Why clarity, tension, and vision decide which stories get heard

Most construction tech case studies follow the same tired formula:

The client had a problem. Bought our software. Everything was perfect.

Clean. Linear. Completely unconvincing.

The reality? Construction is chaos. Lawyers, rain, design changes after shows are already booked, tunnels that need digging under F1 tracks with 11-month hard deadlines.

When you present a sanitized story to an audience living in that chaos, they disconnect. Because it feels fake.

Lee Mullin spent 18 years at Autodesk, from technical support through sales to managing the content program for Autodesk University. He's reviewed over 3,500 speaker proposals and produced documentaries about billion-dollar construction projects. And he's learned something critical: the story without struggle isn't a story. It's a brochure.

Now, through his consultancy BuildArk, Lee helps construction tech companies tell stories that actually land. Not by polishing the rough edges, but by leaning into them.

Bottom line: Stop selling perfection. Show the struggle and how people actually get through it.

After years of working with AEC companies, Lee noticed a consistent pattern: they're terrified of showing the dip.

The pitches all sound the same. AI-driven tools that deliver insights. Platforms that optimize workflows. Technology that transforms operations. The words change, but the structure stays identical. And it feels inhuman because it skips the most important part: the actual pain customers were experiencing.

Take the Western Sydney Theater project, one of the documentaries Lee produced. Mid-construction, the owner wanted to increase the orchestra pit size. After it had already been built. And they'd already started booking shows.

The deadline wasn't moving.

Lee knew this tension was critical to the story. Without showing that moment of crisis, the documentary would collapse into just another case study. The software didn't erase the problem. It helped them navigate through it. That's the story worth telling.

This connects to a principle Lee borrows from Hollywood screenwriting. The framework is called "Save the Cat," and it's built on a simple truth: every hero hits a low point. You need to show that dip to make the recovery meaningful.

The fundamental mistake that many AEC companies commit is that they make their product the hero.

Lee's correction is simple but profound. The customer is Luke Skywalker. You are Yoda.

The audience needs to see themselves in the story. They need to feel like they can make the journey from struggling project manager to confident decision-maker. Your job isn't to be the protagonist. Your job is to be the experienced guide who provides the tools and wisdom they need.

Look at how Nike has done this for decades. Their advertising isn't about shoes. It's about the athlete. They're the hero. They just happen to wear Nike gear.

Red Bull takes it further. Scroll their Instagram, and you'll rarely see a can. Instead, you see people doing extraordinary things. The product recedes; the story takes center stage.

For AEC companies, this means shifting the narrative. Instead of talking about AI-powered platforms that deliver data-driven insights, tell a human story. Project Manager Dave spent two days running energy analysis through spreadsheets. Now he finishes in a few hours and actually sleeps at night instead of thinking about emails he should have sent.

The human element. That's what connects.

After years of experimentation, Lee landed on a three-step framework that works consistently: Context, Contrast, and Call to Action.

Think of it as an evolution of the basic "beginning, middle, end" we learned as kids, but optimized for corporate storytelling.

Before pitching the future, acknowledge the present.

When Lee was selling BIM 360 (now Autodesk Construction Cloud) in the early days, he'd walk onto construction sites with iPads and get "crazy eyes" from crews. His context wasn't about the technology. It was about meeting people where they were.

He'd start by acknowledging how quickly the world had moved forward. Mobile devices had already changed personal lives. The question was whether construction was ready to bring that change onto the site. That context prepared people for what came next.

For one of Autodesk's Master Class videos, they featured Esteban, a former construction project manager. Instead of jumping into software features, they started with the human pain: lying in bed at night thinking about tomorrow's tasks, worrying about forgotten emails, and never being fully present.

That's context. That's the scene your audience already lives in.

Lee describes this as the moment where transformation happens, but it's not a single leap from pain to relief. It's a series of escalating contrasts.

He calls it a "sawtooth diagram": this is where you are. This is where you could be. Back to where you are. Where you could be.

Using his iPad pitch as an example:

Notice the progression? Each contrast builds on the last, moving from simple convenience to strategic business value. You're not making one giant leap. You're creating small steps that feel achievable.

The pattern appears in every successful movie. Luke sees the Force, comes back with a bump, sees a bit more, comes back with a bump, and then finishes destroying the Death Star. The Holiday does it. Dirty Dancing does it. Star Wars does it. The structure works because it mirrors how people actually learn and change.

The most important piece gets botched more often than any other.

The call to action needs to match your audience and the story you just told. If the CEO is presenting, they shouldn't be asking everyone to pull out their phones for a QR code and free demo. That's a tactical CTA for a strategic moment. The CEO should be pointing toward bigger outcomes, whether that's visiting the show floor or engaging with leadership messaging.

Lee reviewed a video recently. Four minutes long, heartwarming, pulled at the heartstrings. At the end, it mentioned a charity and linked to their website.

The problem? The charity wasn't mentioned once during the entire video.

"If the call to action is to go to this charity website, then why haven't we mentioned the charity during the video?" Lee asks. "You've got to think a little bit about what you're trying to move them to."

Reverse engineer your story from the endpoint. Know where you want people to go, then build the path that makes that destination feel inevitable.

Frameworks sound great in theory. But when you're staring at a blank page with 20 different storytelling models swimming in your head, procrastination wins.

Lee's solution? Start bare bones.

Begin with bullet points. If you're using the context, contrast, call to action framework, start by listing two or three key points about context. What does the audience need to know about their current situation?

Then, and this is critical, jump to the call to action next.

Define what you're trying to get people to do. Visit a website? Schedule a demo? Rethink their approach to a problem? Once you know the destination, work backwards.

Identify three stories that show contrast between where your audience is and where they could be. These stories should build up to your call to action, creating a natural progression.

Finally, add bridges. You need transitions between the context and the first story. Between the third story and the CTA. These connective moments keep the narrative flowing.

Lee's observation: getting the outline right is the hardest part. Once you have that structure, fleshing it out becomes straightforward.

Two other critical questions to answer upfront:

The big idea. If you've got a new feature, great, but what's the underlying concept you're trying to communicate? "This will save you 20 hours a week." That's a big idea. Frame everything around that.

The believability factor. If your idea seems too good to be true, you need to prep them in the context phase. Maybe AI has completely changed something, or new data is available that never existed before. Set that stage so when you introduce your big idea, they're ready to accept it.

The Western Sydney Theater documentary almost didn't happen.

Getting all stakeholders to agree to show the challenge proved difficult. The orchestra pit redesign mid-construction. The shows are already booked. The immovable deadline. That's the chaos that represents real construction.

Lee's insight cuts to the core issue: without showing the dip, you can't show the way out.

The same principle applied to the F1 Las Vegas pit complex. Eleven-month build cycle. Then partway through came the requirement to build a tunnel underneath for pedestrians. The tension was real, and showing that tension made the story credible.

These aren't software failures. They're project realities. But companies are terrified to show them.

Lee's advice? Have the frank conversation upfront. Explain that you want to tell their story and that what they accomplished is impressive. The goal is presenting it in a way that satisfies everyone involved while acknowledging that conflict and tension are normal parts of construction.

The rough edges aren't weaknesses; that's where credibility lives.

For five years, Lee helped manage the content program for Autodesk University, the annual conference that draws 10,000 to 17,000 people to discuss everything from architecture to manufacturing.

Out of 3,500 proposals, less than 15% got accepted.

The difference maker? Vision.

Proposals submitted at the last minute with vague, wishy-washy descriptions never made it through. The program needed speakers who knew exactly what they were going to talk about and could articulate it clearly.

Strong, catchy titles mattered too. Lee's own breakthrough talk was called "Building the Death Star the Autodesk Way."

He'd been asked to present on roads, bridges, buildings, oil rigs, ships. Six different topics. Six different talks. Impossible.

So he took an abstract concept and made it concrete through an unexpected example. The Death Star became his canvas for demonstrating how tools could be applied across industries. The talk changed his career because it showed that taking abstract principles and making them entertaining works.

But the most important element remained clarity about outcomes. People attend conferences to learn. Even C-level executives who don't care about technical details want to understand why they should be interested. Give them that answer upfront.

Stop polishing the rough edges. Stop presenting perfect worlds. Construction is messy. Embrace that messiness, show the struggle, and position yourself as the guide who helps heroes win their battles.

Lee's final observation captures the paradox: construction companies aren't innovators; they're implementers. But that doesn't mean you can't tell an innovative story.

Watch the episode with Lee Mullin here 👇👇👇

What storytelling challenges are you facing in your go-to-market strategy? Reply to this email and let us know. We read every response, and your insights help shape future Bricks & Bytes content.

DJI under the microscope

The 996 productivity myth

Looking ahead to 2026