The Intelligent Builder

Owen Gagne
  • 5.0 (1)
  • Entrepreneurship

The Intelligent Builder is a podcast for residential contractors and home services operators who want less chaos and more control. Each week, host Owen Gagne sits down with CEOs, founders, and operators to break down what actually drives growth. We go deep on the day-to-day levers: lead flow, sales process, project ops, reputation, and the systems + tech that make it all happen. Actionable, tested, and built for crews that actually do the work without the burnout. This podcast is sponsored by Plutus Agents, an AI growth consulting firm helping residential contractors reduce admin load, increase efficiency, and connect tools using custom systems and automations.

  1. 2d ago

    The Contractors Who Don't Adapt Are Two Years From Closing Down

    Craig Williams has run a home services business for years, built a 15-team operator network, and personally dragged a legacy pest control company off handwritten carbon paper tickets. In this episode, he and Owen get into why most owner-operators won't buy back their time, the mindset Craig teaches across his network, and how he thinks about the automation decision: what to hand off, what to keep, and why that answer is different for every business. They also talk about content creation as an underrated business skill, the trap of becoming your own brand instead of building one, and Craig's read on what happens to businesses that refuse to adapt. His answer is not a slow decline. If you run a home services or contracting business and you've been putting off the hard technology conversations, this one is worth the listen.

    37 min

  2. May 28

    This Roofing Operator Built a System So Good He Licensed It

    Brad Strawbridge started at Lowe's as a delivery driver, worked his way up to district manager over in-home services, and then made the leap into roofing. He scaled Capital City Roofing to eight figures in two years, built 64 AI agents on top of documented SOPs, and runs the company on strict EOS with a visionary-integrator split tight enough that he can travel every week while the business keeps moving. Now he's licensing the entire operating model to other roofing operators through a tiered shared-services structure, where the pitch is simple: we'll run the company, you sell the roofs. We get into the tech stack problem every contractor hits (five or more siloed tools to complete one job and most guys still aren't using them), why Brad built his own CRM instead, and how the licensing tiers work, from a $2,500/month tech access package up to a $12,000/month full back-office solution covering staffing, marketing, and accounting through in-house sister companies. We also cover his exit timeline (three to five years, PE roll-up structure), what he's doing on NRCA workforce development committees, and his one piece of advice for contractors still doing everything themselves. Guest: Brad Strawbridge, Founder & CEO, Capital City Roofing Host: Owen Gagne Sponsor: Plutus Agents — Custom workflows. Built for your team.

    37 min

  3. May 21

    Don't Grow Past Your Comfort Zone: Lessons From Decades of Building

    Harvey Hine has been running HMH Architecture and Interiors in Boulder since 1989. Ten people. Over 400 projects. Zero desire to grow past his comfort zone. In this episode, Harvey walks through what 37 years in residential design actually teaches you: why firms die during booms more than busts, how he watched the best firm in Colorado go from 35 people to three, and why he made a deliberate decision early on to stop growing when it felt right and stay there. We get into his fully collaborative model, where contractors and interior designers are in the room from day one and share in the design, not just the budget. Harvey also gives a clear-eyed take on AI in architecture, where it's already saving real time and where it won't touch the creative work anytime soon. And he makes a case most residential builders won't want to hear: that smaller homes produce better families, better clients, and better buildings, and that the industry's obsession with square footage has been a losing game for livability. Guest: Harvey Hine — Founding Principal, HMH Architecture and Interiors Host: Owen Gagne Sponsor: Plutus Agents — Custom workflows. Built for your team.

    32 min

  4. May 18

    Detecting Mold Before It Destroys the House or the Health

    Ben Lagrange co-founded AirGuard out of a problem he kept stepping into running his own HVAC companies in North and South Carolina: mold shows up in crawl spaces and duct systems constantly, but by the time it's visible, the damage is already serious. He and his co-founder Chris, both career engineers, spent a couple of years building and training a sensor that detects the chemical off-gassing signatures tied to mold before the damage is obvious. We get into how they validated the idea through a small business bootcamp, built out an affiliate network of indoor environmental professionals, and are now piloting with a remediator referral network so that an alert in Kansas City doesn't dead-end because they're based in South Carolina. Ben walks through the three types of homeowners they encounter, why the industry trained techs to never say the word mold and how that creates a real sales headwind, and how to explain the product to a homeowner without triggering alarm or skepticism. The smoke detector analogy is the right one, and he explains why. We also touch on their 12-month goals, the dream of embedding the sensor inside an OEM heat pump at the factory, and a new vertical they're quietly testing through a USDA lab. Guest: Ben Lagrange — Co-Founder, AirGuard Host: Owen Gagne Sponsor: Plutus Agents — Custom workflows. Built for your team.

    35 min

  5. May 2

    What Builders Get Wrong About Selling New Construction

    Aimee Zhang is a founding member and broker at Real Residential in the Seattle and East Side market, and she's spent a decade watching builders leave money on the table at the exact moment they should be winning. In this episode, Aimee breaks down what a real builder-brokerage partnership looks like, why pricing new construction is a psychology problem before it's a math problem, and the single most common mistake smaller builders make when they go to market: listing everything at once. If you're a builder trying to understand why your homes are sitting while comparable projects sell, this one is worth the full listen. Guest: Aimee Zhang — Real Residential Host: Owen Gagne Sponsor: Plutus Agents — Custom workflows. Built for your team.

    31 min

  6. Apr 25

    Why Service Businesses Stall: Systems, Fear, and Simplicity

    Chad Harrison runs franchise development for DoodyCalls, a pet waste management company under Authority Brands that has scaled from roughly 30 locations to over 100 by installing systems, a 24/7 call center, and an AI booking agent that handles off-hours calls without dropping to voicemail. Chad works with operators coming out of demanding W2 careers, walks them through a 30-day ramp, and then steps back once they're stable. We talk about what the first 90 days of ownership actually looks like, the three habits that separate the operators who scale from the ones who stall, and why Chad thinks fear, not skill, is the single biggest drag on growth. We also get into what "follow the system" actually means as a discipline, why the owner-as-operator model breaks down fast past 100 customers, and how an AI agent handles booking, pricing, and credit card capture at 11pm so the owner doesn't have to. If you run a service business and you're still the one answering the phone, this episode is for you. Guest: Chad Harrison — Franchise Development, DoodyCalls (Authority Brands) Host: Owen Gagne Sponsor: Plutus Agents — Custom workflows. Built for your team.

    28 min

  7. Apr 15

    The Modern Systems HVAC Companies Need to Survive

    Alek Ivanov (Synergy3) is a change-driven home services operator with high standards and a simple belief: if you’re not growing, you’re dying. We get into how Synergy3 started, the mindset shift that unlocked growth, and the practical operating moves he’s making now: CTO-first thinking, getting out of scattered tools, building systems that fit the business, and using AI to remove time-wasting admin (including an AI agent that automates New Jersey permit applications). We close with Alek’s view on what the next era of HVAC winners will do differently — and why he thinks the best operators will be the best trainers. Guest: Alek Ivanov — Synergy3 Host: Owen Gagne Sponsor: Plutus Agents — Custom workflows. Built for your team.

    43 min

  8. Apr 14

    How Lori Dennis Built a Media Empire to Win Premium Design Jobs

    Lori Dennis is a veteran interior designer, builder, and founder who spent 30 years vertically integrating design, construction, and a high-end windows & doors business, all under one roof. We cover the sustainability niche she planted a flag in 30 years ago, how that compounded into a media career (TV, books, speaking), and the exact playbook a builder can use to stand out today. Then we get into AI: why construction is a tech laggard, what the 18–24 month window looks like for operators who move now, and her 90% rule for managing luxury clients without blowing up projects. Guest: Lori Dennis — Interior Designer, Builder & Founder, Lori Dennis Inc. Host: Owen Gagne Sponsor: Plutus Agents — Custom workflows. Built for your team. Find Lori: loridennis.com Find Owen: LinkedIn

    29 min
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About

The Intelligent Builder is a podcast for residential contractors and home services operators who want less chaos and more control. Each week, host Owen Gagne sits down with CEOs, founders, and operators to break down what actually drives growth. We go deep on the day-to-day levers: lead flow, sales process, project ops, reputation, and the systems + tech that make it all happen. Actionable, tested, and built for crews that actually do the work without the burnout. This podcast is sponsored by Plutus Agents, an AI growth consulting firm helping residential contractors reduce admin load, increase efficiency, and connect tools using custom systems and automations.

Information

  • Creator
    Owen Gagne
  • Years Active
    2K
  • Episodes
    36
  • Rating
    Explicit
  • Copyright
    © 2026 Owen Gagne
  • Show Website
    The Intelligent Builder