As a project owner, the process of finding a qualified design team can be time consuming and tedious. As an architect or engineer, finding work can be difficult and frustrating. In today’s world, no project owner or A/E firm should be limited to the reach of whom they know. With more than 100,000 architecture and engineering firms in the U.S. alone and hundreds of thousands more companies that need their services, there is no reason to be limited by your Rolodex.
Out of this conundrum, PAEVEN was born. PAEVEN is a new service that connects project owners with architects and engineers. At its core is a strong belief that the current model of finding work through the “whom you know” mentality is outdated and inefficient. PAEVEN’s goal is to disrupt that mindset and allow architecture and engineering firms to compete for work based on their skill and experience level while giving project owners the ability to quickly and easily evaluate proposals on an apples-to-apples basis. Project owners can post design RFPs anonymously and solicit bids from an extensive pool of consultants. Architects and engineers are then able to anonymously bid on design RFPs. Project owners can evaluate bids based on a robust variety of selection criteria, allowing them to find the best overall fit for their specific project.
Unlike traditional tech companies founded by computer programmers in Silicon Valley, PAEVEN was created by architects and engineers who know the bidding and RFP process inside and out. Jared Perry, the founder of PAEVEN, is also an owner of a small architecture and engineering firm. Jared started his firm, Sixmo, with his business partner at the relatively young age of 27. As a young business owner and engineer, Perry felt he wasn’t given the same opportunities as others because of his perceived young age and, therefore, his assumed lack of experience. It was difficult to break into the “good ol’ boy” network that dominated the competitive A/E market. Despite these hurdles, Sixmo thrived and has grown 400 percent each year it has been in business.
Although Sixmo became successful, it was from these early growing pains as a new business owner that the idea of PAEVEN was conceived. PAEVEN is based on a strong belief in the power of competition. PAEVEN aims to ensure that A/E design work is distributed to people who can do the job well and have the correct qualifications for a given project, resulting in a fair and even playing field. A/E firms can easily search and filter through current RFPs to find work they are interested in. After bidding, these firms receive an actual percentage likelihood that they will win the job, based on the project owner’s selection criteria, helping firms predict backlog and plan for the future.
Technology is everywhere—almost. It’s about time we start using technology to streamline the architecture and engineering design RFP process. PAEVEN is setting out to prove that competition drives innovation. It’s time to find architects and engineers based on what they know and not who they know.