March 29, 2019

How Silicon Valley is disrupting the construction and real estate industries

As blogged on Inc.com, every industry, every company, and every leader must recognize one simple fact: every product, service, process and business model will be disrupted – it’s just a matter of time. Companies that think they’re immune to the trends and technologies upending every industry on the planet risk the same thing: obsolescence.

There’s no hiding from disruption. That’s why I’ve created a series called Everything Transformed as part of my Inc.com Innovate column. Industries as varied as management consulting, product packaging, healthcare, manufacturing, and travel and hospitality are all transforming before our eyes.

When I see certain industries lagging to respond to the dramatic change surrounding us, it’s a clear sign that disruption of the entire industry – usually imposed from outside of it – isn’t far away.

The construction industry builds houses, strip malls and office complexes. New construction is financed and then led by real estate developers, and then agents help sell or lease houses and buildings which are sometimes managed by property management companies. It’s an ecosystem that’s been around for a long, long time, doing things the same old, old way.

Until now.

The real estate and construction industries might be considered stodgy by many standards. On average, companies in these industries re-invest less than 1% of revenue into research and development. Other industries invest between 3-8% in building new technology-driven products, services and business models focused on creating the future.

But that’s changing. By necessity.

Keep reading this blog on Inc.com

Watch the video and learn more about Construction Links Network – the peer-to-peer network sharing platform for the construction, building and design community.

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