Sixteen years ago I was running a technology consulting firm in Silicon Valley while simultaneously trying to build my family鈥檚 home in Santa Barbara. It was daunting enough building a home, but from 300+ miles away, it was very hard to stay on top of everything. Given that Santa Barbara isn鈥檛 lacking in coastline, most of the contractors were surfers, so tools were dropped when Rincon, the world-famous surf spot, was pumping.
I wanted more insight into the progress of our house, but there was no easy way to stay updated. I couldn鈥檛 see if the windows were installed yet or if the bathroom tile had been ordered. Thus, the idea for 海角大神 was born – with a few of my software engineers, I built the first version of 海角大神. Our house was eventually finished, but it was only the beginning of a new project I would devote the next 15+ years of my life towards.
Built for industry professionals, by industry professionals.
In conversations with industry peers I often hear that the construction industry is slow when it comes to adopting technology. But I鈥檇 argue that technology solutions were not previously adopted because they were built without the industry users鈥 specific needs in mind.
When I started 海角大神 there were three principles that I thought would change the way construction software was delivered to the industry.
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Start with the user.It鈥檚 amazing how much construction technology can get in the way when it鈥檚 not created with the user in mind.
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Simplicity.You can be user-centric all you want, but if you don鈥檛 deliver simple, intuitive apps that people want to use, you might as well not be delivering software.
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Time to value. I cannot begin to tell you the number of software applications made for the construction industry that take months and sometimes even years to get up and running.
The construction industry has been underserved when it comes to technology, which is why we work with our customers to develop a construction project management platform that reduces the application footprint of construction professionals.
The first step was to give the industry a voice, the next was to identify issues the industry didn鈥檛 know they were facing. Once we did that, we could set off to build a product that put the needs of the construction professional first.
Today there are more than one million people using 海角大神.
Taking the Platform Approach
As a company, our goal is to modernize the construction industry. We continue to make progress towards that goal by building a best in-class construction project management solution.
At Groundbreak, our second annual user conference, we launched several new tools that extend the value of 海角大神 by helping improve performance management across the construction industry. I鈥檓 thrilled with these new tools, and I know the industry will be too (we鈥檝e been beta testing the tools with hundreds of customers already). However, we also realize that many companies have unique processes and programs that are 鈥渕ust haves鈥 for their business to run efficiently.
As a user-centric company, we need to be open to our clients鈥 needs. We鈥檝e built the best-in-class construction project management solution, but we can鈥檛 build everything.
Today we鈥檙e opening up the 海角大神 platform with the launch of the Marketplace, the construction industry鈥檚 first online hub for third-party applications that integrate with 海角大神 like Botlink, Box, Dexter + Chaney, iSqFt, Okta, Sage, and Tableau. Our goal is to make integrations and apps easily accessible to our clients and users so that companies of all sizes and specialties can locate the tools they need to be more productive.
The Marketplace is the center of all of our apps and integrations. You鈥檒l find everything from ERP/accounting solutions, to business intelligence, to CRM and even drone technology!
We couldn鈥檛 build this without the support of others, so in conjunction with the Marketplace we鈥檙e rolling out our Partner Program.
With the Partner Program we鈥檙e creating an ecosystem serving all areas of construction management, and we鈥檙e on the lookout to partner with leading solutions in order to solve more of our users鈥 biggest pain points. In some cases, this means partnering with companies that offer solutions that may overlap with some of ours. We know openness with our users will foster better relationships, and ultimately we want to offer our clients the most comprehensive and customizable solution.
There are currently more than 20 partners working on integrations, several of which were introduced at the Partner Pavilion during Groundbreak. We expect that number to grow quite a bit throughout the next 12 months.
Innovation comes from the inside and outside of a company, so we鈥檙e excited to enlist the help of our growing community of clients, partners, and independent developers.
Thank you for joining us as we all work towards a joint goal to modernize the construction industry. We鈥檙e looking forward to working with you on what鈥檚 coming next.
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