Alfonso Medina, Co-Founder and CEO of Madelon Group, joins us for episode 264 of Art of Construction. 



Today roughly 4 billion people - about 55% of the world’s population- lives in urban areas. By 2050 the urban population is set to grow to more than 6 billion. This exponentially increasing demand, makes the creation of enough dignified, well-designed, and affordable housing one of the biggest and most urgent problems on our planet. Madelon Group are productizing the real estate development model, so supply can finally meet demand and we can truly resolve the housing crisis in our cities.



Originally trained as an architect, Alfonso graduated from the Southern California Institute of Architecture (SCI-ARC) with a Master in Design and Research. After having designed one of the first ground-up co-living buildings in the world, Alfonso co-founded Madelon to focus on the future of housing. Madelon Group is planning dozens of prefabricated development projects in Colorado and are planning a five-story, 40,000-square-foot building in the Art District on Santa Fe in Denver. They used to their own software to source the site of the development, a site that wasn't even listed for purchase. 



Join Devon and Alfonso as they discuss the future of urban development, how Madelon Group's software works, why development and not just building and design must be productized, and what it will take to truly solve America's enormous need for new housing. 






264: Productizing Real Estate Development

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“I love hearing the words, ‘this is how we’ve always done it…’ because I’m not an expert, I’ve just been around a lot of really smart people, and my job is to consume their information and then try to present it back to people in terminology and systems they actually understand.”



This is episode 1 of 3 for a Deep Dive Series on Advancing Prefabrication! 



Adam Ketterer's focus is revolutionizing material management for Electrical Contractors. He's helping Electrical Contractors, Distributors and Manufacturers leverage technology to streamline takeoff, BOM, prefab and installation processes to combat the increasing labor shortage in the construction space. Our AECInspire cloud-based software provides full visibility and access to a contractor's supply chain, unlocking prefabrication and collaboration opportunities to help them save time and money!



He watched his father (with his mother's support) build a company from an idea to $250M a year in annual revenue, He even got to help over the last 10 years. Unfortunately, they trusted the wrong people and lost the family business (the 2nd hardest event in his life behind watching cancer take his mother). As he worked for their lender, dismantling what his father built while helping run the company with a skeleton crew (almost keeping the company alive twice), they discovered numerous missteps that could have been avoided...alas, it was too late.



Luckily, he landed at Graybar in August 2014 and what a ride it was! The people, culture and values are second to none. From Marketing to Strategy to Sales and back to Strategy, he consistently worked with great folks from across the country who surprised him with creative solutions to customer problems as well as ideas for internal improvement. His time with Graybar was exciting, educational and fulfilling; then a new challenge came calling...



At Emerson he was privileged to introduce retailers, industry partners and end users to their innovative hardware and software solutions. Additionally, he worked with talented salespeople, developers, marketers, customer service and numerous other fine individuals as they continued to adapt their solutions for additional use cases and ever-changing customer needs. After several years helping customers solve difficult problems, a new and intriguing opportunity presented itself with his friends at AECInspire.



In his spare time he is interested in why we do the things we do; and if we should continue doing them, how we can do them more effectively.



AECInspire is the ultimate tool for revolutionizing material management on construction projects. It connects takeoff, BOM, prefab, and installation into one dynamic platform, allowing users to verify, quantify, and integrate their material takeoff with ease. Placing, associating, collaborating, and executing have never been simpler or more efficient, providing project teams with the tools they need to succeed.



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343: Packaging it up


“The one thing that I always say about modular is that it’s a blessing and a curse…for a successful modular project you have to work through so many things before the project can begin…The blessing is that you know what it’s going to cost if you effectively work through all those things...You have a lot more work to do, but if it’s done the right way you can hit that budget.”



Join Devon this week as we talk about modular home building in Colorado with Nathan Peterson of Vederra! 



Nathan Peterson is the CEO and Founder of Vederra Modular. Vederra Modular is a new 140,000 sqft modular housing factory in Aurora Colorado dedicated to supporting the affordable housing organizations in Colorado. Vederra recently received a funding award from the State of Colorado Office of Economic Development and International Trade. 



Nathan has been a fixture in the modular home industry in Colorado since 2005. Over that time, he has built one of the states largest modular dealerships and development companies utilizing modular technology. Since 2005, Colorado Modular Homes has completed over $250 Million dollars in modular housing projects all over Colorado. In addition to this retail business, Mr. Peterson currently has over 140,000 ft2 of affordable housing projects in various stages of development. 



Nathan is well versed in all aspects of real estate development and modular construction techniques, holding Class A, B, and C general contracting licenses. Nathan holds a BS in Mechanical Engineering from Colorado School of Mines and has an MBA in Finance and Accounting. He has been appointed to the Division of Housing’s rule making committee for modular industry oversight for the past 10 years. and was appointed by Governor Polis to the Board of Directors at Colorado Housing and Finance Authority where he served as Vice Chair, additionally he served as Chairman of Credit Unit of the Rockies for over 7 years . He has a passion for creative housing solutions and helping those underserved and disadvantaged communities in Colorado.

342: The future of modular building in Colorado


"My goal for SSLLC is to have a company that doesn't provide stress to somebody's home life or them personally. So the only way that can happen is to teach leadership and lean into those stresses {to find a solution}..."



Join Devon as he chats with Scott Sypniewski Sr. & Jr. about leadership!



SSLLC was founded on August 1, 2021, by Scott and Kathleen Sypniewski. Scott and Katheen operated a plumbing business in Chicago, from 2000-2018, while raising 4 children. Scott grew up in his father’s multifamily plumbing business. In 2018, as their youngest was graduating high school, Scott and Kathleen gave their business to a trusted employee and moved to Colorado. In May of 2021, Scott read the book Extreme Ownership. The book impacted his life and gave him the knowledge necessary to run a large scale business. When the opportunity was presented in July of 2021, Scott was ready for the challenge. With the support of Kathleen, they formed SSLLC and began to assemble their team. As of April 2024, SSLLC has 20 people on their management team and 50 plumbers. Extreme Ownership has provided the foundation for success. They have built a strong culture that people believe in. That foundation allows them to develop processes that structure their operation, i.e., project manuals, 3 week look a heads, quarterly customer reviews, QA/QC implementation and implemented safety procedures, to name a few. 



A testimonial from their Leadership coach and advisor, Marcus Aurelius Anderson:



“Working with SSLLC as a Leadership Advisor over the last year, I can say that I've never seen a company that genuinely values culture as much as SSLLC. Their employees don't just talk the talk, they walk the walk and lead by example daily. They've made culture the cornerstone of all they do, it's the foundation upon which they've built everything from the ground up. There are plenty of companies that say how important cultivating relationships, caring for their people, and culture are but then fall flat when it comes time to execute. SSLLC has used extreme ownership and self leadership to be great problem solvers through teamwork, simplicity, prioritizing execution, and building every member of the company into better leaders. All of these skills have made SSLLC a tremendously successful company in a short amount of time.”



A testimonial from the leadership group, Echelon Front:

One of the things I really respect about SSLLC plumbing is that they’re consistently looking for ways to improve as leaders.  A good leader understands that you must make time to educate and train your team, this starts with the leaders making time to educate and train themselves.  One of the areas the SSLLC leadership team is very strong in is continuing to develop as leaders and most importantly taking action with implementing this same concept with their team. A really good attribute with any leader is having an open mind to new ways of doing things or different perspectives, The Sypniewski’s are always open minded with new ideas and concepts, especially when it comes to taking care of their team and people. ~ Steve Ward. Former U. S. Navy Seal, Combat Leader, and Leadership instructor at Echelon Front. 


341: Lessons in Leadership


"If you’re going to base your career on crunching numbers, I hope you’ll be satisfied with a salary of 2 cents now."



Join Devon this week as he talks with René Morkos from ALICE Technologies about AI!



René Morkos is the founder of ALICE Technologies. He obtained his Ph.D. in artificial intelligence applications for construction as a Charles H. Leavell fellow at Stanford University. He is a second generation civil engineer with over 15 years of construction industry experience that is divided between industry and academia. His professional experience includes working as a project manager in Afghanistan, underwater pipeline construction, automation engineering on a $350 million gas refinery expansion project in Abu Dhabi, ERP system implementations, and various Virtual Design and Construction projects.



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340: AI perspectives from the OG


“Often we share problems…It can’t stop there, and too often it does…We have to come to the table with ‘Here’s an idea that might work.’ The moment we start thinking about the future in terms of potential solutions…those conversations start adding up. That habit makes the collaboration work better, and it will get us to a point where we can make an impact.”



This podcast episode features a conversation with Nolan Brown, the founder of ADL Ventures, about decarbonization and the challenges of implementing clean energy solutions in the construction industry. This episode is also happy to introduce Jason Blanker as the co-host! The conversation covers topics such as the role of drones in construction, the lack of adoption of innovation in the industry, and the future of technology in construction. 



Nolan is a seasoned entrepreneur and research leader with 15 years of C-Suite experience in energy, buildings, and transportation sectors. A 5-time founder, he brings a wealth of innovation and strategic insight to his roles. He has driven organizations to success as a board member of building materials manufacturer and offsite leader Sto Corporation, and Lead Contractor for High Performance Computing for Manufacturing at Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory. He also co-founded and served as Managing Director of the Massachusetts Institute of Technology's Fraunhofer Center for Sustainable Energy and showcased his success in implementing new technologies, notably through his $40M+ living laboratory project. His expertise spans industries including building materials, automotive, and renewable energy. As founder of ADL Ventures, he guides companies not only in upscaling and business development but also in applying for government grants that fuel innovation and growth. Watch Nolan's TedX Talk!



Jason Blenker is a cowboy and a visionary who finds the edge of the frontier a fascinating place to navigate and explore. The son of a carpenter and a home builder, he learned firsthand about building homes, businesses, and relationships from his parents whom he worked with in building a world-class, vertically integrated, offsite construction solutions company in the Midwest. After selling the business, he now guides others looking for solutions and is on the hunt for great innovation that will help address the housing affordability crisis we face today. He's on a mission to “Build Something Great®”. The first half of his career he spent focused on building great buildings – homes, apartments, commercial buildings, and off-site manufacturing where he found his true passion – building great teams and pushing innovation and automation. By focusing on culture, engaged leadership, and the team, he successfully grew a family business from 7 “employees” to over 300 “Team Members” and learned over 1 million wrong ways of doing things. He enjoys sharing stories of his bumps, bruises, and scars to help people find creative and inventive solutions to problems. When he's not working with a team, he enjoys spending time with the love of his life, Jenny, teaching and raising 3 crazy kids on a hobby farm, snocross racing, or at a rodeo. Not being much of a procrastinator, he does not believe in a bucket list that you’ll get around to one day, you should live each day to its fullest. He tries to give his free time and talent to various charities and has even been talked into riding a 2000# bull at a rodeo to help support the local food pantry (much to the dismay of his wife).



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264: Productizing Real Estate Development

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