The Entrepreneur Way 1689: Learning Is What Is Making You Better with Christopher Doyle Founder and Owner of Billd LLC
Christopher Doyle is an entrepreneur and business leader with extensive hands-on construction industry experience and a proven record of launching successful startups. He is the founder, president and CEO of Billd, a disruptive payment solution for the construction industry that helps contractors and suppliers grow their businesses with less hassle and risk. Recognizing cash flow hurdles contractors face when purchasing materials, Doyle launched Billd to make traditional Wall Street working capital accessible to these small business owners. Doyle cut his teeth in the construction industry, framing houses in high school at age 16 and working his way through college at Texas A&M before beginning his career in residential and commercial construction. During this time, he not only developed into a project manager supervising sales and operations, he also developed a passion for launching new business operations, opening and leading new divisions of construction companies in Dallas, Austin and Houston, Texas. He went on to serve as director of solar operations for the Institute for Building Technology and Safety (IBTS), delving into energy efficiency and renewable energy program management and authoring numerous publications on renewable energy financing, including launching National Renewable Energy Laboratory (NREL) residential and commercial best practices. Recognizing Doyle as a renewable energy thought leader, the founders of lending company Dividend Solar (now Dividend Finance) tapped him to oversee their contractor operations and sales. Doyle’s leadership and tireless work ethic helped the startup thrive and secure series A funding. He was a pivotal leader in Dividend’s first three (3) loan securitization offerings totaling over $500M. While working with Dividend Finance, Doyle recognized how a lack of access to capital impacts contractors’ ability to operate and grow their businesses. He was inspired to launch Billd, along with co-founder Jesse Weissburg, to bring traditional Wall Street access to capital to the construction jobsite, allowing contractors to bypass project hurdles with access to upfront funds while enabling suppliers to sell more materials and get paid up-front. For contractors who usually aren’t paid until more than 90 days from purchasing materials, Billd provides 120-day terms so they can scale their business and stabilize cash flow. Doyle’s technical certifications include Certified Energy Manager, Business Energy Professional, LEED AP O+M Certified, Solar PV Advanced 40 Hour (North American Board of Certified Energy Practitioners), Certified Building Envelope Analyst, Infrared Level 1 Thermography Certification, Green Advantage Certified for Commercial Buildings, and a Certified Auditor, Level 3 Installer, QAP - Air Barrier Association of America. He was a founding member of the Solar Access to Public Capital working group of the Solar Energy Industries Association, the Energy Services Coalition, the U.S. Green Building Council, and he is a board member of the Building Enclosure Council of the National Institute of Building Sciences. Doyle holds a bachelor’s degree from Texas A&M University and an MBA from Rice University. He resides in Austin, Texas, with his two children.
“it’s a simple exercise, open up Excel and say: how are you going to find this customer? Well first start with what does it cost? What are you going to sell it at? How are you going to find them? And breaking it down into a very simple exercise to see if the economics even work. Because so many times I talk to people that are looking to start a business and we go through that very easy exercise and you are going to know… look you are going to have to do X volume to get there even close. Like this doesn’t make a lot of sense. I think a very simple Excel exercise starting from scratch or you are just starting your business and you are looking at a new product I see so many times people just miss a very simple 15 minute exercise to breakdown the economics to realise that hey that this isn’t going to work”…[Listen for More]
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