Construction Hot Takes

About Construction Hot Takes

Hosted by Adam Cooper, CEO of Ascent Consulting, alongside Senior Consultants Gregory Gorman and Jeff Robertson, Construction Hot Takes show dives into the gritty, unfiltered realities of building a profitable construction company. With nearly 100 years of combined experience, they’ve been there—from carrying gear on job sites to leading Ascent, a consulting powerhouse that exclusively serves construction companies across North America. Each episode is packed with insights, strategies, and insider knowledge from the industry’s top consulting firm for contractors. Discover what big national contractors know about growing a business, get actionable advice on boosting efficiency, and learn how to supercharge your project pipeline. Tune in, get inspired, and gain the knowledge to take your construction business to the next level.

Publisher

Ascent Consulting

Category

business · business

Language

en

Explicit

No

First episode

11 Oct 2024

Latest episode

29 Oct 2026

Latest episodes

65 episodes in the feed.

1. 

   29 Oct 2026

   Changing Software in Construction: Early Adopters, Fence Sitters & Resistors

   When a company invests in a major technology transformation, buys the new system, and spends the money, but nothing actually changes, the problem may never have been the software at all. More often than not, the real issue is people or process, and the company ended up changing the wrong thing. In this episode of Construction Hot Takes, Adam Cooper, Greg Gorman, and Jeff Robertson react to Greg's recent LinkedIn post on what it really takes to transform a business, along with the thoughtful comments it sparked. The conversation centers on a simple idea: transformation is rarely about one thing. It is the work of untangling people, processes, and technology that have drifted out of alignment over time, and a change to any one of them ripples through the rest of the organization. The hosts talk through why transformation is never really finished, what companies like Kodak and Nokia teach us about the cost of standing still, and why so many software rollouts fail even when the implementation itself goes smoothly. They also break down the three camps you'll find in almost every company (the early adopters, the fence sitters, and the resistors) and explain why choosing the right champions early can make or break a change effort. Later in the episode, they respond to a listener who challenges the premise entirely, arguing that transformation should start with what the organization is trying to achieve. They also discuss how workarounds and homegrown tools quietly become the real process when nobody designs it on purpose. As one of the hosts puts it, your system works exactly the way it was designed, whether you meant it to or not, so it pays to turn the light on before you start moving the furniture.

2. 

   22 Oct 2026

   Everything You Need to Know About Procore | Before Procore Groundbreak

   To gear up for Procore Groundbreak, we pulled every Procore conversation from Construction Hot Takes into one video: whether Procore is right for your company, how to get value after you buy it, the integration headaches we see with real clients, and where the market is going. These are clips from past episodes. If one grabs your attention, the full episode is linked below. Chapters: 00:00 (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZAQvMIsjbHM) – Intro: The Procore Supercut 00:23 (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZAQvMIsjbHM&t=23s) – Is Procore Right for Your Company? (Ep. 3) 10:05 (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZAQvMIsjbHM&t=605s&pp=0gcJCWMAwfN6Pr3D) – So You Bought Procore. Now What? (Ep. 11) 15:40 (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZAQvMIsjbHM&t=940s) – New Software Gone Wrong: An E-Signature Integration Story (Ep. 46) 17:45 (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZAQvMIsjbHM&t=1065s) – Procore, Sage & Kojo: When the Data Won't Flow (Ep. 46) 22:15 (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZAQvMIsjbHM&t=1335s) – Mapping Your Data Flow Before You Pick an ERP (Ep. 46) 23:25 (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZAQvMIsjbHM&t=1405s) – Can AI Fix AP Invoice Matching? (Ep. 46) 28:15 (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZAQvMIsjbHM&t=1695s) – Best in Class vs. Best in Breed (Ep. 46) 29:05 (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZAQvMIsjbHM&t=1745s) – New Construction Tech and Procore's Place in the Market (Ep. 46) 33:00 – Wrap-Up Full episodes in this supercut: Ep. 3 – The Truth About Procore:   (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=f3isrR_ooOM) (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=f3isrR_ooOM)• The Truth About Procore: Is It Right for Y...  (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=f3isrR_ooOM) Ep. 11 – So You Bought Procore—Now What?:   (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JfaKvRD0Jl0) (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JfaKvRD0Jl0) • So You Bought Procore for Your Constructio...  (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JfaKvRD0Jl0) Ep. 46 – New Software Gone Wrong:   (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pPcqxr-QQPU) (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pPcqxr-QQPU) • New Software Gone Wrong: Construction's Bi...  (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pPcqxr-QQPU) Procore playlist:   (https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLUZEf311F1KA) (https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLUZEf311F1KA) • Procore Insights  (https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLUZEf311F1KA) Procore Isn't Broken, It's Just Not Built Around You Yet: https://blog.ascentconsults.com/proco... (https://www.youtube.com/redirect?event=video_description&redir_token=QUlxb01IWWQtWEhDbkRoYUJQMENOcS13eEEtY3xBSTVJdTV0SmVteHMzeWlCczBOQzJzUGxGNEFRQ1RsN29nQmlib1YweWcyZ3lyaURudXh3emt3djN5OFYwYi1JMXpXeFFXUU9DT1BOeGtkeUdCelo2RGFOZFlMNDVFelBTRTNl&q=https%3A%2F%2Fblog.ascentconsults.com%2Fprocore-isnt-broken-its-just-not-built-around-you-yet&v=ZAQvMIsjbHM) Build a business that runs without you: https://ascentconsults.com/build-it-b... (https://www.youtube.com/redirect?event=video_description&redir_token=QUlxb01IWnFDMnk3OXlpOGcyNTRDSS1XUi01TXxBSTVJdTV0bFoyUTVES0g0TU1Jdk5DeVdVejJPRlFhdDJDTDRlUWFiQlFfNVdEeWU1N2s4M1ZrWm1QSTZRRkdlaVB5Q1ZURmN5YXpTU1RyQ3hZNFdCZjl4QVVQc1VVMXltNFlQ&q=https%3A%2F%2Fascentconsults.com%2Fbuild-it-better-ebook%2F&v=ZAQvMIsjbHM) Check out all the Construction Hot Takes episodes on the Ascent website!: https://ascentconsults.com/constructi... (https://www.youtube.com/redirect?event=video_description&redir_token=QUlxb01IYnNEV3l6Nk9ySDBvRFZXRm5RRW1FSnxBSTVJdTVzdjFObHB4ZWw0T1hqMmtGU0FfQ1o2Sm5oMjhfSXhwZVNTWmtUbGF1d3d4VjVHUzVqZ1pvSUZCWDJPbFo5Y0FLNFd0WEQ5S2ttNXNUYlJibXB0YzZvYmJQZDQtci1H&q=https%3A%2F%2Fascentconsults.com%2Fconstruction-hot-takes-podcast%2F&v=ZAQvMIsjbHM) Follow Ascent Consulting on: LinkedIn:   (https://www.youtube.com/redirect?event=video_description&redir_token=QUlxb01IYVlBVWlpNVFPQWE3bEpTYzBkYWZSeXxBSTVJdTV1SUd3amc2NmhNOHY0V243LUxEMjlyZHRZdXhZVnlpMFVNWFBZTTF3MGRzTDVqaWJjNmd4MHZWWTBiWXo0cXdfZHdoU29IMjBTQ2l3enpLVHYzNy04eEJwNW4yeFdT&q=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.linkedin.com%2Fcompany%2Fascent-consulting-inc-%2F&v=ZAQvMIsjbHM) (https://www.youtube.com/redirect?event=video_description&redir_token=QUlxb01IYVlBVWlpNVFPQWE3bEpTYzBkYWZSeXxBSTVJdTV1SUd3amc2NmhNOHY0V243LUxEMjlyZHRZdXhZVnlpMFVNWFBZTTF3MGRzTDVqaWJjNmd4MHZWWTBiWXo0cXdfZHdoU29IMjBTQ2l3enpLVHYzNy04eEJwNW4yeFdT&q=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.linkedin.com%2Fcompany%2Fascent-consulting-inc-%2F&v=ZAQvMIsjbHM) (https://www.youtube.com/redirect?event=video_description&redir_token=QUlxb01IYVlBVWlpNVFPQWE3bEpTYzBkYWZSeXxBSTVJdTV1SUd3amc2NmhNOHY0V243LUxEMjlyZHRZdXhZVnlpMFVNWFBZTTF3MGRzTDVqaWJjNmd4...)

3. 

   1 Oct 2026

   Is Buyout Just a Nicer Word for Shorting Your Subs?

   Is buyout just a nicer word for shorting your subs? Sometimes, but it doesn’t have to be. Buying the work competitively is the job, and it crosses a line when a GC takes a project without enough money in it and pushes the shortfall down to the trades. If you are a subcontractor who has watched a buyout call land on your margin, or a project manager handed a fee that you cannot see a path to, this is the conversation both sides usually have separately. In this episode, Greg Gorman, Adam Cooper, and Jeff Robertson react to the comments a clip on bidding drew, take the sub's side and the GC's side honestly, and get into contingency, scope, and why the worst job on your books is often the one you won and should not have. Here is the TikTok video source for the comments: ‘Buyout and the Subs’: https://www.tiktok.com/@construction.hottakes/video/7664578504482163981 (https://www.tiktok.com/@construction.hottakes/video/7664578504482163981) Build a business that runs without you: https://ascentconsults.com/build-it-better-ebook/  (https://ascentconsults.com/build-it-better-ebook/%20) Chapters: 00:00 - Introduction & General Conditions Budgeting 01:46 - Reading Online Comments on Buyout Strategies 03:12 - Strategic Budgeting & Subcontractor Margins 06:50 - Market Dynamics & Sustainable Bidding Practices 03:26 - Closing Remarks & Producer Summary Markup and Margin: The Math Matters: https://blog.ascentconsults.com/markup-and-margin  (https://blog.ascentconsults.com/markup-and-margin%20) For strategic business planning and margin discipline: https://ascentconsults.com/strategic-business-planning/  (https://ascentconsults.com/strategic-business-planning/%20) Greg Gorman:https://www.linkedin.com/in/gregory-gorman-hern%C3%A1ndez-mba-115ba34//  (https://www.linkedin.com/in/gregory-gorman-hern%C3%A1ndez-mba-115ba34//%20) Adam Cooper: https://www.linkedin.com/in/adamcooper/  (https://www.linkedin.com/in/adamcooper/%20) Jeff Robertson: https://www.linkedin.com/in/jeffrobertson72/  (https://www.linkedin.com/in/jeffrobertson72/%20) Check out all the Construction Hot Takes episodes on the Ascent website!: https://ascentconsults.com/construction-hot-takes-podcast/  (https://ascentconsults.com/construction-hot-takes-podcast/%20) Follow Ascent Consulting on: LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/company/ascent-consulting-inc-/  (https://www.linkedin.com/company/ascent-consulting-inc-/%20) Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/ascentconsult  (https://www.facebook.com/ascentconsult%20) Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/ascentconsults/  (https://www.instagram.com/ascentconsults/%20) Follow the Construction Hot Takes Podcast on: Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/constructionhottakespodcast/  (https://www.instagram.com/constructionhottakespodcast/%20) TikTok: https://www.tiktok.com/@construction.hottakes  (https://www.tiktok.com/@construction.hottakes%20) #Construction #Preconstruction #Subcontractors

Reach and audience

Public platform figures. Ratings count people who left a rating, not total listeners.

YouTube views

5,198

Score snapshot 15 Sept 2025

Apple Podcasts (US)

5.0 / 5

5 ratings

Spotify

5.0 / 5

1 ratings

Podcast Authority Score: 25 / 100

A composite of feed quality, social presence, YouTube performance and engagement. Read the methodology.

Quality

11

Social presence

0

YouTube

68

Engagement

32

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