Conference Presentation, Keynote
Tracy Young Speaks at Female Founders Conference 2015
- Attendees are projected to retain long-term recall of PlanGrid as a solution for on-time, on-schedule building construction and significant cost savings once they achieve success and undertake new office projects.
- The company plans to sustain growth by expanding its current workforce of 92 employees through active hiring and by reinventing every department every six months to accommodate its rapid rate.
- Management intends to maintain product leadership through continuous iteration on the core software, which remains under active development at the time of the statement.
- Tracy Young anticipates that founders can successfully launch companies by solving identified problems, citing her own transition from a construction engineer to a Y Combinator founder as a viable pathway.
- A projected negative outcome of the lack of female representation in engineering and as founders is the loss of superior structures, companies, and leadership capabilities for the world.
- Operational goals include improving construction industry efficiency so field workers can complete jobs on time and return home to their families.
- Founders are expected to experience extreme emotional volatility, with highs and lows occurring within the same hour during the startup journey.
- Lack of passion for the venture is predicted to cause founders to compromise excessively, risking their personal well-being and potential burnout.
- Sustaining the mission to lead a high-performing team is expected to depend on the founder's personal happiness with the company's direction.
- Complaining about early adoption barriers is anticipated to benefit competitors, who may work harder to succeed against non-persuasive rivals.
- The initial software launch was contingent on successfully securing 16 iPads; failure to fund this via savings and credit cards would have prevented initial user access.
- A company culture centered on persistent hard work and avoiding complaints is expected to provide a defensive advantage against competitors attempting to "kick our ass."
- Industry incumbents are expected to be unable to replicate PlanGrid's functionality, ease of use, or customer support, even if they replicate the user interface.
- The team's mutual support system is forecasted to act as an unfair advantage that offsets the greater resources available to larger competitors.
- The development journey is expected to remain difficult and turbulent, with periods where the situation feels entirely disorganized.