Steve Dell'Orto

This transcript has been edited for clarity, readability, and flow. Minor adjustments have been made to remove filler words and improve structure while preserving the original meaning and intent of the conversation.

Henry Harrison:
Hello, welcome to the show. Today we have Steve Dell’Orto on the Entrepreneurs, Business and Finance podcast. Hello, Steve.

Steve Dell’Orto:
Hello, Henry. Thanks for having me on today.

Henry Harrison:
Your business is ConCntric. I like the logo and the creative name.

We have a lot of listeners interested in construction, and the industry is changing rapidly with new technology. You’re based in Marin County, just north of San Francisco, but your market is much broader—potentially global.

Why don’t we start with your background?

Steve Dell’Orto:
I spent 26 years in construction management, primarily in the non-residential sector—airports, hospitals, multifamily, convention centers, museums, and large mixed-use developments.

Over that time, I learned not just how to manage projects, but how to build and scale construction businesses.

Eventually, I realized I could take that experience—understanding the inefficiencies, frustrations, and patterns—and do something about it at an industry level.

Henry Harrison:
You’ve worked on major projects like:

• Golden State Warriors Arena

• Salesforce Tower

• Facebook’s San Francisco Tower

• Seattle Convention Center expansion

• Manchester Grand Hyatt

• LACMA expansion

These are massive, complex projects. How long do they take?

Steve Dell’Orto:
Typically 20 months to 3 years to build.

But what’s interesting is the planning phase—what I call the “gestation period”—can take just as long, or longer.

Even with advanced tools, projects still struggle with:

• Budget uncertainty

• Design changes

• Timeline shifts

Now scale that up 100x or 1,000x—that’s large commercial construction.

Henry Harrison:
So the industry still faces fundamental challenges.

Steve Dell’Orto:
Exactly.

Despite the scale and complexity, the industry often operates with:

• Fragmented data

• Disconnected tools

• Heavy reliance on spreadsheets

It’s surprisingly antiquated for such a massive industry.

That’s what we’re trying to change.

Henry Harrison:
And you’ve also been involved in construction tech investing and advising.

Steve Dell’Orto:
Yes.

People saw value in having someone who has actually lived the problems help build solutions.

I also advise several startups—it’s a way to give back. Many people helped me when I started, so I try to do the same.

Henry Harrison:
Was there a defining moment that led you to start ConCntric?

Steve Dell’Orto:
Not one moment—it was a slow realization.

In my previous role, we were managing dozens of projects simultaneously, and I kept seeing the same pattern:

• Increasing complexity

• Compressed timelines

• Less experienced teams

• No unified data

People were essentially throwing talent at problems and hoping for the best.

I got tired of reacting to issues that I knew could have been prevented early in planning.

So I decided to step out and build a solution.

Henry Harrison:
Let’s explain what ConCntric does in simple terms.

Steve Dell’Orto:
At its core, we improve planning.

Whether it’s a $5 million project or a $1 billion project, the planning challenges are similar:

• Aligning design with budget

• Coordinating stakeholders

• Making decisions early

We provide a collaborative platform where:

• Owners

• Architects

• Contractors

…can work together in one environment.

The platform includes tools for:

• Scheduling

• Logistics planning

• Estimating

• Value engineering

• Cost analysis

The key is integration—everything works together instead of being fragmented.

Henry Harrison:
So better planning reduces downstream problems.

Steve Dell’Orto:
Exactly.

If planning is fragmented, you get:

• Errors

• Omissions

• Change orders

• Disputes

If planning is strong, you prevent those issues before they happen.

Fixing problems in the field is the most expensive time to fix them.

Henry Harrison:
How do clients get started?

Steve Dell’Orto:
They typically reach out through our website.

We introduce them to the platform, and the key point is this—it’s intuitive.

One of the biggest failures in construction tech has been software that adds complexity instead of reducing it.

We designed ConCntric to:

• Be easy to use immediately

• Require minimal training

• Remove workload, not add to it

In some cases, clients are up and running after just a couple of one-hour sessions.

Henry Harrison:
That’s important—people don’t want another complicated system.

Steve Dell’Orto:
Exactly.

Technology should:

• Eliminate friction

• Free people to focus on decision-making and relationships

We’ve worked hard to make the platform simple, even though it’s powerful.

Henry Harrison:
It sounds like this improves:

• Employee satisfaction

• Client relationships

• Profitability

Even reducing change orders alone could justify the investment.

Steve Dell’Orto:
Absolutely.

There’s a direct link between planning quality and:

• Change orders

• Disputes

• Project stress

The better you plan, the fewer problems you have later.

Henry Harrison:
That’s a great place to wrap up.

You’ve clearly spent years thinking about this problem and now you’re solving it.

Steve Dell’Orto, ConCntric—thanks for coming on the show.

Steve Dell’Orto:
Appreciate it, Henry. Thanks for having me.

Henry Harrison:
Thank you.