Truebeck Construction

A strong, authentic culture is more important than ever. I value the openness, excitement and fun in our work environment.

We don’t hire people just based on their education and skillset, their values and character are a bigger part of it.

The construction industry gives me the opportunity to work with a diverse group of people and a variety of projects, while experiencing one of the oldest crafts around.

Most of my early career consists of managing construction projects for worldwide life science companies. Having the talent and technical expertise to build this market sector has been a big differentiator for Truebeck.

Our biggest opportunity is to separate ourselves from the competition with the most innovative, effective ways to manage the construction process from beginning to end.

EDUCATION

Colorado State University
BS, Construction Management

EDUCATION
Metropolitan State University
BS, Business
 

The road to my profession was full of roundabouts and forks in the roads. I started in engineering, switched to psychology, almost became a math teacher, and finally decided on a degree in business.

Business planning and service are two of the most important things to me in business.

Growing up, sports united my family. It was one of the things we did together, and is still part of the fabric of my family.

You are only as good as your weakest link. Train and coach all levels of your team and organization.

I love the feeling of being at the start of something big. You can see it coming, and you get to take care of the things that no one sees.

In my past life, I was CFO of several casino resorts – there’s nothing like opening night in the casino business. After all the planning and work to get the place financed and built, the days spent testing the equipment, the millions of dollars of cash counted, the teams of hundreds trained…it’s the busiest and most exciting time of all. On multiple occasions, I worked 36 hours straight and absolutely loved it.

My grandmother taught me this: Nobody said life was fair. Early on I learned what you can control and what you can’t control. It goes for life, business and leadership – don’t dwell on the past, take responsibility, learn the lesson, and get moving to the next challenge.

EDUCATION
Santa Clara University
B.S. Civil Engineering

My first real job was at 16 years old working at a children’s coat manufacturer in San Francisco. My father delivered their freight, and so when the shop needed help, I helped.

The Bay Area is home. I grew up here, and went to college here. I have really never left. As a kid I spent a lot of time in the SoMa and Mission Bay warehouses with my Dad. The landmarks are still the same, but everything in between is different.

Pride, honor, respect, and effort – each of these can propel you to success or cause your downfall. Used together correctly they can generate very powerful results.

EDUCATION

Santa Clara University
BS, Civil Engineering

My grandparents taught me about hard work and good food. When I was 12, on weekends, I would help them cook and cater at their Slavonic cultural center.

Loyalty, caring, and a drive to never give up – these were instilled in me by my mother’s character. I have my mom to thank for giving me the best opportunities to grow, be challenged and succeed.

My grandfather’s garage was the start of my love for building. I spent summers building toys — cars, helicopters — from scrap materials. His favorite was a chopper I made; he kept it for decades.

Everything comes from hard work. Own your character. It’s all about relationships.

Employee development is one of the most important things in business. You’re only as good as the team working with you. If you want to be great you have to surround yourself with great people.

Truebeck’s culture is like no others. Steve Jobs refused to change his company’s culture as they grew— so shall we.

I’m more confident now than I was 10 years ago. I feel empowered to make a difference and contribute to the success of our company. I can be me. My friends would tell you I’m happy, loyal and spontaneous. I value integrity above all.

We really can build anything. Our biggest opportunity is leveraging the success of our extraordinary projects. The structural, architectural, and technological feats that are awe-inspiring.

Our leadership comes from an era that embraces technology. We understand we have to innovate and evolve. Technology does not live in its own silo. Innovation spans departments— we are all responsible for continuous improvement.

When I drive into work every morning, I’m most excited about working with my precon team — I could not ask for a better group of people to work with. Hardworking, diligent, the best of the best. These people are not back-of-house resources; they’re our future chief estimators.

Leadership qualities are inherent. Still, you can learn a great deal from mentors and other admirable leaders that can only make you more compassionate and effective. I have many mentors, and I have taken the best from each of them. Gary Walz — how to treat those around you and the importance of ethics; Mike Strunsky — the passion for building and “There’s a great deal more to life than bricks and mortar”; Joe Francini —always be prepared; and Sukmander Singh — engineering integrity and every life lesson can be summarized in a classic Monkey story.

I am a Bay Area native, born in Sunnyvale, when Sunnyvale consisted mostly of orchards surrounding semiconductor companies.

My parents were my best teachers. They taught me the importance of hard work, family and integrity. Today, integrity and work ethic are the most important values to me in business.

I went to Cal Poly as an architectural engineer. I liked math and design, which guided me to picking my major. After a few years, I switched to civil engineering because it provided a wide-range of potential careers, and at 19, I still hadn’t figured out what I wanted to do.

In my third internship, I worked on a large concrete construction project. I enjoyed being in the dirt with pile drivers, laborers, and carpenters, and using my technical engineering training to solve problems. For the first time, I felt I had found something I could do for the rest of my life.

Construction is dynamic and fun. No matter how much advanced planning you do, everyday challenges are inevitable. Solving problems makes construction an adventure. I love that.

I was more of a risk taker 10 years ago. Today I’m more cautious, more studied. My leadership style has evolved. I used to be involved in the tactical day-to-day, but now I can empower really smart people to do their best work and lead their teams to victory.

Truebeck is home to tremendous talent. Our talented builders bring The Big E’s — effort, energy and enthusiasm — to always work hard at finding the right solutions. These characteristics define us and determine our long-term success.

EDUCATION

California Polytechnic State University
BS, Civil Engineering

CERTIFICATIONS

USGBC Accredited Professional

 Accredited Professional

Design Build Institute of America

EDUCATION
Santa Clara University
B.S. Civil Engineering
 

Early in my career I learned to always be honest and upfront even when the news isn’t favorable. I value a strong moral foundation. You can always teach X’s and O’s, but you can’t teach character.

My greatest teachers are my parents: my mom was an elementary school teacher and my dad was a career Air Force man. From them, I learned the importance of hard work, honesty and treating everyone with respect.

With a father in the Air Force, my family moved around a lot, so I learned to get along with different people from all walks of life. Maryland, Alaska, D.C., Texas, Virginia, New Jersey, Alabama, California, Oregon. Those experiences afforded me an education on people and my strongest life lessons.

EDUCATION
Santa Clara University
Civil Engineering

When I was five years old, I told my parents I was either going to build things or be a priest.  When I got older, I realized why priest hood wasn’t for me. I had to fall back on building.

Len Christensen is one of the greatest teachers I have known. He was my freshman football coach in high school. I have always held that high school football taught me more relevant life lessons than anything else.

Taken 85th of 90 kids on the freshman football team, it was unlikely that I’d be good enough to play all four years. But I remember the echoes of Christensen’s voice: “That’s not gonna cut the mustard around here Caputo!” The tone of his voice made me realize it wasn’t a criticism, it was a challenge. He was always able to motivate, to relate the importance of what we were doing, and the importance of doing it well.

I went on to play football all four years and received the Tim Swenson Memorial Award recognizing the most inspirational player. I learned that with persistence and focused effort we are capable of more than we think. Never doubt, never give up and go after what you want in life.

I value persistence in people. This quote by Calvin Coolidge is one of my favorites: “Nothing in this world can take the place of persistence. Talent will not; nothing is more common than unsuccessful men with talent. Genius will not; unrewarded genius is almost a proverb. Education will not; the world is full of educated derelicts. Persistence and determination alone are omnipotent.”

EDUCATION
Northwestern University Kellogg School of Management

The University of Texas at Austin
BS, Architectural Engineering
CERTIFICATIONS
Registered Professional Engineer (PE)
Civil Engineer, State of Texas

I always knew I wanted to build, from watching the skyscrapers of oil firms go up in Houston as a kid. I want part of my legacy to be something physical I can leave behind. The joy and satisfaction is in the tangible structure left at the end of all the hard work.

My first job was selling door-to-door – I was eleven years old. My friend and I surveyed people on whether they would use a home delivery service for groceries. We made 25 cents for every survey.

When I was a young engineer I thought having great technical skills was the key to success; understanding how a building goes together, the schedule, the coordination of the MEP systems. As I moved up in my career, I very quickly realized that nearly everyone in our business has these hard skills. It’s the soft skills that really set you apart.

Those who know me would describe me as outgoing, passionate and genuine.

I’m most proud of what I overcame in my childhood to achieve what I have. I was raised by a single mom and grew up with a lot of obstacles. I remember sleeping in the kitchen of our small apartment in Texas. My mom taught me perseverance, hard work, sacrifice and the value of education. Watching her succeed helped me define success.

You can be good at anything if you try hard enough.

I love that we as builders get to know a client’s business from the inside out. Form truly follows function. In my career I have learned how a hospital ER operates, how a prison is like a city, how Google attracts top tech talent, the list goes on and on…

My favorite accomplishment was being an integral component of the Human Genome Sequencing project. We worked side-by-side with the world’s premier scientist on this world-changing endeavor, on a wildly aggressive timeline. We ensured that this critical information was in the right hands, to help achieve the science discoveries that we need as a human race, and that the information was not used in a harmful way. Our client’s business is our business.

A great leader is a mentor, who surrounds themselves with those that are better at specific functions, and lets them do what they are best at, inspiring them along the way.

I love the energy of the San Francisco Bay Area. We are in a historic moment in time, with the best economy, the best growth, innovation, and gutsy real estate calls to meet business needs that lead to great projects. It is right here, right now.

I’ve learned that you can always be better at building relationships. This skill is infinite.

EDUCATION
University of Southern California B.A. Public Relations
 

Work hard and treat people with kindness. The human connection is far more valuable than any work. I want people to know I see them and I appreciate them.

Truebeck is like a sports team – it has an energy and ambition that compels it to win. When I interviewed for my first job here, I met the founders and knew immediately we had the same energy.

I’ve worked in different parts of the AEC industry – real estate, architecture, structural engineering – and construction has been the most rewarding. My favorite days are when I can put my boots on and talk to the people in the field. I’m in awe of their talent and knowledge.

I’m passionate about new ideas and great design. Growing the brand value is my perennial ambition. Great companies are built on strong brands.

A great leader has emotional intelligence. Success or failure is most often the result of how we manage ourselves and how well we manage others, not what we know.

In college, at USC, I struggled with selecting a major. Business school, criminology, social issues, journalism, I had broad interests. I ultimately switched from Business to Communications, after a pivotal conversation with my mentor. At the time, I never could have imagined how important communication is to business and my own personal success.

When I think about how I’ve changed over the course of my career, I’ve learned to not take myself too seriously. Yes, I’m a perfectionist and a competitor, but I choose happiness over everything. At the end of the day, I want to leave the office smiling.