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$121m Buildot’s 5 Key Strategies for Successful Product Management
Owen Drury
July 24, 2024 • Estimated Reading Time: 8 minutes
INDUSTRY INSIGHTS
$121m Buildot’s 5 Key Strategies for Successful Product Management
On last week’s episode of Bricks & Bytes, we were joined by Buildots’ Director of Strategy and Go-to-Market, Amir Berman.
Amir took us on a journey of the complex field of product management and development in construction tech.
In this week’s bulletin, we explore Buildots’ approach. One that’s led them to over $121m in funding since 2019, as they march toward progress tracking dominance
"Think about a different digital product that you might have been building on a different life. Let's say that you were the product manager for Gmail," Berman explains. "Now take it back, for example, for construction. You're building usually online products 90% of the time for clients that will interact with it and their product is completely offline."
This fundamental disconnect between digital solutions and physical construction projects is at the heart of the challenge. Here are five key strategies for successful product management in construction tech:
1. Bridge the Digital-Physical Divide
The most successful construction tech products seamlessly connect digital plans with on-site realities. This requires a deep understanding of both the tech and construction worlds.
Berman emphasises,
"The biggest challenge is that you need to constantly take your users back and forth between their offline perception of life and the online perception of life."
To address this:
Spend time on construction sites to understand the physical realities
Involve construction professionals in your product development process
Design interfaces that mirror physical construction workflows
2. Ensure Product Resilience
Construction projects are dynamic, with frequent changes and unexpected challenges. Your product needs to be flexible enough to handle these discrepancies.
"No schedule and no 3D model is 100% to the point exactly as it is in reality," Berman notes. "And even the schedule and the models themselves as an intent, they have their own flaws."
To build resilience into your product:
Anticipate and plan for common discrepancies
Build in flexibility to handle changes
Regularly test your product against real-world scenarios
3. Iterate Quickly and Efficiently
While construction projects move slowly, tech products need to evolve rapidly. Balancing these different paces is crucial.
Berman advises,
"The whole idea is to try to be very, very lean and very, very fast and to test ideas and concepts in the market with whatever you can and invest as little as much from an energy standpoint and financial obligation from the other aspect."
To iterate effectively:
Set up quick feedback loops with users
Use prototypes and MVPs to test ideas rapidly
Balance quick wins with longer-term development goals
4. Focus on Clear, Measurable ROI
In an industry with tight margins, demonstrating clear ROI is crucial for product adoption.
"The biggest challenge was creating a very, very clear ROI formula for our clients," Berman states. "And we were very strict with that ROI formula."
To develop and communicate ROI:
Work with clients to identify key performance indicators
Develop case studies that showcase tangible benefits
Align your pricing model with value creation (BuildDots, for instance, prices based on construction volume rather than per user)
5. Align Product Development with Industry Needs
Successful products in construction tech solve real, pressing problems in the industry.
Berman reflects on his previous startup:
"We had a very, very good idea, but we just took like too big of a challenge from our standpoint."
To stay aligned with industry needs:
Regularly engage with construction professionals at all levels
Stay updated on industry trends and challenges
Balance innovation with practical, immediate needs
Implementing These Strategies
Starting with these strategies requires a shift in mindset. "You need to be able to move really fast into execution," Berman advises. "So if you're picking up something too big, too vast for you to chew, means that you will choke along the way like we did."
Common pitfalls to avoid include:
Assuming digital solutions will seamlessly translate to physical environments
Overlooking the importance of change management in construction organizations
Prioritizing features over solving real industry problems
The long-term benefits of these strategies are significant. As Berman notes, "I'm on a mission to kind of help this industry transform itself to make better decisions based on data."
By bridging the digital-physical divide, ensuring product resilience, iterating quickly, focusing on ROI, and aligning with industry needs, product managers in construction tech can create solutions that truly transform the industry.
The future of product management in construction tech is bright, but challenging. As the industry continues to digitise, the need for innovative, practical solutions will only grow. By following these strategies, product managers can position themselves at the forefront of this transformation, creating products that not only meet the needs of today's construction industry but help shape its future.
As Berman concludes,
"Now you can define what's the end, but for me the end, it goes through increase of business volume... Eventually that's it. So my growth personally moved from being product manager, leading product group into like, let's try to work together in this industry to transform it to a better situation like in a decade."
Interested in learning more? Check out the full episode with Amir Berman 👇
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