Disclaimer: This transcript has been lightly edited for clarity and readability. Filler words were removed, sentence structure improved, and formatting adjusted while preserving the original meaning and conversational tone.
Henry Harrison:
We’d like to welcome the founder of SubBase. He’s an outstanding entrepreneur, and we’re pleased to have him on the show. Let’s welcome Eric Helitzer. Hello, Eric.
Eric Helitzer:
Hey, Henry. Thanks for having me on today.
Henry Harrison:
This is Entrepreneurs, Business and Finance, and you’re an entrepreneur as of a couple of years ago—but you didn’t start out that way. Let’s go back.
You have strong construction training. SubBase is a software platform specifically for construction, so that experience matters. Looking at your LinkedIn profile: a Bachelor of Science in Construction Management from the University of Florida, then long-term roles with large companies.
About two and a half years ago, you launched this business. You already have revenue and clients. You’re based in Fort Lauderdale, but you’re working nationwide. When you were a kid, did you ever think you’d be an entrepreneur?
Eric Helitzer:
When I was a kid, I didn’t think I was going to be an entrepreneur. But I knew early that I wanted to be building.
I was pulled into the built world through three generations of contractors. They ingrained not just the hard work, but how exciting construction is. That’s where my career started—through relationships with my grandfather and my father.
Henry Harrison:
That probably led to studying construction at the University of Florida and your early jobs.
Eric Helitzer:
Yeah. When I was applying to schools, I knew I wanted to be a Gator. The University of Florida had the Rinker School of Construction Management, and a lot of people didn’t even realize you could pursue construction as a formal career.
When I graduated, it was around the end of the boom—the condo bust in Miami. I stayed an extra year to get a master’s in construction.
My family business was doing well, but they told me I wasn’t allowed to work there until I really learned how to build—meaning: go work in the field with real trades and learn it the right way.
So I did. I started with internships at a large company in Miami, got into preconstruction early, learned estimating, then got experience in operations.
Around 2012–2014, technology became a bigger talking point. In 2014, my family business called and said they had a role for me—running field operations, but also evaluating new technology. One of the tools was Procore.
At the time, Procore was just getting started in South Florida. When I moved into the GC side from the subcontractor side, I wanted to learn how to manage trades holistically. And it became my job to get Procore off the ground.
We had pushback from architects and people in the field. But we were digitizing an archaic workflow—RFIs and documentation—creating collaboration and transparency.
That’s when the light bulb went off: technology can drive real efficiency in construction.
Years later, I partnered with a technical advisor who wanted to get into construction but didn’t understand the details. I had about 15 years in the industry before building SubBase. We knew the pain points and the workflows that needed digitizing.
We built in-house, got limited traction early, and I was trying to run multiple jobs while also building software. The two worlds collided, and I wasn’t doing either well enough.
So I had to choose. I chose entrepreneurship in construction technology.
Now, over two years later, we have a platform that’s changing how people manage materials by digitizing a very archaic process for large subcontractors and their material suppliers.
Henry Harrison:
Technology can make a massive difference in efficiency. Why do you think construction has been slow to adopt compared to other businesses?
Eric Helitzer:
It’s hard to adopt because every project is different. Even if workflows are similar, projects have different nuances, different stakeholders, and strong opinions. Construction is very people-oriented.
A profitable business can also resist change. If it’s working, owners become reluctant because the risk of something not working feels real.
And because projects are customized, it’s hard to wedge software in unless you understand the problem deeply and can make things easier without forcing a complete behavior change.
Henry Harrison:
There’s also risk in changing something that works in construction—you might not know a problem exists until years later.
Eric Helitzer:
Exactly. You need early adopters, but you also have to educate people on the problem and the value.
We focused on the accounting pain early. Subcontractors deal with massive volume—invoices, paper, reconciling. We asked: how can we affect the P&L and make it better?
Construction is full of different lingos and different workflows. So the approach is: wedge into a workflow without disrupting it, make it easier, and then prove you’re improving profitability—not just saving time.
Henry Harrison:
Explain SubBase in layman’s terms, then go deeper.
Eric Helitzer:
In layman’s terms: we take an archaic, manual, disconnected materials workflow—field requests, quotes, purchase orders, invoice reconciliation—and put it under one roof.
A single purchase touches multiple stakeholders: the superintendent in the field, purchasing, project managers, controllers, and vendors. Everyone has different priorities.
We connect the field, the office, vendors, and accounting in one platform. Vendors benefit too—better data, faster response, better service.
That’s SubBase.
Henry Harrison:
Implementation is a hurdle. How do you get people over the hump?
Eric Helitzer:
We knew early that SubBase had to be implemented in one day or less. We come in, get cost codes, materials, vendors set up—so day one you can start ordering.
We like to start with the CFOs and controllers because they understand the balance-sheet risk in materials. Implementation can’t be complicated, and we integrate into existing accounting systems because contractors aren’t changing those.
Henry Harrison:
Share a war story—some challenges you had to overcome.
Eric Helitzer:
Early on, we gave the software away for free to get adoption. We got some usage, but when something is free and not fully built, people won’t go the full mile.
Another hurdle was vendor adoption and visibility. Some vendors worried visibility meant too much transparency. We had to communicate clearly: SubBase isn’t here to take away business or undercut relationships.
Construction is relationship-driven. We’re enhancing relationships—vendors respond faster, subs get better service, and suppliers who adopt technology deepen trust in ways competitors can’t match.
Henry Harrison:
You also had early investor support.
Eric Helitzer:
Yes. We took investment only from people in our inner circle—people who believed in the mission before we had meaningful volume on the platform.
It wasn’t an open checkbook. We had to prove we could get paying clients, build integrations, hit milestones. More recently, we raised an institutional round that allows us to move faster.
Those early investors were visionaries—they backed the idea, the mission, and the team before we had much code.
Henry Harrison:
Did it feel like a big risk?
Eric Helitzer:
I’d be lying if I said I wasn’t nervous. Any entrepreneur is taking a risk—leaving a great job, taking other people’s money, knowing you need to execute. That pressure made us work harder and build for the right purpose.
Henry Harrison:
Competitors—what are you up against?
Eric Helitzer:
The biggest competition is Excel, email, and construction culture.
There are others building in procurement because the market is huge and fragmented. But day to day, the competition is: “Our spreadsheet works,” “Our file folders work,” “We have a system.”
So we have to show the difference and why those systems won’t take a company to the next level.
Henry Harrison:
You use the term “10x.” Explain that.
Eric Helitzer:
Most people won’t change unless you deliver a 10x experience. A 2x improvement might be good, but not enough to switch.
We build to be exponentially better. If the solution doesn’t solve the full problem—integrations, workflow, automation—people won’t leave the bike they’ve ridden for 20 years.
The analogy I use: contractors are riding a bike uphill. It works, even if it’s hard. Then you pull up with a Porsche and they say, “That’s great—but can I actually drive it?” They need confidence that it works for them.
That 10x is what gets them to change.
Henry Harrison:
Translate that into business outcomes: happier employees, fewer problems, higher efficiency.
Eric Helitzer:
Exactly. Here’s a concrete example: our invoice module. Invoices come in from vendors. We use AI to pair the invoice to the PO, extract data, fill out logs, and now we check line items automatically—so teams aren’t manually reviewing line by line.
That’s how you move from “nice feature” to true workflow automation. And that’s what drives adoption.
Henry Harrison:
Anything you want to wrap up with?
Eric Helitzer:
A lot of people see software as an expense instead of ROI. We help companies understand what it costs them today—processing POs, reconciling invoices, communicating with vendors—and how much time and money can be saved.
Owners should expect their subs and GCs to use the best tools. Field tools are improving fast, but back-office workflows still lag. That’s what we’re fixing.
Construction is changing quickly, and the next five to ten years will be exciting.
Henry Harrison:
Eric Helitzer is the CEO and founder of SubBase. The domain name is SubBase.io. If people want to reach out, what’s the best way?
Eric Helitzer:
Go to www.subbase.io
and fill out the contact form. We’re also very active on LinkedIn—follow the company or me.
And my email is eric@subbase.io
. We’d love to chat with anyone interested.
Henry Harrison:
Fantastic. Thank you very much.
Eric Helitzer:
Thanks, Henry.
I prefer this response
