Summary
STACK CEO Phil Ogilby joined Chris Doyle, CEO of Billd, on the Built with Billd podcast to talk about the trajectory of construction technology, as well as its current shortcomings.
Phil begins by recounting how he came into the construction industry as a sheet metal worker in the late 70’s, but the poor economy in the 80’s resulted in him being laid off. Determined to make his way, he began his own roofing company. To assist with takeoffs and estimates, Phil and his 14 year old son designed Buildware Pro, which led to his transition from roofing to technology.
By the early 90’s, the dot com boom was in full force. Phil began building a solution that would allow GCs to distribute invites to subcontractors to bid on the internet for jobs. After gaining an investor, iSqft was born.
While Phil was satisfied with the company and the work they produced, he was yearning to run his own show again, so he sold his shares and started STACK in 2013. STACK is the first cloud-based solution for takeoffs and estimating combined. It’s a powerful set of tools that impacts the contractor’s top line more than anything else.
COVIDI-19 has forced a lot of companies that were once hesitant to adopt new technology, to explore options that allow them to work from home. Phil predicts that this shift will make cloud-based software a requirement for construction companies moving forward.
“When you’re doing something brand new and you’re one of the pioneers, you take a lot of arrows. That’s part of the journey” – Phil Ogilby