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Launch YC S21: Meet the Batch, Thread #8

news.ycombinator.com

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Re: Launch YC S21: Meet the Batch, Thread #8

#51

Post by spencerXsmith »

robdigibuild wrote: post #5

Hi, we’re Rob, April and Ivan, cofounders of DigiBuild ( https://digibuild.com/ ). We build construction software powered by blockchain. Our tools help large companies, like VCC Construction, improve the schedule and budget on projects and save over a million dollars annually. I grew up in construction with my dad and saw first hand the issues companies face everyday. The building process involves 50-100 stakeholders…

From what I understand about blockchain, these databases are append-only, right? Meaning someone can't go back and alter the past entries? That kind of assurance could be really useful in this space.

Re: Launch YC S21: Meet the Batch, Thread #8

#52

Post by EMM_386 »

VrindaGupta wrote: post #6

Hi, I'm Vrinda Gupta. I worked at Visa Inc. for years, launching popular credit cards. But when I applied for the Chase Sapphire Reserve (the credit card I helped develop), I was rejected! I'm now the CEO and Co-Founder of Sequin, a debit card that builds credit for women risk-free with no credit history required. My co-founder, Mark Thomas, spent over a decade at PayPal leading ACH products in various EM roles. I wa…

> Our first product, the Sequin Card is the first debit card that builds credit for women

Serious question ... why only women?

I know you list reasons such as "women were disproportionately being rejected by credit cards", but at the end of the day isn't this something that can help out anyone?

I'm curious why you are throwing out 50% of your potential customer base. I don't fully understand what a "credit card for women" is ... are you going to come up with clone targeted under a different name towards males?

Re: Launch YC S21: Meet the Batch, Thread #8

#53

Post by robdigibuild »

quirk wrote: post #44
robdigibuild wrote: post #5

Hi, we’re Rob, April and Ivan, cofounders of DigiBuild ( https://digibuild.com/ ). We build construction software powered by blockchain. Our tools help large companies, like VCC Construction, improve the schedule and budget on projects and save over a million dollars annually. I grew up in construction with my dad and saw first hand the issues companies face everyday. The building process involves 50-100 stakeholders…

DigiProcure seems like it would be useful outside of the construction industry - really any manufacturer that has multiple stakeholders. Do you have any competitors in that product market?

We've heard that a few times. In the future, there definitely could be usage in other markets. Right now we're lazer focused on our construction customers though:)

Competitor wise there are 2 types: -Companies who still use pen and paper, email, spreadsheets or otherwise paper laden processes. -A few "generation 1" software solutions exist that are basically material market places that pair suppliers and contractors (Joyne, Agora, etc.).

We're different than those in that we do most of the work for the user.

Without blockchain, these workflows involve multiple companies all sending contracts, invoices, and data sheets back and forth. This is manual trust-building which adds cost and risk. Using smart contracts streamlines many of these processes and provides more transparency.

Re: Launch YC S21: Meet the Batch, Thread #8

#54

Post by robdigibuild »

frakkingcylons wrote: post #49
robdigibuild wrote: post #5

Hi, we’re Rob, April and Ivan, cofounders of DigiBuild ( https://digibuild.com/ ). We build construction software powered by blockchain. Our tools help large companies, like VCC Construction, improve the schedule and budget on projects and save over a million dollars annually. I grew up in construction with my dad and saw first hand the issues companies face everyday. The building process involves 50-100 stakeholders…

> From a risk management perspective, each construction stakeholder needs to review, verify, or otherwise build trust manually to make sure they’re protected (i.e. let me double check that document so I know you didn’t screw me over). Is fraud a common problem in construction?

Yes fraud or bad information is a $1 trillion dollar problem in construction globally.

Re: Launch YC S21: Meet the Batch, Thread #8

#55

Post by sunil_loanmeet »

Brajeshwar wrote: post #47
sunil_loanmeet wrote: post #7

Hi HN! We are a rather unusual team of six founders (Pei, Amit, Sunil, Jack, Bo, and Kartik) spread across India and China, building Karbon Cards ( https://www.karboncard.com/ ). We help companies in India get instant access to a corporate card. We came across this problem separately while Amit was doing VC and Sunil was running his own fintech. We saw that a startup with $1M in the bank was facing mind-numbing issue…

I believe, Kodo[1] is also another YC Company doing something similar - Brex for India. 1. https://www.kodo.in

That is correct. The problem and market is there for them and other players to take.

Do let us know what you think of us. We would love to provide Karbon card to your company - https://valinor.earth/ .

Re: Launch YC S21: Meet the Batch, Thread #8

#56

Post by hanniabu »

frakkingcylons wrote: post #49
robdigibuild wrote: post #5

Hi, we’re Rob, April and Ivan, cofounders of DigiBuild ( https://digibuild.com/ ). We build construction software powered by blockchain. Our tools help large companies, like VCC Construction, improve the schedule and budget on projects and save over a million dollars annually. I grew up in construction with my dad and saw first hand the issues companies face everyday. The building process involves 50-100 stakeholders…

> From a risk management perspective, each construction stakeholder needs to review, verify, or otherwise build trust manually to make sure they’re protected (i.e. let me double check that document so I know you didn’t screw me over). Is fraud a common problem in construction?

General rule of thumb is that if there's high cash then there will be fraud.

Re: Launch YC S21: Meet the Batch, Thread #8

#57

Post by robdigibuild »

spencerXsmith wrote: post #51
robdigibuild wrote: post #5

Hi, we’re Rob, April and Ivan, cofounders of DigiBuild ( https://digibuild.com/ ). We build construction software powered by blockchain. Our tools help large companies, like VCC Construction, improve the schedule and budget on projects and save over a million dollars annually. I grew up in construction with my dad and saw first hand the issues companies face everyday. The building process involves 50-100 stakeholders…

From what I understand about blockchain, these databases are append-only, right? Meaning someone can't go back and alter the past entries? That kind of assurance could be really useful in this space.

Yes correct. The immutability and provenance of data are key characteristics that make blockchain useful here.

Re: Launch YC S21: Meet the Batch, Thread #8

#58

Post by spencerXsmith »

robdigibuild wrote: post #57
spencerXsmith wrote: post #51

Earlier quoted context omitted.

From what I understand about blockchain, these databases are append-only, right? Meaning someone can't go back and alter the past entries? That kind of assurance could be really useful in this space.

Yes correct. The immutability and provenance of data are key characteristics that make blockchain useful here.

Thank you!

Re: Launch YC S21: Meet the Batch, Thread #8

#59

Post by simtel20 »

VrindaGupta wrote: post #34
zinodaur wrote: post #33

Earlier quoted context omitted.

What a great idea! Why aren't debit cards normally hooked into the credit history system?

We built a credit reporting engine on top of a traditional debit card. Traditional debit cards are meant to access your checking account directly.

I'm the case of identity theft/card #theft, credit cards provide limited liability, while debit cards do not, at least in the USA. How do you plan on protecting your customers if they want to use the card for on-line purchases and are therefore exposed to this risk? Or can you even us debit cards for online purchases?

Re: Launch YC S21: Meet the Batch, Thread #8

#60

Post by robdigibuild »

quadcore wrote: post #45
robdigibuild wrote: post #5

Hi, we’re Rob, April and Ivan, cofounders of DigiBuild ( https://digibuild.com/ ). We build construction software powered by blockchain. Our tools help large companies, like VCC Construction, improve the schedule and budget on projects and save over a million dollars annually. I grew up in construction with my dad and saw first hand the issues companies face everyday. The building process involves 50-100 stakeholders…

I think this is revolutionary though my guess is it will not please everyone.

Thanks! Yes we believe it is revolutionary as well. However, blockchain + construction is not the first use case you think of here and we know lots of companies have tried to slap blockchain on any use case.

It makes sense here though because The building process involves 50 dis-trusting stakeholders who suffer from low margins and work on projects that fail 70% of the time. They also create upwards of 750,000 documents which is complex and costly to manage. Companies on these projects send a lot of important information, and data to each other; blockchain creates a trusted digital environment that these companies can collaborate in.

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