REEKON Tools Pitches at Startup Battlefield | TechCrunch Disrupt 2023

May I have your attention please welcome Back TechCrunch managing editor Matt Burns [Music] The full room thank you so much for Coming back after lunch this morning we Saw some great companies we talked about Poop we talked about zits and we talked About factories and this afternoon There's even some more Wilder companies And then tomorrow you have to come back Tomorrow for the finals you've already Seen the company but the format changes Tomorrow tomorrow the company's picks to A new group of Judges some of the best Investors in the entire world and they Have six minutes to pitch but they're Gonna get take questions for 10 minutes From these these judges and that's Important we're going to dive deeper Into the company's profile and business Model tomorrow but first we have to get Through this section so I'm going to Bring out the judges and we're gonna get Started right away we're not going to Wait anymore so judges come on out Give them Round of Applause I'm gonna Read some bios First up to my left here is Marin Bannon Co-founder and managing partner at January Adventures there's pre-seed Stage firm focusing on B2B startups that Are digitally transforming traditional Industries including work health and

Climate they have invested in 60 Companies to date and close fund too in March 2022 before co-founding January Adventures Martin was CEO and co-founder Of little lane a mobile Marketplace for Local experience next to her is Sam Blonde partner at Founders fund he Invests in companies at all stages and Worked with Founders and go to market Leaders on accelerating Revenue growth And increase in value of their Businesses previously Sam was served as A chief Revenue officer at brex where he Oversaw Revenue growth for Less from Less than 1 million to several hundred Million dollars of analyzed Revenue Prior to brex Sam was a v piece of sales At zenovitz and he joined the company Pre-series a Sam was an active angel Investor during his time at brex Incentiviz back in 25 software companies Ranging from seed to series C next is Frederick Dom General partner at Google Ventures Frederica is a general partner Igb specializes in disruptive Technologies in the consumer space she Has spent 15 years building consumer and Enterprise products for the public and Public companies and startups Frederick Helped start gp's Women's Health Team And leads a cross-functional team of Investors and advisors making Investments in this space before joining GP Broderick LED product and Engineering

Efforts at Uber earlier Frederick Pioneered social at Yahoo building Online communities and adding user Generated content to the company's Search and Marketplace products Next is Danielle lay partner at Nea Danielle is a partner at Nea investing In consumer social and e-commerce Infrastructure companies she's an Investor in and or board member of Fizz Patreon goody peer eyewear block and Among others prior to Nea Danielle was An investment banker at Goldman Sachs And also Danielle's bios the only one I Didn't have to cross off any lines it Was a great link so thank you very much Next is Rebecca Lynn Doyle managing Partner at inside Ventures Rebecca Joined Insight in 2016 and spends time Across high growth application software Payments in fintech and consumer Internet previously as a part of Insights on-site team she worked closely With portfolio Executives on growth Strategy Rebecca started her career as a Management Consultant mckinsey's New York office advising clients in the Technology financial services and Consumer good Industries give them a Round of applause [Music] Thank you so much Okay now is the time So I'm bringing out the first company

Remember what I said this morning good Energy loud clapping thank you very much So from Boston Massachusetts we have Recon tools presenting for Recon tools Is Christian Reed come on out guys Christian Reed from Recon tools here Talk about the future construction the Future construction is not old tape Measures boring hammers it's digital Digital tape measures digital measuring Devices digital everything connected Together no more errors all money baby [Music] 22 and 1 8 34 and 11 16. remember those numbers Hello everyone my name is Christian Reed And I'm the co-founder and CEO of Recon Tools along with my co-founder Costas Our entire lives have been spent Building and making things Very quickly transitioning from Legos And building skateboard ramps in my Backyard I knew how to use a circular Saw well before I knew how to drive even At MIT the vast majority of my time was Spent working on projects in the shop And at the media lab All this passion transitioned well to Starting Recon Tools in my basement in 2020 being surrounded by so many tools On a regular basis gave way and gave Thought to one of the reasons why all The tools were made for that surrounded Us and led us back to the inevitable

Construction Construction as an industry has been Played with inefficiencies for decades Productivity has stagnated innovation Has largely underserved the space and The vast majority of tasks are still Managed on paper A variety of these disjointed processes Combined with oftentimes simple human Errors result in almost 20 percent of Materials on a given job site being Completely wasted and in the dumpster of These errors the vast majority of them Contribute to these attributable these Avoidable errors and contribute to over A hundred billion dollars wasted in Construction each year Recon tools is set out to create a Connected ecosystem of hardware and Software products to significantly Reduce these errors and streamline Operations on the job site through our Connected platform of both hardware and Software tools Recon enables both Professionals and anyone working on a Con construction site from residential All the way to commercial to streamline Their measurement operations share Measurements collect data annotate and Create tasks in a dynamic way and Eliminating many of the paper steps in The process Before we dive too much more into how Recon has worked to create a connected

Ecosystem it's important to understand How the current flow of information Works on the job site many simple steps Result from anywhere from writing down a Measurement incorrectly reading a tape Measure wrong or simply not following a Direction based on the wide variety of Resources and labor working on the Construction site Recon has worked to develop a system of Both Hardware products that capture and Execute the data as well as a mobile Platform to connect all the data Together and allow streamlined execution On the job sites eliminating many of the Human touch points in the process of Executing daily occurrence tests and It's distributed enough that every Worker on the job site can use the Equipment this is not something that Only a supervisor or project manager is Using this is something that everyone Down to the individual electrician or Plumbers using on the job site with it So switching over to our overhead demo Over here the core of the Recon platform Is a rock job site app The Rock job site App is a simple and easy to use platform That works on any mobile device tablet And allows everything from measurement Capture automatic putting into Calculators utilities and other common Actions that exist between architectural Plans and Builders discretion with it

All in a very streamlined manner with it So really takes a lot of the elements That I'm using very very human-centric Things of writing down a measurement Typing into a spreadsheet when I get Back down to the office and with the Rock app it's all done in a very Streamlined manner with it so switching Back to the stage view for a second So the T1 Tomahawk as everyone has Probably seen before and used a tape Measure on the job site the T1 Tomahawk Really represents the core of our Hardware ecosystem and allows Measurements to be captured on a large Backlit display on here so repeating the Measurements that I bombarded everyone With at the beginning of the Presentation here capturing a Measurement is as simple as clicking the Button on the screen going down here Recording the second measurement And now not only do I have the Measurements here on a side mounted E-paper display so I have this on my hip I have a full log of my measurements on Here if we switch back over to the Screen over here with it you can see my Previous two measurements of 20 and 15 16 since 34 and 1 8 were automatically Sent over there to it so really Streamlines the process and takes out What I normally have to hang you off a Ladder and write down measurements on my

Arm go over there automatically with it So really makes the process easy and Again assuming for instance that this Measurement of 20 20 and 15 16 has to be Cut into a piece of material I next Transition over to our M1 caliber device So the M1 caliper is an augmented tool That clamps onto existing saws that Contractors already own and very simple Just outputs the display and measurement On it so really streamlines the process And takes any guessing out of what Measurement I'm interpreting with it and Finally replacing a Sharp air writing Down a measurement I can print out a QR Code label which has both information Printed on the label for a worker as Well as a QR code which links to the Specific location app for traceability Purposes And finally any tool made for the job Site needs to be designed for the job Site So back to the presentation now So construction is a pretty large Industry as everyone can imagine and I Think the way we look at it is really Focus on tools that are used for data Capture and execution on the job site so These range from tools that I'm using to Collect information and physical Hardware to the software I'm using to Consolidate it all together with it so You know 15 15 billion dollar industry

Six percent growth every year and I Think our real Target is to help grow And Advance this industry twofold the First is really to make digital Measuring tools as synonymous to a job Site as a drill or a hammer every Contractor in the world owns a tape Measure of some kind with it and it's Inevitable pathway and certainly some Work to be done to get to that point for Us to make it a compelling case but Having that in every person's tool is a Toolkit is certainly the first step the Second is to make the rock app Synonymous with what workers are using On a daily basis with it so there's Certainly a different set of tools Available for project managers but Something that individuals on the job Site have access to on a regular basis Of course the inevitable question comes Up is why haven't someone else done it And really boils down to two Fundamentally different approaches on One hand traditional tool manufacturers Have really focused on incremental Improvement and optimization over true Innovation on the other side of things Enterprise tools have largely focused on Hyper-specific tests or individual Functions on the job site Recon tools is The only system that has a granularity Needed to execute day-to-day operations On the job site

Whether or not you work in construction Everyone here has probably been involved In some kind of construction project Whether on your office or home Improvement space on it it's time we Demand more from our contractors and Stop expecting errors cost overruns and Timeline delays as inevitable with Recon Tools you can measure runs and cut once Thank you thank you very much Danielle let's go to you first great Um first of all thank you for presenting And for being the first one of the Session that was wonderful you did great The throwing of the tools was very Effective in getting the audience going Um could you tell us a little bit more About the revenue model of the business Yep absolutely so Recon tools started as A crowdfunding product so our Revenue Model like our company has evolved Rapidly over time with it so right now To this day we sell Hardware products Hardware products has gotten out there And just recently to coincide with TechCrunch disrupt we launch our mobile App with it so for the time being we Sell Hardware products and the evolution Of the mobile app initially is to give Out for free get people on it learn what Features are valuable and then in the Background discussion which was somewhat Parallelized with how we were working on Our Hardware products our Partnerships

That there's a lot of ability ranging From I'm a Fastener company and now I Have a utility that workers rather than Go to Home Depot and look at the chart That's covered in dust Sharpie marker on It of what Fastener do I need I can Input the measurements there ranging From very simple just here's what Fastener to buy to direct Integrations With the manufacturer so of course That's like anything a longer process With it but both from stores to Manufacturer side of things there's a Lot of benefits of having a Central app That everyone is using to collect data In a very Elemental way like everyone Uses a tape measure and doing right now A bunch of you know some people have the You know half thought apps that like you Know look like an Excel spreadsheet that I put in the App Store with it but Having something that's purposely Designed and is very easy for Individuals to design their own Utilities for it so it's as simple as Making a spreadsheet so it's really easy And I think the longer term ideas that Have kind of a mini App Store where Manufacturers can put in there and if I'm a deck builder I get all the you Know strong tie you know applications in There and rather than look at you know They send out you know a box of catalogs That fits big and you're following these

Little spreadsheets to try to figure out What faster you need versus go in there Type it in boom I get this all right I'm At Home Depot and I I personally don't Need to go as the supervisor on the job Site I send a worker so I can stay on And keep it moving where now that's Usually what production goes to a stop Because of one person with experience Has to you know drive an hour to Home Depot back and forth to get it with it So got it that's helpful and one quick Follow-up question Um so is the expectation to sell At the company and project level or is The expectation that a worker themselves Is going to go and say like I want this Tool for myself I think the excitement And especially being a 13-person company Is that either works obviously selling To a business like you know Suffolk Construction there's a lot of overhead Process of doing that sales cycle where These are sold in Amazon Home Depot so Someone could go on the website buy it Have in their tool kit and then when you See enough people on it then rather than Have to do a top-down approach it's like Hey all my workers are using these Digital tools I wonder if there's a way For me as a project manager see the Analytics on it so while I think we are Devoting efforts to that more top-down Approach of project management I think

It's very exciting that anyone can use It and then later on start level like I May get the T1 and just use the side E-paper display and then later on when Five people have it it's like hey I'm up On a roof why don't you just put your Phone next to there and I'm going to Stop shouting measurements one at a time And have you always mess up the Measurements with it so I think it has The purpose for both and just by design Of being a smaller you know more Engineering design focused company Initially we focus more on the b2c Opera Opportunities with later on the more B2B Opportunities of selling 200 tape Measures and you know more customization On the software side of things got it We'll go to Marin then or Frederick Um great job on the pitch loved hearing About the business Um my question is I was wondering if you Could share some of the highlights of Your traction so far yeah absolutely so We have more than 65 000 tools in the Field right now with it so these are Tools being used every day with it and I Think the most remarkable thing to us is Really Um you know you have the first part of The generation who grew up using Tick Tock cell phones so it's not a big sell To have a digital tool that makes sense I think really what's remarkable for us

Is seeing the contractor who's been Using tools for 25 30 years eyes light Up when you know we show the digital Tape measure and you know I think a lot Of people assume that just showing the Measurement digitally is what gets the Excitement but the excitement is hey you Go up on a ladder sometimes right and Every person universally whether I'm on A you know multi-billion dollar project Or Home Improvement project shouts Measurements down to someone else with It so it's like click click click I'm You know my eyes are closed I'm taking All these measurements and they're Automatically in real time being shared With any mobile device I have with it And that's when the eyes really light up And then you know you get past the Educational piece and that's when I Think the inspiration kicks into it so I Think that's you know the less Quantifiable piece of it but really the Excitement of that we're taking a very Stubborn demographic of people and just Like industry as general and you know Slowly easing into the trend you know Whenever VR and AR becomes something Obviously it's a much different platform But not on day one we're saying where VR Goggles like whoa hold on a second I'm Using you know the hammer my grandfather Gave and you know it's not an Exaggeration right this is this is what

Construction is today with it so I think That's the most exciting part of the Traction but we have 60 000 tools in the Field we have 25 000 pre-orders for the T1 with it so I think it's all very Future focused and the app I think is Going to provide an even more way of not Having to invest initially in a hardware Product of just get on it use it to Organize my measurements and then hey It'd be great instead of having to Manually type these in I had something To automatic do it to help upsell the Hardware with it Three yeah I have a quick one so thank You so much this is great to sit in the Field itself and and see some customer Validation my question is how does it Fit into a broader ecosystem of uh Construction tools like do you have any Apis do you have any use cases that make It that they can actually integrate all This measurement into a bigger project So you can actually drive adoption both Ways both from the contractor side but Also from a platform side yeah 30 Seconds absolutely yeah so apis I think Play a big part of the overall thing Just because we're not looking to Replace we're looking to augment Software so a lot of the bigger Companies who are using procore Autodesk Construction cloud with it there are a Lot of apis for both pulling data from

Our app importing CSV so that goes back And forth and even our Hardware products Directly like just the simple Act of I Have a bunch of issues that right now Are written on the wall I can use it to Connect with our Hardware products Directly with it so a lot of flexibility And openness from RN knowing that it has To be part of it and it's not replacing With it which is another barrier Eventually in general with it right well Thank you very much we'll leave it there Give them Round of Applause [Applause]