"In my eyes an Entrepreneur is someone who can visualize something that is not there and then bring that vision to life"
Luke Fleury graduated from the University of Rhode Island in 2017 with a degree in Economics. Luke is a Rhode Island native and dedicated to supporting his community. Luke was a Real Estate Developer and General Contractor. During his time as the CEO of Fleury Properties, he noticed a need within the construction and real estate vertical. He was spending countless hours finding the lowest rates on projects or materials. This quickly turned into a tedious task.
This issue pushed him to find a solution to save time, money, and energy. With co-founder Case Olszewski, the two Rhode Island residents solved this major issue by consolidating legacy, manual, paper-heavy processes and bringing automation to construction in all aspects of the bidding process for everyone, anywhere in the world, anytime. Luke and Case are committed to building a marketplace to not only improve infrastructure but increase construction sales and provide access to more jobs.
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Table of Contents
Thank you so much for giving us your time! Before we begin, could you introduce yourself to our readers and take us through what exactly your company does and what your vision is for its future?
Luke Fleury: Dibbs was founded on the idea of creating a marketplace where buyers and sellers can find materials and services for projects more efficiently and at an affordable rate. While a lot of contractors are inundated with projects already, many have expressed a need for finding the correct materials for an affordable price and that fits their timeline. Searching and contacting various sellers often requires multiple searches if your project has more than one aspect. Other apps do not allow the same level of customization as Dibbs. Dibbs is disrupting the industry. We ensure productivity-based competition by letting your postings reach an entire network of contractors, suppliers, homeowners, and more. Dibbs allows users to buy or sell projects and materials in half the time.
The future of Dibbs is limitless. As the first all-in-one, automated bidding marketplace for the construction market, Dibbs plans to continue to grow and answer the needs of the construction industry.
NO child ever says I want to be a CEO/entrepreneur when I grow up. What did you want to be and how did you get where you are today?
Luke Fleury: From an early age, growing up in Newport Rhode Island, I have always loved the idea of building something spectacular that can bring people together and improve my community. My father played a big role in my desire to become an entrepreneur. As an insurance agent, my father created long-lasting connections throughout the New England area. He was well respected in the industry and seen in high regard by his peers. Being surrounded by these people from a young age pushed me to want similar success and become a thought leader in an industry that I was excited about.
I have always had an entrepreneurial mindset. During my time as a real estate developer and general contractor I have flipped 25 homes and had over 50 real estate transactions. The problem was that I was paying high interest on these projects and I knew that I needed to seek new financing options. I decided to join a local country club called the Aquidneck Club because I knew that it would connect me to a larger network of financiers and investors. While the membership did put me in touch with new connections, the conversations that I had with these members sparked new ideas and ultimately led me to creating a vision for Dibbs.
Tell us something about yourself that others in your organization might be surprised to know.
Luke Fleury: It may not come as a surprise to some, but the way I have found a lot of my success has been on the golf course. Golf has taught me valuable life lessons that I try to put into practice daily.
“Golf is the closest game to the game we call life. You get bad breaks from good shots; you get good breaks from bad shots- but you have to play the ball where it lies” – Bobby Jones
It sounds cheesy, I know, but I find this quote to be so relevant to our core values at Dibbs. I remind my company that success doesn’t happen overnight. We need to be consistent, be accountable, be patient, and committed.
Many readers may wonder how to become an entrepreneur but what is an entrepreneur? How would you define it?
Luke Fleury: In my eyes an Entrepreneur is someone who can visualize something that is not there and then bring that vision to life. Someone who is able to speak confidently and encourage others to act similarly. As an entrepreneur you have to fully believe in your product or service idea as you will be told no multiple times, by multiple people. It is important to believe in your ideas, yourself, and your team.
What is the importance of having a supportive and inclusive culture?
Luke Fleury: At Dibbs we have a fun, inclusive culture. We work mostly remote, but when in the office the vibe is always upbeat. We have weekly meetings to discuss what we are working on and how we can consistently improve. Having a company culture of trust and open communication facilitates accountability and fewer mistakes.
Startups are challenging in that there are always hundreds of things happening all at once, all of which impact our growth. At Dibbs, we value big thinking, accountability, integrity, passion, and adaptability. Our values define our culture and therefore impact our work environment. Having the support from our advisors has been extremely helpful and has instilled confidence amongst the team given their decades worth of combined trustworthy development and delivery of the most successful technology solutions in existence.
How can a leader be disruptive in the post covid world?
Luke Fleury: Covid has brought in a lot of unknowns to the business world. Dibbs was in the beginning stages of a business plan and for us it was important to think outside the box and also be understanding of the current climate and the issues people are currently facing. We know Covid will end but the question no one knows the answer to is when.
In order to be disruptive in the “post” covid world you need to have an understanding of how this pandemic has and continues to affect the industry you are in. Now more than ever, price is a determining factor for a lot of businesses. As prices continue to increase due to worldwide shortages, more and more people want to shop around and save where they can. Our company has allowed many suppliers, contractors, and homeowners to find what they’re looking for at a more affordable price.
As a business owner, you need to see this change in buyer behavior and adapt as needed. Being aware of the surrounding environment and how that affects your business and demographic is how you will continue to be successful.
If a 5-year-old asked you to describe your job, what would you tell them?
Luke Fleury: Do you know what Bob the Builder and Sammy the Electrician do? They build houses! There are a lot of other people who also help build homes and buildings but they need to work with each other in order to build the best buildings. My job is to bring those people together so that they can build faster and better, that way, more families just like yours can have the home of their dreams for the price they want!
Share with us one of the most difficult decisions you had to make for your company that benefited your employees or customers. What made this decision so difficult and what were the positive impacts?
Luke Fleury: At Dibbs, I made the decision early on that I wanted to ensure that our first investors and first employees were able to maximize the value gained from their investment of money and time in our company to the fullest extent. That is why I made sure to structure our company and equity grants to benefit those people. We have spent so much time, energy, and creative thinking into designing our solution and I want to make sure that everyone who has believed in us from the beginning is taken care of.
I think in business when you have people who truly believe in you and the product, you need to be selfless and do things that will ultimately help those that believed in you from the beginning.
Leaders are usually asked about their most useful qualities but let’s change things up a bit. What is your most useless talent?
Luke Fleury: A tough question – I am sure I have a few but the one I can think of right now is that I can wiggle my ears. It sounds ridiculous saying out loud but it doesn’t benefit any aspect of being a leader at my company. I suppose it’s a good conversation starter!
Thank you so much for your time but before we finish things off, we do have one more question. If you wrote a book about your life until today, what would the title be?
Luke Fleury: Based on how I look to run my business and the challenges that we face daily I would say the title of my book would be – “Challenging the Status Quo”
Jed Morley, VIP Contributor to ValiantCEO and the host of this interview would like to thank Luke Fleury for taking the time to do this interview and share his knowledge and experience with our readers.
If you would like to get in touch with Luke Fleury or his company, you can do it through his – Linkedin Page
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