1. Week 6: 13 Interviews (84 total):
10 large architecture firms
3 medium architecture firms
Spectrum
Brock Petersen
MS CEE ’15
Nick Hershey
BS CS ’18
Ryan Hammond
MBA ’15
FX Jammes
MBA ’15
John Basbagill
PhD CEE ’13
Automated building performance feedback
for early stage commercial design
Opportunity Size: $105MWeek 9: 11 Interviews (119 Total)
8 Architects
3 Engineers
2. Trends in Design/Construction
76%
Architecture firms’
use of BIM for billable work
has grown
Building Information
Modeling
41%
Green Building /
LEED
Green building starts as
% of all non-residential buildings
have increased
in 2005
2%
in 2012
64%
in 2005in 2012
* Figures from “2012 AIA Survey Report on Firm Characteristics”, American Institute of Architects
3. Spectrum Team
Brock Petersen
MS CEE ’15
Domain Expert
Nick Hershey
BS CS ’18
Hacker
Francois-Xavier Jammes
MBA ’15
Product Picker
Ryan Hammond
MBA ’15
Hustler
John Basbagill
PhD CEE ’13, Postdoc ’15
Designer
● Bachelor of science, Building construction, University of Florida
● Five years experience in construction management
● Master of engineering, Civil and environmental engineering, MIT
● Four years experience in engineering design and consulting
● Founded The NHS Network, networking website for National Honor
Society chapters
● Three years experience in web and mobile application development
● Bachelor of engineering, Civil engineering, Vanderbilt
● Two years experience in building energy analysis
● Bachelor of science, Mechanical engineering, Harvard
● Founded Spectrum based on PhD research in life cycle assessment
and computational methods applied to building design
5. Failures
0
Successes
0Customer Segment
maximize returns by
reducing costs
“I have many other parts of a project other than
cost that I can adjust...to ensure feasibility.”
cost estimation is a
guessing game with slim
profit margins.
Week -1:
Developer
s
Week 0:
Contracto
rs
“I feel comfortable with cost estimation: the bigger
issue is finding qualified subcontractors who can
cut my margins enough”
gain greater insight into
the energy efficiency of
early stage designs
Week 1:
Engineers
“I’m often not included in the early stages of
design. I have more sophisticated ways to measure
energy efficiency anyway.”
realizing artistic vision
while meeting the
budgetary needs
Week 1:
Architects “This could be very helpful!”
Failures
1
Failures
2
Failures
3
Successes
1
Week 2:
Large
Firms
use BIM and use
additional software
“We’ll buy when you’re ready!”
Failures
4
6. Characteristics
1. Tech savvy: use of Building Information Modeling (BIM) sof
2. Sustainably minded
3. Negotiated contracts
4. Focus on owner occupied commercial construction
5. U.S.based
0+) architecture firms
Customer Archetype
Failures
0
Successes
0
Failures
1
Failures
2
Failures
3
Successes
1
Failures
4
10. Failures
5
Successes
1Value Proposition
we reduce the number of
design cycles by aligning
architect-owner views
“Repeated discussion with owners leads to a design that
more accurately meets their needs”
we provide real-time
feedback to help architects
design more efficiently
Week 2:
Iterations
Week 3:
Feedback
“Real-time feedback would interfere with my natural
workflow. I’m also worried it would hinder creativity.”
Week 3:
Budgets
“Working toward a budget is part of the process because
facets of the design process constantly change.”
we would prevent rework
by providing more
information earlier on
Week 5:
Rework
“Rework accounts for 10% of an architect’s time a
budget.”
Failures
6
Failures
7
Failures
8
Successes
2
budgets constrain artistic
vision. we provide
budgetary leeway
13. value-added resellers are
an effective channel
Aside from AutoDesk, most architectural software
providers do not sell through VARs.
although cost-inefficient,
direct sales are the best
channel
Week 4:
VARs
Week 4:
Direct
Sales
The majority of architectural software providers
use a direct sales force.
we hoped to innovate in
the space by leveraging
the web for leads
Week 5:
Online
Given our relatively small initial market (~1000 architecture
firms). We can directly pinpoint the firms we want to target
and who in those firms makes decisions.
Failures
8
Successes
3Channels
Failures
9
Failures
10
Successes
4
15. Failures
10
Successes
4Customer Relations
Webinars, trade shows,
conferences, industry
events, demos
Support and updates will
be our primary way of
keeping customers
Week 5:
GET:
Various
Week 5:
KEEP:
Support
Referrals will be a key
growth mechanism
Week 5:
GROW:
Refer
All of this information was confirmed.
Successes
5
16. Failures
10
Successes
3Customer Relations
Successes
5
Keep
Product Updates
Dedicated Support
Get
1. Awareness
- Trade shows
- Website
- Social Media
2. Consideration
- Webinar
3. Consideration
- Demo/Trial
4. Purchase
- Direct (Inside) Sales
Force
Grow
1. Unbundle
- Separate cost and
environmental
estimation
2. Cross-Sell
- Sell along with BIM
software
3. Referrals
17. Failures
10
Successes
5Revenue
$5000 per seat per year
We heard mixed reactions to price, but
$5000/seat/year seems to be a reasonable price
$50-$100/month for service
Week 6:
SaaS
Week 6:
Service
Increasingly often, service is included in SaaS
models, so we will probably have to include it.
Failures
11
Successes
6
18. Successes
6
Successes
7
Successes
8
Successes
9
Failures
11Left Canvas
Resource: Project data
Partner: Developers and
industry partners
Obvious software development is needed for a SaaS
business. To build the software, we need project data.
Week 8:
Software
Dev
Week 8:
Customer
Dev
Resource: Webinar
Partner: SOM Architects
Week 8:
Marketin
g
Webinars are a perfect platform to disseminate information
on a new product, and SOM offered us a spot.
Resource: $500k
Partner: Grant agencies
Week 8:
Fundraisi
ng
We should not raise $500k at this point. It is much smarter
to raise less and build something small
Failures
12
Customer development critical at ALL stages.
Resource: MVP feedback
Partner: Industry partners
27. Current Design Process
Architect
refines design
Budget exceeded
• architect wastes time
reworking design
• owner and architect pay
rework fees
Architect refines
design to meet budget
Conceptual
Design
Construction
Documents
Design
Development
Construction
Administration
Bidding
Pre-
Design
Architect and
owner select
design scheme
Building owner
defines budget
and project
objectives
Cost estimator
performs first
and subsequent
cost analyses
28. Building owner
defines budget
and project
objectives
Architect and
owner select
design scheme
Architect
iteratively
refines design
with cost
guidance from
Spectrum
Cost estimator
performs
subsequent
cost analyses
Budget Met
• architect saves time
reworking design
• owner and architect save on
rework fees
Conceptual
Design
Construction
Documents
Design
Development
Construction
Administration
Bidding
Pre-
Design
Spectrum Design Process
Spectrum
29. Sample Project
Quantifying our Value Proposition
Schematic
Design
Construction
Documents
Current Fee Allocation Scheme
Construction cost = $50M
Architect’s Fee (as percent of construction cost): 8% = $4M
Revised Fee Allocation Scheme
15% = $600K
(3.6 months)
Cost /
Duration
20% = $800K
(4.8 months)
Design
Development
35% = $1.4M
(8.4 months)
Construction
Administration
Bidding
5% = $200K
(1.2 months)
25% = $1M
(6 months)
Design
Phase
Project duration = 2 years
Schematic
Design
Construction
Documents
15% = $600K
(3.6 months)
Cost /
Duration
20% = $800K
(4.8 months)
Design
Development
25% = $1M
(6 months)
Construction
Administration
Bidding
5% = $200K
(1.2 months)
25% = $1M
(6 months)
Design
Phase
Spectrum
SAVINGS
10% = $400K
(2.4 months)
Interview source: Mark Smedley, Perkins Eastman Architects, February 11, 2015
32. Gain Creators
Pain Relievers
Features
Gains
Pains
1. Facilitate data driven
conversations
2. Transparent costs:
facilitates budget/design
vision balancing
3. Rapid design iteration
feedback: improves client
relationship
1. Rapid design option
generation: shortens
design cycle time
2. Capturing parametric
relationships: improves
owner architect
communication
3. Transparent cost
estimation: facilitates
balancing of budget
1. Immediate
cost/carbon
feedback
2. Many design
comparisons
3. Benchmarking
1. Achieve faster feedback
time on design options
2. More efficiently manage
budget
3. Expand design
possibilities
4. Obtain more
client work
1. Delayed feedback
2. Communicate poorly
3. Balancing budget and
design vision
1. Realize client’s
vision
2. Achieve artistic
vision
3. Design code-
compliant
buildings
Failures
4
Successes
1Product-Market Fit
Failures
5
Failures
6
Failures
7
Successes
2
33. Failures
4
Successes
1MVP
“Repeated discussion with owners leads to a design that
more accurately meets their needs”
we provide real-time
feedback to help architects
design more efficiently
1) Iterations
2) Feedback
“Real-time feedback would interfere with my natural
workflow. I’m also worried it would hinder creativity.”
budgets constrain artistic
vision3) Budgets “Working toward a budget is part of the process because
facets of the design process constantly change.”
we would prevent rework
by providing more
information earlier on
4) Rework “This would save 10% of my costs!”
Failures
5
Failures
6
Failures
7
Successes
2
we reduce the number of
design cycles by aligning
architect-owner views
38. Gain Creators
Pain Relievers
Features
Gains
Pains
1. Prevent rework
2. Transparent costs:
facilitates budget/design
vision balancing
3. Rapid design iteration
feedback: improves client
relationship
1. Rapid design option
generation: shortens
design cycle time
2. Capturing parametric
relationships: improves
owner architect
communication
3. Transparent cost
estimation: facilitates
balancing of budget
1. Cost/carbon
feedback
2. Many design
comparisons
3. Benchmarking
1. Achieve faster feedback
time on design options
2. More efficiently manage
budget
3. Expand design
possibiltiies
4. Obtain more client work
1. Delayed feedback
2. Communicate poorly
3. Balanceing budget
and design vision
1. Realize client’s
vision
2. Achieve artistic
vision
3. Design code-
compliant
buildings
Failures
4
Successes
1Product-Market Fit
Failures
5
Failures
6
Failures
7
Successes
2
39. Gain Creators
Pain Relievers
Features
Gains
Pains
1. Decrease design cycle
2. Transparent costs
3. Improve design
1. Prevent rework
2. Visualize parametric
relationships
3. Transparent cost
estimation
1. Cost feedback
2. Design
comparisons
3. Visualization
1. Efficient design process
2. More efficiently manage
budget
3. Expand design
possibilities
4. Obtain more client work
1. Limited feedback in
conceptual design
2. Efficiently creating
owner’s vision
3. Balancing budget and
design vision
1. Realize client’s
vision
2. Design within
owner’s budget
3. Design code-
compliant
buildings
Failures
4
Successes
1Product-Market Fit
Failures
5
Failures
6
Failures
8
Successes
2
40. Original Hypotheses
Failures
0
Successes
0
- The World – market/opportunity, how does it operate
- The Characters – customers/value proposition/ product-market fit, pick a few examples to illustrate
- Narrative Arc – lessons learned how? Enthusiasm, despair, learning then insight
o Quotes from customers “we loved it” or “stupid idea”
- Show us – images and demo to illustrate learning = diagrams, wireframes & pivots to finished product)
- Editing – does each slide advance the learning
Theater
- Point me at what you want me to see
- Ought to be self-explanatory
- Use analogies