks that now retire from the construction industry, only one replaces them... nine out of 10 times no one even has in their immediate circle someone that swings a hammer."

Discover how Cuby is reimagining homebuilding from the ground up, why their "antithesis" approach might succeed where others have failed, and what it could mean for making homeownership accessible again.