Re:Why are there no startups in the real estate construction...
by mschuster91 on Friday July 07, 2023 @01:04PM
(#36634785)
Indeed and there's lots of ways to make money there - but you won't get any easy funding. VCs aren't interested in businesses that won't offer a potential 100x (or better) ROI, and banks don't like funding R&D so your only chance is either being from "old money" yourself or knowing "old money" (aka someone who can afford to sink a dozen million euros as an angel investor).
Re:Why are there no startups in the real estate construction...
by bluGill on Friday July 07, 2023 @02:12PM
(#36635934)
Make sure you target the right people. Logistics is something the lumber yards handle, not the contractors. The contractor drives there van to the job, unloads, works all day, loads up, and drives home - that is all their logistics. The lumber yards drive to many different sites, and often do have partial loads that could be combined.
I don't think there is much scale you can pull off there though. They have been doing this job for a while and can figure it out.
This is the angle I would attack if I wanted to get into a construction startup. Logistics & data. Single digit ROI might be worth going for if we can keep the rest of the costs under control. Maybe you aren't replacing Lennar 100%. Maybe you get into a B2B partnership with them and gradually go for a bigger play with them as your construction partner. How much would they pay you to reduce their opex by 1%?
If you are trying to revolutionize the art of construction and push the entire market towards some crazy idea involving off-site fabrication, I agree... Total waste of energy. All of the factors you describe point towards "work with an incumbent, don't fight them".