Every construction startup gets acquired for less than $100 million.

That's what Yves Frinault was told when he pitched Fieldwire back in 2013. They called it the "$100 million curse" that killed every construction tech company.

But Yves had a different plan.

In today's episode of Bricks & Bytes, we had Yves Frinault and we got to learn about how military training shaped his leadership style, why gaming experience was crucial for building construction software, and the near-death moment that almost killed Fieldwire... and many more!

Tune in to find out about:

✅ How paratrooper training taught him fairness in leadership

✅ Why he went from half salary to a successful Series A in months

✅ The product lessons he learned from video game design

✅ How Fieldwire broke the $100M curse with their Hilti acquisition

Listen now on Spotify and discover how one founder changed construction tech forever.

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Chapters

00:00 Intro

01:30 From Military to Tech: A Unique Journey

04:23 Lessons from Gaming: Insights for Construction Tech

07:24 The Birth of FieldWire: Inspiration and Initial Steps

13:24 Navigating Growth: Key Milestones and Customer Insights

19:04 Marketing Strategies: The Power of Ads and Product-Led Growth

25:13 Scaling Up: Targeting Different Customer Segments

30:56 Enterprise vs. SMB: Understanding Market Dynamics

40:35 Balancing Customization and Scalability

41:59 Testing Frameworks and Product Development

46:35 The Hilti Acquisition Journey

51:55 Cultural Integration Post-Acquisition

57:10 Negotiating Acquisition Deals

01:01:33 Pricing Strategies in Construction Tech

01:04:20 Go-to-Market Strategies in Construction Tech

01:07:20 The State of Exits in Construction Tech

01:10:19 Key Decisions that Shape Success

01:13:15 Future Aspirations and New Ventures