Startups To Watch
On a car ride to Mexico for a charity project, Tanner Berry and Ryan Scott started casually chatting business. The two decided to try building something together — and from ideas like solar to brick-washing, they landed on exterior construction: siding, stucco, gutters, masonry and more. In 2023, WAV officially launched and now employs around 130 people. With almost 7,000% revenue growth from 2023 to 2024, WAV Exteriors is creating a construction tidal wave.
RYAN Tanner and I were neighbors, and we went to build a house in Mexico together for a family in need through a nonprofit called Rancho Feliz. On the car ride, we started talking about business, and Tanner was hungry and wanted to start something. I started another company in 2021, so I’m familiar with margins and the business side of things.
We started with a little brick-washing company called Happy Home and would wash the exterior after a completed project. We tested out our partnership; it’s really important to know each other’s strengths, and if you trust the person. I saw Tanner’s work ethic and knew we needed to take it to the next level.
At one point, Tanner said, “I’m an expert in exteriors. It’s what I do every day. I manage up to $10 million a year in projects with my other company, and I know I could do it here.”
TANNER We knew we were good partners, so we linked together and started in exteriors. We both have young kids and our time is cut short, so we were able to meet in Ryan’s basement on Tuesday nights after our kids went to bed. It became a place where we could focus on our business ideas and our future.
RYAN Early on, Tanner brought a whiteboard over and put it up in our playroom. We listed all the builders we had cold called, the jobs we had bid, and our probability of winning them. That board filled up in about a week. We were hammering the phones nonstop.
When you’re starting a business like this, your reputation is most important, and we didn’t know how to set ourselves apart from others. It’s B2B, so we’re servicing builders and general contractors. It’s hard to say to them, “Trust us with this million-dollar project,” if they’ve never heard of us. We had to formulate, “How do we pitch ourselves as a credible company and incentivize builders to trust us with these projects?” So, we offered discounts and low-balled the competition for the first projects to hopefully blow their expectations away, and we haven’t really lost any partners since we started.
TANNER We focus on treating our laborers fairly and paying them the exact footage that we have. I always felt that if we treated them fairly, we’d have good karma.
RYAN It has built loyalty. If you take care of your people, they’ll take care of you back.
One of the biggest contributors to our growth is partnering with a supplier from a plumbing company. He had relationships with a lot of general contractors, so we gave him commission on any work that he gave us. Because of that relationship, the supplier vouched for us, and we’ve gotten millions of dollars from that. My father-in-law, who’s a home builder, told me that you have to do these things well — get things done on time, have quality work and quality relationships — and they will keep you forever.
Partnership has been huge. My dad always said “Partnerships can either take the roof off your success potential or sink you faster than anything else.” You have to find someone who has strengths you don’t have. I knew nothing about construction. I wouldn’t be here if it weren’t for Tanner. We only partner with people we feel lucky to have.
TANNER When I was in my position, I was scared to jump. I didn’t have any money to start a company, I didn’t know how to set up an LLC or insurance. There are so many guys out there who are such experts in their trade that they could make so much more money if they just jumped and did their own thing.
RYAN We’ve gone from begging small general contractors for work, to working on projects with Ivory, Bonneville, and multi-million builds in Utah and Hawaii. We’re grateful for the builders who have worked with us up to this point.
“We’ve built a good relationship and we’re working on a few more custom homes with 10X Builders right now.”