Shows / Build Better with Matt Vetter
Build Better with Matt Vetter
Build Better is the podcast for operators running real construction and development businesses. Hosted by Matt Vetter, President of Schafer Construction, the show covers what actually moves the needle: leadership, accountability, hiring, scaling, and decision-making under pressure. No consultants. No theory. No fake-inspirational fluff. Real conversations with the owners, developers, and leaders building America's commercial and industrial projects. If you run a construction company or care…
Episodes
- Build Better with Matt Vetter
We Force Our Subs to Be Our Banks
Recorded on location in Tampa with Scott Peper (CEO, Mobilization Funding) and Herb Sargent (Board Chair,Sargent Corporation), co-authors of Field Tested…
- Build Better with Matt Vetter
Episode 31: The Design-Build Lie
Most of what gets sold as Design-Build is Design-Bid-Build wearing a costume. Matt breaks down the difference between architect-led and true Design-Build, why…
- Build Better with Matt Vetter
Episode 30: Three Hats Is Borderline Stupid
The Denver recap. Three days locked in a boardroom with my board of advisors, six owners who can't get out of their own seats. I'm wearing three hats on our…
- Build Better with Matt Vetter
You Don't Have a Business. You Have a Job With Overhead.
Matt is not dead. He was sick, traveling, and busier than he has been in a long time, and the show went quiet for about a month. In this short comeback…
- Build Better with Matt Vetter
Episode 28: • The Building You Did Not Build Is the Most Expensive One You Own
Waiting for construction costs to come back down is themost expensive decision an owner can make. Labor is a demographic problem, not a cyclical one. A market…
- Build Better with Matt Vetter
Episode 27: You Don't Have a Board. You Have An Audience.
Eight construction company owners. None of them work for me. None of them can fire me. All of them have seen my financials. Next week I fly to Denver to spend…
- Build Better with Matt Vetter
Episode 26: Hiring Interns Is Not Helping the Industry
Tomorrow I write a check for $20,000 to the Southeast Michigan Construction Academy, to be cut up into scholarships for people entering trade school. I do not…
- Build Better with Matt Vetter
Episode 25: The Bill Came 12 Months Later
Twelve months before I lost my temper on a phone call, I made the decision that actually caused the problem. A hire made out of desperation. A client who was a…
- Build Better with Matt Vetter
Episode 24: You Do Not Have a Time Problem: Bill Reiman on Building a Team That Buys It Back
Bill Reiman did not inherit RK Reiman Construction. He earned it, over roughly twenty years, and he and his brother onlybecame owners three years ago. In this…
- Build Better with Matt Vetter
Episode 23: Nobody Wants to Be The Guy
One Friday, three business lessons. Matt recaps the 2026 Schafer Summer Smash: why an awkward company party means you are still growing, why culture is who…
- Build Better with Matt Vetter
Episode 22: You Step Off the Curb, You Get Hit by a Beer Truck!
Jeff Lomber spent 23 years as an employee at Acme Enterprises before giving the owner an ultimatum, sketching a deal on the back of a napkin in Vegas, and…
- Build Better with Matt Vetter
Episode 21: Nobody Gets Past Her!
Heather Krill did not apply for a job here. She researched us, decided this was where she wanted to work, knocked on the door, and was told we were not hiring…
- Build Better with Matt Vetter
Episode 20: Every Visionary Needs Somebody to Kill the Bad Ideas
Anne-Abel Smith wanted a job that wasn’t posted. So she messaged Jozef Melaj on LinkedIn. Then again. Then again. He finally caved and hired her as an office…
- Build Better with Matt Vetter
Episode 19: The Struggle IS the Thing
Recorded on the porch the Sunday after the Fourth. A sold-out Build Better Foundation Golf Outing, a grandfather’s 95th birthday up north, and a jobsite tour…
- Build Better with Matt Vetter
Episode 18: It’s Not Trades OR College | Steve Turner of Bring Back the Trades
Steve Turner woke up on August 17, 2017 with an idea: put four words on a baseball cap. Bring Back the Trades. Nine yearslater, he’s running Skills Expos…
- Build Better with Matt Vetter
Episode 17: The Contractor's Eye Never Closes
Just got back from the best vacation of my life - and the contractor brain never shut off for a single day. In this solo episode Matt Vetter walks through what…
- Build Better with Matt Vetter
Episode 16: Keith Ledbetter: Data Centers, Trade Schools, and the Detroit Blue Ribbon
Keith Ledbetter took over ABC Southeastern Michigan ten years ago when the organization was getting threatening letters from the bank's attorney. Today he runs…
- Build Better with Matt Vetter
Episode 15: Mailbag: Architects, Hiring Mistakes, Contech BS, Test Days & Gas Station Sandwiches
A different kind of episode this week — the first Build Better mailbag. Five questions I get asked all the time, batched into one show. Matt covers what he…
- Build Better with Matt Vetter
Episode 14: Discipline is Cheaper than Excuses
Welcome to Build Better. I didn’t start at the top. I started on job sites. I worked my way through the roles, learned the business from the inside out, and…
- Build Better with Matt Vetter
Episode 13: Building a Culture That Feels Like Family | Heather Ruby of ARC Engineering Solutions
Welcome to Build Better. I didn’t start at the top. I started on job sites. I worked my way through the roles, learned the business from the inside out, and…
- Build Better with Matt Vetter
Episode 12: Stop Bamboozling People Into The Trades | Karly Hoehn
Welcome to Build Better. I didn’t start at the top. I started on job sites. I worked my way through the roles, learned the business from the inside out, and…
- Build Better with Matt Vetter
Episode 11: The Prison You Built with Bryce Harem
Welcome to Build Better. I didn’t start at the top. I started on job sites. I worked my way through the roles, learned the business from the inside out, and…
- Build Better with Matt Vetter
Episode 10: 5 Brutal Truths About Running a Construction Company
Welcome to Build Better. I didn’t start at the top. I started on job sites. I worked my way through the roles, learned the business from the inside out, and…
- Build Better with Matt Vetter
Episode 9: The Third Day
Welcome to Build Better. I didn’t start at the top. I started on job sites. I worked my way through the roles, learned the business from the inside out, and…
- Build Better with Matt Vetter
Episode 8: Shoot Your Shot
Welcome to Build Better. I didn’t start at the top. I started on job sites. I worked my way through the roles, learned the business from the inside out, and…
- Build Better with Matt Vetter
Episode 7: Bet on Yourself with Jozef Melaj
Welcome to Build Better. I didn’t start at the top. I started on job sites. I worked my way through the roles, learned the business from the inside out, and…
- Build Better with Matt Vetter
Episode 6: Built on Relationships with Dillon Mitchell
Welcome to Build Better. I didn’t start at the top. I started on job sites. I worked my way through the roles, learned the business from the inside out, and…
- Build Better with Matt Vetter
Episode 5: KILL WHAT YOU EAT with Dimitri Sidiropoulos
Welcome to Build Better. I didn’t start at the top. I started on job sites. I worked my way through the roles, learned the business from the inside out, and…
- Build Better with Matt Vetter
Episode 4: Navigating Growth
Welcome to Build Better. I didn’t start at the top. I started on job sites. I worked my way through the roles, learned the business from the inside out, and…
- Build Better with Matt Vetter
Episode 3: Scaling Your People
Welcome to Build Better. I didn’t start at the top. I started on job sites. I worked my way through the roles, learned the business from the inside out, and…
- Build Better with Matt Vetter
Episode 2: Acclimation Is How Standards Die
Welcome to Build Better. I didn’t start at the top. I started on job sites. I worked my way through the roles, learned the business from the inside out, and…
- Build Better with Matt Vetter
Episode 1: Welcome to Build Better
Welcome to Build Better. This is the first episode of the podcast, and I’m setting the tone for what this show is about. I didn’t start at the top. I started…