The post Buildxact diversifies leadership as it grows North American team, expands globally appeared first on Buildxact AU.

Born and raised in the San Francisco Bay area, Walling said Buildxact provides a unique opportunity to get back to her roots where she helped her parents build their dream home in the Santa Cruz Mountains. She is a perfect fit at Buildxact as it continues its mission to help custom home builders and remodelers work smarter – not harder – with an all-in-one, cloud-based construction management software.   

“I have a very diverse background, including personal experiences in the custom home builder and remodeling industries,” she said. “I started my marketing career in technology, with early learnings from industry leaders like Oracle, and then built upon that foundation at The Myers-Briggs Company, Cohesity and Medallia. I learned from some of the foremost experts in leveraging the strength of technology, creating market demand, and building a company culture where people – including customers and employees – feel valued.”   

Walling takes a holistic approach when it comes to marketing.  

“I think of myself as a revenue marketer. Marketing exists to understand the needs of the market, connect customers with products that solve their problems, and support the company’s growth goals,” Walling said. “It’s vital that our demand generation – and really the entire marketing strategy – underpins our sales goals – identifying the right customers and helping them succeed through using Buildxact.”         

This signals a pivotal moment for Buildxact as it continues its global expansion.  

“This is an exciting time for Buildxact. Leah will be a growth catalyst, expanding upon the company’s 10 years of momentum in the software solutions for residential construction,” said David Murray, Buildxact President and CEO. “Leah has an impressive background working with global companies and unicorn start–ups, deepening Buildxact’s leadership. With Leah’s marketing leadership, she will help to scale our business and extend awareness and demand for our products to custom home builders and remodelers across the globe.”    

The post Leah Walling joins Buildxact as Executive Vice President of Demand Generation appeared first on Buildxact AU.

On Saturday the 17th of April, I undertook the Roughin’ It challenge, established by Launch Housing, an independent Melbourne-based community organisation passionately committed to ending homelessness.  

The challenge required me to spend 24 hours in conditions that would give me a deeper appreciation for those that experience homelessness. Every night in Victoria, approximately 24,000 people don’t sleep in a bed, or in their usual bed. Homelessness can occur for many reasons, many of them uncontrollable for the person experiencing it.  

For the challenge, I had no bed, one bag of belongings, and only $10 to survive on. I had to carry everything that I needed in my bag, excluding food, and keep it with me the whole time. The $10 was to cover my food or anything else I might need like transport or Panadol.  

Before I tell you about my experience, I’d like to sincerely thank everyone who donated to the fundraiser. Because of your generosity, I raised over $4,300 for the homeless in Melbourne, far surpassing the $1,000 target I set myself. Thank you!  

My challenge experience  

On Saturday morning I prepared my bag for the 24 hours ahead, starting at 1pm Saturday to 1pm Sunday. In my bag, I packed a sleeping bag, towel, toothbrush, toothpaste, torch, spare jumper, spare t-shirt, utility knife, water bottle, reading glasses, and a book.  

I left home just after 12pm and made my way along the Yarra River from my house in Malvern East to the city. As I was making my way in, a challenge SMS came in from the Roughin’ It organizers telling me I couldn’t use public transport.  

This was a problem.  

My plan was to arrive at the top end of the city and use the free tram service to make my way around the city to meet with people experiencing homelessness and understand their stories.  

Instead, I had to walk. I live about 10km (6.2mi) from the city, so by the time I started out to meet people, I already had done a fair bit of walking.  

As I walked around the city, I met with several people experiencing homelessness. All but one of the people I spoke to was surprised that I stopped to speak with them. In fact, one person got a fright when I spoke to them. The lady said I surprised her when I spoke to her because nobody normally speaks to them.  

I decided I would give each homeless person I spoke to $10 to spend on whatever they liked. Seven of the eight people said that they would use it to find shelter that night, to have a shower, and have a warm place to sleep. The lady who didn’t need it for a place to sleep was asking for money to see her son who is in prison in Ballarat.  

My emotions in speaking with each of these people were initially nervous, approaching each person with wariness, unsure what response I would get. My attitude quickly changed as it became clear, I had nothing to be concerned about.  

One person I spoke to was just grateful to have someone to talk to. When I asked him if he was going OK, he smiled at me and said, “Yeah, I’m doing OK, nothing to complain about.” Here was a person sitting near Flinders Street station with blankets around him and a few bags containing his belongings and he was saying he had nothing to complain about.  

I met another person who was selling the Big Issue magazine. For those unfamiliar, the Big Issue is an independent magazine sold on the streets by people experiencing homelessness, marginalisation, and disadvantage. Vendors earn 50% of each magazine sold.  

I purchased one and spent 15 minutes talking with this lovely lady who was curious about me hiking around the city. I didn’t tell her what I was doing but rather asked her about her experiences in hiking. The lady took great pride in telling me about her walking trips to Mount Stirling and Cradle Mountain. I left the conversation feeling energized as I hadn’t expected to have a conversation like that on my travels. It made me change my perspective on the people who sell the Big Issue. I have always purchased the magazine but have never stopped to speak with them – I will do so going forward.  

“I left the conversation feeling energized as I hadn’t expected to have a conversation like that on my travels. It made me change my perspective on the people who sell the Big Issue.” 

After walking around Swanston Street, Flinders Street, and Collins Street, surprisingly, I couldn’t find anyone else to talk to. It was about 4pm and I decided to walk up to Marvel Stadium and see if the football was being televised on the big outside screen as I didn’t know what to do with myself. Where do I go?  

Regrettably, the game wasn’t shown. It was about 4:40pm so I decided I would make my way home.  

By now, I was thinking seriously about what to do for dinner. It had been playing on my mind for days leading up to the challenge – what am I going to eat? As the day wore on, I thought about it more and more. How do you eat three meals on $10 when I spend $15 on a sandwich most days in the office!?

“How do you eat three meals on $10 when I spend $15 on a sandwich most days in the office?”  

I went to the supermarket and purchased a piece of ham, a piece of cheese, and one tomato. I had already purchased a roll from a bakery on my way in which cost me $0.50. So, dinner cost me $2.28!  

The walk home was along the river. It was a balmy evening, and the experience was actually really enjoyable. It was during this time I reflected on the conversations I had with the people experiencing homelessness. Two areas converged from the discussions and my observation.  

Firstly, they are sitting there with the world passing by with no one interacting with them, so how do they feel? It must be hard to keep focused. To have a positive outlook. To have hope.  

Secondly, the constant need for money is evident. When I asked if the money I had given would help, they said it would, but they needed more. Giving food or other gifts to them in isolation is not what they need, they need money to purchase what they decide they need to get by.  

I stopped in a park to have my dinner. It was hardly filling. By this stage I had walked about 23km (14.3mi) so far that day, carrying all my belongings. My stress levels were also raised and as a result, I was getting pretty tired.  

As I approached home, I received an SMS from the Roughin‘ It organizers advising I had received an act of kindness and could buy myself a treat. This gave me a boost!  

I was nearing my local bottle shop and decided I would treat myself to a refreshing beer. The lady in the shop who I know by face only (I’m not an alcoholic, but I do go in this shop frequently enough), asked me what I was doing.  

I explained to her and showed her the fundraising page and my efforts in raising funds. I also said I was getting a beer because of the act of kindness, to which she said, “Screw that, get a bottle of scotch!“  

I declined the suggestion as I didn’t think that was quite in the spirit of the act of kindness.  

Here’s the thing with this part of my story.  

I needed that beer.  

I was tired, mentally and physically, but it gave me a lift because of the pleasure associated with having a drink, which came unexpectedly. I know that I have judged people living on the street for taking money and spending it on alcohol and drugs. But here I was, doing the same thing.  

In fact, many of us do that after a hard day’s work, or some other emotionally difficult thing such as the passing of a loved one. Yet, people on the street experience emotional stress every day, so why shouldn’t they seek a stress reliever in the form of alcohol? Why do I judge them for doing that?  

“Yet, the people on the street experience emotional stress every day,
so why shouldn’t they seek a stress reliever in the form of alcohol?”  
 

Now, I’m not saying advocating to have drunk people living on the street is a good thing, but we need to do more to help these people get back into the services that can help them. For me to judge them for escaping the pain and stress they are in is simply wrong. I have a deeper appreciation for their situation now.  

I finally made it to my destination, exhausted.  

It was 8:15pm and I had been out and about walking for eight hours and clocked up 28km (17.3 miles). The rules of Roughin’ It meant that I had to sleep outside but in a secure location.  

I set my sleeping bag up on the pavers outside, better the pavers which are hard, than the cold grass which will get damp. During the day, I had received a text that I needed to set my alarm for 2am so I could wake up and move my bed at least two meters. This was to simulate what a person living on the street would experience if it started to rain and they had no shelter.  

I brushed my teeth, got into my sleeping bag, and crashed – it was 9pm! 

My attempts at sleeping were interrupted by possums, dogs barking, the pool pump turning on, the bright moonlight sky, the hard ground, and the fact I couldn’t fully relax because I had no shelter over me.  

I woke at 12:45am and moved my bed to another part of the property, again on pavers. Bearing in mind, I had to always keep my bag close to me, also simulating a person sleeping on the street.  

At 6am I got up. I was both tired and sore.  

The first thing to enter my mind was food. I had to get to the supermarket to buy breakfast as I was on a tight schedule. Before I had committed to do the Roughin’ It challenge, I had already committed to be the goal umpire for my daughter’s football at 8am.  

Packing everything back in my bag, I set off feeling many aches and pains from the walking the day before and sleeping on the hard ground, but the rumble in my stomach was motivation to get to the shop.  

Keeping in mind my tight budget, here is what I had for breakfast.  

Now, I love a coffee in the morning. Thank God for 7-Eleven $1 coffee!  

With the money I spent on dinner, breakfast, and coffee, I had $2 left. While I knew I only had to get to 1pm, my anxiety went up significantly. If I had to go another day, how would I go about it again? I couldn’t eat another ham, cheese, and tomato roll. How would I get a hot meal? Even though it was a simulation so to speak, it really made me anxious.  

As I walked to my daughter’s football game, I pondered how this must be for people experiencing homelessness. It must lead to acts of desperation, to feeling hopeless. Living hand to mouth. But this is also the extreme of people experiencing homelessness.  

In Victoria, 24,000 people are experiencing it every night in some form – how do they cope? How do the kids cope? How do they feel not knowing where they will be sleeping tonight or getting their next hot meal?  

I had received another SMS. No mobile phone use from 9am to 1pm! Great, no music, no YouTube, no communication with anyone.  

I arrived early at the football ground so I sat out of eyesight to pass the time. Why did I do this? I was embarrassed about what people who knew me would say about how I looked and what I was doing.  

This feeling was bizarre. I wasn’t homeless, I wasn’t any different from the last time they saw me, all I had was a backpack with me that I would have to explain. Somehow, the impact of sleeping outside, worrying about my food had impacted my strength of character and self-worth.  

Those that know me well will recognize this is very unusual, but it had a real impact. If it had the impact on me experiencing what I did for one night, how would it be if I had to do it for a week?  

“Somehow, the impact of sleeping outside, worrying about my food had impacted my strength of character and self-worth.”  

As I waited, one of the other dads walked past and asked me what I was up to. This was a good conversation, he was really engaged with what I was doing and thought it was a great initiative.  

We approached the other dads at the ground, and I walked up to four fathers that I have known for many years. One of them immediately asked me what I was up to having the big backpack. As I explained, three of the four guys switched off. They weren’t interested in hearing what I had to say from my experience the day before.  

This shocked me and to be honest, I found it appalling. With attitudes like this from people who can make an impact, it will be very difficult to make a major change. For me, this is about education and awareness. They clearly have a preconceived idea about homelessness that needs recalibration, as I needed.  

I umpired the game, always keeping my backpack with me. Following the game, my wife and daughter left me at the park. It was 10am.  

Now what am I going to do?  

I had three hours to kill. I decided to go back to the park bench I was waiting at before the game. Now if anyone knows Gardiners Creek, it is a busy place on Saturday and Sunday mornings. Walkers, runners, bike riders, skateboards, scooters, you name it, all of it goes along the creek path.  

There I was, sitting on a park bench with a backpack, reading my book. How self-conscious did I feel! I also felt lost. I didn’t like being looked at as people went past, I didn’t like sitting there with nothing to do, no money, and no access to my mobile. It was very isolating.  

“I also felt lost. I didn’t like being looked at as people went past, I didn’t like sitting there with nothing to do, no money, and no access to my mobile. It was very isolating.” 

Around midday, I started walking towards home. I took a longer way than the direct route to my house. This included going past a bakery and buying two party pies with my remaining $2.  

I arrived home at about 12:45pm, relieved to be there. Over the 24 hours, I had walked 42km (26.1mi) on not much fuel. I dropped my bag and hugged my family. It was awesome to be home and able to use all the comforts the home brings.  

—  

This is an experience I will never forget.  

It has changed my views on homelessness and those that experience it massively.  

My request to those that read this now is to do one thing. To tell five people about what I experienced and visit the Roughin It website. This will help raise the awareness as my goal is to do this again next year and rather than 500 people do it like this year, we have 5,000!  

You can read more about homelessness here.

This is the first activity that I’ve done with Launch Housing, but it won’t be the last. As CEO at Buildxact, I see many exciting opportunities to bring together our residential builders with Launch Housing, helping to provide support for those experiencing homelessness. Watch this space!  

The post What I learned from living homeless for 24 hours appeared first on Buildxact AU.

An experienced executive, Steve has a deep understanding of the LBM trade environment in the US and around the globe with particular experience around industry and product innovation and what’s coming around the corner through technology, design, fashion, new materials and construction types. 

“We are very excited to have an experienced and respected leader like Steve join our team.” commented David Murray, Buildxact’s President and CEO.  

David continued, “as we continue to grow, we adapt our internal structure to best serve our customers and the business. Steve understands Buildxact and as a twenty five year veteran in the US market, understands how Buildxact best meets the needs of the residential construction industry in North America. His appointment reflects our commitment to the North American market by Buildxact and will lead to increased opportunities for the Company.”  

When asked why he joined Buildxact, Steve answered, “culturally, organisationally, and practically, Buildxact is in service to the needs of the small to medium sized contractor. Buildxact customers are the people out there building our communities, and they are hard at it every day. It is an honour to be in a position with Buildxact to serve them well.” 

Based out of the Los Angeles region, Steve will be focused on accelerating growth of the Buildxact software platform with small builders and the implementation of the products capability and features for LBM merchants to also win by making the small builder customer’s lives just that little more easier and a whole lot more successful. 

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An experienced executive and sales leader, Liam comes to Buildxact with an extensive background building and leading high-performing sales teams in a wide variety of industries and businesses with organisations such as Singtel Optus, Amdocs, Telstra, Commander and NAB. “We’re very excited to have an experienced and respected leader like Liam join our team.” commented David Murray, Buildxact’s CEO.

“As we continue to grow, we adapt our internal structure to best serve our customers and the business. It now makes sense to have a dedicated sales leader, rather than the shared function Sales and Marketing. Until now this function was led by David Koopmans as Chief Sales & Marketing Officer. As CMO, David will now be able to have a single focus on global marketing.”

David Murray said: ”Liam will be instrumental in providing the leadership to our growing teams in Australia/New Zealand, North America and beyond. His appointment also reflects the continued confidence we have in the opportunity ahead of us and want to make sure we are ready to capitalise on that.”

When asked why he joined Buildxact, Liam answered: “It’s exciting to be a part of a company focused on delivering innovative solutions for small builders and trades, a segment of the market that is really under-served. The connection between the company and its customers is strong, the product is clearly differentiated, so I’m ready to drive the business forward.”

Based out of Buildxact’s headquarters in Melbourne, Liam will be focused on driving growth in Australia, New Zealand, Canada and the USA.

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Buildxact provides easy-to-use estimating and job management software via a SaaS model to residential home builders and renovators. David Murray, CEO of Buildxact said that while other technology companies have focused on the big end of the construction industry, Buildxact has chosen to develop for a severely under-served segment of this large market.

“Residential builders lack fit-for-purpose tools and are often using spreadsheets and even paper to manage their business. They are in desperate need of easy-to-use technology to increase their efficiency and visibility into the business. That is why we’ve focused on developing integrated, intuitive and feature-rich solutions that are simple and affordable for this market. By streamlining the building process from quote to cash, our users are saving up to 80% of time in admin while improving their financial control,” he said.

The company is growing rapidly, with 100% year-on-year growth, and now serves a few thousand builders. However, the company has its eye on a larger market opportunity, with more than 600,000 builders in its target segment across Australia, New Zealand, USA, Canada and the UK. The funds raised will be used to accelerate the growth of the business, particularly through further investment in marketing to support the business’ expansion in Canada. The company also plans to launch into the USA and the UK in 2020. In addition, investment in the product will be increased to further strengthen its market leadership.

“The traction we’ve seen in recent years proves there is a need for our solution,” Mr Murray continued. “Following the establishment of a fit for purpose product, the company has invested in sales and marketing and accelerated its revenue and subscriber growth. With this injection of funds, we can increase our investment in our product to serve more of the industry, not just here but in our chosen international markets as well.

John Allison, Chairman and co-founder of Buildxact said, “We are very excited to have Leigh Jasper join the board and actively advise on innovation and our go-to-market strategy. With his expertise in SaaS and the construction sector, combined with his experience growing a global business, we gain a significant boost to the capability of the company.”

Speaking about his investment and new position at Buildxact, Mr Jasper said he is looking forward to stepping back into construction tech and helping create another global leader in the space.

“I’m impressed by what the Buildxact team has been able to achieve under David and John’s leadership. They’ve identified a clear market opportunity, developed a product that solves real pain points for builders, and have a proven track record of execution. I’m looking forward to joining Buildxact on the next part of the journey and creating another Australian success story,” Mr Jasper said.

Mr Jasper led the round with follow-on investment from existing shareholders and the addition of strategic investors including Perennial Investment Partners, SFO Ventures and Salta Capital.

According to The Wall Street Journal, venture capital investment in private construction technology companies increased from US$352 million in 2016 to more than US$6 billion in 2018. As of the end of June, investments totaled more than US$4 billion, indicating that capital injections into construction technology in 2019 could surpass those made in 2018.

About Buildxact:

Buildxact (buildxact.com.au) is a Melbourne-based company that develops estimating and job management software for residential builders. Founded in 2011, Buildxact creates technology to solve real pain points for residential home builders and renovators and drive innovation in the construction industry. Its fully-integrated cloud platform streamlines the building process from preparing quotes and costings to purchasing, scheduling, project management and invoicing. Integration with other SaaS software such as Xero, MYOB and Quickbooks fulfills the core needs of builders and trade businesses to look after cash flow and profit on projects.

For more information contact:

Lucie Buchan

E: lbuchan@we-worldwide.com

T: +61 3 8866 1217

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To be clear, we’re not talking about days inside a windowless training room and pages upon pages of material to read. We like to keep it simple and to the point so that you can get on with your work as fast as possible.

Making time for training up front will save you loads of time later on

Although it may seem hard to carve out the time for training when your schedule is so tight, it’s actually the quickest way to get going and get results.

Like anything new, the first bit is always the hardest, so we don’t want you to spend hours trying to work it out for yourself, when you can have an expert take you through it all in half the time.

And did we say that the first 3 hours are included in your subscription?

Meet two of our trainers – Dan and Karin

We spoke to two members of our Customer Success Team, Dan Conlon and Karin ten Broek, to get a run down on what our set up and training is all about, and why it’s so worthwhile.

Dan has been with Buildxact for six years. He came to the company after studying business and mechanical engineering and was originally on board to create training content and attend events; like a kind of walking help desk. These days he’s more commonly found training Buildxact customers on the software so they can make it work for them at every turn, and there’s not a lot he hasn’t seen before when it comes to our software!

Karin joined Buildxact around 18 months ago and comes from a background of learning and development.  She has also worked as an implementation consultant with a software company and has a great knack of getting people comfortable using the software in no time at all.

If you’ve been on the fence and unsure about whether or not to attend Buildxact training, read on … 

Here’s what our experts have to say about the commitment involved and what they see as the benefits of undergoing Buildxact training.

Dan: “We offer our customers a relatively short (two hour max) one-on-one session with us, and it’s typically enough to get people really comfortable to get on with it. The beauty is that because it’s online it saves travel time and all you need is a computer and an internet connection, just like our software.” Dan continues: “If people need it, there’s also a one-hour follow up session where we cover off any outstanding questions and check in to make sure you’re on track – this is all included in your subscription.”

Karin: “Our training sessions are ‘hands on’. We believe in learning by doing because if you can touch and feel the product then you’ll really ‘get it’, and we can tailor the session to your needs. At the end of the session you have test data in your own system that you can use to practice with and become more accustomed to. It’s a super quick way to become familiar with the software. My job is to help you become as self-sufficient as possible.”

Our customised and flexible training will help you get started and avoid mistakes 

Our Customer Success Team knows all about the kind of time pressure that people in the building industry face. They understand that users are busy and that jobs can throw up unexpected problems at any time. That’s why Buildxact’s set up and training has been designed to be flexible. We understand when our users need to reschedule.

Most important: you don’t have to be any kind of computer whiz to complete the online training – the product is uniquely designed for people like you.

Karin: “I’ve spoken to customers who didn’t know where or how to start and it was holding them back. After just two hours of training, they had enough knowledge to begin using the software to suit their business. And it wasn’t long before they were flying!“

Dan: “Our training is designed to help users avoid time-costly mistakes, and because we train so many different businesses, we’re used to customising our training based on each customer’s needs. We don’t want to waste your time teaching you stuff you won’t need.”

Karin: “We’d love our customers to know that our training sessions are facilitated by real people and that we’re flexible – we can run shorter or longer sessions depending on what they need.”

Book your Buildxact Training

If you haven’t attended any Buildxact training or need to do a refresher, click here to book your training now.

The post Buildxact training – your key to success appeared first on Buildxact AU.

Today, Buildxact welcomes Luke Bongiorno as Chief Product Officer to a rapidly growing team.  Luke is the third executive appointment in the past six months, joining the recently appointed CEO, David Murray, and CMO, David Koopmans, in the executive team.  Luke’s appointment is a key step in the company’s growth strategy to expand product functionality and product portfolio.  He will be building on a successful cloud-based construction estimating and job management solution known for its ease of use. 

A well-seasoned product and technology professional, Luke comes to Buildxact with an extensive background in managing product life cycles end to end; from product conceptualisation, design to execution.   Working for global companies such as Nintex and ABB, he has successfully led large and small teams in high-growth cloud businesses, with a passion for customer driven product development. 

“I am delighted that Luke has joined the company,” commented David Murray, Buildxact’s CEO.  “He will be instrumental in expanding the company’s product portfolio, as well as ensuring that our product offering continues to exceed the expectations of our clients. The appointment of Luke represents the ongoing investment by Buildxact in our expansion strategy’ 

Described by his peers as ‘someone who gets stuff done’, Luke will be spearheading and evolving an extremely talented, dedicated and committed team.  

“It’s exciting to be a part of a company focused on creating and delivering innovative solutions for builders and trades, where the customer is at the heart of its product solutions.” Luke said.  “The connection between the company and its customers is strong and I believe that’s a key reason why Buildxact is going from strength to strength, and successfully differentiates from its competitors.  I’m very excited to be able to contribute to its growth and look forward to working closely with the teams.” 

Based out of Buildxact’s headquarters in Melbourne, Luke will be focused on expanding the company’s product offerings both locally and internationally. 

The post Buildxact adds Chief Product Officer Luke Bongiorno to its ranks appeared first on Buildxact AU.

Over the past five years, we’ve seen fantastic growth in the number of customers (and partners) choosing Buildxact to drive their business success. But we really only just started, and we’re now investing further to capitalise on the great work that’s been done to get us here.

New people to strengthen the team

The team is growing, and we’re pleased to announce a number of new people across the business, with more yet to join in the near future. They are:

David Murray who joined as CEO,  David Koopmans as CMO, Marina Domoney as Marketing Manager, two new Business Development Managers, Michael Orr and Lachlan Gauke and Steven Smith, Lead Front End Developer. And more folks will be joining soon.

When we asked David Murray for a comment, he said: “Buildxact has been flying under the radar as a successful construction technology company, with online estimating and job management tools that are loved by customers for their simplicity of use and ease of getting started. We continue to innovate and I’m excited by the new products we’re planning. It’s a privilege to head up this great team, who are passionately focused on customer success.”

New look, new website

We’ve also taken the opportunity to give our communications a facelift to better represent who we are, and what we can do for our customers and partners. We hope you like what we’ve done, so let us know what you think.

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