How Our High School Band Led To HVAC Software - Building HVAKR

Nov 13, 2025

Davis Muxlow and Andrew Krippner, co-founders of HVAKR, share their journey from college bandmates to HVAC software innovators. They discuss how they identified inefficiencies in legacy HVAC programs, emphasizing that faster product releases can hurt revenue. The duo explains the importance of intuitive UX in their platform and reflects on their experience with Techstars. They highlight unique marketing strategies like educational content and free resources to attract customers. Their goal? To streamline HVAC design and boost engineers' productivity!

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INSIGHT

Focus On Engineering, Not Drafting

HVACer focuses on engineering calculations (loads, airflows, coil sizing) rather than full drafting.
The product differentiates by packaging those steps into a modern, intuitive interface engineers learn quickly.

INSIGHT

Design Is The Product's Competitive Moat

The main innovation is UI/UX, not new math; clean workflows let interns be productive fast.
Good design drastically lowers trial friction and accelerates adoption across firms.

ADVICE

Run Guided Trials With Real Projects

Run structured trials with guided onboarding to minimize billable-hour loss for customers.
Teach users in a kickoff session so they can complete a real project during the trial window.

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From indie rock band to HVAC software startup—how's that for a pivot?

In today's episode of Bricks and Bytes, we had Davis Muxlow and Andrew Krippner from HVAKR and we got to learn about building construction tech from the ground up, the innovator's dilemma killing legacy software companies, and why making products faster might actually hurt your revenue... and many more!

Tune in to find out about:

✅ How a church worship team "audition" turned into a college band and eventually a software company

✅ Why legacy HVAC programs are making engineers slower despite new updates

✅ The double-edged sword of efficiency: one engineer now doing the work of three

✅ How AI is forcing SaaS companies to rethink their entire pricing model

These guys went from mechanical engineering students with a Slack channel full of startup ideas to building a product that's actually making their customers more productive.

The kicker? Their product works so well that customers need fewer seats. That's the kind of problem you want to have.

Our Sponsor:

Archdesk - “The #1 Construction Management Software for Growing Companies - Manage your projects from Tender to Handover” check archdesk.com

BuildVision - streamlining the construction supply chain with a unified platform - www.buildvision.io

Aphex is the multiplayer planning platform where construction teams plan together, stay aligned, and deliver projects faster – check out aphex.co

Chapters

00:00 Intro

03:19 The Musical Beginnings

05:20 From Bandmates to Entrepreneurs

09:13 The Path to HVACR

15:07 Building the Foundation of HVACR

19:02 The Accelerator Journey

25:10 The Product Unveiled

31:15 The Importance of Design in HVACR

35:18 Streamlining HVAC Design Processes

40:43 Design as a Differentiator

41:38 Innovative Pricing Models

44:35 Streamlining Sales Processes

48:12 Effective Trial Management

54:40 Customer-Centric Product Development

57:10 Building a Personal Brand

1:03:02 The Value of Transparency

1:04:13 Avoiding Common Mistakes in Product Design

1:09:25 Metrics of Success in Software Usage