Bricks And Bytes The €7bn CEO Breaking Every Rule In Construction
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Sep 27, 2025 Hendrik Goldbeck, CEO of GOLDBECK, transformed his family construction business from €750M to €7B by treating buildings like modular products. He discusses the crucial shift from traditional methods to industrialized construction using decentralized design teams. Hendrik highlights how AI will drastically reduce pre-construction times and shares insights on cultural integration within diverse teams. He also reflects on the importance of patient capital and the challenges of expanding into new markets while keeping a strong company culture.
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Origin Story: Industrializing Construction
- Jan-Hendrik Goldbeck recounts his father's 1969 decision to industrialize a metalworking shop into systemized building element production.
- That stubborn shift from craft to industrial processes set the foundation for Goldbeck's product-driven construction model.
Move Upstream By Owning The System
- Goldbeck shifted from producing steel elements to offering engineered systems to capture more upstream value.
- Decentralizing into branch offices let them influence architects and engineers early in design.
Reunification Fueled Rapid Expansion
- Goldbeck credits stubbornness and luck from German reunification for accelerated growth in the 1990s.
- The sudden demand boom let clients accept systemized solutions to get buildings delivered fast.