Tech At The Table

What if you could catch costly construction mistakes before they reach the building site?

This week on Tech at the Table, Lu and Zander sit down with Ben Waters, co-founder of Light Table, to explore how AI is helping teams spot errors and omissions across drawings, specifications, budgets and schedules.

With 15 years in architecture behind him, Ben shares his journey from designing buildings to building a tech business, and explains why industry expertise is essential to creating AI that delivers real value.

On the menu: • Breaking down silos across design and construction • Identifying issues before they become expensive change orders • Building AI tools without training on customer data • Bringing architects and AI engineers together • Making the leap from industry professional to founder

Pull up a seat and join the conversation.

Tech At The Table heads to Las Vegas for our first in-person episode, recorded at Blueprint! Louisa Dickins and Zander sit down with Anna Berger, Co-Founder and CEO of Trayd, a construction payroll and compliance platform built for specialty contractors.

Inspired by watching her father navigate mountains of paperwork and disconnected back-office systems, Anna shares the personal story behind Trayd. She opens up about the challenges of shutting down her previous startup, finding her footing again and building a business alongside her childhood best friend.

We explore how AI is changing the way Trayd builds products and hires talent, why trust and face-to-face relationships remain essential in construction, and the decision to bring implementation in-house that transformed the business.

Plus, Anna discusses Trayd's five-day office culture, her approach to transparent leadership and why she wants more women in the specialty trades to have their stories heard.

Join us for a conversation about founder resilience, understanding your customers and building technology for the people doing the work.

In this episode of Tech at the Table, Louisa Dickins and Xander are joined by Nitin Bhandari, Co-Founder and CEO of Planera, to explore entrepreneurship, leadership and the role of AI in transforming the construction industry.

With three startups under his belt, Nitin shares the lessons he's learned throughout his entrepreneurial journey, from navigating the 2008 financial crisis to building and scaling Planera, a construction technology company making scheduling and planning more collaborative and accessible.

Together, they discuss the challenges of driving technology adoption in construction, why AI could be the missing piece in transforming the industry, and how better integrations and partnerships could reshape the way projects are delivered.

The conversation also explores the importance of choosing the right co-founders, building strong leadership teams, understanding your customers and why developing a great product is only one part of building a successful business.

Plus, Nitin reflects on the personal and professional decisions that have shaped his career, the importance of family support and the one decision that changed everything.

Tune in for an insightful conversation on innovation, resilience and the future of construction technology.

This week on Tech at the Table, Louisa and Zander are joined by Marc Minor, Co-Founder & CEO of Higharc.

After his own frustrating experience trying to build a home, Marc spotted an opportunity to rethink the way homes are designed and built, and Higharc was born.

Marc shares the journey from that initial idea to building a 240-person company, why working closely with homebuilders has been key to developing the product, and the importance of knowing when to say no to potential customers.

They also dive into the changing AI landscape, recruiting the right co-founders, building a remote team, finding talent beyond traditional tech hubs, and Marc's advice for aspiring founders: sometimes, you just have to start.

Plus, Marc reveals the decision that changed everything for him, with plenty of conversation about AI agents, homemade kombucha and loose-leaf tea along the way.

Tune in for a conversation about homebuilding, AI, entrepreneurship, product-market fit and the realities of building a startup.

This week on Tech at the Table, Louisa Dickins and Zander are joined by the founders of Neuron Factory to explore the intersection of AI, construction and the future of work.

With backgrounds spanning Microsoft, LinkedIn, Waymo, Google and YouTube, they've had a front-row seat to some of the biggest shifts in technology. Now, they're bringing that experience to construction, tackling the fragmented world of pre-construction data with AI agents and knowledge graphs.

In this episode, we hear why pre-construction is still dominated by spreadsheets, emails and disconnected data, what it took to build Microsoft's first AI supercomputers, and why knowledge graphs could provide the context AI agents need to work effectively at scale.

We also explore how AI is changing the way teams are built, why curiosity, attitude and adaptability matter more than ever, and the importance of continuing to ask questions as technology evolves.

Plus, we hear the personal stories behind their careers, from self-driving cars and Silicon Valley to career resets, entrepreneurship and building Neuron Factory.

A fascinating conversation about AI, construction and what the next generation of technology could look like.

This week on Tech at the Table, Louisa Dickins and Zander are joined by John Bradford and David Stunja from PetScreening to unpack the story behind the business and how it has grown to a team of more than 200 people.

John shares how his background in property management, combined with his experience in the North Carolina House of Representatives, led to the creation of PetScreening after two dog-bite lawsuits highlighted a very real problem for property managers.

David talks about leaving the corporate world at Bank of America to join PetScreening in its early days, the risks that came with making the leap, and what he has learned from helping scale the company.

They also discuss building a strong company culture, why people remain one of PetScreening's biggest advantages, navigating pet policy and compliance, the decisions that have shaped their careers, and what's next for the business.

Plus, John and David reveal some of the more unusual animals they've encountered along the way, including a goldfish someone actually paid to have screened.

A conversation about entrepreneurship, taking risks, solving genuine industry problems and building a company for the long term.

This week on Tech at the Table, Louisa Dickins and Zander Geronimos are joined by Kaustubh Pandya, General Partner at Brick & Mortar Ventures, to talk construction tech, AI, venture capital and what it really takes to build and scale technology in the built environment.

Kaustubh's career has taken him from civil engineering and investigating why buildings and structures fail, through McKinsey and ultimately into venture. Today, Brick & Mortar Ventures has made more than 80 investments and achieved 18 exits.

In this episode, Kaustubh shares why he believes construction is still only scratching the surface of AI, how AI is changing go-to-market strategies, and what separates the startups that successfully scale from those that don't.

The conversation also explores why industry knowledge matters so much when investing in ConTech, the growing quality of founders entering the space, and why following where founders spend their time could be a better indicator of where the industry is heading than simply following investment dollars.

Plus, Kaustubh shares the companies and founders he thinks are worth watching next - all over a breakfast burrito. 🌯

This week on Tech At The Table, Dr. Sarah Buchner, Founder & CEO of Trunk Tools, joins Louisa Dickins and Zander Geronimos to talk AI, construction, entrepreneurship and what it really takes to build a fast-growing technology company.

Sarah's journey is anything but conventional. From working as a carpenter and managing construction sites to completing a PhD in AI, studying at Stanford and founding one of construction technology's fastest-growing AI businesses.

In this episode, Sarah shares how Trunk Tools is using AI agents to automate construction workflows, why she believes construction doesn't have a technology adoption problem, and why the best technology should fit seamlessly into the way people already work.

The team also discuss the changing skills needed in an AI-first world, hiring construction professionals into technology roles, building a culture around "low ego, high output and no BS," and why being six months behind in AI today can feel like being three years behind.

Sarah also opens up about the reality of entrepreneurship, from the highs and lows of building a company to the pivotal decision to turn down a lucrative job in Europe when Trunk Tools had zero revenue and zero funding, choosing instead to give the business a real shot.

And, as always, we ask who should join us at the table next. Sarah's nomination? Adam Jelen, CEO of Gilbane Building Company.

Tune in for a brilliant conversation on construction, AI, risk, leadership and building for what comes next.

"We want to be optionality, not revolutionary."

In this episode of Tech At The Table, Louisa Dickins and Zander Geronimos are joined by Alex Jekowsky, Co-Founder & CEO of Cents, to talk entrepreneurship, AI, small business ownership and the technology transforming the laundry industry.

Alex shares how an idea to buy a couple of laundromats ultimately led to building Cents, an all-in-one business management platform for the garment care and repair industry. Today, Cents powers shared laundry rooms across around 7,000 apartment buildings and college campuses, as well as one in six US laundromats.

The conversation explores why laundry and small business ownership are having a moment, the realities of building and scaling a company, and how Cents is thinking about sustainable growth in a rapidly changing technology landscape.

Alex also shares his perspective on AI and the importance of solving real customer problems rather than adding AI for the sake of it, as well as what it takes to build a defensible business as technology continues to evolve.

Plus, we hear why Alex still prefers to write his own emails, what's on the table in New York, and who he thinks should join us next. 🧺🤖

At the table: 🎙️ Louisa Dickins 🎙️ Zander Geronimos 🎙️ Alex Jekowsky, Co-Founder & CEO of Cents

#TechAtTheTable #Cents #PropTech #LaundryTech #VerticalSaaS #ArtificialIntelligence #AI #Entrepreneurship #Startups #SmallBusiness #SMB #Technology #Innovation

"There is no category that is less sexy than pest control… but it is a real problem."

In this episode of Tech At The Table, Louisa Dickins and Zander Geronimos are joined by Landon Cooley, Co-Founder & CEO of Pest Share, to talk entrepreneurship, PropTech, AI, property management and the opportunities hiding in some of the industry's most overlooked problems.

Pest control runs in Landon's family. His great-grandfather started in the industry in 1927, and four generations later, Landon is using technology to rethink how pest control works within property management. Today, Pest Share has been ranked #1 in Idaho, #30 among software companies in America and #347 overall on the Inc. 5000.

Landon shares the story behind Pest Share, from recognising the operational burden pest control creates for property managers to building a technology-first solution and expanding from single-family into multifamily.

The conversation also explores why focus and discipline are so important when scaling a company, the growing role of AI, the value of deep domain expertise, and what Landon has learned about balancing the demands of startup life with putting his family first.

Plus, Landon shares one of his biggest lessons for other founders: "Niches make riches." Sometimes building something big starts with being incredibly focused on one problem.

At the table: 🎙️ Louisa Dickins 🎙️ Zander Geronimos 🎙️ Landon Cooley, Co-Founder & CEO of Pest Share