Procore just wrote a 9-figure check. Autodesk just cut 1,300 people. And someone called the best salespeople "the laziest."

In this episode of Bricks, Bucks & Bytes, Owen, Dustin, and Patric sit down with Mike Powers, Kevin Halter, and Anton Glance to dissect the most chaotic week in construction tech. A founder just landed his second major exit. A website launched with zero mention of "AI." And a former Autodesk exec didn't hold back on who's winning the platform war.

We get into:

• The real reason Procore acquired DataGrid — and why they won't make another bet like this for years

• Autodesk's layoffs and the "buy, build, buy" cycle that keeps repeating

• Kevin Halter's unfiltered take on Procore vs Autodesk

• Why Mike removed every mention of "AI" from BuildVision's website

• The warning sign AI startups need to hear right now

• Anton's vision for BuildDroid — the robot simulation platform backed by Tim Draper

Key quote:

"Autodesk historically has been buy buy buy. Okay, we bought a bunch. Now we're going to build, build, build. And then they realized we're not good at building. So then we go buy buy buy." — Dustin Devan

Watch the full episode on Youtube and Spotify. Link in the comments!

Our Sponsor:

Aphex is the multiplayer planning platform where construction teams plan together, stay aligned, and deliver projects faster – check out aphex.co

Archdesk - “The #1 Construction Management Software for Growing Companies - Manage your projects from Tender to Handover” check archdesk.com

BuildVision - streamlining the construction supply chain with a unified platform - www.buildvision.io

Chapters

00:00 Intro

01:06 Industry Shifts and Acquisitions

03:53 Procore's Strategic Moves

07:06 Autodesk Layoffs and Market Reactions

09:54 Sales Strategies and Organizational Changes

12:50 AI's Impact on Construction Tech

15:51 Website Innovations in Construction Tech

18:53 Future of Startups in AEC Tech

21:56 Final Thoughts and Upcoming Events

32:58 Introduction to Build Word AI

34:40 Customer Engagement and Project Execution

37:44 Monetization Strategies and Business Model

39:26 Founding Story and Team Dynamics

41:14 Timing and Market Readiness

43:46 Global Expansion and Market Validation

45:21 Investment Insights and Fundraising Journey

47:26 Industry Trends and Future Outlook

49:51 Sales Strategies and Market Dynamics

"The first time a customer said 'yeah, I just blue beamed it' - that was a moment."

When your product becomes a verb, you know you've built something legendary.

In today's episode of Bricks, Bucks & Bytes, we had Don Jacob, Co-founder of Bluebeam, and we got to learn about the wild 24-year journey from NASA's Jet Propulsion Lab to building one of the most iconic products in construction tech... and the future of AI-powered collaboration that's coming next.

Tune in to find out about:

✅ Why Don left the premier space agency in the world to "sell dog food online" (and how that decision led to Bluebeam)

✅ The secret sauce behind Bluebeam's legendary status: "When the phone rang, we picked up" - accessibility over everything

✅ How bootstrap funding became their competitive advantage and forced the discipline that built the company DNA

✅ Why we're living through the 1999 internet moment all over again with AI - and how Bluebeam Max is positioning for it

Bonus: the story of how a random bar encounter in Boston made this whole interview happen (thanks Tanya from Nemetschek!)

Don's been at this for 24 years and the energy hasn't dimmed. If anything, he's more fired up about what's ahead than ever before.

Listen now on Spotify and Youtube 🎧 Link in the comments!

Our Sponsor:

Aphex is the multiplayer planning platform where construction teams plan together, stay aligned, and deliver projects faster – check out aphex.co

Archdesk - “The #1 Construction Management Software for Growing Companies - Manage your projects from Tender to Handover” check archdesk.com

BuildVision - streamlining the construction supply chain with a unified platform - www.buildvision.io

Chapters

00:00 Intro

01:40 Introduction and Serendipitous Connections

03:50 The Legacy of Bluebeam and Its Founding

11:09 From NASA to Bluebeam: A Journey Through Innovation

17:27 Democratizing Design Data: The Birth of Bluebeam

26:13 The Evolution of Bluebeam: From PDF to Collaboration

33:06 Simplicity in Software: The Key to Bluebeam's Success

36:41 The Core DNA of Bluebeam

38:32 Evolution of Bluebeam's Product Offerings

41:28 Collaboration and the Introduction of Studio

43:20 Acquisition by Nemechek: A Strategic Move

45:58 Lessons Learned from Building Great Products

50:09 Leadership and Team Dynamics

55:15 The Unbound Event and Future Innovations

56:32 Integrating AI into Bluebeam's Offerings

What happened to carbon accounting? (Spoiler: Nobody cares anymore)

In this episode of Bricks, Bucks & Bytes, Owen, Martin, Dustin, and Patric dive into the rise and fall of carbon accounting in construction, why Autodesk's big bet didn't pan out, and what it reveals about the gap between tech hype and real-world adoption.

In this episode:

• The carbon accounting boom that went bust—and why the U.S. construction industry never really cared

• Patric's hilarious "Frankenstein scale" metaphor that perfectly captures the absurdity of pre-construction carbon tracking

• CIV Robotics founder Tom Yeshurun on why they killed their drone product and how they're now doing 5,000+ layout points per day

• The construction tech IPO everyone's watching (and what it means for the industry)

• BREAKING: PlanGrid founders Tracy Young and Ralph Gootee just got acquired again—Lennar Homes buys their new company Tiger Eye

Key quote: "When I was at Autodesk, they were very big on carbon accounting and everything would be front and center of every project by now... At least in the U.S., they don't really care about it. It's just the fact." — Dustin Devan

Plus: Why construction roles are "booming" (or are they?), what AI agent is helping build the next Siri, and an invite to Ediphi's Agent-a-thon in San Francisco on January 23rd.

Our Sponsor:

Archdesk - “The #1 Construction Management Software for Growing Companies - Manage your projects from Tender to Handover” check archdesk.com

BuildVision - streamlining the construction supply chain with a unified platform - www.buildvision.io

Aphex is the multiplayer planning platform where construction teams plan together, stay aligned, and deliver projects faster – check out aphex.co

Chapters

00:00 Intro

00:53 Introduction to Carbon Accounting

03:36 Understanding Carbon Accounting and Its Importance

05:46 Challenges in Carbon Accounting for Construction

10:38 Investigative Insights on Carbon Credits

20:05 The Acquisition of Plan A by Diginex

26:19 Incentives and Exit Strategies

27:05 Apple's AI Strategy: A Cautious Approach

29:07 The Value of Waiting in Tech Development

31:05 The Role of Employee Retention in Tech Companies

36:58 OpenAI and Competitive Reactions

43:41 EquipmentShare's IPO and Business Model Insights

53:18 Understanding Financial Metrics for Tech Companies

54:40 The Challenges of Financial Forecasting

58:26 Innovations in Construction: Civ Robotics' Approach

01:08:01 Future Directions and Exit Strategies for Startups