Wiley Jones, Co-founder and CEO of Doss, recently joined Devon Tilly on The Art of Construction podcast to discuss how technology can truly meet construction and manufacturing companies where they are. Here are the key takeaways from that conversation.

Why Most ERPs Fail Construction Companies

At Doss, we understand a stark reality in the enterprise software space: between 50-75% of ERP implementations fail, particularly in construction. Why does this happen?

"It's an alignment of incentives," Wiley explained. "Traditional ERPs extract value from customers before they give anything in return."

This approach is fundamentally at odds with how construction companies operate. In construction, you're only paid when you deliver value—you're only as good as your last job. The traditional ERP model of charging for lengthy implementations before delivering any tangible results simply doesn't align with construction's on-the-ground reality.

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Reversing the Traditional Model

What makes Doss different is our commitment to flipping this model. As Wiley puts it: "We look at our relationship with our customers as being a technology partner, first and foremost. We get them up and running. And then eventually our customers ask, 'Wait, so how do we pay for this?'"

This approach might seem radical, but it's actually aligned with how construction has always worked—you get paid when you deliver value. That's why we've designed our onboarding and implementation to prioritize getting you operational before worrying about payment structures.

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"I Call It Bill of Materials, You Call It a Recipe"

One of the most refreshing aspects of the conversation was cutting through the typical "construction is too different" narrative that often stalls technology adoption. As Devon aptly summarized our approach:

"I call it a bill of materials, you call it a recipe. We're both trying to make a buck and have as much fun as possible."

This perspective perfectly captures our philosophy at Doss. Whether you're building a skyscraper or producing peanut butter, the underlying operational structures have remarkable similarities.

When asked if construction is truly so different from other industries, Wiley offered a nuanced perspective:

"What's interesting is not the semantics—that we call it a 'bill of materials' and you call it a 'recipe.' What's interesting is the scale at which things occur."

Construction's uniqueness comes from:

1. Time scale - Projects spanning months or years instead of days
2. Dollar value scale - Multi-million dollar orders instead of smaller transactions
3. Team scale - Coordinating dozens of specialized teams
4. Delivery model - Phased billing and incremental implementation

In many ways, construction shares more similarities with large industrial manufacturing than with the quick-turn retail or food businesses. Understanding these dimensional differences is key to providing the right technological solutions.

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The Data-Dollars-Goods Framework

When working with construction companies, we start by reversing the typical approach:

1. Data - We begin by understanding your current data landscape
2. Dollars - We match this to your financial flows
3. Goods - Then we connect both to your physical operations

Our implementation process is designed to take up as little of your time as possible. As Wiley described: "We take your data, reverse engineer it, and can figure out a very large percentage of your business very quickly."

This "reverse engineering" approach helps us understand what you really mean when you talk about jobs, work orders, or purchase orders. It's about translating the semantics of how your business actually operates, not forcing you into predefined templates.

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The Misconception About Manufacturing

One fascinating insight from our work with construction companies is how many don't recognize when they're actually manufacturing. Wiley shared a story about a wall and glass company that insisted they didn't manufacture anything:

"I start seeing all these work orders and they're like, 'Oh no, that's just stuff in the warehouse.' I ask what they're doing and they say, 'We're assembling pieces of glass and metal into interior walls.' I tell them, 'That's what manufacturing is!'"

This realization is powerful because it opens up established manufacturing frameworks that can streamline operations in ways that weren't apparent before.

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No Silver Bullet, But Powerful Primitives

When challenged on our "all the tools you need in one platform" claim, Wiley offered an important clarification:

"Maybe it doesn't sound as nice, but let's say 80-90% of the tools in one platform. The final 10-20%, we can use what I call primitives—these base tools—and augment them to create the specific tools you need."

He compared it to a physical toolkit: "A wrench is a wrench, then you have different sizes. Under the hood, there's this thing that allows you to do work. The foundation is the same."

This approach allows us to deliver near-comprehensive tools while maintaining the flexibility to address unique business needs.

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Speed is Good, Accuracy is Everything

Devon shared one of his core values during the conversation: "TGSD" (Thoughtfully Get Stuff Done), emphasizing that before rushing to action, you need to truly understand the problem.

This resonated with Wiley: "It's this intellectual honesty, and it's really painful for a lot of people because it's terrifying to think critically about the state of your business and why things are the way they are."

This is why we spend so much time understanding our customers' businesses before making any recommendations. As Wiley put it, "If you don't understand it at all, or even if you understand a part of it, you will miss the forest for the trees. And that's extremely dangerous in industries that are building buildings, building homes for people."

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The Future of Construction Technology

Looking ahead, Wiley predicts a renaissance in construction technology over the next 10-20 years:

"There's going to be a renaissance that's using a lot of new technology that's going to enable people that are actually doing the work to level up their ability to move data around."

The vision is that workers at all levels—from individual crew members to foremen to project managers—will have a composite picture of everything happening on the job without requiring complex technical skills.

"Instead of having to operate a complex system with an iPad on site, it'll be people being able to ask very simple questions and get very accurate answers back. It's really going to meet construction teams where they are physically in a way that they haven't been able to before."

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A Challenge for Construction Leaders

As you consider "implementing AI" or how technology might modernize your operations, Wiley offers this challenge:

"Try to look at your business objectively and figure out what are the inputs, what are the outputs. What is this similar to? What is hard about what we do? It's a stressful and painful exercise to be honest and raw, but man, is it powerful to look at your business this way."

Taking a step back to think about how and where exactly technology can make the greatest impact gives your business the greatest chance for success—not by forcing change, but by incrementally automating away manual processes so you can focus on where you're needed.

Want to learn how Doss can help you build a single source of truth across your operations? Book a demo here.

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