Heather King
About This Episode
Heather King spent 3.5 years in construction tendering before stepping away to launch an activewear startup that integrates technology from artificial limbs and muscles. She delivers a sharp critique of NZ's tendering system: 10-12 companies bidding for the same job at $200-300K per tender on a $30M project, Tier 1 contractors competing for Tier 3 work, and projects being re-tendered 2-3 times when the client didn't have funding the first round. She connects the boom-bust cycle directly to political behaviour, every 3 years a new government cancels the predecessor's projects and starts its own. The conversation also covers software fragmentation in construction, the near-zero adoption of AI in the industry, and Andy's experience asking ChatGPT to reveal everything it knows about him.
Key Topics Discussed
- Tendering is broken. 10-12 companies bidding for the same job is "not healthy"; Tier 1s bidding for Tier 3 work
- Cost of tendering. $200-300K to put together a $30M tender, multiplied by 10 competing companies
- Re-tendering. projects put out 2-3 times when the client didn't have the money the first round
- Boom-bust political theory. every 3 years a new government cancels predecessor's projects and launches its own, restarting the design/consent/investment case cycle
- Activewear startup. technology from artificial limbs/muscles, app-accessible monitoring, targeting the $18 billion activewear industry
- Software fragmentation. platforms don't talk to each other, no central data lake for decision-making
- AI adoption. "99% of construction industry doesn't use AI"; technology disparity is not new
Notable Quotes
10-12 companies bidding for the same job is "not healthy"
It costs $200-300K to put together a $30M tender, multiply that by 10 competing companies
"99% of construction industry doesn't use AI"
Andy on asking ChatGPT "tell me everything you know about me", "mind-blowing"
Guest Background
Heather King spent 3.5 years in construction tendering before taking a break to start an activewear company integrating technology from artificial limbs and muscles. The startup targets the $18 billion activewear market with app-accessible monitoring and performance technology at an accessible price point.
