The job shouldn’t follow you home.
Too many contractors finish a full day in the field, then begin a second shift at the kitchen table: writing estimates, sending invoices, sorting through messages, and trying to remember what still needs attention.
They aren’t bad at business. They’re being asked to carry an entire business alone.
We built Dave to be the teammate behind the work.
Great contractors were doing two jobs.
One of Dave’s earliest users was Zak, an electrician. Around eight or nine at night, we’d sit beside him at his kitchen table as he turned details scattered across texts and notes into an estimate.
Zak showed us exactly where early versions of Dave slowed him down. We reworked how estimates come together: cost categories keep the scope clear, line items stay organized underneath, and accepted work can move into an invoice without being rebuilt. He could quote from his phone, send it to a real customer, and come back to Dave for the next job.
That became our way of building: watch how the work actually gets done, listen when Dave gets in the way, and make it better.
“I used to keep half the business in my head. With Dave, I know nothing is falling through the cracks.”
Dave wasn’t the first thing we built together.
We grew up together in Nanaimo. In high school, we sold pizzas. Later, we built a tool for processing insurance claims and nearly launched a Canadian distribution business for a Polish drink brand. Then we learned how hard freight and grocery distribution really are.
The ideas changed, but the habit stuck: find a real problem, build something useful, and let reality tell us whether to keep going.
Dave was different. Contractors didn’t just say it sounded useful. They put it to work on real jobs, came back, and showed us where it helped and where it got in the way. Jakeob leads those conversations. Derek leads product and engineering. We decide what comes next together.
Small trade businesses had been overlooked.
The idea for Dave grew out of a friendship Jakeob formed with a custom home builder while training for an Ironman. Those conversations led Jakeob and Derek to begin building a broad platform for general contractors.
But within the first year, the real gap came into focus.
Through hundreds of conversations with contractors, the builder’s subcontractors, and early users like Zak, we saw that smaller crews faced the same challenges with fewer people, less time, and software that rarely fit the way they worked. Dave still serves general contractors, but small trade businesses became the centre of our mission.
Contractors weren’t asking for a smaller version of traditional construction software. They wanted less setup, faster workflows they could use in the field, and help doing the work, not just another place to track it.
They didn’t need another system to manage. They needed another set of hands.
Software should do more than record what happened.
Most business software records the work, then leaves the owner to connect every step. Dave brings the work together. Today, contractors use it to create and send estimates, turn accepted work into invoices, collect payment, organize jobs, and follow up with customers.
AI already helps every Dave user create estimates through chat, draft customer messages, answer questions about the business, and organize job information. AI isn’t the point. It’s one way Dave can become a more capable teammate.
We’re building toward a Dave that notices when an estimate has gone quiet, an invoice is overdue, or a job is losing momentum. Dave should help decide what happens next and keep the work moving, while the owner remains in control.
That’s why we called it Dave. We never wanted it to feel like another platform to operate. We wanted it to feel like someone on the team: approachable, dependable, and ready to help.
Built with contractors, proven on real jobs
What we like most is how quickly we can create a clear, accurate estimate. Once the client accepts it, turning that estimate into an invoice is simple and saves us from re-entering the same information twice.
It’s been a game changer for my business. It’s extremely easy to use, straightforward, and doesn’t overcomplicate things like a lot of other software does. It’s clearly built with small businesses in mind, and it just works the way you need it to.
I use Dave to handle invoicing, estimating jobs, and keeping all my project details organized in one place. It has streamlined my landscaping business, making invoicing and quoting much faster and easier.
Having everything organized in one place instead of juggling emails and papers has been a big help. It’s simple to use and really keeps me on top of things.
Your workday should have an ending.
Put Dave to work on your next estimate, keep the job organized, and get paid without rebuilding the same information twice.
- Free 14-day trial
- No credit card required.