robdigibuild

Thanks for the help you, you took the words out of my mouth haha......Per the question about a previous entry, a prior entry could always be cancelled out with a new entry. Remember business is still take place on the front end and the blockchain is a back end ledger to verify the data...In the real world, if you accidentally sent an incorrect contract and that metadata hit the ledger, the user would simply cancel the 1st contract and send a new one, this would append the ledger and one could see that a previous version was cancelled and a new contract sent. There are also ways to to verify version history as was mentioned in that previous comment.

Quite the opposite in the current venture world. Proving blockchain is a key element because there have been so many bad use cases that slapped blockchain on and tried to raise (hello many ICOs). Might've been true a few years ago but now blockchain makes many skeptical.

Customers put trust in us to run the front end, but the verification layer of the blockchain is still maintained by a distributed consensus and we won't be able to tamper withthat. So there is still a small amount of trust with DigiBuild, but much less than any normal database....If DigiBuild died tomorrow, customers would lose the front end functionality but still have the previous data and protections around that data in place on the blockchain and they could interact with it via a block explorer. In the future we will look to fully decentralize once the market and technology (ETH, AVA,etc..) So not fully trustless but trust minimized which allows more efficient transactions between these parties.

Thanks! And great question.... So we're currently built on Hyperledger Fabric which allows us to insert permissions to the data. So certain parties can't see the private data of others on a construction project that they shouldn't. When needed, we can guarantee the accuracy of data without exposing a customers. This means you know the data comes straight from the source and isn't tampered with but not the identity of the user.

In the future, if/when me migrate to a public chain, that functionality will be there as well with implementations like ZK Snarks and other zero knowledge proof solutions.

Thanks!

Yes we definitely see a major use case in public projects which are notoriously wasteful and (sometimes) corrupt. Blockchain allows provenance of the data and the ability to have a better view of where the money goes. The audit capabilities are major benefit in situations like the one you describe....We're putting together some official case studies and we will share them. One of our clients is a billion dollar construction company that is using 2 of our products. They anticipate we will save them $1M+ this year as well as improving the budget and schedule outcome on their projects. Construction has over 150 typical workflows so the results here are significant.

Yes we currently offer integrations into some of the current major software vendors out there so our tools can be utilized along side a customer's existing stack.... Our long term goal is that customers use DigiBuild across the board. But we needed a low friction way to let them try us on a smaller scale first. APIs like that do dilute the effectiveness of the blockchain a little bit, but the tech is still effective in removing uncertainty around information so it works.

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.

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

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

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.

Right now, our products are built using Hyperledger Fabric or R3 Corda. In the future, as public blockchains like Ethereum and Avalanche scale and become proven in business use cases, we will migrate over to them, becoming fully decentralized and utilizing a consensus mechanism like Proof of Stake or Gossip Networks. Short term, we needed to use enterprise blockchain that was proven in a business setting and doesn’t have scaling issues; our customers risk management needs dictated our decisions. Hyperledger Fabric and similar blockchains use a consensus called PBFT that serves our purpose of “trust minimization” needed to provide benefits to construction end users that can't be done in a system that has no trust.

A centralized database wouldn't work here because: 1)It is owned by 1 company, there is no transparency into what is happening with the data. Lack of immutability and provenance of data matters here. 2)Not auditable. No way to prove or verify the transactions without the database owner approving.

These issues prevent that centralized database from giving end users from both a behavioral and technical perspective.

We built on Hyperledger Fabric. I'll explain that piece in the question below......Users in our network can seamlessly become validators and also verify transactions or interact with the blockchain using a block explorer we've built out.

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 (ie. suppliers, contractors, architects) who suffer from low margins and work on projects that fail 70% of the time. Large builds create upwards of 750,000 documents. It is very complex and costly to manage them.

For every physical construction process that occurs, an “intangible asset” like a workflow or piece of data is created as well. Current software solutions offer some efficiency but fall short because they’re centralized databases or data silos with no transparency. 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). The trust established with blockchain allows us to codify many of those processes and touch points, making them automated and giving more line of sight to construction teams. This is possible because unlike a centralized database, the blockchain is not owned/monopolized by any party and it is auditable so transactions can be verified by all the stakeholders. This meets their risk management requirements to do business.

We have multiple tools solving customer pain, including a construction management platform for managing any project workflow; a procurement product to find, order, and track building material; and a payment product to streamline the collection of payment documentation and disbursements. Without blockchain, these workflows involve suppliers, subcontractors, general contractors all sending contracts, invoices, and data sheets back and forth. This is manual trust-building which adds time, costs, and risk. Using smart contracts allows us to codify these processes, automating 90% of them for all of the parties and providing more transparency.

Our team has managed over $5B in construction projects. I’m also the former CEO of a nationwide construction company and our engineering team has worked on projects alongside Coinbase, IBM, Iota, and Linux.

We would love to hear from you and hear feedback. We’re especially excited to be challenged and to brainstorm around our use of blockchain in this market - we know HN has a wide spectrum of views on that, on both sides of the ledger!