Formwork Labs

Even with the right conditions in place, if people don’t share the same mindset, adoption challenges are inevitable. Construction has a strong desire for innovation, but the industry isn’t built for rapid change. Unlike other sectors where adoption happens in a straight vertical, construction moves differently. Growth may not be immediate, but it’s steady, year over year. And once new workflows take hold, they stick. Sustainable transformation isn’t about speed—it’s about consistency and long-term impact. Formwork Labs is powered by Brick & Mortar Ventures and BuiltWorlds. Please reach out to Alice Leung or Jack Forde if you have any questions about the program or if you are interested in getting involved. The Startup Scaffold podcast is hosted by Alice Leung and Bhragan Paramanantham with Kaustubh Pandya as this week's special guest.

That escalated quickly...Kaustubh Pandya ??To all future in person guests…we have vegemite.

For ConTech startups, proving ROI isn’t just about the numbers—it’s about telling a compelling story that resonates with decision-makers. This week at Formwork Labs, we’re hosting Erin Khan, founder of Erin Khan Consulting and an industry leader in AEC technology and innovation. Having worked as National Director of Construction Solutions at Suffolk Construction, she has firsthand experience in capturing and communicating the real impact of technology solutions to buyers. She’ll be breaking down: ? The fundamentals of ROI in construction tech ? How to showcase both quantitative and qualitative value drivers ? A step-by-step approach to generating clear data to create compelling case studies For startups, a strong ROI story can mean the difference between a lukewarm pitch and a signed contract. This session will provide founders with actionable insights to build trust, validate impact, and accelerate adoption. Stay tuned, key takeaways coming soon!

Regulatory change can be a catalyst—but it can’t be the foundation of an investment thesis. In the U.S., policy shifts can swing dramatically over two- or four-year cycles. And as investors, we can’t count on statewide legislation aligning with a venture-backed timeframe. That uncertainty is a risk we have to evaluate. The key question becomes ‘Can the industry adopt and scale a solution regardless of regulatory change?’ If a business model only works when policy shifts in its favor, it’s a gamble. But if it can thrive independently, while benefiting from regulatory tailwinds when they come, that’s where real opportunity lies. In many parts of the world, regulatory stability is the norm. but in the U.S., adaptability can be a necessity. Formwork Labs is powered by Brick & Mortar Ventures and BuiltWorlds. Please reach out to Alice Leung or Jack Forde if you have any questions about the program or if you are interested in getting involved. The Startup Scaffold podcast is hosted by Alice Leung and Bhragan Paramanantham with Kaustubh Pandya as this week's special guest.

For founders, early traction isn’t just about selling—it’s about proving value, refining positioning, and creating a repeatable process. That’s why this week at Formwork Labs we’re hosting Mayur, Founder of 3DGuru.ai and the mastermind behind the AEC Tech + AI newsletter. When Mayur launched his company, he quickly realized the hard way that effective outbound tactics and inbound growth strategies aren’t just nice to have, they’re essential. Now, he’s sharing his playbook on: ? Identifying and reaching your ideal early customers ? Outbound strategies that drive engagement and prove ROI ? And building scalable GTM systems, without needing a full sales team Finding and acquiring your first customers is one of the biggest challenges our cohort startups face. Without a structured GTM approach, it’s easy to waste time or get lost in leads that don’t convert with messaging that doesn’t resonate. Stay tuned, key takeaways coming up this week!

Navigating regulations in construction tech isn’t just about improving processes—it’s about enabling change at the jurisdiction level. In the U.S., every jurisdiction has its own rules, it's part of the DNA of this country. Permitting is a prime example. You can introduce all the technology in the world, but without incentives for public employees or a framework that allows authorized agents to step in, scaling remains a challenge. The key? Progress happens step by step. You can’t overhaul regulations overnight, but you can set the direction, influence policy, and create pathways for change Some states are already moving forward—showing that transformation isn’t just possible, it’s happening. Formwork Labs is powered by Brick & Mortar Ventures and BuiltWorlds. Please reach out to Alice Leung or Jack Forde if you have any questions about the program or if you are interested in getting involved. The Startup Scaffold podcast is hosted by Alice Leung and Bhragan Paramanantham with Kaustubh Pandya as this week's special guest.

Here are the 4 top takeaways from our panel session with Anton Marinovich, Jim Forester and Pedro Atienza Gomendio. Last week we hosted a panel session for our cohort on what works (and doesn’t) in ConTech sales and marketing. Scaling a sales process is rarely straightforward and it's crucial to establish a repeatable, effective strategy. Here are our top takeaways: 1// Map your key workflows. When selling your solution, undertake thorough discovery to map out workflows from top to bottom. Identify: ? Who are the individuals involved? ? How involved are they in decision making? Teams are often monolithic and sit separately. Understanding these dynamics helps pinpoint the right buyer and any additional features needed for adjacent stakeholders impacted in the workflow. 2// Embrace project led sales, but set expectations for enterprise. Early-stage startups often rely on project-led sales for piloting and validation before transitioning to enterprise sales. ? Set expectations from Day 1 on what enterprise adoption looks like. ? Proactively shorten the transition period by learning from early deployments. 3// Leverage your CRM data Your startup is sitting on a goldmine of insights in your CRM. Complete an analysis to identify your best customers including their sector, size and current conversion rates. Use this to identify your Ideal Customer Profile (ICP) and understand who to target in the future. 4// The User ≠ The Buyer In construction, the person using your solution (e.g., a Project Engineer) isn’t always the buyer (e.g., a Project Manager). Therefore, for adoption there may be an internal sales process. Equip users with sales collateral such as a one pager or slide deck so the Project Engineer is empowered for the sale. Consider adding features such as a report or dashboard that builds a tangible relationship showcasing value to the buyer. Do you have any other sales or marketing hacks you’ve found work?

Regulatory red tape is like Vegemite. It can be an acquired taste—difficult at first to overcome and navigate, but you grow used to it. This week on Startup Scaffold, Alice Leung and Bhragan Paramanantham are joined by Kaustubh Pandya from Brick & Mortar Ventures to break down the most important news in construction and tech. They break down what OpenAI response to the White House’s call for an AI Action Plan means for the construction industry diving into regulation, red tape and how the permitting startup landscape is evolving. Additionally they highlight key themes such as: ? ? Why does public construction cost so much more than private projects? ? Is red tape the biggest barrier to building faster and cheaper? ? Can AI, automation, and productization transform delivery? ? And how do culture and risk allocation impact tech adoption? And of course, we kicked things off with a Vegemite taste test—with mixed reactions!

For early-stage ConTech startups, validating your product and getting in front of the right people is a make-or-break challenge. Outreach isn’t just about sending cold emails, it’s about identifying your ideal customer persona, crafting a compelling message and continuously gathering insights to refine your process. That’s why this week at Formwork Labs, we’re hosting Sergey Grushko, Co-Founder @ Airtasks who has done it all before. With experience in construction working in VDC at EllisDon and now as co-founder of Airtasks, an AI native document management platform, Sergey doesn’t just talk the talk; he’s walked the walk. He’ll be sharing actionable tactics on: ? How to set up an email outreach system ? Building and enriching a high-quality lead list ? And how to use AI to streamline the entire process This session will help our founders sharpen their outreach and ensure they’re building something people truly want. We’ll be sharing key takeaways later this week—stay tuned!

How much of construction AI needs to be purpose-built and how much can the industry rely on broader, general models? As AI capabilities advance, the line is starting to blur. General AI Models developed for broad business use cases may become good enough to handle complex construction tasks — like interpreting drawings or computer vision applications. It raises an interesting question: Should construction lean into building specialized AI models tailored to the unique complexity of the industry? Or will the rapid advancement of general models make these bespoke solutions obsolete — delivering good enough functionality at a lower cost? The answer isn’t clear. But as horizontal AI models improve, the real opportunity may lie in adapting existing technology to construction, rather than building from scratch. Formwork Labs is powered by Brick & Mortar Ventures and BuiltWorlds. Please reach out to Alice Leung or Jack Forde if you have any questions about the program or if you are interested in getting involved. The Startup Scaffold podcast is hosted by Alice Leung and Bhragan Paramanantham with Zach Scheel, P.E. as this weeks special guest.