It all started with a bong, a gas mask, and a Miami Dolphins team very much in need of offensive line help. Over they years, the Laremy Tunsil trade has given Miami so much joy but last weekend, that trade once again came to the forefront of the media headlines.

In 2021, the Dolphins, who held the number three overall pick from the Texans from that Tunsil trade, moved that selection to the 49ers. Miami would drop to 12 then move up to six and through the compensation of the 49ers deal, Miami netted three big-time starters.

Miami walked away looking fantastic and all three expect to be major contributors on this year’s team but for the 49ers who gave up two first-round picks to make the trade with Miami, drafted QB Trey Lance.

On Saturday last, the 49ers and Dallas Cowboys finished a trade that sent Lance to Dallas for a 4th round draft pick in 2024.

For most coaches and general managers, a trade of that magnitude with that level of failure would be met with pink slips. Not so for the 49ers because they at least found Brock Purdy in round 7 of last year’s draft.

While the 49ers are moving on from one of the biggest mistakes in NFL Draft history, the Dolphins are hoping that the three players they acquired as a result of that trade will put them over the top in 2023 and beyond.

Chris Grier may not be able to put the finishing touches on a Christian Wilkins contract or a Jonathan Taylor trade but he hit that trade out of the park. In the meantime, the player many Dolphins fans thought Miami should have drafted at three overall, Kyle Pitts, he is showing growth but has yet to take the major step that was expected in his first two seasons.

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Last year, Jonas Heineman was overseeing a  team of commercial project managers as they installed hundreds of electric vehicle charging stations. Heineman’s wife was also pregnant with their first child.

Given his busy days and evenings filled with planning for the couple’s growing family, the last thing that Heineman wanted was to spend his “off” hours managing yet another another construction project at his own Bay Area home. Even as he and his wife discussed renovating two older bathrooms, he knew himself well enough to acknowledge that, “I’m not going to design things. I didn’t want to go and source materials.” Then he stumbled across coverage of a San Francisco startup called Made Renovation that promised bathroom remodels “made easy.” Wanting exactly the kind of hand-holding it promised, he couldn’t believe his luck. Yet his enthusiasm would soon be squelched.

Founded in 2019, Made Renovation assures customers that it can transform their outdated bathrooms into showstoppers within months at an affordable price point. How? By inviting them to choose from a variety of templates, then pairing them with in-house project managers who help with required permits, assign contractors, order the required materials, and offer updates and assistance virtually until every renovation is complete.

It’s a compelling pitch, one that enabled Made Renovation to raise at least $31 million across two rounds of funding between 2020 and 2021 from investors Felicis, Founders Fund, Insight Partners, and actress-entrepreneur Jessica Alba among some others who liked its tech-driven approach.

The company also nailed a minimalist and highly popular aesthetic. A sleek website offers virtual tours of a dozen bathrooms, all with gleaming tiles, modern fixtures and magazine-worthy vanities. For its efforts, the company has attracted both customers and some glowing press. In 2021, in Made Renovation’s second year of operations, Architectural Digest wrote that the outfit was “primed to be the largest bathroom remodeler” and touted its digital tools for “more efficient project management, design renderings, and an improved pricing algorithm.”

Tech can only do so much, however, and Made Renovation’s promises of smoothly remade powder rooms have seemingly collided with the realities of construction complexities, turning some of its makeovers into anything but hassle-free endeavors. Says Heineman now of his own experience, “It was a joke.”

While promised project management, for example, Heineman says that Made Renovation later disbanded its project management team without alerting him and spun the cost-cutting development as a positive for customers. The company subsequently sent Heineman a downloadable “Self-Management Construction Support Guidebook” that he describes as a “thorough resource” and also beside the point of why he chose Made Renovation in the first place.

Other errors, delays, oversights, and cost overruns also became par for the course, judging by email correspondence seen by TechCrunch. One issue centered on a toilet that was shipped eight months late; Heineman says he was also sent faulty fixtures that he struggled to return, and lost the first general contractor who was sent by Made Renovation because this individual refused to take on the job for the agreed-upon amount of money.

Heineman didn’t blame him; instead, he asserts that it’s the fault of Made Renovation. “That’s why they end up with these subpar contractors,” he says. “The only people willing to take these jobs for a cut rate can’t do business development and suck at communicating with customers.”

Heineman isn’t alone in feeling like he was sold on a vision that dissipated as soon as he became Made Renovation’s customer. Airbnb employee Deanna Bjorkquist says she, too, was abruptly left to fend for himself when faced with the labyrinthine intricacies of permits, unexpected construction hurdles, and the logistical nightmare of warehousing materials. For example, Made Renovation didn’t launch her bathroom remodel until six months after she signed a contract with the company last October, stranding a new toilet in her living room in the interim.

She also says a general contractor assigned to her project refused to demolish her old bathroom, dismantling only the top half and moving forward only after she found and paid a separate drywall company to finish the job.

As with Heineman, a bevy of other problems ensued, says Bjorkquist, including payments made to Made Renovation that were not received by the people renovating her bathroom. She suggests that part of the problem ties to the fact that the contractor who was assigned to her home hired a subcontractor, as happened with Heineman. Further, she says she elected to use financing that was offered, then revoked, then reinstated again by Made Renovation through a third party, a stressful process during which she says she was warned that her credit might be damaged.

Her bathroom (pictured right) was still not complete as of late last month.

In fairness, Made Renovation is taking on an industry where few customers wind up fully satisfied, no matter the players involved. Further, its timing couldn’t be worse. To enable customers to check out its design ideas, it launched its very first storefront in a popular shopping district of San Francisco in February 2020. roughly one month before the pandemic caused most of the U.S. to shut down.

Presumably, materials were harder for the young company to access, too, owing to the broader supply chain issues that many manufacturing businesses experienced during this same period.

Asked several times to discuss some of his customers’ complaints, CEO Roger Dickey, did not to respond. Investors don’t have much to say, either. Felicis Partner Sundeep Peechu told TechCrunch late last month via email, “We are a small seed investor but honestly don’t know much since [I’m] not on the board and don’t get updates.” A query sent to Nikhil Sachdev, a Managing Director at Insight Ventures who led Made Renovation’s $23 million Series A round in 2021, has not been met with a response. Felicis lists Made Renovation on its website; the brand does not appear on the sites of either Insight Partners or Founders Fund.

Made Renovation wasn’t alone in springing up amid the national housing boom that ended last year, when interest rates began to quickly rise. Though most startups to form are marketplace businesses that connect designers and contractors to customers, another company to emerge around the same time as Made Renovation — with similar promises to make bathroom renovations easier and affordable — is Block Renovation. The Brooklyn-based business raised $104 million over a series of quick funding rounds between 2018 and 2021. Block has since expanded into kitchen remodels.

Both have been chasing what is expected to become an $80 billion market by 2027. But Made Renovation seems unlikely to see much of that market share if customer complaints continue to stack up.

On HomeAdvisor, a digital marketplace that connects service professionals with customers, Made Renovation has received half a star of five across seven reviews listed. Made Renovation is “[w]here dreams of great-looking bathroom remodeling and belief in seamless project management go to die,” writes one reviewer. “Absolute nightmare of an experience!” writes another.

Seventeen reviews post at the Better Business Bureau website are as uncharitable. Writes one reviewer: “I wish I read these reviews before we started the project with Made Renovation. It is exactly as it is described in previous reviews. All was going extremely well until we transferred money. After that it went downhill.”

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BOCA RATON, Fla., Aug 1, 2022 /PRNewswire/ — The Pulte Family, known in homebuilding for Bill Pulte’s experience inside of Pulte Homes now PulteGroup Inc, has completed a substantial investment in Los Angeles’s Fastest growing home services company, Absolute Airflow.

“Victor Rancour, Founder and CEO of Absolute Airflow, reminds me a lot of my grandfather and Founder of Pulte Homes, Bill Pulte. Like my grandfather Victor created his company with just a dream and one of his friends. Now four years later Absolute Airflow is one of the leading HVAC companies in Southern California,” said Bill PulteCEO of Pulte Capital and Former Independent Director of PulteGroup Inc.

“We are delighted to have The Pulte Family’s investment and substantial ownership in Absolute Airflow, as they have been tremendously helpful already, and we look forward to continuing to build this company with The Pulte Family,” said Victor Rancour, Founder of Absolute Airflow.

“When Bill Pulte founded Pulte Homes he was heavily involved in the daily operations of the company for 60 years. He always felt that a good founder and leader knew what was going on at every level of their company and they were willing to get their hands “Dirty right next to their employees when it was needed. Victor is known for doing this at Absolute Airflow. He goes out to jobsites regularly, knows every little detail of the job, and mentors his team extensively. The Pulte Family feels that with these qualities Victor and his team at Absolute Airflow will thrive while implementing parts of The Pulte Plan that Bill Pulte created as a playbook to run a successful business,” said a spokesperson for The Pulte Family

The Pulte Family may or may not disclose its sale of these securities and reserves the right to acquire more or dispose of said securities without notification.

(PRNews photo/The Pulte Family)

The Pulte Family

William J. “Bill” Pulte founded Pulte Homes, today PulteGroup Inc, in 1950 at age 18. Over the decades, Bill Pulte built Pulte Homes into The #1 USA home builder. In 2016, after retiring the first time, William J Pulte (1932-2018) and Bill Pulte (b. 1988), his grandson, successfully turned PulteGroup Inc around, even when non-business family members supported the failed Dugas Management Team versus the Pulte Homes Founder William J Pulte. Mr. Pulte (b. 1988) was a PulteGroup Director from 2016-2020. Bill Pulte’s Twitter Philanthropy became a giant success starting in June 2019, helping thousands of people and inspiring millions of people worldwide. Even after the passing of William J Pulte (1932-2018), their work together continues through a collection of Pulte founded organizations, including The Bill Pulte Foundation. The Pulte Family has multiple companies and investment vehicles.

See disclaimers for affiliated and unaffiliated organizations: PulteDisclaimers.com

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