Venture Capitalist and Advisor to Execs of the ENR 500 and the firms that aspire to be. Investing capital and time into entrepreneurs and leaders driving change in the built environment through new business creation.
Here's my 2024 LinkedIn Review I used a tool that auto generated it. It’s “meh” In 2024, I watched AEC startups stop asking AEC firms to be customers and start planning to replace them. The industry transformation I've been pushing for is finally happening. After writing the book on BIM for Owners and Developers in 2011, I had to admit this year that I was wrong. BIM is dead. AI will benefit owners and developers directly, bypassing traditional industry structures. This wasn't an easy admission, but it proved what I've been saying: the AEC industry must transform or be transformed. Through Shadow Ventures, we're accelerating this change: • Invested in AI-driven solutions like FLUIX AI, Surfaice, and MagicDoor • Launched DIAL Innovation Assessment to benchmark real innovation capability • Published "Creating the Intangible Enterprise" on AI's industry impact • Delivered 30+ keynotes challenging industry assumptions • Built comprehensive platform beyond pure VC with three newsletters reaching thousands Three posts that captured this transformation: "I am talking to more and more AEC startups that are less interested in having AEC firms as customers but would rather compete with them." On startups bypassing traditional industry structures https://lnkd.in/eCg_npar "I was wrong. I now believe that AI will benefit the owners and developers and BIM is dead." Admitting past assumptions need updating https://lnkd.in/efVJJcHT "VOC (Voice of the Customer) is so broken in the AEC industry. It's actually non-existent." Why innovation fails without customer focus https://lnkd.in/egKQZ_aQ 2025 will accelerate this transformation. More startups will build direct-to-owner solutions. Traditional firms must decide: transform or become irrelevant. The industry that shapes our society can't keep operating on outdated models. To AEC executives: Your innovation teams telling you that LLMs are the future aren't wrong. They're just focused on the wrong things. Let's talk about real transformation.
Can a singular start-up acquire all of the necessary tools to compete with the entire toolset of a firm. IMO, there are going to be mutually beneficial partnerships between the "startups" and "firms", where one cannot exist without the other...and to that I say we're ready, LETS GO!
Real Estate Developer | Engineer & Investor
1dReal estate developers, or ownership “platforms,” are key to this transformation and should be served directly. Brendan Wallace recently discussed naming the merging of technology and real estate at the enterprise level—a shift that is not new but rather a return to the drift and mastery concept. Master as the alignment of technology and resources to create lasting value and societal impact, rather than drifting into fragmentation across the startup ecosystem.