Skillit’s Framework for Building Trust in Construction: Converting Industry Skeptics into Power Users

Ten years ago, construction technology was considered deeply unsexy. In a recent episode of Category Visionaries, Skillit founder Fraser Patterson revealed how the industry’s perception has fundamentally shifted, and how his company built trust in a traditionally tech-skeptical market.

From Industry Outsider to Trusted Partner

Fraser’s journey reflects the industry’s evolution. “I came to New York and I founded my last startup which was a tech enabled kind of GC, nobody would admit that their family were in construction,” he recalls. “I would be raising money from VC’s and id be in like mahogany panel boardrooms on like Fifth Ave in New York and stuff. No one would mention that their brother, their dad was in construction.”

But times have changed dramatically. “Now almost everybody I encounter has a story about their family being from the trades,” Fraser notes. This shift in perception created an opening for technology solutions, but winning trust still required deep industry understanding.

Leveraging Insider Knowledge

Skillit’s breakthrough came from Fraser’s unique background as both “a carpenter and also a GC and also a math researcher and tutor.” This dual perspective helped them understand that traditional hiring methods weren’t working: “Historically we’ve pretty much ignored skilled trade workers. The best recruiter, if you will have on them is a kind of online business card.”

Their innovative assessment approach emerged from real industry experience. “As a former carpenter myself, I learned to ask really quick questions that were like, using knowledge as a leading indicator of skill,” Fraser explains. This insider understanding helped them build credibility with both workers and employers.

Building a Product People Trust

Rather than pushing technology for technology’s sake, Skillit focused on solving real industry problems. “I think what I care about the most is building at this stage a product that our customers love,” Fraser emphasizes. “I really believe that engagement and retention are fundamentally the most important growth engine we have.”

The platform gained trust by enabling natural industry relationships. Their system allows “recruiters to collaborate with one another and share with their subcontractors who have the same recruiting challenges,” creating value through existing industry connections rather than forcing new behaviors.

Proving Value Through Data

Trust in construction comes from demonstrated results. Skillit has accumulated “about 2.1 million proprietary skills, compensation and experience data points” directly from workers, creating what Fraser calls “extremely data rich, 360 degree profiles.” This comprehensive approach provides value that generic job boards can’t match.

The strategy has proven effective: 540% year-over-year customer growth, with worker adoption growing 1000% year-over-year. Perhaps most importantly, their core engagement metric – connections between customers and workers – “grew 400%” with “three quarters of those occurred in Q4.”

The Future of Construction Technology

Skillit’s success comes at a crucial time for the industry. With the need to “build 7 million housing units in the US” and tackle major infrastructure and climate challenges, construction technology is becoming increasingly essential. Unlike many knowledge workers worried about AI displacement, construction workers have job security: these roles “cannot be, by definition, automated anytime soon… They’re operating in unregularized environments.”

For B2B founders targeting traditional industries, Skillit’s approach to building trust offers valuable lessons. Success comes not from disrupting an industry, but from deeply understanding it and solving real problems in ways that respect existing relationships and workflows. By combining industry expertise with technological innovation, they’ve created what Fraser calls “a category of one” – a trusted partner in an industry traditionally skeptical of new technology.