"I make a horrible employee. I'm not a good employee at a big company."

That's how Nitin Bhandari, third-time founder and CEO of Planera, describes why he keeps starting companies instead of joining them.

In today's episode of Bricks & Bytes, we had Nitin Bhandari and we got to learn about his journey from wireless networks to construction tech, the critical mistakes first-time founders make, and why scheduling software has stayed stuck in the stone age while every other industry moved forward... and many more!

Tune in to find out about:

✅ Why he spent 9 months just learning construction before building anything

✅ How he landed customers who wanted to invest their own money in his company

✅ The real reason construction scheduling is broken (it's not what you think)

✅ Why hiring for culture fit matters more than most founders realize

Listen now on Spotify and discover how an outsider is transforming one of construction's most critical workflows.

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Chpaters

00:00 Intro

01:30 Introduction and Background

03:28 Nitin's Journey as a Founder

07:43 The Importance of Product Management

09:21 Lessons Learned as a Third-Time Founder

10:40 Entering the Construction Industry

12:17 Understanding the Construction Market

13:30 Hiring for Culture Fit

16:20 Selling the Vision to Employees

20:28 The Motivation Behind Founding Planera

22:32 Identifying the Core Problem in Scheduling

26:30 Innovating Scheduling Solutions

31:20 Landing Initial Customers

34:24 Evolving Sales Strategies in Construction Tech

38:17 Effective Go-to-Market Channels

40:02 Shifting Focus: From Product to Customer

41:39 The Role of Marketing in Growth

44:21 The CEO's Evolving Role

47:16 Communication as a Team Sport

49:13 Hiring Key Talent: The Head of Sales

51:41 Running Effective Meetings

54:55 Challenges in Construction Tech

56:49 Understanding Total Addressable Market (TAM)

01:00:39 Innovative Pricing Strategies

01:03:27 Navigating Tough Times as a Founder

01:05:23 The Role of AI in Construction Tech

01:07:15 Exciting Initiatives and Future Plans