Chip On Shoulder

I’ve got this intern working on marketing for bld.ai and earlier today she turned the tables on me. I’ve told people for years the best CEOs have a story, a taste that resonates, a cause that pulls folks in, bigger than being great at product or tech. Then she asked why I’m not telling mine. I thought I had, but apparently not enough. So here I am, sharing the chip on my shoulder, why I started bld.ai.

1. The Flaw I Had to Fix

I’ve always been driven by teaching people skills, the best way to help. Starting bld.ai was about fixing a flaw I saw in professional services: capital dumped in dumb places and talent wasted, not just in emerging markets but everywhere.

2. Where the Spark Hit

It struck me as a junior partner at McKinsey. I saw big enterprises misallocate capital, incentives all wrong. Budgets shoveled to Accenture or Deloitte, not for ROI but as safe defaults for C suites. At Y Combinator, I saw startups do it too, raising 100 million or 800 million, scale ups spending lavishly on irresponsible stuff. Both need critical thinking: big firms off autopilot, startups less extravagant.

3. The Bigger Issue with Parkinsons Law

Companies are people working toward a shared mission for cash and a product. The way we allocate capital messes it up, wasting dollars and brains. Parkinsons Law nails it: work swells to fill budget and time. People bike shed on junk, not the critical path. Look at Steve Jobs with the Apple II, Boeing’s 747 at Skunk Works—small teams, tight focus, big wins. Bureaucracy leaves value on the table with misaligned incentives.

4. Beyond Flashy Fixes

The real waste is quiet: consulting fees, legal fluff, services that don’t deliver. I wanted capital freed up for people who can use it, not just Silicon Valley.

5. Tech’s the Spot

Software and generative AI are where it happens. Unlike a hair salon, tech shifts fast—today’s ideas weren’t here five years ago. bld.ai ties clients with cash, pros with skills, and enterpreneurs with their SaaS solutions. It’s about turning a million bucks into way more.

6. The Global Angle

History shows it: British and Dutch trade built cities from scratch. Today, talent’s in Cairo, Manila, Jakarta, waiting for a spark. We’ve got tools to connect old channels to new hubs, not charity but unleashing what’s there.

7. Wrapping Up

Shifting from consulting to sparking innovation isn’t easy but worth it. At bld.ai we rethink capital, use tech, and unlock what’s possible, one investment, one entrepreneur, one breakthrough at a time.