The Story of Part3: Building the Operating System for Modern Architecture

The Story of Part3: Building the Operating System for Modern Architecture

Starting a company in May 2020 might seem like questionable timing. But for Part3, the global pandemic created an unexpected catalyst for transformation in one of technology’s most traditional industries. In a recent episode of Category Visionaries, founder Jack Sadler shared how Part3 is reshaping how architects and engineers manage construction projects.

A Partnership Built on Complementary Expertise

Part3’s origin story isn’t your typical Silicon Valley tale. It began with a marriage – literally. Jack, with his background in product management and technology, and his wife Jess, deeply embedded in the construction industry for a decade, saw an opportunity to combine their expertise. The couple added a third co-founder, Corey, creating what Jack playfully calls “a marriage of three.”

“We’ve done everything in the challenging way,” Jack explains. “Doing long distance relationship and then to starting a business just felt like the next most natural challenge to take on.” This unconventional founding team brings together deep industry knowledge with technical expertise – a combination that would prove crucial for their success.

Finding Opportunity in Crisis

When COVID-19 hit, it seemed like the worst possible time to start a company. But paradoxically, the pandemic created the perfect conditions for innovation in construction technology. “I feel like it would probably go down in history as a year when I would guess we saw more startups started than ever before,” Jack notes.

The construction industry, traditionally resistant to change, was suddenly forced to adapt. “We saw in the construction industry where its notoriously difficult to get people to change what they do, people suddenly adopting things like cloud based software and chat tools like teams and slack and Zoom and conferencing tools,” Jack recalls. This shift eliminated what had been a major barrier – educating customers about cloud security and adoption.

Creating a New Category

Rather than competing in the crowded space of contractor-focused software, Part3 identified an underserved market: the architects and engineers who oversee construction projects. The company’s name itself reflects this focus – it’s derived from the Ontario Association of Architects’ term for the construction administration phase.

The market response has been impressive. Part3 secured their first customer in November 2020, and by 2022, they had increased their top-line revenue by 6x. In 2023, they achieved 2.5x growth and maintain a remarkable one-third close rate on qualified opportunities. Perhaps most tellingly, they’ve achieved 175% net revenue retention – meaning existing customers significantly expand their usage over time.

The Future: Transforming How Architects Work

Part3’s vision extends far beyond simply digitizing existing processes. Currently, as Jack explains, “90% of what they do is documents, 10% is data. The opportunity is to flip that. The opportunity is to provide this entire industry something that looks 90% data, 10% documents just moving around after the fact.”

This transformation could fundamentally change how architects work. “An architect spends a lot of time becoming a lawyer or an accountant or a project manager on any given day, and that shouldn’t be the case,” Jack observes. “We just want to free him up, get him back to design.”

Looking ahead, Part3 aims to become the operating system for architects and engineers, helping them manage and build all aspects of their projects. By integrating intelligence into their workflow, they’re not just digitizing processes – they’re augmenting teams and eliminating manual administration, allowing design professionals to focus on what they do best: design.

The construction industry is experiencing its fintech moment, with new innovations emerging rapidly. In this landscape, Part3 is positioning itself not just as another construction tech company, but as the essential platform that connects all the professionals involved in bringing architectural designs to life. It’s a vision that could transform how buildings are designed and built – one architect at a time.