About This Episode

In this insightful episode of Practical Nerds, Patric Hellermann and Shub Bhattacharya dive deep into what makes companies special in the construction technology space, drawing from their seven years of investment experience at Foundamental. They explore the unique traits and characteristics they look for when evaluating potential investments, from nonlinear founder backgrounds to exceptional financial metrics.

In This Episode

What makes founders special is their nonlinear experiences and approaches, exemplified through cases like Faktus where complementary backgrounds create powerful founding teams

Community building as a defensible asset in low NPS industries, demonstrated through portfolio companies like Speckle and Rayon that have rallied passionate user bases

The importance of working capital efficiency and return metrics in construction tech companies, with successful companies achieving returns exceeding 25%

Category creation as a key differentiator in construction technology, where unique approaches to solving industry problems can create lasting competitive advantages

Timestamps

(00:00) - Introduction

(01:07) - Overview of Foundamental's investment journey

(02:23) - Discussion of company evaluation criteria

(26:24) - Exploring unique founder characteristics

(37:26) - Category creators and market opportunities

(41:21) - Community building in construction tech

(47:38) - Working capital and financial metrics

(54:41) - Conclusion and wrap-up

Resources or Companies Mentioned

Faktus: Construction finance and payments platform

Speckle: Construction technology platform

Rayon: Construction industry solution

Metal Book: Materials marketplace

SnapTrude: Construction technology solution

Connect With Us

Practical Nerds Website: https://practicalnerds.com/

Subscribe to the Newsletter: https://www.linkedin.com/newsletters/practical-nerds-7180899738613882881/

Foundamental: https://www.foundamental.com/

Patric Hellermann: https://www.linkedin.com/in/aecvc/

Shub Bhattacharya: https://www.linkedin.com/in/shubhankar-bhattacharya-a1063a3/

#ConstructionTech #VentureCapital #StartupInvestin