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 studyHow Bridget went from $0 to $4M ARR in just 2 years by solving one simple problemWhy construction companies are now budgeting $100K+ for workforce planning softwareThe 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 answerThe hidden cost of breaking up winning project teams after every jobHow AI and experience tracking are revolutionizing team composition decisionsWhy there's been ZERO research data on project team success since 1999The 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.comBuildVision - streamlining the construction supply chain with a unified platform - 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: http://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.-----------------Chapters00:00 Intro02:40 Introduction to Bridget and Its Founders03:38 The Secret to Success in Workforce Planning05:17 Identifying Pain Points in Workforce Planning08:15 The Harvard Business School Case Study12:08 Validating the Product with Early Customers14:16 The Evolution of the Product16:55 Challenges of Replacing Excel18:12 The Importance of Visibility in Workforce Management19:27 The State of Workforce Planning Report20:39 Granular vs. Executive Workforce Management22:35 Transforming Workforce Planning Meetings24:41 Creating a New Category in Workforce Planning26:56 Rapid Growth and Market Penetration28:15 ROI in Workforce Planning Solutions30:46 What Makes a Good Workforce Planning Software?32:53 The Role of AI in Workforce Planning34:39 Educating the Market on Workforce Planning52:57 Insights from the 2025 Workforce Planning Report57:08 Investment Trends in Workforce Planning58:19 The Ongoing Reliance on Excel1:02:04 Pricing Model for Bridget1:04:53 Building a Strong Company Culture1:07:44 Managing Contractors and Subcontractors1:08:52 Closing Remarks and Future Engagements