Todd Miller:

I'm Todd Miller of Isaiah Industries, manufacturer

Todd Miller:

of specialty metal roofing and other building materials.

Todd Miller:

Today my co host here on Construction Disruption is Ethan Young.

Todd Miller:

Ethan, how are you doing?

Ethan Young:

I'm doing pretty good.

Ethan Young:

Todd.

Ethan Young:

How you doing?

Todd Miller:

I'm doing well also.

Todd Miller:

So you had the experience, hope it's okay if I share this, you had LASIK surgery.

Todd Miller:

So, Mr.

Todd Miller:

Ethan no longer has glasses when he's on the podcast, which is kind of cool.

Todd Miller:

You wore contacts a lot too though, didn't you?

Ethan Young:

No, actually the last time I tried contacts was probably

Ethan Young:

like middle school and I just didn't like putting things in my eyes.

Ethan Young:

So if I had glasses for a long time,

Todd Miller:

Okay.

Todd Miller:

Okay.

Todd Miller:

Cool.

Todd Miller:

So everything's going well with your surgery, though.

Ethan Young:

Yeah, yeah.

Ethan Young:

It's a bit weird not having glasses.

Ethan Young:

I keep wanting to reach up and like adjust them or like take them off when

Ethan Young:

I go to bed and they're just not there.

Ethan Young:

So I don't know

Todd Miller:

That would take some getting used to, I bet.

Todd Miller:

Interesting.

Todd Miller:

So I have a joke to ask you.

Todd Miller:

One of my, one of my dad jokes.

Todd Miller:

Why did the bicycle fall over?

Ethan Young:

something about the kickstand.

Ethan Young:

I don't know.

Todd Miller:

That's a good, good guess, but wrong, because

Todd Miller:

it was two tired, two tired.

Todd Miller:

Okay,

Ethan Young:

That's good.

Todd Miller:

Yeah, well, let's go ahead.

Todd Miller:

Okay, so as a reminder to our audience, we are doing challenge words in this

Todd Miller:

episode, where each of us and our guest has accepted a word that we are

Todd Miller:

challenged to try to work into the conversation as seamlessly as possible.

Todd Miller:

So the audience members can be listening to figure out

Todd Miller:

what our challenge words are.

Todd Miller:

And at the end of the show, we will discuss our success or lack thereof

Todd Miller:

in using our challenge words.

Todd Miller:

So let's get this thing going here.

Todd Miller:

So, as we look at it, I think communication is something that

Todd Miller:

seems to plague everyone in business and really just life in general.

Todd Miller:

And the construction industry is no exception to that, whether it's between

Todd Miller:

co workers of a contracting firm or maybe a construction company and their clients,

Todd Miller:

things like, why didn't you tell me that?

Todd Miller:

Or if I'd only have known are frequently said and frequently lamented.

Todd Miller:

So today's guest, actually a repeat guest is someone who is trying hard to end

Todd Miller:

those communication problems, as well as to simplify construction projects

Todd Miller:

by keeping everyone connected and organized through his app, BuilderComs.

Todd Miller:

And that person, our guest today is Ron Nussbaum.

Todd Miller:

Now you may remember Ron because he was a guest on the show nearly two years

Todd Miller:

ago, talking about his app, NuttNest.

Todd Miller:

Today, we're going to learn how that morphed into BuilderComs and also learn

Todd Miller:

a bit about the positive role that BuilderComs is playing for its clients.

Todd Miller:

Ron, welcome back to Construction Disruption.

Todd Miller:

It's a pleasure to have you here today.

Ron Nussbaum:

It is great to be back and thank you for having me back.

Ron Nussbaum:

I appreciate it.

Ron Nussbaum:

I love what you guys do and I'm excited for our conversation today.

Todd Miller:

Well, we're excited too to learn more about some

Todd Miller:

updates and what's going on and how you're meeting folks needs today.

Todd Miller:

So, I, I know, of course, we talked about the first time you are on the

Todd Miller:

show, you served in the Marines.

Todd Miller:

Thank you again for your service, and you also then worked in

Todd Miller:

construction and home services.

Todd Miller:

So as a result, who better than you to come up with a useful app for contractors?

Todd Miller:

Tell us a little bit about this metamorphosis or this change from

Todd Miller:

NuttNest to BuilderComs and what that means to your clients and all that.

Todd Miller:

I'd like to hear a little bit about that.

Ron Nussbaum:

Absolutely.

Ron Nussbaum:

So, NuttNest is what everybody on here would remember me from.

Ron Nussbaum:

We have morphed into BuilderComs and how that came about was.

Ron Nussbaum:

I like to say, like you said, I'm a Marine I was in construction,

Ron Nussbaum:

like that's who Ron is.

Ron Nussbaum:

Like I was in the infantry.

Ron Nussbaum:

I've done everything from running the jackhammer to running the

Ron Nussbaum:

company and going into software.

Ron Nussbaum:

I tried to get a little too pretty with it.

Ron Nussbaum:

I tried to get a little too Silicon Valley, like what's cool.

Ron Nussbaum:

And we're going to revolutionize the construction industry.

Ron Nussbaum:

And we're going to have this really cool name.

Ron Nussbaum:

There's like all this other stuff you see, like, you know, Facebook and all the stuff

Ron Nussbaum:

that just changed how stuff is done and about six, seven months into our launch,

Ron Nussbaum:

I realized, like that's not Ron that the construction industry doesn't need that.

Ron Nussbaum:

Like the construction industry could care less is if we're

Ron Nussbaum:

NuttNest or we're BuilderComs.

Ron Nussbaum:

And I just, it wasn't a fit.

Ron Nussbaum:

It didn't feel right.

Ron Nussbaum:

And to be honest.

Ron Nussbaum:

I really got tired of spending the first five minutes of every call

Ron Nussbaum:

I was on explaining what NuttNest meant and how it came about.

Ron Nussbaum:

And, I felt this real, I felt like we had disalignment with

Ron Nussbaum:

the construction industry.

Ron Nussbaum:

Like, I'm trying to be in this pilot seat, flying in this plane.

Ron Nussbaum:

In NuttNest, we had this disalignment.

Ron Nussbaum:

It was like I was the co pilot of that.

Ron Nussbaum:

And I wasn't able to really steer the plane where I wanted it to go.

Ron Nussbaum:

And I felt it so much in my gut that I was, I almost was getting sick.

Ron Nussbaum:

It's like, we just had such disalignment.

Ron Nussbaum:

With what we wanted to be and what I felt the company was in.

Ron Nussbaum:

I wrote out, I just like, this is what the company is.

Ron Nussbaum:

This is what it should be.

Ron Nussbaum:

This is what it looks like.

Ron Nussbaum:

Everything about it.

Ron Nussbaum:

I call it a manifesto, whatever you want to call it.

Ron Nussbaum:

Like the BuilderComs, who we are, what we are, why we're that.

Ron Nussbaum:

And I gave it to my CMO and I said, this is the company I'm Building.

Ron Nussbaum:

It's not NuttNest.

Ron Nussbaum:

This is the company.

Ron Nussbaum:

This is the brand that we're building.

Ron Nussbaum:

This is what the construction industry needs.

Ron Nussbaum:

This is who I am.

Ron Nussbaum:

Let's put it together.

Ron Nussbaum:

And go with it.

Ron Nussbaum:

So we spent a few months, three, three, four months

Ron Nussbaum:

completely rebranding everything, completely changing everything.

Ron Nussbaum:

The software, what we build at its core is the same.

Ron Nussbaum:

It's still a super simple piece of software for the

Ron Nussbaum:

construction industry to use.

Ron Nussbaum:

But we got alignment with that and we got alignment with the

Ron Nussbaum:

construction industry and that brought us into becoming BuilderComs.

Ron Nussbaum:

And it's one of the greatest, you know, you don't like to say like

Ron Nussbaum:

major highlights in your life.

Ron Nussbaum:

Because you don't know what's to come still, but making that decision was one

Ron Nussbaum:

of the greatest things that I've done on this journey of being a software founder,

Ron Nussbaum:

because that was really a catalyst.

Ron Nussbaum:

We soon after that were awarded a top 20 startup at the

Ron Nussbaum:

International Builders Show.

Ron Nussbaum:

I was on Veteran Shark Tank, and I, I think that stuff wouldn't have came under

Ron Nussbaum:

the brand guise of NuttNest, because we had that disalignment, but once I found

Ron Nussbaum:

alignment with the brand and coming to the, coming to market, and we relaunched

Ron Nussbaum:

this in October of last year, it really was, like I said, this catalyst.

Ron Nussbaum:

We started, people understood it.

Ron Nussbaum:

And when I went, when we took the brand live, I probably got over a hundred

Ron Nussbaum:

messages from people that I knew that was like that right, there's it like, that's

Ron Nussbaum:

the missing link to what you're doing.

Ron Nussbaum:

Like you just got it right.

Ron Nussbaum:

Not that it's still, I mean, I'm in construction software, it's still an

Ron Nussbaum:

uphill battle, but it makes it a lot easier when people go on your website

Ron Nussbaum:

or they hear about you or even the listeners, when they hear BuilderComs.

Ron Nussbaum:

They probably have a rough understanding of what we do as a company.

Ron Nussbaum:

And that goes a long way.

Todd Miller:

No, I, I love that explanation and you're right.

Todd Miller:

BuilderComs, you know, starts to give me a pretty good idea that

Todd Miller:

that's, that's something to do with construction and something to do with

Todd Miller:

communication and all that type of stuff.

Todd Miller:

So that's good.

Todd Miller:

Well, what types of construction build businesses is BuilderComs designed for?

Ron Nussbaum:

Yeah, absolutely, and great question.

Ron Nussbaum:

So, we are kind of construction agnostic.

Ron Nussbaum:

It's really construction business.

Ron Nussbaum:

So when you think remodelers, roofers, custom home builders,

Ron Nussbaum:

even builders, because we start to create a way to document projects.

Ron Nussbaum:

Whether you're dealing with a customer or not, we need to

Ron Nussbaum:

have documentation on projects.

Ron Nussbaum:

We need to understand what's happening on every project and BuilderComs

Ron Nussbaum:

gives a simple solution to do that.

Ron Nussbaum:

We are starting to move upstream into the commercial realm of things as well.

Ron Nussbaum:

It's not where I come from, but we're kind of being pulled that way because

Ron Nussbaum:

there's not necessarily a good job site communication and management tool, and

Ron Nussbaum:

BuilderComs can fill that void there.

Ron Nussbaum:

So we really fit construction businesses.

Todd Miller:

Okay, well, give us an overview of what the app does.

Todd Miller:

What is the functionality for your clients?

Ron Nussbaum:

Yeah.

Ron Nussbaum:

So we're, we're a communication platform.

Ron Nussbaum:

Like that is what we came to market as to be really, really good at.

Ron Nussbaum:

We get all your communication in one place.

Ron Nussbaum:

So no more emails, no more text messages, no more digging through

Ron Nussbaum:

your phones, all of that in one place.

Ron Nussbaum:

And then we add in the channels of communication in there.

Ron Nussbaum:

So we make sure the right people are always talking to the right people.

Ron Nussbaum:

Your conversations are organized and in our transition into becoming BuilderComs,

Ron Nussbaum:

having our users on here is we found out.

Ron Nussbaum:

That communication is our backbone of what we do, but we do two other things

Ron Nussbaum:

really, really well, and that's document management and photo sharing and storage.

Ron Nussbaum:

So that right there is BuilderComs, and the best way to think about it is a Slack

Ron Nussbaum:

and Dropbox hooked up on a weekend and had a baby for the construction industry.

Ron Nussbaum:

That would be BuilderComs.

Todd Miller:

That is just entirely too visual for me.

Todd Miller:

Okay, I like it though.

Todd Miller:

Okay, so how does a client get started with BuilderComs?

Todd Miller:

Is it kind of plug and play?

Todd Miller:

Or is there some sort of integration and extensive training involved?

Todd Miller:

What does that look like for your clients?

Ron Nussbaum:

Yeah.

Ron Nussbaum:

So.

Ron Nussbaum:

We have two different kinds of clients at BuilderComs.

Ron Nussbaum:

We have the client that's never used any technology and is looking

Ron Nussbaum:

to get started into technology.

Ron Nussbaum:

That onboarding process is a lot more intensive.

Ron Nussbaum:

As you can imagine, when you're taking people from using a pad and a pen or not

Ron Nussbaum:

even using email, and now you're going to start teaching them to use technology.

Ron Nussbaum:

So we do that very well.

Ron Nussbaum:

We're, we're good hand holders.

Ron Nussbaum:

Across that you get to work with me.

Ron Nussbaum:

My wife is our director of customer service.

Ron Nussbaum:

We are here to help you be successful and implement our technology into

Ron Nussbaum:

your everyday business because that's how it starts to have the impact.

Ron Nussbaum:

Now, our other user is somebody that's coming from other technologies.

Ron Nussbaum:

That is looking to simplify what exactly their tech stack looks like,

Ron Nussbaum:

or say they use a big legacy player, but they don't use everything and

Ron Nussbaum:

they just want something simple to organize their communication, their

Ron Nussbaum:

documents and their pictures for those users were very plug and play

Ron Nussbaum:

because we're going to be the simplest piece of software that you ever use.

Ron Nussbaum:

What we hear on a daily basis from our customers is thank you for just

Ron Nussbaum:

building something easy to use.

Ron Nussbaum:

The buttons are where I feel like they should be.

Ron Nussbaum:

And that's from day one has been what I wanted to build.

Ron Nussbaum:

I learned to tell the developer no early on and just said, let's

Ron Nussbaum:

just keep this super simple.

Ron Nussbaum:

Cause if it's not, people won't use it.

Ron Nussbaum:

And if people don't use it, they're not going to have the

Ron Nussbaum:

benefits that BuilderComs offers.

Ethan Young:

I did want to chime in here.

Ethan Young:

So we talked a little bit about there, about like the client experience.

Ethan Young:

What's the homeowner experience like when they interact with BuilderComs,

Ethan Young:

because I know it's not like a full out, like social media platform, but what's

Ethan Young:

it, what does it look like for them?

Ron Nussbaum:

Yeah.

Ron Nussbaum:

So homeowners operate within the BuilderComs app, and it's very simple.

Ron Nussbaum:

You go in there and you can click on each one of your projects.

Ron Nussbaum:

What we found out was like people don't want to do something besides

Ron Nussbaum:

text message or email unless they can do it in the same amount of clicks.

Ron Nussbaum:

So you can open the BuilderComs app and be messaging somebody about

Ron Nussbaum:

your project within two clicks.

Ron Nussbaum:

But one of the big differences is you're going to be messaging the right person.

Ron Nussbaum:

So we have those channels of communication.

Ron Nussbaum:

So as a homeowner, when you go in there and you open up that project, or you

Ron Nussbaum:

could have multiple projects going on, but when you go into that project, and

Ron Nussbaum:

you go into messaging, you're going to see sales, scheduling, project management.

Ron Nussbaum:

You're going to see the channels of where, when you're reaching out and talking to

Ron Nussbaum:

somebody, you're actually talking to the person that can answer your questions.

Ron Nussbaum:

So that's, that's one of the big things that we provide for that

Ron Nussbaum:

homeowner, that customer, that's having the work done on their house.

Ron Nussbaum:

Is that direct, I like to say it's like air traffic control for

Ron Nussbaum:

contractors and homeowners, making sure that the right conversations

Ron Nussbaum:

are happening with the right people.

Todd Miller:

So I know that when you first go to BuilderComs dot com, you

Todd Miller:

immediately have a couple of options.

Todd Miller:

You can either try it for free dive right in, I guess, or you can schedule a demo.

Todd Miller:

What, in your opinion, is the best way for someone to approach that?

Ron Nussbaum:

Absolutely.

Ron Nussbaum:

So if you're somebody that's familiar with using technology, I would dive

Ron Nussbaum:

right in there, and set up a time.

Ron Nussbaum:

If you're somebody that's not 100 percent familiar with using technology,

Ron Nussbaum:

I would set up a time to meet and, you know, we do that one on one.

Ron Nussbaum:

You can always start your free trial.

Ron Nussbaum:

We do a 30 day free trial.

Ron Nussbaum:

So you can come on, utilize our software for 30 days.

Ron Nussbaum:

Take it for a spin and see what that looks like.

Ron Nussbaum:

But I always recommend if you're new to technology, like let's have

Ron Nussbaum:

a conversation, because I want to know what, like, what's your needs?

Ron Nussbaum:

What are you looking for with technology?

Ron Nussbaum:

And how can I best set you up for success?

Ron Nussbaum:

We build in a pretty extensive YouTube video training.

Ron Nussbaum:

Like that's why I put all of our training videos.

Ron Nussbaum:

Cause as an industry, like that's where we go if we need help.

Ron Nussbaum:

So I build out a lot of our help videos and everything on how to on YouTube.

Ron Nussbaum:

So we use that as an asset to help guide people through that, but if you're

Ron Nussbaum:

somebody that's familiar with technology, start that free trial, but still book

Ron Nussbaum:

a time or book an onboarding call.

Ron Nussbaum:

So as soon as you sign up, it also then gives you an option to book an

Ron Nussbaum:

onboarding where we'll walk you through the onboarding process, help get you

Ron Nussbaum:

set up so it's not, not like that demo.

Ron Nussbaum:

It's not like I need to understand how the software works and everything.

Ron Nussbaum:

This is like, let's get you set up, answer questions, walk through

Ron Nussbaum:

all the different use cases.

Ron Nussbaum:

What does this look like?

Ron Nussbaum:

If I need to do this or that, and we're always available to

Ron Nussbaum:

do that stuff along the way.

Ron Nussbaum:

I'm very focused on our customers because I used to be our

Ron Nussbaum:

customer and I'm not anymore.

Ron Nussbaum:

So like what I built.

Ron Nussbaum:

Was the, here's this solution, but what does BuilderComs continue to

Ron Nussbaum:

evolve and turn into will be dictated by our customers and what that

Ron Nussbaum:

feedback looks like, because I work in service of the construction industry.

Ron Nussbaum:

Now I don't work in construction, so I don't just want to be rolling

Ron Nussbaum:

stuff out there that I think is cool, but no one's even interested in.

Ron Nussbaum:

So we try to keep as open of a line of feedback and conversation with

Ron Nussbaum:

our users as they would let us.

Ron Nussbaum:

And being in construction software, dealing with construction businesses,

Ron Nussbaum:

it's not as much as you would think.

Todd Miller:

I gotcha.

Todd Miller:

I understand.

Todd Miller:

But I love the fact that, you know, your commitment is to

Todd Miller:

make sure that your clients are going to be successful with it.

Todd Miller:

And, you know, that's that's what means success for you as well.

Todd Miller:

So that's great.

Todd Miller:

Seems to me where you need to be.

Ron Nussbaum:

Yeah, my goal is to continue to build the communication

Ron Nussbaum:

platform for the construction industry.

Ron Nussbaum:

And like, as long as I focus on that, we'll continue to win.

Ron Nussbaum:

It's when you get distracted, you see people get distracted by trying to

Ron Nussbaum:

do other things or try to offshoot.

Ron Nussbaum:

And from day one, my focus has been less is like, how do we solve this

Ron Nussbaum:

problem in the construction industry?

Ron Nussbaum:

It's been a problem for too long.

Ron Nussbaum:

We don't have any good technologies to do it.

Ron Nussbaum:

So let's fix it and let's focus on that and not get distracted by all the noise.

Ron Nussbaum:

So if you do start using our software and you come and we, we have a, a

Ron Nussbaum:

conversation about where you think the platform could go and you bring up stuff

Ron Nussbaum:

like scheduling or CRM or this, like, that's not where the platform's headed.

Ron Nussbaum:

We're doing integrations with the best players in the game for that stuff.

Ron Nussbaum:

Because that's just what makes sense is like, that's focused on being

Ron Nussbaum:

really good at what we're good at and not muddy the water across the board.

Todd Miller:

Well, I'm curious.

Todd Miller:

Are there any comments you've heard from your clients and users?

Todd Miller:

comms helping them?

Todd Miller:

What are some of their feedback they give you once they get up and running with it?

Ron Nussbaum:

Yeah so, one of the big things that I have noticed is

Ron Nussbaum:

guys use it in the sales process.

Ron Nussbaum:

I, I had inherently not thought about it as being a sales tool, but I was wrong.

Ron Nussbaum:

So it's a major differentiator.

Ron Nussbaum:

Guys can say to their customers to begin with is, hey, we understand

Ron Nussbaum:

communications and issue.

Ron Nussbaum:

Don't worry about it.

Ron Nussbaum:

We have made the investment in BuilderComs, you're going to download this

Ron Nussbaum:

app, all of our communication is going to go through there and it immediately

Ron Nussbaum:

eases the customer's concerns with that.

Ron Nussbaum:

And then from a contractor perspective, it's the ability to be able to get a

Ron Nussbaum:

hold of your homeowners in a timely fashion, because now when they're

Ron Nussbaum:

receiving a message on the BuilderComs app, they're getting that notification.

Ron Nussbaum:

They know it has to do with their project.

Ron Nussbaum:

They might want to respond to it faster.

Ron Nussbaum:

It's not like an email hitting the email box or a text message

Ron Nussbaum:

hitting where, you know, people have thousands of unread emails.

Ron Nussbaum:

They might not check their text messages for hours because they're like, oh,

Ron Nussbaum:

it's just a text message, but there's something intuitively that happens

Ron Nussbaum:

when you, when you have a project going on at your house and you know, this

Ron Nussbaum:

communication is specific to that.

Ron Nussbaum:

So we start to save that time.

Ron Nussbaum:

And I think the most powerful thing that happens is the fact

Ron Nussbaum:

that we empower homeowners to have conversations with their builders and

Ron Nussbaum:

contractors prior to the conversation.

Ron Nussbaum:

Because before BuilderComs, a lot of times homeowners would just say, oh, wait till

Ron Nussbaum:

the guys get here, because they'll know that sales rep don't know that whoever

Ron Nussbaum:

was out there, they were too busy, they won't be able to get back to me.

Ron Nussbaum:

But by having that project management, that general, channel homeowners know

Ron Nussbaum:

if they ask questions in there, they're talking with a production manager, a

Ron Nussbaum:

field superintendent, a foreman, somebody that can actually answer those questions.

Ron Nussbaum:

And a lot of times those questions can delay the job, can change the job

Ron Nussbaum:

and need to be talked about prior.

Ron Nussbaum:

They don't because the homeowner is not empowered to reach out because

Ron Nussbaum:

they're afraid they're going to get an answer of, Hey, sorry, I don't know.

Ron Nussbaum:

Let me figure out who the person is and get you in touch with them.

Ron Nussbaum:

And then that's where sticky notes are typically made.

Ron Nussbaum:

And we all know where sticky notes go in construction.

Ron Nussbaum:

It's the death of it right there.

Todd Miller:

Very interesting.

Todd Miller:

Well, I'm curious as you and again, you kind of came up in this industry.

Todd Miller:

You're very familiar with construction as you look at construction.

Todd Miller:

There aren't particular challenges you see out there that maybe you hope.

Todd Miller:

BuilderComs can help with even beyond communication.

Todd Miller:

You brought up some great examples there with property owners who, you

Todd Miller:

know, now they know, okay, if it's my BuilderComs, this is important and

Todd Miller:

I've got to respond or check it out.

Todd Miller:

But I'm just kind of curious, are there any other challenges you're seeing out

Todd Miller:

there that you're thinking, gee whiz, someday maybe we can go after that also.

Ron Nussbaum:

That is a great question.

Ron Nussbaum:

And it's something I have become very passionate about, in doing this

Ron Nussbaum:

process and talking with so many people in the construction industry,

Ron Nussbaum:

there's one plaguing thing within software that everybody agrees around.

Ron Nussbaum:

And that is the fact that nothing talks to anything.

Ron Nussbaum:

And it's so fractured.

Ron Nussbaum:

Construction software is just a fractured, it's either you go out and you get one of

Ron Nussbaum:

these, somebody that offers all kinds of stuff and you only use a small fraction

Ron Nussbaum:

of it, or you get a couple of different pieces and nothing talks to anybody.

Ron Nussbaum:

And what we're building at BuilderComs, we're currently working on building out

Ron Nussbaum:

integrations because we're going to become the piece of software that connects the

Ron Nussbaum:

industry, that can help bridge the gap.

Ron Nussbaum:

And start getting software to talk to software.

Ron Nussbaum:

So when I say I'm not going to build out a scheduling software, it's because

Ron Nussbaum:

I'm going to go partner and integrate with the best out there that does that.

Ron Nussbaum:

So then our customers can utilize them if they want to schedule or if

Ron Nussbaum:

their customers want a communication platform, they can utilize BuilderComs,

Ron Nussbaum:

and we all talk together in creating an environment where a picture is a picture.

Ron Nussbaum:

A document is a document and a conversation is a conversation.

Ron Nussbaum:

That's how BuilderComs is going to link all of the construction industry

Ron Nussbaum:

together with all the different softwares.

Ron Nussbaum:

We're going to become this singulized place where all this data can move

Ron Nussbaum:

through and either push it to, one of the best examples is say, a very

Ron Nussbaum:

complex piece of software like a Procore, that big construction companies

Ron Nussbaum:

are running, but most people don't understand how to operate that software.

Ron Nussbaum:

You can take a BuilderComs integration into Procore and empower everybody

Ron Nussbaum:

on your job site, a simple piece of software to, to do their

Ron Nussbaum:

communications, to take pictures, to have access to all the documents.

Ron Nussbaum:

Super easy, super simple per project, but all that data that they

Ron Nussbaum:

then put in there can back feed.

Ron Nussbaum:

In the Procore and say the controllers, the executive team, the management team

Ron Nussbaum:

can look at it on their diagrams, but they don't have to worry about what is the data

Ron Nussbaum:

we're actually getting in here because now people are using a simple piece of

Ron Nussbaum:

software that can be utilized anywhere.

Ron Nussbaum:

And I typically say within 10, 15 minutes, anybody can use our software.

Todd Miller:

You know, as you talk there, it reminds me a little bit

Todd Miller:

of, I think it was Truett Cathy, I believe was the founder of Chick fil

Todd Miller:

A and, you know, he said, you got to stick to your chicken sandwich.

Todd Miller:

You got to know what that is.

Todd Miller:

And so, you know, what's your chicken sandwich is, and you're making it work

Todd Miller:

with all the other necessary parts and tools, parts of the picture and tools

Todd Miller:

that your clients are using as well.

Todd Miller:

So it makes every bit of sense.

Ron Nussbaum:

Yeah.

Ron Nussbaum:

And you know, I don't look at it as, you know, a lot of people say, oh,

Ron Nussbaum:

it's all this competition and stuff.

Ron Nussbaum:

And what we do is where every piece of software always fell short for me.

Ron Nussbaum:

And it's still falls short because it's not a focus.

Ron Nussbaum:

It's a hard thing to do.

Ron Nussbaum:

Communication is hard.

Ron Nussbaum:

And most people don't want to do it.

Ron Nussbaum:

Most software companies would just rather not do it.

Ron Nussbaum:

And I used to just say this and then I had some conversations with them and they

Ron Nussbaum:

just, straight toed me is like we offer this service because if we get asked for

Ron Nussbaum:

it, it's not something we want to do.

Ron Nussbaum:

So I know this might be the hardest road to go, but at the end of the day,

Ron Nussbaum:

there's an impact that I want to have.

Ron Nussbaum:

And a reason I set out to do this is like, I want to fix

Ron Nussbaum:

communication in construction.

Ron Nussbaum:

So I got a hold to my guns.

Ron Nussbaum:

And not, like I said, get distracted with all this other stuff and not

Ron Nussbaum:

say, hey, these people, we're partners in this because we can do more

Ron Nussbaum:

together than we can do on our own.

Ron Nussbaum:

Like BuilderComs is more powerful having alignment with all this other software and

Ron Nussbaum:

all the other software is more powerful by having alignment with BuilderComs.

Todd Miller:

Very good.

Todd Miller:

Very interesting.

Todd Miller:

Well, I know that you also have a podcast, Construction Champions.

Todd Miller:

Tell us a little bit about what you're doing through your show.

Ron Nussbaum:

Yeah.

Ron Nussbaum:

So Construction Champions Podcast is that's, that's become a passion

Ron Nussbaum:

project of mine, because it really is.

Ron Nussbaum:

I love the construction industry.

Ron Nussbaum:

When I got out of the Marine Corps in 2010, and I ended up in residential

Ron Nussbaum:

construction, like to me, it was one of the best things that happened.

Ron Nussbaum:

I had no plans.

Ron Nussbaum:

I didn't know what I wanted to do.

Ron Nussbaum:

All I knew was the Marine Corps is no longer an option.

Ron Nussbaum:

And I just, I fell in love with working in the construction industry.

Ron Nussbaum:

I fell in love with the people, the processes, everything about it.

Ron Nussbaum:

But what I didn't fall in love with was the mindset and the reputation

Ron Nussbaum:

of the construction industry.

Ron Nussbaum:

And that's what Construction Champions is about is about changing that

Ron Nussbaum:

perspective, changing that mindset and going out and being a champion in

Ron Nussbaum:

every part of your life, not just at your construction business, but with

Ron Nussbaum:

your kids, with your significant other, with your employees, with your family.

Ron Nussbaum:

With everybody around you is like we have to be a champion in every aspect

Ron Nussbaum:

of our life and that's how we change the mindset around the construction industry.

Ron Nussbaum:

So I release two episodes a week and we talk to anybody in the construction space.

Ron Nussbaum:

Like when I say that, like I bring on health people, I bring on business coach.

Ron Nussbaum:

I bring a gamut of whatever, if you're trying to move the ball in

Ron Nussbaum:

the construction industry, I want to have you on my show because I want

Ron Nussbaum:

those conversations to be out there.

Ron Nussbaum:

And that is how we change the mindset.

Ron Nussbaum:

Is we start to get people to realize that the 3 percent of bad

Ron Nussbaum:

seeds in the construction industry does not need to control the

Ron Nussbaum:

narrative for the entire industry.

Ron Nussbaum:

Like there's bad doctors and lawyers, but they don't control the narrative

Ron Nussbaum:

for the entire, their entire industries, but in construction.

Ron Nussbaum:

For some reason, like, we find that to be okay.

Ron Nussbaum:

It's like, yeah, well, you know, it's the construction industry.

Ron Nussbaum:

And I call it BS on that.

Ron Nussbaum:

I believe we can do better and I believe we are doing better,

Ron Nussbaum:

but we accept that narrative.

Ron Nussbaum:

And we let it play out instead of just nipping it in the butt with our customers

Ron Nussbaum:

and just saying, hey, I understand you might've heard this or your cousin's

Ron Nussbaum:

sister might've had this experience with a builder, but I'm not them.

Ron Nussbaum:

I'm a professional and I'm here to do this project for you and do it right.

Ron Nussbaum:

I have a family, I have employees that depend on me, and I'm here to do the

Ron Nussbaum:

right thing and do your construction project how it was meant to be done.

Ron Nussbaum:

You can see I get off track.

Ron Nussbaum:

I get fired up when I start talking about this because like I said, it

Ron Nussbaum:

truly has become a passion project.

Ron Nussbaum:

Wasn't something I was going to start, and It wasn't long after I think I was

Ron Nussbaum:

on your guy's show is I had somebody just straight look at me and go,

Ron Nussbaum:

Ron, why don't you have a podcast?

Ron Nussbaum:

Like you have the network, you have the passion about the construction industry.

Ron Nussbaum:

And I was like, well, I don't like my voice and I, I'm not interested in that.

Ron Nussbaum:

And they're like, that's not a good enough excuse, go start a podcast.

Todd Miller:

Ha ha ha ha

Ron Nussbaum:

It wasn't somebody I was going to say no to.

Ron Nussbaum:

So I went and started it and we've done what, about 160 episodes at this point in

Ron Nussbaum:

time, and I just keep rocking and rolling.

Todd Miller:

That's awesome.

Todd Miller:

And releasing two shows a week is a pretty ambitious goal as well.

Todd Miller:

So, kudos to you.

Todd Miller:

You, you keep playing your trumpet out there for our industry.

Todd Miller:

You're going to let everyone know that, yeah, good, good enough isn't

Todd Miller:

good enough, we can always be better.

Todd Miller:

So I love it.

Todd Miller:

So, What advice do you have for someone who may be new to the construction

Todd Miller:

industry and getting into it?

Todd Miller:

Any sort of overarching advice for them or how they get a career started?

Ron Nussbaum:

Oh, podcasts, podcasts, podcasts.

Ron Nussbaum:

The amount of free information out there right now, and it's not

Ron Nussbaum:

even a lot like it's not there.

Ron Nussbaum:

There's a, like what you can go learn off a podcast.

Ron Nussbaum:

Like I, it blows my mind, the stuff that people come on my podcast and talk about.

Ron Nussbaum:

And I, if not just my podcast, podcasts in general, like people come and they,

Ron Nussbaum:

they are an open book of knowledge.

Ron Nussbaum:

And I watch Tommy Malo do it all the time.

Ron Nussbaum:

The dude has a 250 million a year business and he just gives it away.

Ron Nussbaum:

Like it, the knowledge is out there, my biggest advice

Ron Nussbaum:

would be, be an action taker.

Ron Nussbaum:

Like that's where I won in construction is I showed up, I was a Marine,

Ron Nussbaum:

I didn't have any construction experience and everybody around me

Ron Nussbaum:

had construction management degrees.

Ron Nussbaum:

And I was like, I have to learn fast.

Ron Nussbaum:

And I have to take action.

Ron Nussbaum:

So I just dove in, I started learning everything I could about residential

Ron Nussbaum:

construction, just the fastest learner I could be and then taking action on it.

Ron Nussbaum:

We can all listen to all of the great podcasts.

Ron Nussbaum:

But if we don't do anything, if we don't take any action,

Ron Nussbaum:

it's, it's not going to matter.

Ron Nussbaum:

So I would say if I was once again, start like, because I'm doing this now, I'm

Ron Nussbaum:

reliving it because I'm in software now.

Ron Nussbaum:

So like I'm restarting a career in software after being in construction

Ron Nussbaum:

and all I can do is go absorb all the great knowledge that's out there.

Ron Nussbaum:

And then take action on it, like actually do the shit that needs to be done.

Ron Nussbaum:

And that's the same as if you're starting in construction right now, like if

Ron Nussbaum:

you're literally day one on your way home and you're listening to this, amazing,

Ron Nussbaum:

cause that's what you need to be doing.

Ron Nussbaum:

You need to be listening to podcasts just like this.

Ron Nussbaum:

The knowledge is out there, but then take some action.

Ron Nussbaum:

Like take one thing.

Ron Nussbaum:

I ask everybody at the end of my podcast, always take one thing and do it.

Ron Nussbaum:

Because that's how change starts to happen.

Ron Nussbaum:

So just start doing it.

Ron Nussbaum:

We know what has to happen.

Ron Nussbaum:

We can get free access to all the knowledge, just take action on it and then

Ron Nussbaum:

you're going to find yourself in rooms and around knowledge that will blow your mind.

Ron Nussbaum:

Construction is an industry that rewards people that are willing to

Ron Nussbaum:

do the work and take the action, and I don't think that will ever change.

Todd Miller:

I love that.

Todd Miller:

I know my big word the last couple of months has been encouraging people to

Todd Miller:

be curious, and to learn things, but you're right, you can't just be curious.

Todd Miller:

You got to do something with it then also.

Todd Miller:

So.

Todd Miller:

Great advice, Ron.

Todd Miller:

Well, this has been a great time talking together.

Todd Miller:

really enjoyed it.

Todd Miller:

We're close to wrapping up the end of what we call the business,

Todd Miller:

sort of side of things here.

Todd Miller:

Is there anything we haven't covered yet today, that you'd like to share with our

Todd Miller:

audience about yourself or BuilderComs?

Ron Nussbaum:

No, I think we had a really good, a really good dive in and talk about

Ron Nussbaum:

how we've gotten to where we are at today.

Todd Miller:

Great.

Todd Miller:

Well, before we do close out, I want to do something we

Todd Miller:

call our rapid fire questions.

Todd Miller:

So these are seven questions we'll ask you, which are completely out of the blue.

Todd Miller:

Ron has no idea we're going to ask.

Todd Miller:

So we're not even going to give you a choice.

Todd Miller:

We're just going to ask you these, and, and I made sure we are not asking you

Todd Miller:

the same questions we did the first time

Ron Nussbaum:

I knew you were going to do that.

Ron Nussbaum:

I almost went back and reviewed the questions and I was like, ah, he's

Ron Nussbaum:

not going to ask the same ones.

Todd Miller:

Would not have helped you at all.

Ron Nussbaum:

Yeah, it doesn't even matter, I didn't.

Todd Miller:

Okay.

Todd Miller:

Well, Ethan, you want to ask the first question?

Ethan Young:

Yeah, I can start us off.

Ethan Young:

Question one, have you purchased a product or service recently that

Ethan Young:

was a real game changer for you?

Ron Nussbaum:

I'm getting ready to do a bunch of webinars and I just purchased a

Ron Nussbaum:

webinar, not probably became a subscriber of a webinar platform that seems like

Ron Nussbaum:

it's going to really simplify it.

Ron Nussbaum:

I don't know.

Ron Nussbaum:

I haven't done my first one on it yet.

Ron Nussbaum:

But that's the most recent thing that I've become a subscriber to a

Ron Nussbaum:

purchase that I think is going to be a really simplify my workflows.

Todd Miller:

Cool.

Todd Miller:

What, what's the name of that platform?

Ron Nussbaum:

It is Webinar I am

Todd Miller:

Webinar I am.

Ron Nussbaum:

My bad.

Ron Nussbaum:

I brought it up in my, I might, I might need the eye surgery.

Ron Nussbaum:

It's a Webinar Jam.

Ron Nussbaum:

J-A-M.

Todd Miller:

Well I will check that out because we've been actually

Todd Miller:

talking about such things off and on.

Todd Miller:

So cool.

Todd Miller:

Thank you.

Todd Miller:

Question number two.

Todd Miller:

Would you rather have the power to be invisible or the

Todd Miller:

power to read people's minds?

Ron Nussbaum:

I would say the power to read people's minds.

Ron Nussbaum:

And I don't know if I haven't.

Ron Nussbaum:

I just, I think like that would be better.

Ron Nussbaum:

I don't necessarily have a reason or a rhyme.

Ron Nussbaum:

I just feel like that would be because you're present.

Ron Nussbaum:

Like if you're invisible and you know what's going on, it's hard to control

Ron Nussbaum:

the situation or control the outcomes.

Ron Nussbaum:

But if you're present and you can read, you know, like you read, it's

Ron Nussbaum:

the same thing by being able to read people's minds, you would be

Ron Nussbaum:

able to control the outcome better.

Todd Miller:

Good answer.

Ethan Young:

I feel like it could be a blessing and a curse to

Ethan Young:

be able to read people's minds.

Todd Miller:

No doubt.

Ron Nussbaum:

You want to want to be in big rooms full of a lot of people.

Todd Miller:

That might be a little overwhelming.

Ethan Young:

Alrighty, next one.

Ethan Young:

What's your bucket list vacation?

Ron Nussbaum:

Ooh.

Ron Nussbaum:

I would say mediterranean on a private yacht

Ethan Young:

Ooh, sounds great.

Ron Nussbaum:

For 30 days.

Todd Miller:

Sounds good.

Todd Miller:

Well, I hope you get there someday.

Todd Miller:

Next question.

Todd Miller:

So I know that you love what you do, and so that really can't be

Todd Miller:

your answer to this question.

Todd Miller:

If you could have any job in the world, though, other than the one you have, which

Todd Miller:

you dearly love, what would that job be?

Ron Nussbaum:

Oh, man, this is gonna, this will sound crazy, but I was

Ron Nussbaum:

literally just thinking about this earlier is, you know, if somebody came

Ron Nussbaum:

and wrote me a check for BuilderComs today, like what would that look like?

Ron Nussbaum:

And I was like, you know, I could almost go back and work at a

Ron Nussbaum:

construction company for like a year.

Ron Nussbaum:

To re get my feet wet and like, cause there's got, there's other stuff out

Ron Nussbaum:

there, like I have a, such a different perspective and I love the work, like

Ron Nussbaum:

to go and be able to do that same thing.

Ron Nussbaum:

But with the perspective and understanding I have now, I think

Ron Nussbaum:

would be super powerful and it sounds crazy, but like, yeah, I could go back

Ron Nussbaum:

and be like a foreman on a job site.

Ron Nussbaum:

Like I don't, I love the work I have.

Ron Nussbaum:

I'm not afraid of hard work, and you know, if you make it not about the money

Ron Nussbaum:

and about what you can actually get done, And like figure out, I think it

Ron Nussbaum:

would, I just have such a different view than I did back when I was doing it now

Todd Miller:

Yeah,

Ron Nussbaum:

that I think I would be light years ahead of how good I was before

Todd Miller:

Very interesting.

Todd Miller:

Good answer.

Ethan Young:

So, well, I guess we talked about what you'd be doing working wise

Ethan Young:

if you weren't working at BuilderComs, but what's your favorite thing to do

Ethan Young:

when you're not working on BuilderComs?

Ethan Young:

What's your favorite way to relax?

Ron Nussbaum:

I spend time with my family, like I don't, we live, We live

Ron Nussbaum:

over by the coast in North Carolina.

Ron Nussbaum:

And yesterday was the 4th of July.

Ron Nussbaum:

We golf, golf carted it up to the ice cream shop.

Ron Nussbaum:

I have a six year old son and like, that's what I love to do.

Ron Nussbaum:

That's, you know, I've built this life around being able to spend time with my

Ron Nussbaum:

family because that's the one thing I didn't do when I was in construction.

Ron Nussbaum:

I didn't, I did that really, really badly.

Ron Nussbaum:

And now I give my family as much as I give my work.

Ethan Young:

Awesome.

Todd Miller:

Love that.

Todd Miller:

Good, good, good.

Todd Miller:

Next question.

Todd Miller:

If aliens landed tomorrow and they were here to take you to their planet,

Todd Miller:

what earthly possession would you insist that you had to take with you?

Ron Nussbaum:

I don't know.

Ron Nussbaum:

Cause they've, they've got better stuff.

Ron Nussbaum:

I would probably be like let's rock and roll and whatever I think I'm

Ron Nussbaum:

going to need, I probably won't.

Ron Nussbaum:

Cause you guys probably have better things.

Todd Miller:

Was going to say it's interesting.

Todd Miller:

We asked this question of someone once and they had a very practical response.

Todd Miller:

They said, I think I would take my food and water because they

Todd Miller:

may not like the things to eat and drink that I like to eat and drink.

Ron Nussbaum:

Yeah, that is, that's a good one.

Ethan Young:

Very true.

Ethan Young:

Alrighty, last question.

Ethan Young:

what's a valuable lesson you've learned from a failure or

Ethan Young:

something that didn't go right?

Ron Nussbaum:

I think we can go back to rebranding the company, and you

Ron Nussbaum:

know, it's something I've learned a couple of different times in my life

Ron Nussbaum:

when it was either leadership or with having a business is be as true to

Ron Nussbaum:

yourself in who you are as you can be.

Ron Nussbaum:

And you're probably not going to be wrong.

Ron Nussbaum:

That right there, like I said, from a leadership perspective, from a

Ron Nussbaum:

business perspective, and of course, from a branding perspective, just stay

Ron Nussbaum:

true to who you are and just be that.

Ron Nussbaum:

And like, that's what people want.

Ethan Young:

I think that's great.

Todd Miller:

Very good.

Todd Miller:

Well, Ron, thank you again.

Todd Miller:

This has been a pleasure.

Todd Miller:

So for folks who may want to get in touch, perhaps directly with you, or maybe they

Todd Miller:

want to learn more about BuilderComs, tell us some ways they can easily do that.

Ron Nussbaum:

Yeah, you can find me everywhere and anywhere on social media,

Ron Nussbaum:

Ron Nussbaum, and then BuilderComs, C O M S dot com is our website.

Ron Nussbaum:

If you want to go on there and check us out or book a time

Ron Nussbaum:

on with me on there as well.

Todd Miller:

Very good.

Todd Miller:

BuilderComs.com.

Todd Miller:

Excellent.

Todd Miller:

So, guys, did you get your challenge words in?

Ron Nussbaum:

I absolutely did.

Ethan Young:

I did,

Todd Miller:

You both did, you know, that's weird.

Todd Miller:

I got so focused on mine.

Todd Miller:

I wasn't paying attention to you guys.

Todd Miller:

So, Ron, your word you worked in was

Ron Nussbaum:

Co pilot

Todd Miller:

Good job.

Todd Miller:

I'm I'll have to go back and listen to the show to figure out where you worked it in.

Todd Miller:

But,

Ron Nussbaum:

Right, right at the beginning, why I was talking about

Ron Nussbaum:

have to, you know, I felt like I was the co pilot for my own company.

Todd Miller:

Yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah.

Todd Miller:

Oh, tricky.

Ethan Young:

That was good.

Todd Miller:

Very good.

Todd Miller:

Ethan, your word was,

Ethan Young:

Mine was more of a phrase full out and I fit it in

Ethan Young:

when I was talking about customer experience with, BuilderComs.

Todd Miller:

I do remember that now, and I had trumpet, which

Todd Miller:

I worked in there near the end.

Todd Miller:

I was getting a little panicked.

Todd Miller:

So good time.

Todd Miller:

Well, thank you very much, Ron.

Todd Miller:

This has been great.

Todd Miller:

Enjoyed having you on the show again.

Todd Miller:

Appreciate it.

Todd Miller:

And all best you and keep up the great work.

Ron Nussbaum:

Awesome.

Ron Nussbaum:

Thank you.

Ron Nussbaum:

And I had a blast.

Ron Nussbaum:

I loved it.

Todd Miller:

Well, very good.

Todd Miller:

And thank you to our audience for tuning into this very special

Todd Miller:

episode of Construction Disruption with Ron Nussbaum of BuilderComs.

Todd Miller:

Please watch for future episodes of our podcast.

Todd Miller:

We always have great guests.

Todd Miller:

Don't forget to leave a review on Apple podcasts or a thumbs up for us on YouTube.

Todd Miller:

Until the next time we're together, though, keep on disrupting and challenging

Todd Miller:

those in your world to better ways of doing things and don't forget to have a

Todd Miller:

positive impact on everyone you encounter, make them smile and encourage them.

Todd Miller:

Well, God bless and take care, this is Isaiah Industries signing off until the

Todd Miller:

next episode of Construction Disruption.