Welcome to another episode of Category Visionaries — the show that explores GTM stories from tech's most innovative B2B founders. In today's episode, we're speaking with Nick Hegeman, CEO & Co-Founder at Paintjet, a commercial and industrial painting technology company that has raised nearly $17 Million in funding.

Most interesting points from our conversation:

• Origins in Painting: Nick describes how he entered the painting industry, noting a lack of innovation over the last 50 years, which has created ripe opportunities for disruption, particularly through robotics and AI.
• Transition to Technology: Starting with a franchise, Nick gained essential insights into the painting industry’s labor shortages and operational challenges, which informed his approach to introducing technology solutions.
• Robotic Integration: Paintjet’s technology focuses on heavy industry applications, where robotics can efficiently handle large, repetitive tasks, significantly improving productivity and safety.
• Customer-Centric Business Model: Paintjet doesn't sell its technology but charges per square foot painted, aligning with how customers already budget for projects. This model simplifies the transition to automated solutions for clients.
• Marketing Strategy Shift: Initially, Nick avoided using the term "robot" to prevent alarming potential construction industry clients. Over time, as the market became more receptive to technological solutions, Paintjet shifted to openly promote its robotic innovations.
• Future Vision and Expansion: Looking forward, Nick discusses the potential to broaden Paintjet’s scope beyond painting to other construction-related tasks, leveraging the company’s expertise in robotics to offer more comprehensive solutions.