The idea of creating a SaaS-based project management platform for the construction industry came from Todd Robertti while speaking to his father, an industry veteran. Todd who is also well versed in the construction industry, as well as in software development, knew there was a lot of potential for improvement.
In developing Linkd, Todd and his team had a goal of completing their MVP in time to demo it at the Startup Grind SOCAL Regional Conference. Although they got accepted into the conference, they did not make the top 20 startups which had the opportunity to pitch to investors.
However, Derek Anderson, Startup Grind CEO, liked their product and offered to put the Rancho Cordova-based WireFlare team in front of investors if they could get 5 potential customers to write $5k checks each for future services (the checks could be voided and were only to prove market validation). A funny thing happened during this exercise; the potential customers actually offered to invest in WireFlare and they inadvertently raised $400 k.
Since then, WireFlare has hired 5 developers, was accepted to the IBM Global Entrepreneur Program, Oracle’s Velocity Program, and Amazon Activate. In addition, WireFlare was one of the top 50 companies to present, and pitch to investors, at Startup Grind Global 2017. In May of 2017, WireFlare raised another round of money, expanded their relationship with IBM and introduced plans for incorporating AI through the use of Watson. WireFlare’s platform, called “Linkd”, will be released this September.
The take away from this tale is that ideas, help and guidance come in all forms. Listen to those around you that want to help, and believe in your product. More importantly, listen to those who criticize, accept setbacks and be ready to pivot. Validate, understand and thoroughly research your market. If you build something with expertise and true demand you might even get your potential clientele to invest in your ideas.
