71% of construction companies are still using Excel to manage thousands of employees—and it’s costing them millions in lost projects. In this episode of Bricks & Bytes, Owen and Martin sit down with Lauren Lake, co-founder of Bridgit, and Kevin Ferguson from AECO Product Marketing to uncover how two college students disrupted the construction workforce planning industry—and built a company that now serves half of the top 20 general contractors in North America. In this episode: Why 42% of contractors are turning down projects despite high demand (hint: it’s not what you think) The “crane hunting” strategy that led to a Harvard Business School case study How Bridget went from $0 to $4M ARR in just 2 years by solving one simple problem Why construction companies are now budgeting $100K+ for workforce planning software The shocking reason employees are leaving construction jobs (and it’s not the pay) What happens when executives ask “where are our people?” and nobody knows the answer The hidden cost of breaking up winning project teams after every job How AI and experience tracking are revolutionizing team composition decisions Why there’s been ZERO research data on project team success since 1999 The global expansion playbook that worked across North America, Australia, and the UK “Our goal was simple: we just need to replace Excel. And that’s actually a really challenging goal.” — Lauren Lake Whether you’re a contractor struggling with resource allocation, a tech founder looking for validation strategies, or simply curious about how construction’s labor shortage is reshaping the industry—this episode reveals why workforce planning has become the most critical investment in construction technology. Our Sponsor: Archdesk – “The #1 Construction Management Software for Growing Companies – Manage your projects from Tender to Handover” check archdesk.com BuildVision – streamlining the construction supply chain with a unified platform – http://www.buildvision.io 🎧 Listen to the Podcast: https://open.spotify.com/show/0xSpdQpmgf0xJvAsGAQRX5?si=QgmckXGVRnO46vOZKa0I1Q 📩 Subscribe to the Bricks & Bytes Newsletter: https://bricks-bytes.beehiiv.com/ 🌐 Visit our website: https://bricks-bytes.com/ 📲 Follow us: LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/company/bricks-bytes/ Twitter: https://x.com/bricksbytespod Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/bricksbytes/ Enjoying the insights? Hit that Subscribe button to stay ahead in construction tech, AI, and the future of how we build. —————– Chapters 00:00 Intro 02:40 Introduction to Bridget and Its Founders 03:38 The Secret to Success in Workforce Planning 05:17 Identifying Pain Points in Workforce Planning 08:15 The Harvard Business School Case Study 12:08 Validating the Product with Early Customers 14:16 The Evolution of the Product 16:55 Challenges of Replacing Excel 18:12 The Importance of Visibility in Workforce Management 19:27 The State of Workforce Planning Report 20:39 Granular vs. Executive Workforce Management 22:35 Transforming Workforce Planning Meetings 24:41 Creating a New Category in Workforce Planning 26:56 Rapid Growth and Market Penetration 28:15 ROI in Workforce Planning Solutions 30:46 What Makes a Good Workforce Planning Software? 32:53 The Role of AI in Workforce Planning 34:39 Educating the Market on Workforce Planning 52:57 Insights from the 2025 Workforce Planning Report 57:08 Investment Trends in Workforce Planning 58:19 The Ongoing Reliance on Excel 1:02:04 Pricing Model for Bridget 1:04:53 Building a Strong Company Culture 1:07:44 Managing Contractors and Subcontractors 1:08:52 Closing Remarks and Future Engagements