Our Story
Recognizing the need for a smarter solution, Brendan partnered with Kyle Jadevaia and The Foreshadow Labs Team to create Asset Card, a project-focused expense management platform. Together, they designed a tool that introduces dedicated project wallets to allocate funds, real-time expense tracking to enable proactive adjustments, and spending controls to prevent unauthorized transactions
Our Story
The Emotional Backstory Behind Asset Card
Asset Card was born out of the deeply challenging and personal experiences I faced during my five-plus years at SMG Construction, a family-owned construction business. As the company grew from a $20 million operation to a $60 million powerhouse, we faced incredible pressures, particularly when two critical projects nearly brought us to financial ruin. A devastating $3 million in combined losses due to overspending, procedural gaps, and delayed reporting pushed the company—and our team—to its limits.
The Impact
The stress during that period was immense. The team and I worked grueling 60-70 hour weeks, trying to catch up on expense reporting, reconcile budgets, and find a path forward. Emotions ran high as we scrambled to make sense of our spending, often relying on incomplete data weeks or even months after the fact. These challenges created a ripple effect:
delays in decision-making
strained vendor relationships
increase in accounting costs
and mounting frustration as we struggled to keep projects—and the company itself—afloat.
Through countless late nights and detailed investigations, we identified the root problem: our inability to gain real-time visibility into project expenses. The grueling manual tasks of managing credit card receipts, labor costs, material purchases, subcontractor bills, and small tools took away our ability to stay on top of budgets, maintain quality control, and double-check our work effectively. Instead of managing projects proactively, we were constantly working in the past—reacting to delayed financial data rather than making predictive changes to prevent issues before they occurred. With multiple projects running simultaneously, this approach became unsustainable and created blind spots that exacerbated overspending.
The Idea
Looking back, Asset Card could have changed everything. Instead of reacting to financial chaos, we could have proactively managed project budgets from the beginning. Asset Card would have allowed us to create designated project wallets funded by initial client deposits, ensuring we had enough runway to fund each project. Team members—from project managers to subcontractors—could be issued cards tied directly to the project, requiring them to upload receipts, purchase orders, and payments in real-time. This centralization would have provided immediate visibility into spending, eliminating the delays that caused so much stress and loss.
With Asset Card, the accounting team could have focused on critical tasks like labor reviews while still maintaining a clear, real-time summary of project expenses. Weekly or monthly reviews could seamlessly integrate into our accounting software, reducing the administrative burden and allowing the team to prioritize quality control and scheduling. The ability to track wallet balances relative to budget goals would have ensured better financial oversight, enabling us to request additional funds or make withdrawals based on actual project performance.
Even more, idle funds in project wallets could have earned interest, creating a financial cushion for unforeseen expenses or mistakes—something we desperately needed during those critical projects.
Asset Card isn’t just a tool; it’s the solution forged in the crucible of those difficult years. It’s a product of hard lessons learned, countless hours of effort, and a vision to ensure no company has to endure the same struggles. Asset Card empowers businesses to take control of their finances, reduce stress, and focus on what truly matters: delivering exceptional results.
