TechTalk Radio: The power of the pivot
Meet Emma Stapleton. A traditional surveyor who saw a gap in the market for technology to deliver better service to the built environment and so took the giant leap of quitting her job, teaming up with her husband, David, (also a surveyor) and investing their own cash into building a network for construction professionals.
Together they built a site that worked and attracted users. It was a site that they kept building, and for which they attracted a round of funding. But it had moved away from the technological solution that they set out to develop, so they took the brave (but entirely correct) step of stopping in their tracks and pivoting.
Their first solution was called Tenderspace, and was part of the RICS Tech Affiliate programme. The pivoted evolution is called CoProNet – The Construction Professionals Network.
Meet Emma Stapleton. A traditional surveyor who saw a gap in the market for technology to deliver better service to the built environment and so took the giant leap of quitting her job, teaming up with her husband, David, (also a surveyor) and investing their own cash into building a network for construction professionals.
Together they built a site that worked and attracted users. It was a site that they kept building, and for which they attracted a round of funding. But it had moved away from the technological solution that they set out to develop, so they took the brave (but entirely correct) step of stopping in their tracks and pivoting.
Their first solution was called Tenderspace, and was part of the RICS Tech Affiliate programme. The pivoted evolution is called CoProNet – The Construction Professionals Network.
In this week’s TechTalk Radio podcast, Stapleton talks candidly about the decision to pivot and shares her advice for anyone else facing the difficult decision.
“I don’t think you should ever expect to get something perfectly right to start with, but equally should never be frightened of saying you have made a mistake,” she says.
“And that was a big moment for us because we know that it’s such an exciting offer to people. We know that it suits everyone in construction because it’s engendering collaboration, which can only be good for everybody. But it was a hard moment when we actually came to realise that we had to refocus. That we had to pivot. That has taught me a lot because actually doing that and having that courage is really important.”
CoProNet, Stapleton says, is a tool that gives construction professionals a “powerful new way to connect, collaborate and grow”.
She says the tool, which works on a no-fee, low-fee basis, is for everyone in the construction business – traders, contractors, project managers, clients, architects, specialists, building firms and enterprise-level businesses – and offers a new way for businesses and individuals to connect and find work, with more than 150,000 projects listed.
There is a suite of built-in tools: users have access to project management, time tracking, credit rating reports and more, within the site.
Listen in to this week’s TechTalk Radio to find out more.
To send feedback, e-mail samantha.mcclary@egi.co.uk or tweet @samanthamcclary or @estatesgazette
