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Invest In The Future of Construction
Plus, Shayna Harris on the pod to talk Supply Change Capital.
Heyyyo,
Welcome to the Afternoon Edition of Pitch Reviews.
Quick shoutout to Alto IRA, who announced a $17m Series A (including some hitters like Coinbase and Carta) — Alto pitched on my show a while back and I’m guessing there’s about 1k Republic investors that are licking their collective chops right now!
In other news, I made a creator coin on Bitclout 👉 https://bitclout.com/u/Kitun
Then, it started trending. And, before I knew it I had a market cap above $2k 🤷♂️
My mind was blown. Here’s how it started. I DM’d Emerson Spartz about a new media venture to ask a) do you want in b) what do you think? He replied, “Are you on Bitclout?” I said yes, but what about the media venture… he says, “spend more time on Bitclout if you still don’t see my answer.” So, I did. And, wtfffff.
Bitclout is the first social network built around blockchain.
Listen, Bitclout may well be scam, I can’t say yet. But, it hit me like a ton of bricks… creators create and market shit and the creator coin’s value increases as demand for more increases. Soooo, I could try to put a paywall in front of this newsletter (which now reaches more than 25k inboxes a pop) but then I need to sell you on the value and play shadow games with free subs… or I could post my content on Bitclout and if you value it, buy my coin and I will create more… The more interest I create the more I’m worth!
For what I do and how I make a living, it’s not as consequential. But, if you’re a creator it’s a game changer — in fact, you could argue it’s the first real, true application of crypto/blockchain for regular people.
For my newbs; every week I breakdown a startup pitch with the added hook that you don’t have to be a rich guy to invest (if you don't know what that means, click here).
If you like what you see here and haven’t already subscribed, please do 👇👇👇
On The Pod: My career is something of a paint-by-numbers and I love to learn when people I’ve met by happenstance build incredible things. Long story short, a few years ago Farmers Fridge founder Luke Saunders and I had a meeting run over so we decided to wrap it up while sharing an Uber to our next commitment — I met Shayna then, squeezed in the back of a Volt. At the time, she was the COO (and first C-level hire at Farmers Fridge). Since then, she’s launched a fund supporting food-tech startups focused on sustainability.
Here’s my podcast with Supply Change Capital Co-founder Shayna Harris 👉 https://apple.co/3e1hqcI
Follow me on Twitter @kitun.
Scott
#pitchreview time!
Company Bio
DigiBuild is revolutionizing the global construction industry using blockchain technology.
Imagine building a commercial development with hundreds of contractors, permits, invoices and statements of work… then scanning them, emailing them and printing them only to recirculate all of in perpetuity — that’s what DigiBuild is solving for.
Meet the Founder
Watch my full interview with DigiBuild’s Co-founder Rob Salvador, here.
Rob is the driving force behind DigiBuild, an experienced builder and project manager who’s managed more than $500m in construction projects. Rob was an early adopter of crypto and was recently named "25 Rising Stars in Tech" by Crain’s Chicago Business.
Since the age of 10, Rob has witnessed what it was like, firsthand for his Dad struggling to run his construction company and later on when he started his own construction company and those experiences and the lack of change over that timespan led to his mission of creating a better way to operate construction projects. I love Rob’s energy and passion for construction! Additionally, Rob has been obsessed with crypto and blockchain for years; so it’s no surprise that he started a company that combines both passions — it’s just fortunate for Rob (and maybe all of us) that those two passions could not be better aligned.
Traction
$5 billion in construction managed by executive team
30 of the largest companies in construction are customers or beta users
Semi-finalist on Meet the Drapers; earned investment from Tim Draper
Raised $340K pre-seed capital from construction & real estate investors
Selected by Shadow Ventures for 'Shadow Labs Incubator Program
With a $9+ billion addressable market there is certainly a great opportunity to disrupt things and win a lot of clients — you could even argue the market is bigger when you factor in ongoing project management and government oversight. What I like about DigiBuild’s traction is that it not only has all the majors working with them, a few have actually invested real money to build this solution. Factor in the crypto/blockchain tech angle and it’s no wonder why the Drapers threw in.
Terms & Takeaway
Invest in DigiBuild here 👉 https://bit.ly/3tXomgC
Security Type: SAFE
Valuation Cap: $7,500,000
Raised (as of publishing): $488,488
Minimum Investment: $150
Here's what I like: As someone who spent some time working in commercial real estate and property development I can validate the problem quite well. Additionally, I can see no better use case for blockchain technology than managing the contract avalanche that is commercial development. The fact that the founder (and leadership team) have a bunch of first-hand experience struggling with the problem they’re working to solve is a major bonus.
Without the existing relationships and Draper investment I would argue the Value Cap is a little higher than I’d want to put in at given the stage; but you pay a premium for experience and comfort.
Here's what I don't love: Ask me this a few years ago and I would tell you I’m out because real estate and construction companies will never change. There’s just too much resistance and it’ll be impossible to get the buy-in needed to actually move the industry forward. I still think there’s a lot of risk there tbh… But, not nearly as much. The big fear for me is that the big companies give this a whirl and either it just doesn’t get adopted quick enough or the transparency thing eats into their profits (builders are renown for over-billing). I have zero doubt about the tech and its ability to do exactly what it claims it can do — I just need to see how that impacts the industry itself before I fully commit to the dream.
Who should invest and why: If you’re in construction or work as a developer, you know the problem all too well. Aside from the Soprano’s, you likely prefer to bill fairly and keep projects on budget and on time. And, if you believe blockchain is the future of contract management (I do) DigiBuild is worth a hard look — especially considering the team and talent involved.
If you typically bet on trillion dollar ideas only, this is more on the niche side of things. But, by no means small!
As always, startup investing is super high-risk, anything can happen. So, don't invest money you can’t burn on a blockchain node 🔐 💸
Invest in DigiBuild here 👉 https://bit.ly/3tXomgC
Questions? DM me on Twitter @kitun