SaaS Stories
SaaS Stories is my not-so-secret quest to learn what it truly takes to succeed in the world of SaaS—and I’m inviting you along for the ride! I have the pleasure of sitting down with brilliant minds and industry trailblazers to explore their journeys, uncovering the secrets behind their growth, the gaps they spotted in the market, and what really drives them.
It’s not all smooth sailing—there are challenges, unexpected turns, and moments of reflection where they share what they’d love to change about their journey. Think of it as a candid, insider’s look into the world of SaaS, with just the right amount of curiosity, empathy, and wit.
Join me as I dive deep, selfishly soak up all the insights, and hopefully share a little inspiration with you along the way—one SaaS story at a time.
SaaS Stories
SaaS in Steel Caps: Turning Trade Pain Points into Platform Wins
Ever wondered how construction companies manage the chaos of coordinating office teams, on-site workers, and independent tradespeople—all while staying profitable? Jordan Powell did more than wonder. He built a solution.
Powell, a builder by trade and CEO of Loop Logics, takes us behind the scenes of his journey from construction manager to tech founder. His mission? Creating software that makes construction companies safer, easier, and more profitable—a tall order in an industry where thousands of businesses collapse annually.
The turning point for Loop Logics came during an unexpected stress test. Just as they implemented their MVP in their own construction business, a weather event increased their workload by 60% overnight. Instead of buckling under pressure, the software shined, demonstrating remarkable efficiency gains across departments from admin to finance.
Looking ahead, Powell sees enormous potential for AI in construction management. While he doesn't expect robots to start building houses anytime soon, he's already implementing AI to optimise scheduling, improve workforce management, and enhance data analysis—innovations arriving just in time for Australia's infrastructure boom and persistent skilled labour shortage.
For aspiring entrepreneurs, Powell offers this gem: seek out experienced mentors who've walked similar paths. "The founder community is absolutely amazing," he shares. "We're more than happy to share the good, the bad and the ugly with the journey."
What were the main pain points that you saw?
Speaker 2:You think of construction, and it's simple in one aspect but it's quite complex in another.
Speaker 1:What were the earliest signs that you saw that the product did have some market?
Speaker 2:fit. Our workload increased somewhere about 60% overnight.
Speaker 1:How are you leveraging AI?
Speaker 2:It's been interesting just to see the value that it can have, the value that it can have on that.
Speaker 1:Welcome everybody to another episode of SaaS Stories. Today I'm joined by Jordan Powell, ceo and co-founder at LoopLogix. Welcome Jordan.
Speaker 2:Hey Joanna, how are you?
Speaker 1:Good, thank you. How are you?
Speaker 2:I'm good, very, very good.
Speaker 1:Now. You've had quite an interesting journey. You've gone from managing iconic developments to founding construction-focused software. Tell me, what was the momentum that kind of made you go? There has to be a better way, and I ask this because everyone I've had on the podcast they always start their story with. I found that this was really bothering me and there was no one else solving it, so I decided to solve it myself.
Speaker 2:Yeah, well, I suppose, like many good things, it's always trying to find the solutions right, and that was definitely the case for myself and my business partner, ben. So we still have a building company and that's our background. So my background is actually in construction as a builder, um, going back a few years now. We're scaling up the business and I suppose it was when we got to a point in time where, uh, we just really needed to double down on our systems. So we we had all the good things going for us, we had plenty of projects coming in the door, we had a really reliable team internally in tradespeople and we could deliver the works. But you always find this like sticky point, I suppose, where you just want to better the actual operational side of the business.
Speaker 2:So for us, we got to this point a few years within our journey where we were using software but it just really wasn't keeping up with what we were trying to achieve. We had some pretty ambitious goals and we had a strategy in place to scale up the construction business. So we definitely could see for us to be able to achieve that we would need technology to support. You know, an element of the business. That was probably like, as you say, when, when we found is there a better way?
Speaker 1:so yeah, it was within a few years of running the construction company yeah, now it sounds like you had a front row seat to all the problems in construction. I mean, given your history in construction and and then moving on into the software industry, take me a little bit through the journey. What?
Speaker 2:were the main pain points that you saw. So the pain points, I suppose, for us was how do you? I mean, you think of construction and it's simple in one aspect but it's quite complex in another. You have teams that are disjointed, so you have, you know, back of house teams sitting in office. You obviously have things going on at construction sites. You have a group of trades people. You know it's very well documented in Australia We've had a lot of skill shortages over the past few years, you know, longer than a decade now.
Speaker 2:So to really be able to capture really reliable trades and then be able to schedule them in to fit the scope of works is very key to running a successful job site. So when you sort of like take in a few of these aspects and then like things like compliance, making sure you know, as a person operating a business, that you're doing everything compliantly, yeah, there's all these elements that you sort of got to gel together and that's all of these things add to the success of not only your business, but obviously the project and and for customer success.
Speaker 2:So there there was not really one particular pain point, but it was like an element of many things. And then when we were running the business, like we had specific tools, say for estimating or or for you know, engaging with our contractors. But over time that too becomes very disjointed. So that's where we were like, how, do we just bring everything together.
Speaker 2:Well, when we went to market to look for some different solutions out there, there was a couple out there, but nothing really seemed to fit what it was that we were looking for and what, strategically, the vision that we had. So that's when we obviously went down the route of developing our own software. And then obviously, as I said, I'm a builder by trade, so trying to take my learnings and my technical skill set into then running a software company. I mean, yeah, I could write a book on the amount of challenges that we sort of faced on that front, um, but they're all for good reasons. I've learned lots along the way, um, it's been really interesting learning about technology, how to build a product and build an MPP.
Speaker 2:But I've been very grateful for the fact that from day one, I've been able to be surrounded by an absolute bunch of legends and superstars that have, you know, built out a really you know five-star product.
Speaker 1:Yeah, it's all about the people, isn't it? And I've actually heard that when you get into the SaaS space, if you're not of a technical background, like if you're not the developer yourself, it does actually take founders a little bit longer and it does make it a little bit harder. So take me through that journey. You know, you've obviously been working in construction. You've found these pain points, you've gone, I'm going to solve these problems. Working in construction, you found these pain points, you've gone, I'm going to solve these problems. What was the next step? Was it then having to find, like, a co-founder that had the coding skills or, um, you know, was that a completely separate team project? How did you build loop logics?
Speaker 2:yeah, it's a good question. No, I didn't um find a co-founder with those specific skills, but I suppose I just took the basic principles of, you know, building a construction project. It's like you become basically just a manager of a project and you know that you need certain disciplines and skill sets within the team. So for us it was essentially scope out what our initial initial concept would look like. I was fortunate enough that we had family friends that did have a technical skill set, so I was able to really lean, lean on their skill sets and sort of get their guidance and advice on a few different things. But it was essentially just going through exactly what it was that we were trying to achieve really identify what the key problem was and then what would be the solution to that problem, and then just working with a real tight-knit team of developers Very hands-on yeah, definitely got in the weeds with it.
Speaker 2:It was very cool, I suppose as a founder, most founders are probably fairly wired to be curious about all sorts of things, so I actually quite enjoyed that like learning a different skill. I'm definitely still not a coder or anything like that, but just sort of getting to know the terminology, sort of understanding the framework and how things are built and put together. But that was like the very early stages, so it was just. For me, the success came from just really being able to rely on just that key team to take what was a concept and bring it through to an MVP something that was a lot more tangible for the average punter.
Speaker 1:Yeah, yeah, I love that you compared a construction project to a SaaS project. It's so true. I mean, they're both quite complicated. They both require, you know, really good project management skills. They're both so involved and require a team of many different people. So, yeah, it's a good point. Speaking of MVP, what were the earliest signs that you saw that the product did have some market fit?
Speaker 2:Yeah well, so I suppose fortunate for us is we had our own construction company, so for us it was really to build and implement it into our own company. It's funny you ask that question because it's really pleasing actually that we released it. So we had a planned release. We were using a tech stack. The strategy was to basically, on a set date, move all our incoming projects onto Loop, which we did. Now, the space or the sector that our construction company works with, it's quite high volume, so we would receive, anywhere to you know, 500 jobs per week of varying monetary value.
Speaker 2:But this particular week that we rolled out Loop into our operations, we had an event, a weather event, which obviously spiked the amount of projects that came in on that week. Now, lo and behold, we still pushed through with rolling that out across the team and it stood the test of time. It did really well. The team were able to adapt and to be able to use it, which was really nice. But I think the most pleasing thing is we saw the efficiency. So when we went back to what the problem was and what the solution is that we were trying to build, it was really around building capacity within our team. It was trying to remove like a lot of friction, a lot of human touch points, just trying to find areas where we could find a lot of efficiency. So our headcount at that particular point in time was around 130 staff full-time. So for us it was super critical that we could find any level of efficiency so we could just build capacity within the team.
Speaker 2:Now we had this particular event that rolled through that week. Our workload increased somewhere about 60% overnight.
Speaker 1:Wow.
Speaker 2:And for the next period of three months. It was really quite bloated there. But being able to see Loop firsthand in different departments so whether that was from administration through to project delivery or front end estimating and then all the way through to finance, like just seeing these efficiencies and being able to see the increased capacity and just that reduced friction as well, like seeing people get to the end of a work day and not be so completely exhausted by just the sheer amount of data that they have to consume.
Speaker 2:So yeah, that was some of the early wins where we could certainly see that from an. Mvp perspective. We knew that we were on the right track. We obviously still had a far way to go from the early days, but yeah that was really positive early signs.
Speaker 1:Yeah, sounds like a very good time to launch, right before you get all that new workload. Let's test it out in our new software.
Speaker 2:Yeah, 100%.
Speaker 1:You're essentially replacing a lot of spreadsheets, which is the most common thing I hear amongst all of my clients, whether they be startups, whether they be enterprise level. They always tell me our biggest competitor is Excel across so many different industry verticals. So I'm just wondering you know, in your case, how have you managed to convince your target audience to move away from something like Excel, because it is something that they're very much used to and it is a little bit of an education process, I suppose.
Speaker 2:Yeah, you nailed it on the head there. It is definitely an education process. I think it's interesting in the building world and in different sectors and segments. So you know if you work all the way from SME or through to enterprise, you see various tech stacks, you see various, you know logical ways of thinking and even the degree in buying into technology. What I've found over the years is, at the end of the day, whether you're running a small construction business, like you know mom and dad, operation through to, you know tier two, tier ones, the, the logic and the process is all relatively similar. You have a, you know a prospect or a lead. You need to convert them so you can go through a sales process and then you have construction centric areas of of the operations you have to move through. So, whether that's through the design and then construction and then obviously handover and warranty period, so it's all very similar.
Speaker 2:So it's really just honing in on what's going to get a builder or a manager or a team to see the early wins and see that at the end of the day, if you're going to engage in technology or implement technology, it's making sure that it's fit for purpose for one it's going to do what it's going to say it's going to do. And two, that it's providing value. So the value for any business, but particularly in construction, is to create efficiency. So if you can create something that's create more capacity within your team, so whether that's so you can do more, or maybe it's so you can scale down, is it to buy more time? So they're all like the personal things that change from person to person and manager to manager. But essentially that's what we are providing. That's the solution we're providing is being able to provide efficiencies so that teams can either just do things a lot better, a lot simpler, be able to scale up and scale down with more ease, and just to reduce that friction.
Speaker 1:Yeah for sure. I mean it's definitely something that will improve efficiency. I think the biggest challenge is like proving to them that if you just try it for a few days, you'll notice that efficiency. And I mean, given the construction industry, that they're not always an early adopter when it comes to technology and they are quite busy. So what was the first step to convincing them to even try LoopLogix, to really figure out that?
Speaker 2:oh, this is a game changer it's um, look, it all starts with that discovery call um. So we have obviously a team that that sit down with all our customers and just work through that. So, and I think a big advantage that we've had is we understand construction. So you know, we really do understand the challenges that all builders are facing. We all live and breathe this industry. So for us it's really just going through that journey with them is just like sort of taking a holistic look at where they are in this particular space and time and seeing what problems it is that they're trying to find a solution for.
Speaker 2:I mean if they're open to a conversation generally that there's something there that they're trying to solve. So what is it that we're trying to solve for this particular customer? And then just showing them that there is a better way in doing it yeah, yeah, I yeah.
Speaker 1:It does definitely start with a conversation, learning what their challenges are and almost coming in as an advisor before you start selling the software side of things yeah, 100, and that's something that, like, we're quite proud of we, you know there's no point in selling a product if you know it's not going to be a right fit.
Speaker 2:And that's why we do take that time up front just to do that discovery session, just to make sure that it is fit for purpose, to make sure that, um, I mean, we know that we have a brilliant product that works so incredibly well for construction businesses, but we want to make sure that there is that buying, because there is no point in providing the software to a business that if they don't have the buy-in or they know that they're not going to implement it or we can sort of gauge that they're going to resist the implementation sort of wasting everyone's time.
Speaker 2:So it's not something that we want to go down that path. But yeah, like you say, the education side of it is really important. Um, we typically find, though, management teams what they're chasing is like to better their teams, but also we live in a world where we need to collect data so fast and the the days of, like you know having rigid one-on-one meetings or you know sending over files or working through a whole raft of paperwork, like there's just so long and gone. So for management team and exec teams just to be able to like look on a single platform that's live and up to date, like that's the one thing with spreadsheets is, it's all old data. So to have like live data feeds and dashboards, it's just. I think, once businesses start operating in that fashion, it's like they know that they could never go back and they can see the advancements within their own operations yeah, I don't think anyone's a fan of those one-to-one useless meetings.
Speaker 1:They take up so much time. Yeah, no, absolutely. I think you know having a one single source of truth that you can revisit at any point in time certainly helps. Taking a step back now you've obviously gone from construction to software and you know managing a team as a oh look, it's.
Speaker 2:It sort of probably doesn't come as much of a surprise these days, but one thing that I just really enjoy is actually just working with just such a talented bunch of people.
Speaker 2:It's I do find it fascinating and it's something that I've always been really mindful of is is just trying to bring in the best of breed in anything we do. So, being fortunate to work with a few businesses over the years when I think of Loop it's like we've definitely done that again. We have just some exceptional talent within the business and I always enjoy just like learning and leaning in on and seeing how different people you know view things, but how also that they tackle different projects. So it's something that, like I'm always curious about that I'm just trying to continue like having a fresh outlook, I suppose, on whatever it is in the work world. But that's something that I've really enjoyed I suppose as a CEO is just working with the team, understanding, you know, like the different pain points within different departments, but then just seeing how they flourish and how they get through it. So obviously as a CEO and leading the team, it's been enjoyable. But also just being able to see, you know staff from within, just to be able to do what they do exceptionally well.
Speaker 1:It's always pleasing.
Speaker 2:It's something that, yeah, definitely gives me a lot of joy.
Speaker 1:Yeah, yeah, and our team makes the biggest difference. Speaking of team, I think hiring is one of the biggest challenges, not just SaaS businesses, but every business has. So what was your first hire? And also, how do you manage to attract the best in breed?
Speaker 2:The first hire. So in the course of um, well over a decade of myself and sue macarthur have always worked together, um, in all the businesses we've basically just been side by side. So I wouldn't say it's first hire but, um, because I just don't quite view it that way, but she's just been someone that, whatever we do, we tend to do it together, um, and we're always better off for doing that. So, yeah, and it's sort of interesting just reflecting on it, even now it's um, at times you can take it for granted, but again, it's just having those people that you know bring the best out of you, um, and sort of just understand how you work so that they can, you know if you're having a good day or an off day. They they just know how to take that on um. So I've just been, yeah, incredibly grateful for the people around um, both ben and myself, for for quite a few years now. But to answer that question, not technically a first hire, but yeah, definitely working with sue and loop, um, yeah, that was the early days.
Speaker 1:Was me and her just nutting it out on a, on a piece of butcher's paper and figuring out how we're going to tackle this particular problem that we're challenged with yeah, I was going to ask what was her role, but it sounds like she probably wore multiple hats in that.
Speaker 2:Yeah, we do Depends on the day of the week.
Speaker 1:Yeah, yeah, that's what makes it exciting, yeah, these days she champions the product now.
Speaker 2:So, she's well across the product. She too has an incredible history in construction, so fully understands, yeah, all the ins and outs of construction. So to have that key knowledge, be able to build that out into the product and work closely with the developers and the product team, yeah, it's just been invaluable.
Speaker 1:Yeah, and so a decade in the business, but you have grown quite significantly. I'm curious what were maybe some of the key marketing and sales campaigns that really you noticed a really big difference in growth?
Speaker 2:over the last few years. One we're really proud with is to be partners with the Gold Coast Suns, the AFL team here in Queensland, so that's been really enjoyable. We do a little bit of work with the Suns outside of that as well, but to be able to partner with a sports team very well-led and well-managed football club, again with some incredible talent in the management team so that's been really enjoyable to do that and we've obviously, from a marketing and sponsorship campaign, has been very fruitful. We've been able to run some really enjoyable events for our customer base and from other industry figures over the course of the last couple of years. So that's been really nice and nice to see them on the way up, which is good. But honestly, from a marketing point of view, I think one of the key things that works so well for us is customer advocacy.
Speaker 2:So again it comes back to making sure that, whenever we place Loop within an organisation, that it is a right fit, it does exactly what we say it's going to do, and that it is a right fit, it does exactly what we say it's going to do, and that it's implemented well and that the organisation really uptakes it well, because there's nothing stronger than customer advocacy. So it's something that we continually monitor and we invest more into, but it's really also just seeking that feedback and being close to our customer base, particularly here in Australia and New Zealand, because there's nothing that really speaks more volumes than when a customer can provide advocacy on your particular product and champion it.
Speaker 2:you know at the pub, at the family barbecue, you know on job sites, whatever the case may be, yeah and it's very rewarding as well. I suppose it's that instant feedback as well and that sort of that validation of yeah, we're on the right track, like when they're giving us that feedback as well.
Speaker 1:Yeah, I couldn't agree more with that. There's actually a very famous quote by Jason Lemkin, who's an author in the SaaS space, and he says customer success is where 90% of the revenue is. And it's all because of what you just said that you know, they advocate for you, they get you more customers, but also they become, you know, the ideal customer and they're loyal and they stay with you if you treat them right.
Speaker 2:Yeah, yeah, 100%. That's right. So getting that ICP fit right early on and then just providing exceptional value, you know if you can marry those two things together. That's probably the best marketing that you'll ever have.
Speaker 1:you know, just looking to the future of construction tech over the next I'm not even going to say five years, because we don't even know what's going to happen next year, with ai right exploding the way it is. But where do you see the biggest untapped opportunities? How are you leveraging ai? What are you thinking of? You know? Where are you thinking of taking it in the future?
Speaker 2:yeah, yeah, so we already leverage AI throughout Loop. It's been really interesting because it's obviously it's coming really quick from a consumer-faced product. I mean, we've all been using it in the background for a few years now, whether we probably realised it or not, but it's been interesting just to see the value that it can unpack. And it goes back to our original mission is to is to make construction companies safer, easier and more profitable. So to really look at the performance of the construction uh business operation. So we use ai, uh and we've weaved it throughout to create efficiencies.
Speaker 2:So when we sort of look forward, you know, three, five years, whatever the case may be, I don't think construction as a whole is the way that construction is delivered necessarily will change. I mean, we can see that there's robotics, obviously more from manufacturing for the products that we use on construction sites, but the way we actually build and deliver projects like build a house, build a hospital, shopping centers, infrastructure, things like this, I can't see in the near future that that will change dramatically. But the way that we can manage these projects, I think that we've got leaps and bounds and it's about creating efficiency. It's about creating, you know, you go back and think of a time when we didn't have mobile phones, you know, and to communicate it was obviously quite arduous. Now we just live and breathe so we can just pick up the phone and talk to whoever we want to at any point in time. So it's similar the way we're going.
Speaker 2:It's like how do we pick up data? How do we communicate easier? How do we um be able to extrapolate information from a job site and take that back to base camp without needing to drive there? So it's just finding these user cases and leveraging the tools that we already have, but obviously bettering them. In some cases, with AI, it's been something interesting Some of the products or the features within our products that we've leveraged. It is obviously around data consumption and presenting data, and then others it's just smart. So it's like how do you schedule your workforce smarter? How do you optimize a particular route for a tradesman or a field service technician, things like this how do we connect with stakeholders? That's like most convenient and where we don't have to all be in the one room. But in particular, if we're chasing a particular piece of data, like, how do we use that technology that we all have sitting in our pockets to be able to do this more efficiently?
Speaker 1:yeah, for sure. I think if there's ever an industry that needs more efficiency and productivity, certainly the construction industry here in Australia. I mean, I listen to a few property investment podcasts and they're all like the statistics are just shocking compared to the population that's coming into Australia. You know the Brisbane Olympics that's going to happen in 2030. And then you have the pace at which everything is getting built. It just doesn't match, does it.
Speaker 2:Oh yeah, it's crazy the amount of infrastructure projects landing on the east coast versus skilled labour. It is quite scary. So that's where we just need to be able to find those efficiency gains, be able to find capacity within teams so we can deliver these projects. And the flip side is, what's been really challenging in the construction space is also there's an abundance of work. Builders, historically, you know, do well in terms of they can grow a business, but are they profitable? Well, there's plenty of data to suggest that they're not. I mean, we've had, you know, a collapse of literally thousands of building companies year on year now for the past five years. So obviously, cash flow problems would be one of the biggest burden there. But profitability within projects, so that's, you know, one of the key areas that we really wanted to focus in on as well is creating the efficiency capacity, but also be able to collect the data so you can make better decision-making and make sure that you know these businesses are profitable.
Speaker 2:It's a very high-risk gain construction. Anyone that owns a building company or a construction company, a subcontracting company, uh, inadvertently take on a lot of risks, um, that isn't proportionate to probably what they're being paid to do, um, so how do we minimize this and just like, really just boost the performance of these companies, um, so that they are adequately rewarded for the projects that they're taking on?
Speaker 1:Yeah for sure, and we certainly need them, jordan. My last question for you is it's actually a bit of a tradition on this podcast, one that I asked at the very end If you could go back in time and give yourself one bit of advice, how far back would you go and what would that advice be?
Speaker 2:that's a yeah good question if I could go back in time to for one question, it'd probably be just to to really like search out people that are doing things similar to you or that you you can connect with and just ask some really meaningful questions. I've been fortunate enough to have some fantastic mentors over the years, um, but I think, very in the early days it's just about understanding what it is that you want to achieve. So if we think of an early founder, it's it can be tricky at times because as a founder, you're obviously quite emotionally connected to what, whatever the project is that you're considering um, so you do need to remove some of that emotional buy-in. But then, if you can talk to other founders that maybe potentially had a lot more experience in the space and really understand, like, get all the good facts, because it's never as nice as you think it's going to be.
Speaker 2:The journey, you know, weaves and goes up and down and does a few loop-to-loops along the way. So I think the advice would be just yeah, really seek out some people that you admire, that you've seen have got a track record, and then just talk to them, ask them the questions, like tell them what fears you're having, you know, ask for any guidance, things like that. The founder community is absolutely amazing in my experience. We're more than happy to share the good, the bad and the ugly with the journey. We're all probably quite like-minded in the sense that we've got a sense of risk-taking within ourselves. But over the years you probably try to reframe that a little bit and make some smarter choices. We like to think, but yeah, that would be my one piece of advice I'd give to myself.
Speaker 1:I love that. It actually reminds me of advice my mum gave me a long time ago, which is try and learn from other people's mistakes, not your own, and I suppose that's what the community can do for you. They can tell you. Well, this is what I did wrong and therefore, um, which is essentially what I'd like to think this podcast is. You know, founders coming here sharing their journey, sharing their story, sharing you know, what they found worked well and what, um, they would change, I suppose. So, yeah, now that's been really insightful.
Speaker 2:Thank you so much for being on the show oh, thanks, joanna, it's been awesome having a chat with you anytime.
