"I've been cut four times."

That is an active NFL quarterback talking.

Jake Browning backs up Baker Mayfield at the Tampa Bay Buccaneers.

He also co-owns Sutter Street Demolition, an interior demolition subcontractor in LA.

He started with one $30,000 trash hauling truck.

No flashy launch. Just a low stakes way to build relationships with GCs before bidding a single demo job.

On this week's Bricks, Bucks & Bytes, we asked him:

→ Why he stays away from structural demo (for now)

→ How low overhead wins bids without change order games

→ Why he'd rather face a third and long blitz than a late paying GC

Full episode on YouTube and Spotify.

#bricksandbytes #bricksbucksandbytes #construction #constructiontech #aec

Chapters

00:00 Intro

00:36 NFL Construction Trivia

03:25 NFL Players Who Own Construction Companies

06:12 The Biggest NFL Stadiums Ever Built

09:05 SoFi Stadium Construction Cost: $2.6B to $5.5B

11:57 Jake Browning Joins the Show

13:17 Playing QB for the Tampa Bay Buccaneers

15:11 Why an NFL Player Started a Demolition Company

17:34 Starting a Business With One $30,000 Truck

22:11 How Athletes Should Invest Their Money

27:21 NFL Lessons for Running a Business

30:12 Finding Your Competitive Advantage

37:14 How to Bid Demolition Jobs

42:19 Leadership Lessons From the NFL

42:48 Why Athletes Struggle to Monetize Their Brand

44:14 How to Win Work With General Contractors

45:28 Why Being Normal Wins in Construction

47:17 The Best NFL Stadiums to Play In

49:19 The Scariest Player in the NFL

51:32 Inside Sutter Street Demolition

55:26 Growing a Demolition Business the Right Way

🎧 Listen to the Podcast: https://open.spotify.com/show/3P7JkiN9X3N4Kh6jlDsOgi?si=91JP5nxvQbKStkp8AQdAOg 📩 Subscribe to the Bricks & Bytes Newsletter: https://bricks-bytes.beehiiv.com/🌐 Visit our website: http://bricks-bytes.com/📲 Follow us: LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/company/bricks-bytes/ Twitter: https://x.com/bricksbytespod Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/bricksbytes/Our Sponsors:BreadCrumb- 50,000+ projects globally. All running safer, faster, with Breadcrumb. - breadcrumb.co

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"If you were saying, I'm adding AI to the product or we're now agentic, we now have an agentic AI component, it's not really news."

Katie Zeppieri said the quiet part out loud.

We invited the Founder and CEO of The MicDrop Agency onto Bricks & Bytes to demystify PR for construction tech. Her agency worked with Document Crunch from its early days through to the Trimble acquisition, so she has seen exactly what earns coverage and what gets deleted from a journalist's inbox.

A few things that stuck with us:

Events are still the number one marketing channel in construction, but only if you do the work before you land at the venue.

Muck Rack's research found that the overwhelming majority of AI citations come from earned media. If journalists are not writing about you, ChatGPT is not talking about you either.

If you have ever sent out a "we now integrate with X" press release, this episode is for you. Full conversation on YouTube and Spotify now.

#bricksandbytes #bricksbytes #constructiontech #construction #aec #ai

Chapters

00:00 Intro

01:17 How PR Works in Construction Technology

03:50 PR Strategy Explained: The Communications Triangle

06:44 What Makes a Story Newsworthy?

09:34 Common PR Mistakes Startups Make

10:22 Sponsors

13:23 Why Most PR Announcements Get Ignored

15:44 How to Build Relationships With Journalists

18:38 How Startups Get Featured in Major Publications

21:28 How Speaking at Industry Events Builds Your Brand

24:29 In-Person vs Virtual Events: Which Works Best?

27:36 How Media Relations Builds Long-Term Credibility

28:55 Construction Tech PR Case Study: Document Crunch

30:59 How to Announce a Startup Acquisition

36:11 PR Strategy for Seed-Stage Startups

40:26 Founder-Led Marketing and Personal Branding

45:23 Public Speaking Tips for Startup Founders

48:00 The Future of PR and Marketing

54:16 What PR Will Look Like in 2028

Our Sponsors:

BreadCrumb- 50,000+ projects globally. All running safer, faster, with Breadcrumb. - breadcrumb.co

Aphex is the multiplayer planning platform where construction teams plan together, stay aligned, and deliver projects faster – check out aphex.co

Archdesk - “The #1 Construction Management Software for Growing Companies - Manage your projects from Tender to Handover” check archdesk.com

Prototypes and demoware.

That was Monumental two years ago, at their $25m Series A.

Yesterday they announced a $32m Series B led by Khosla Ventures. In between, their robots laid the entire brickwork on 100 houses, plus canal walls and commercial buildings, as a subcontractor carrying full liability for the work.

The day after the announcement, co-founder Salar al Khafaji sat down with us.

In his words:

"The Series A was basically still like an R&D round... we had some prototypes, we had some like demoware basically."

"The Series B was raised off actual success."

And the line that will start arguments:

"Everyone is obsessed with speed. Speed doesn't really matter."

A bricklaying robot company telling you speed doesn't matter. His reasoning is worth the listen on its own.

Also in this one:

> Why SAM and Hadrian X were too early, and what changed

> Day zero to day one of a robot crew arriving on site

> The economics vs a traditional bricklaying gang

> UK going commercial, US pilots starting this year

> Why the entire facade is next. Not in a decade, within a couple of years.

🚨 Industry exclusive. Link in comments.

#bricksandbytes #constructiontech #aec #ai #vc