The residential construction industry in San Diego provided me the answers, and the stories I've collected. I will share with you:
For the individuals trying to find it, I'm not going to answer your question;
what is the problem you are trying to solve
I hate it when people ask me this.
Here's a quote from the CEO of Thumbtack
In a world where AI can turn generalists into self-styled experts, what matters most will be the kind of perspective, taste, and judgment you can only get by working in a domain. That firsthand experience will help you find the kind of contrarian—and correct—insights that can set your company apart.
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When we were first building our home services marketplace, everyone told us that we should pick a single category first rather than trying to be all things to homeowners. But homeowners don't need a place to find one specific kind of pro—they need a place where they can bring any problem or want that comes up in their home.
[We thought] that customers wouldn't want to provide a lot of information about the kind of pro they needed. They'd just want to get connected with a pro right away...But that turned out to be wrong. What customers care about is getting the right pro for their needs on the first try, and they're willing to give as many details as it takes to make that happen.
I'll assert that market is the most important factor in a startup's success or failure.
Why?
In a great market—a market with lots of real potential customers—the market pulls product out of the startup.
The market needs to be fulfilled and the market will be fulfilled, by the first viable product that comes along.
The home-service, construction, LICENSED contractor marketplace is a shit show.
Every construction software company is building sophisticated Gantt charts while contractors are in WhatsApp groups trying to figure out,
Where the fuck is the HVAC guy?
A new home being built feels exactly like this whole startup world. Let's look at the team in no specific order (there's so much to say about each, and all have their own idiosyncrasies):
They're recruited by an individual, and don't know who else is on the team. Half of these people hate each other, or don't speak the same language. They all get in each others ways, and fuck things up for the next person.
At the same time, they move, jump, climb, and help each other as much as they can to make sure things get done. They build. They break things. They pivot. They innovate 24 times a day. They're respected, battle hardened, masters of their craft, and comedians. They're the best teachers on the planet. Your work shows off for itself. Your work speaks for itself. Your actions, your decisions, your faults, can lead to blood being spilt. You don't understand what a startup even is compared to what these dudes do in a month.
That's JUST residential construction.
Nobody understands the level of respect these people garner. It's fast-paced, physically and mentally demanding, and without software designed with intention, the sense of connection is lost in time.
I won't claim to understand fully. All I know, is how to learn. I value all the tips and tricks these Pro's have taught me over the years. && I laugh at the posts on reddit asking for contractors "to explain their pain points". This one sums it up the best I think:
Reputation was lost to peacocking on a platform full of promoted content and the privilege of being the product.
Word of mouth networks never stopped working. When an electrician is asked if they "know anybody that does drywall" they called someone they trusted, who called someone they trusted, who knew the right person for that kind of work.
No algorithms.
No ratings.
No data brokers.
No content strategy.
No bots.
Just trust, reputation, and competence flowing through networks that had been built over decades of actual work.
What I'm building is nothing new. We've seen this before.
I'm affording better coordination and collaboration on a platform that simplifies project tracking, messaging, scheduling, and file sharing. You don't have to learn anything new, or do much different from what you currently do. Use Procore or Service Titan? cool. One excel sheet for everything? awesome. It doesn't matter.
Your work done over time tells a story that will advertise itself. You can easily share and communicate and coordinate with your client and or crew. Your apprentices, techs, project leads/ managers can view any project, at any point in time; you can allow them to refer back to decisions that were made in any place, at any time. This is all up to you. This does NOT require a change in the way you currently document or track anything. It simply gives a clear view. If you are in need of a system to track things, there any many solutions out there for you to pick from.
We provide the foundation to use whatever document system you want, and give you the communication tools on top.
Or to get a clue what the cost would be,
Or what the project idea could be,
Or what the design could look like,
Or what the most beautiful option could be
Or what the cost effective option could be,
Or to allow others to input their touch on what the project could be,
The project proposal bounty is a straightforward form for you to fill so any contractor can view, calculate costs, schedule visits, send estimates, communicate and ideate with.
If you do not want to have your personal project bounty seen by most you may send the private bounty to a trusted contractor.
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