Launch HN: Rudus (YC P26) – AI for concrete contractors

29 points | by rishipankhaniya 3 hours ago

9 comments

  • asdev 1 hour ago
    I wonder if this approach to starting a vertical business the founders have 0 experience in has ever panned out. I know YC pushes the B2B SaaS angle as hard as possible, searching for "underserved" niches, but seems like if you don't have true industry experience, it can't possibly work out.
    • conorplunkett 1 hour ago
      Sad because I’ve been in construction for 6 years, have a degree in civil and built the exact same product. We applied for S26 but haven’t heard back, and I think we have more revenue than these guys. It’s kinda sad what YC is doing nowadays. They say they want founder problem fit but ignore it when it’s right in their face. https://buildwise-psi.vercel.app/
      • maxignol 43 minutes ago
        I know you don’t judge a book by its cover, but a vercel extension does not look professional nah ?
        • apsurd 33 minutes ago
          it’s a good point. Their product likely is legit, but i even judge individual contributors who use these site builders for their resumes or portfolios and stick with the subdomain. It’s that last mile effort towards completeness i think.
    • mbesto 26 minutes ago
      Travis Kalanick had zero taxi experience and Brian Chesky had zero hospitality experience.

      Now they created new models to existing paradigms, because I do tend to agree that founders that have verticalized experience tend to be far more successful (but perhaps arguably less 'disruptive')

      • asdev 3 minutes ago
        Those were consumer apps, not B2B. No deep niche experience needed, Uber had to fight regulations but wasn't something industry knowledge would've helped with a ton
  • is_true 1 hour ago
    A friend works in construction and they have details of how much materials each part of a construction needs. Most of it comes directly from the (not sure the name) SW they use to calculate the structure/ draw the plans.
    • andyfilms1 28 minutes ago
      I was going to say, I don't understand what this does that Revit doesn't already do better. I guess it's a fun demo, but I doubt this was a problem that needed solving.
  • jessehorne 2 hours ago
    The tool looks sick. I think the copilot vs black box approach is great. I found the demo to be enjoyable and satisfying to watch despite having no experience in the concrete estimation industry.

    This is out of my wheelhouse but had a couple of thoughts. When you clicked P1, it found all of them. What happens if it doesn't? This would have been good to see in the video.

    Also, I'm sure people familiar with these documents will have no trouble but was thinking it could be cool to do some effect to make references glow/be more noticeable at least temporarily when you are skipping around to them. Maybe some zoom controls too.

    Anyways, good luck!

  • so_it_be 22 minutes ago
    I'll show you how to get rich if tommorow goes bad, f*cking PE - I want VC.

    The UK sucks.

  • seebeen 1 hour ago
    If the AI miscalculates, and building crashes and people die - who is held responsible?
    • layer8 48 minutes ago
      The plans are the input here, not the output. The AI prepares cost estimates. It isn’t responsible for what is getting built.
  • afzalive 1 hour ago
    Looks like a useful tool but I don't know anything about construction.

    Love the transparent AI helper implementation though. I feel like you don't even need to say it's AI because it's so helpful but not in your face but maybe that's what people are searching for.

  • nzjrs 1 hour ago
    Horiffic
  • flyingmiata3303 35 minutes ago
    [flagged]
  • themuskgpt2025 1 hour ago
    No, very helpful, inshaAllah, thank you. Assalamualaikum.