🌆 ACE Club Digest - A Techie on the Jobsite

As a reward for making it the 3rd newsletter we present to you a new logo! Keep scrolling for how Sawyer’s been thinking about the intersection of AEC and Tech industries. We also highlight the development of Penn District in Manhattan stirring up the vibes of the beloved LIRR and NJ Transit hub.

Its the two week countdown

Join us this month on Wednesday, November 20 - @ Stout Bryant Park at 5:30pm.

Share the invite below with colleagues and friends that may be interested!

Who is Sawyer, anyway?

I’m an outsider to the AEC industries. I’ve spent the last 5 years in tech startup land scaling e-commerce brands, an EV rideshare product, and an AI agent platform. My experience has made me a bit of a Jack of all trades.

So, it’s fair to ask what the heck I’m doing co-leading a community of building professionals.

The short answer is, I love this stuff.

My career started on the developer’s side of the table and led me to spend several years running community-based projects around urban and suburban development issues. While planning is important, I realized I was always more interested in how our cities, towns and infrastructure actually got designed and built.

Over the last year, I’ve been searching for ways to bridge my startup operator experience to the AEC world in a more serious way. When Emma told me about the need for a young professionals community in this space, I jumped in to help out.

With that, here are 3 things that I think the startup world can learn from the AEC industry and 3 things that the AECs should learn from startup operators

• 🏗️ Relationships are everything — Any good builder knows that long-term relationships with clients, contractors, suppliers, and regulators are crucial for success. Startups, on the other hand, often take a very mercenary approach to managing stakeholders. I hope that one day our industry will understand that generational businesses are built on true partnerships.

• 🏗️ A long-term mindset is key for success — People are often surprised by how often startups like mine give up on an idea. If something isn’t working after a month, we call it a failure. Architects and builders, on the other hand, know that anything they put out in the world will exist for decades. I often wonder how much better our software products would be if we knew that they would still impact people’s lives many years from now.

• 🏗️ Respecting hard work — In the AEC world, there’s a deep-seated respect for hard work because of the sheer physical and intellectual effort involved in building projects. Every detail matters, every material choice has implications, and there’s a clear understanding that nothing worth building comes easy. The startup world, in contrast, can sometimes underestimate this level of effort, idolizing speed over craftsmanship. I think there’s a lot we could learn from the builders who understand that progress takes sweat and diligence, not just bold ideas and late-night coding sessions.

• 👨‍💻 Challenging the status quo — Startups are all about breaking the mold and questioning everything, from outdated industry practices to conventional wisdom. While AECs often work within well-defined frameworks and regulations, there’s still room for innovation in how projects are conceived, managed, and executed. I think if more construction pros adopted a “Why not?” mindset and challenged traditional methods, the industry would see transformative changes in efficiency, quality, and impact.

• 👨‍💻 Speed and agility deliver results — Startups’ tendency to scrap and rebuild at a moment’s notice isn’t all bad. The AEC industry could benefit from a bit of this nimbleness, especially in the early planning stages, where changes can be less costly. By putting ego aside and adopting agile principles in design and planning, AECs could adapt better to unforeseen challenges or whatever clients and trade partners throw at them.

• 👨‍💻 Investing in continuous learning — Whether it’s adopting new technology or management principles, the best startup operators never stop learning. The design and building world has expertise for miles, but I’ve noticed folks don’t always prioritize learning new things. If AECs embraced continuous learning, especially in emerging tech like AI or advanced materials, they could be more adaptive to a quickly changing world.

  Did I miss anything? I’d love your thoughts.

🏗️ Project of the week

📰 Our favorite articles & podcasts

Articles

• Cutting carbon: net-zero concrete and pine-scented asphalt (link) — Learn about new technologies cutting the carbon in concrete, how old asphalt is becoming “black gold” and discover a smart online tool helping builders and designers choose lower-carbon materials.

• Historic Surrey hotel penthouse lists on NYC’s Upper East Side for $50M after a glamorous makeover (New York Post)— Take a peak into the Reuben Brothers pandemic investment.

• Scranton-to-NYC passenger rail gets $9 million federal investment (River Reporter) Taking a train from your office to the city where TV show, The Office, is based on might be in your bingo card with recent $9 million federal investment.

• Public Design Commission announces recipients for the 42nd Annual Awards for Excellence in Design (The Architect's Newspaper) Designers were awarded for their contribution to NYC’s public spaces with emphasis on innovative, sustainable, and equitable design.

Podcasts

• The Power of Construction is ProCore has officially entered media chat with their new podcast. Take a listen and let us know what you think.

Please spread the word

Help us spread the word by sharing the newsletter and the November event with friends and colleagues!

We value your feedback! Feel free to reply to this email with any thoughts, questions, or ideas.

Until next time,

Emma & Sawyer