The Contender’s Edge
The Contender’s Edge is a podcast for small to mid-sized construction companies that want to compete without playing the big company game. It breaks down how real builders use smart moves and technology to win work, protect margins, and stay in control. No theory, no buzzwords, just straight talk from people who’ve been in the field and know what it takes to level the field.
Episodes
Most contractors think their profit leaks live in materials, labour and change orders.
Leslie Dibling argues the bigger leak is the gap between what leadership thinks is
happening and what's actually happening on site. And that one never shows up on the PNL.
In this episode we get into what to do about it: empowering people without losing
control, defining roles so nobody's waiting on you to cut a P.O., getting HR into the
boardro...
Construction companies are struggling to find skilled workers, labour costs are climbing, and existing teams are being asked to carry more work.
So the natural response is to hire more people.
But what if part of the labour problem is hiding inside the way your company already works?
In this episode of The Contender’s Edge Podcast, SMARTBUILD Chief Customer Officer Vinay Nair breaks down what he hears from small and mid-sized...
Is AI useful in construction today, or are contractors being pushed to adopt tools before they know what to do with them?
In this episode of The Contender’s Edge Podcast, SMARTBUILD Chief Customer Officer Vinay shares what he is hearing directly from general contractors, subcontractors, project managers, superintendents, architects, and engineers who are trying to figure out w...
Learn why so many construction technology rollouts fail, and what general contractors, subcontractors, and construction leaders can do to make AI work in the field.
In this episode of The Contender's Edge Podcast, host Angelina Tadros sits down with John Lehmann, former President of Poole Anderson Construction, former Senior Vice President of Operations, and founder of the Construction Leadership Network (CLN).
With decades of expe...
Construction is still running on paper, spreadsheets, phone calls, and information buried across job sites.
In this episode of The Contender’s Edge Podcast, host Zulq sits down with Nick from Iron Shake Inc. to discuss the future of construction, skilled trades, AI, field technology, workforce training, and what construction company owners need to prepare for now.
Nick shares his path through the trades, why construction rema...
What separates construction companies that keep growing from the ones that hit a ceiling?
It usually isn't better equipment, bigger projects, or more experience. It's leadership.
In this episode of The Contender's Edge, host Zulq sits down with Zoe Dryden, a leadership coach and culture specialist from New Zealand, to discuss one of the biggest challenges facing construction business owner...
Cash flow problems don't usually start because contractors aren't making money. They start because they don't know where the money is going. In this episode of The Contender's Edge, host Zulq sits down with Bryce, a construction accounting expert, to break down one of the biggest reasons construction companies run into financial trouble: poor job costing, weak cash flow forecasting, delayed billing, and disconnected estimating syst...
What’s buried underground can put a project in trouble before the real work begins.
A missing utility record. A bad locate. An old city drawing no one has verified.
One missed line can lead to shutdowns, redesigns, claims, safety risks, and months of lost time.
On this episode of The Contender’s Edge, host Vinay Nair (CXO from SMARTBUILD Construction Solution) sits down with Lawrence Arcand, geotechnical engineer and fo...
What happens when the geotechnical report is wrong?
For contractors, project managers, developers, and owners, the most expensive problems on a construction project often start underground.
In this episode of Contender's Edge, Zulq Malik sits down with geotechnical and civil engineering expert Dawid Jasinski to discuss why poor site investigations lead to cost overruns, delays, claims, contaminated soil discoveries, utility conflic...
Most construction disputes don’t start in court.
They start with one contract clause nobody paid attention to until cash flow stops, schedules slip, and lawyers get involved.
In this episode of Contender’s Edge Podcast, Zulq sits down with construction attorney Megan Shapiro to break down one of the biggest hidden risks in construction contracts today: cross-default clauses.
Every construction project starts with a handshake and a schedule. Then the RFIs pile up, materials get delayed, schedules fall apart, and everyone starts pointing fingers.
In this episode of the Contender’s Edge Podcast, Zulq sits down with construction claims and dispute expert Richard Fogarasi to break down what actually causes construction disputes, delay claims, and project breakdowns on job s...
If you run a construction company and think leadership is about output, this episode will challenge you.
Shaun Dawson, President of GEN-PRO, breaks down what it takes to build a company that people stay at.
Not perks. Not talk. Genuine care for your crew.
From growing up in the business to taking over ownership, Shaun shares how leadership, health and safety, and mental health support directly impact retention, culture, and l...
Hiring in construction has become a new challenge for contractors. The talent pool has shifted, expectations around office culture and hybrid work are changing, and many companies are struggling to attract and retain the right people.
In this episode of The Contender’s Edge Podcast, Zulq Malik, founder and CEO of SMARTBUILD sits down with construction recruiters Jim DiVizio and Tania Sarracini to t...
Bad schedules. Poor documentation. Risk nobody priced right.
That’s how small and mid-size construction companies lose money.
In this episode of The Contender’s Edge Podcast, we sit down with Greg Holness (FTI Consulting), a Professional Engineer and attorney with 30+ years of experience helping clients manage change, mitigate risk, and resolve construction disputes involving de...
In this episode of the Contenders Edge Podcast, we sit down with Robert Sheesley, known as the Blue-Collar CIO, to break down why construction software fails and how adoption actually works in the field.
We talk about technology adoption in construction, why crews resist new tools, and what leaders must do to get buy-in from blue-collar teams. This episode covers change management, construction software ...
Cash flow is where most construction companies get hurt, even when jobs look profitable. In this episode of Contenders Edge, we sit down with Bryce Wisan, a CPA who has spent 15+ years inside construction accounting, to break down overbilling, revenue vs cash, and why money in the bank is not always yours. If you’re a GC or subcontractor who wants fewer surprises, better job costing, and tighter control over cas...
In this episode of Contenders Edge, we sit down with Nick from Iron Shake Inc, who started working construction at 13 because he didn’t want to do chores. He shares how real jobsite experience, not shortcuts, shaped his career and how he built his construction company by showing the work on Instagram. We talk trades vs school, learning fundamentals early, and why a digital presence now decides who gets the call....
Tech keeps trying to “fix” construction without knowing the jobsite.
Episode 1 is a real back-and-forth between a 30-year General Contractor and an AI nerd, voice notes vs forms, structure vs “say it and go,” and what actually holds up on site.
We get into the stuff you deal with every day, half-finished reports, photo dumps with no labels, getting pulled away mid-ta...
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