KORY JEFFREY: Welcome, everybody.
We are on site in San Francisco at the Founder World event.
Joining me in studio today is Tony Capasso,
founder of Construction Automation.
Tony, how are you?
TONY CAPASSO: I'm good.
How are you doing?
KORY JEFFREY: Thanks for joining me.
TONY CAPASSO: Yeah.
Thank you for having me.
KORY JEFFREY: So tell me about Construction Automation.
TONY CAPASSO: Sure.
So my background is construction and real estate development.
And I've seen this common theme of there being
a shortage of skilled workers.
Obviously, as we all know, real estate
is super expensive and almost unaffordable.
So I aim to solve those problems, which
I think are massive global issues with construction.
And I think the future of construction
is going to heavily involve robotics.
So I did a bunch of research into thinking how I can totally
transform the industry by kind of combining
3D printing, robotics into the building industry.
So there's a huge opportunity, but that's my aim to solve.
KORY JEFFREY: Sounds really cool.
So is it 3D printing of particular materials?
Or is it a different way to 3D print?
TONY CAPASSO: Sure.
So initially, it's going to be a heavy focus on concrete.
So it may be a little tough to imagine.
But basically, I'm combining a concrete pump,
which is the material which would
get pushed through to the nozzles,
a robotic arm, which has sensors on it,
is very precise, and autonomous mobile base unit.
And the three of them combined will kind of
drive around construction sites and extrude the concrete
and build walls with almost no labor.
KORY JEFFREY: That's really cool.
So the idea is it would set the foundation without having
to do the forming?
TONY CAPASSO: Well, the foundation
is pretty much flat work.
So that would be poured conventionally,
just using regular man hours.
So this would be kind of a hybrid version.
But the vertical walls could actually
be printed with no labor at all.
So it would be a hybrid of a masonry
wall and a concrete wall, but there's no form work required.
So that's where the labor saving comes into play.
KORY JEFFREY: That's really cool.
So how far along are you guys?
TONY CAPASSO: I've built some little prototypes, kind
of desktop versions of it, with a Mecanum kind of vectoring
robot and an arm on top of it.
And have done little samples to kind of do a proof of concept.
And now I'm raising a funding round, basically,
to do everything at full scale.
KORY JEFFREY: That's really cool.
So prior to this, you were actually
in the project management of construction.
Talk to me a little bit about the transition from one
to tech entrepreneurship.
TONY CAPASSO: Sure.
So again, my family immigrated from Italy.
And they were all amazing contractors.
My father started his own business here.
And we're one of the largest subcontractors in Connecticut
right now.
We do a lot of work for Yale University
and a lot of public schools.
So my background isn't technology.
It's actually an end user, and seeing the problems
with construction, which is, I think, great for me,
because I have an expertise in a domain.
And I'll really be able to get that product market fit instead
of building something that let's say a user wouldn't want.
KORY JEFFREY: Yeah.
Makes a lot of sense.
Not a technology in search of a solution, right?
That's cool.
And so you've had some highlights as well.
I believe you won a TV show.
Can you talk a little bit about that?
TONY CAPASSO: Yeah, sure.
So when I started with this idea,
I got introduced to Tim Draper, who is a venture
capitalist, Draper Associates.
And he also started a school called Draper University.
And it takes early stage startups
and kind of coaches them through the entrepreneurship process.
At the same time, it was a TV show.
It was called "Startup U."
And it was on ABC Family.
And I got cast for the show.
So after the 10 episodes, we pitch our businesses.
So it's kind of like a hybrid of "The Real World"
mixed with "Shark Tank."
And it was a really cool experience.
So at the end of it, we pitch to a room
full of venture capitalists.
And they all vote on the idea that they
think is the most forward thinking,
and I guess the right team.
And I ended up winning some funding for my company.
KORY JEFFREY: That's awesome.
Congratulations.
So you just came off the main stage,
talking to thousands of people here, all interested in tech
entrepreneurship in some way.
What was your message?
What were you talking about?
TONY CAPASSO: I think my message was
to make startups great again.
So I actually had some hats made up
that say, "Make Startups Great Again,"
And it was kind of a play with Donald Trump,
"Make America Great Again."
But I think that's the important thing.
You see a lot of startups that just do one thing that's
a little bit better.
And they're not reaching far enough out there
and really pushing the envelope.
So I think what I'm working on was pretty flattering.
Tim said to me that it might have been one of the largest
markets he's ever invested in.
And if I am able to succeed, this
is just such a massive disruption
to literally the world's oldest industry, right?
So I think, shoot for the stars, right?
KORY JEFFREY: Real disruption rather than
incremental difference.
TONY CAPASSO: Exactly.
KORY JEFFREY: Cool.
So you know, you're going to see a lot of different technologies
here.
Obviously, there's thousands of people here, a lot of demoing.
Is there anything besides 3D printing
that really gets you excited in the technology space today?
TONY CAPASSO: I think virtual reality is pretty interesting.
I think it has some really cool applications.
I've used it a couple times.
You put it on and you really almost forget where you are
or what you're doing.
And I also see that as being integrated well
with the construction industry.
So being able to walk into a building that's
half of the way done and be able to see the finishes on the wall
or something like that really helps you.
It's going to streamline the whole process.
KORY JEFFREY: Do you have a favorite Google technology?
TONY CAPASSO: Gmail.
KORY JEFFREY: Gmail?
TONY CAPASSO: Gmail is my favorite by far.
KORY JEFFREY: You use it all the time?
TONY CAPASSO: Yeah.
KORY JEFFREY: Me too, actually.
TONY CAPASSO: That's by far.
KORY JEFFREY: That's good.
That's awesome.
Well, thank you very much for joining me.
TONY CAPASSO: Yeah, thank you.
KORY JEFFREY: And thank you guys for joining me
on site at Founder World.
My name is Kory.
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