Disrupters have destroyed retail chains (Jeff Bezos at Amazon.com), threatened the car industry (Elon Musk at Tesla), and are now targeting the component industry (Bill Gates et. al.)? Mr. Gates and leading venture capitalists have placed separate bets totaling nearly a Billion dollars that they believe will transform our industry:
- In November 2017, through his Cascade Investment Group, Mr. Gates paid $80 Million for a 24,800 acre tract less than an hour from Phoenix and intends to “create a forward-thinking community … embraces cutting-edge technology … (built around) autonomous vehicles.”
- On January 24, 2018, Katerra announced that they raised $865 Million to “redefine the construction industry … accumulated $1.3 Billion in bookings for new construction … amassed global team of 1300 people … opened manufacturing facility in Phoenix … roadmap for multiple domestic factories … broke ground on mass timber factory in Spokane.”
A game changer or Déjà vu all over again?
- On January 1, 1960, another disrupter like Gates, Del Webb, opened 5 model homes outside Phoenix attracting a weekend crowd of 100,000 people, and garnered a Time magazine cover story. Our company installed a truss machine literally in the middle of the desert to service the project. Trusses were forklifted to nearby home sites.
- On October 31, 1971, a well-funded innovator, Stirling Homex, “stole” the biggest show of industrialized housing, INBEX (Industrialized Building Exposition), in Louisville with its massive plans (and hype) to revolutionize factory-built housing.
After 50 years of “plodding along” is our business ripe for change?
This is definitely not the Last Word on this subject … more to follow …