What Did the First Version of the Product Do?

71% of construction companies are still using Excel to manage thousands of employees—and it's costing them millions in lost projects.

In this episode of Bricks & Bytes, Owen and Martin sit down with Lauren Lake, co-founder of Bridgit, and Kevin Ferguson from AECO Product Marketing to uncover how two college students disrupted the construction workforce planning industry—and built a company that now serves half of the top 20 general contractors in North America.

In this episode:

Why 42% of contractors are turning down projects despite high demand (hint: it's not what you think)

The "crane hunting" strategy that led to a Harvard Business School case study

How Bridget went from $0 to $4M ARR in just 2 years by solving one simple problem

Why construction companies are now budgeting $100K+ for workforce planning software

The shocking reason employees are leaving construction jobs (and it's not the pay)

What happens when executives ask "where are our people?" and nobody knows the answer

The hidden cost of breaking up winning project teams after every job

How AI and experience tracking are revolutionizing team composition decisions

Why there's been ZERO research data on project team success since 1999

The global expansion playbook that worked across North America, Australia, and the UK

"Our goal was simple: we just need to replace Excel. And that's actually a really challenging goal." — Lauren Lake

Whether you're a contractor struggling with resource allocation, a tech founder looking for validation strategies, or simply curious about how construction's labor shortage is reshaping the industry—this episode reveals why workforce planning has become the most critical investment in construction technology.

Our Sponsor:

Archdesk - “The #1 Construction Management Software for Growing Companies - Manage your projects from Tender to Handover” check archdesk.com

BuildVision - streamlining the construction supply chain with a unified platform - www.buildvision.io

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Chapters

00:00 Intro

02:40 Introduction to Bridget and Its Founders

03:38 The Secret to Success in Workforce Planning

05:17 Identifying Pain Points in Workforce Planning

08:15 The Harvard Business School Case Study

12:08 Validating the Product with Early Customers

14:16 The Evolution of the Product

16:55 Challenges of Replacing Excel

18:12 The Importance of Visibility in Workforce Management

19:27 The State of Workforce Planning Report

20:39 Granular vs. Executive Workforce Management

22:35 Transforming Workforce Planning Meetings

24:41 Creating a New Category in Workforce Planning

26:56 Rapid Growth and Market Penetration

28:15 ROI in Workforce Planning Solutions

30:46 What Makes a Good Workforce Planning Software?

32:53 The Role of AI in Workforce Planning

34:39 Educating the Market on Workforce Planning

52:57 Insights from the 2025 Workforce Planning Report

57:08 Investment Trends in Workforce Planning

58:19 The Ongoing Reliance on Excel

1:02:04 Pricing Model for Bridget

1:04:53 Building a Strong Company Culture

1:07:44 Managing Contractors and Subcontractors

1:08:52 Closing Remarks and Future Engagements