DeepSummary
This is a podcast interview with Adam Jones and Ringo Thomas, co-founders of CLT Toolbox, a software company that provides solutions for designing with zero- and low-carbon materials like cross-laminated timber (CLT) for structural engineers and architects. The hosts discuss Adam and Ringo's backgrounds, how they met, and what led them to start the company.
They dive into the increasing adoption of timber as a sustainable building material, addressing common concerns around its use in residential and commercial buildings. The episode also covers the evolution of CLT Toolbox's product and customer base, expanding from individual engineers and architects to firms, and their plans for entering new markets like Europe and the US.
Towards the end, Adam and Ringo talk about building a globally distributed team across countries like Indonesia, Ethiopia, and Serbia, and share their key goals for the next six months, such as their European launch, nailing down monetization metrics, and unblocking development bottlenecks.
Key Episodes Takeaways
- CLT Toolbox provides software solutions to simplify designing with sustainable, low-carbon materials like cross-laminated timber for construction.
- Timber is gaining adoption as a sustainable building material due to its lower carbon footprint, faster construction speed, and biophilic benefits.
- The co-founders met serendipitously and combined their complementary skills to start the company after seeing the demand for such a solution.
- CLT Toolbox initially targeted individual engineers and architects but has expanded to serving firms, with plans to enter new markets like Europe and the US.
- The company has built a globally distributed team across countries like Indonesia, Ethiopia, and Serbia, empowering them to pursue their callings.
- Key goals for the next six months include a European launch, nailing down monetization metrics, unblocking development bottlenecks, and expanding to the US and Canada.
- The co-founders appreciate the opportunity to share their story and the support from investors who believe in their mission.
- CLT Toolbox aims to provide infrastructure for the 'productization' and 'kit of parts' approach they see as the future of construction.
Top Episodes Quotes
- “If you think about the excitement that's happening on electric vehicles, there's actually a bigger opportunity when it comes to sustainable building materials.“ by Adam Jones
- “And Ringo have some specifics in a second, maybe. Then here on the product side is like where we've got a product roadmap which is leaning into kit of parts, infrastructure. We think it's like the future of construction. It's like the productization.“ by Adam Jones
- “I was just so amazed by. There was no scrutiny. These were people who knew exactly what they were talking about, and they looked at what he had done and went, I want this. Please can I have this? And that was kind of the moment that the spirit of trying to bring sustainable building materials or the Damon kind of got a hold of me, and it just kind of steadily grew on from there.“ by Ringo Thomas
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Episode Information
The High Flyers Podcast with Vidit Agarwal
Vidit Agarwal
6/13/24