Episode 2 of Multipliers – Cuby: Building More With Less (Plus Sourcing Construction Materials)
The housing problem is not a mystery. It is a math problem.
Not enough homes. Not enough skilled labor to build them. Not enough affordable construction materials to make deals pencil.
And yet, very few people are attacking the root of the problem.
In this episode of the Multipliers podcast, we’re joined by Aleks Gampel, who is one of the few tackling this problem.
- Quick note: Aleks mentions Cuby’s ability to source construction materials at a meaningful savings to developers. If you’re interested in discussing this with Cuby/Aleks, shoot us a message, and we’ll make the introduction.
Episode 2 of Multipliers – Cuby: Building More With Less
This episode is a wide-ranging conversation recorded in Miami between Spencer Burton and Aleks Gampel.
While the episode was actually recorded before the launch of the Multipliers podcast, we thought it a perfect addition to this podcast dedicated to meeting people doing more with less.
Who are Aleks Gampel and Cuby?
If we are going to talk about building more housing with fewer resources, fewer skilled trades, and tighter budgets, we need to talk about the people trying to rewire the way homes are actually built.
Enter Aleksandr Gampel and Cuby.
Aleks is the Co-Founder and Chief Operating Officer of Cuby Technologies, Inc., a construction technology startup founded in 2021 with a bold ambition: fundamentally change the economics of homebuilding.
Cuby’s thesis is straightforward but disruptive.
Instead of relying solely on traditional, site-built construction methods, Cuby deploys what it calls Mobile Micro-Factories (MMFs). These are portable, engineering-driven factory units that can be deployed near a project site to manufacture and assemble housing components locally. Rather than centralizing production in one massive plant and shipping modules across long distances, Cuby brings the factory to the housing demand.
The goals are clear:
- Reduce reliance on scarce skilled trades
- Lower construction costs through standardization and process control
- Compress construction timelines
- Increase production capacity in markets that need housing most
From a commercial real estate perspective, this is less a construction story than it is a capital efficiency story. If Cuby’s model works at scale, it could meaningfully impact:
- Development timelines and interest carry
- Budget certainty and cost volatility
- Labor risk exposure
- Housing supply elasticity in constrained markets
Cuby is still early. But the underlying problem it is targeting, how to build more housing with fewer people and tighter margins, is not going away. That makes Aleks Gampel and Cuby worth paying attention to.
Episode Highlights
This conversation with Aleks Gampel goes well beyond construction innovation. It touches labor economics, vertical integration, housing supply dynamics, and even career strategy in commercial real estate.
Here are a few themes that stood out.
1. The Construction Productivity Crisis No One Talks About
Over the past 50 years, most industries have increased productivity by 7x to 8x.
Construction has improved roughly 1%.
That is not a typo.
Aleks argues this is not primarily a regulation problem. It is not a materials problem. It is a labor structure problem. Construction remains heavily dependent on fragmented, skilled trades operating in variable site conditions with limited standardization.
If you are underwriting development deals, you feel this every day. Schedule risk. Labor shortages. Budget overruns. Uncertainty baked into the pro forma.
Cuby’s thesis starts here. If productivity has not meaningfully improved in half a century, the opportunity is structural.
2. What a Mobile Micro-Factory Actually Is
When people hear “factory-built housing,” they think of massive centralized plants.
Cuby’s model is different.
Instead of one giant facility, they replicate smaller, deployable factories near demand centers. These Mobile Micro-Factories manufacture components for single-family homes locally and assemble them with largely unskilled labor using engineered systems.
Aleks shares a real-world example: a home in Michigan completed in 60 working days at roughly $103 per square foot, with just four people on site.
Whether that model ultimately scales nationwide remains to be seen. But the core idea is compelling, bring process control and repeatability to an industry that still largely builds one-off prototypes in the field.
From a CRE lens, faster build times mean lower interest carry, faster lease-up or sale, and potentially tighter underwriting assumptions.
3. The “Accidental” Procurement Business
One of the more fascinating parts of the story is how Cuby’s approach to sourcing construction materials evolved.
In trying to control construction costs, Aleks went deep into supply chain. He opened a subsidiary in China, visited more than 100 factories, and built a sourcing team capable of procuring materials at five to twelve times cheaper than typical U.S. market rates.
That internal capability quietly turned into something else. Other developers wanted access.
This is a classic example of vertical integration unlocking adjacent value. What began as a cost-control function became a standalone competitive advantage.
For developers operating in a margin-compressed environment, procurement strategy alone can move the needle on whether a deal pencils.
4. Why Developers Leave Money on the Table
Aleks makes a blunt observation.
Most developers and general contractors do not source from first principles. They buy from familiar vendors, accept quoted pricing, and rarely trace materials back to origin to test whether alternatives exist.
In an environment where basis matters more than ever, that complacency is expensive.
We spend enormous time debating cap rates and exit assumptions. Meanwhile, five to ten percent savings in hard costs often goes unexplored.
That is not a market problem. That is an operational discipline problem.
5. The Housing Shortage in the Bigger Picture
Aleks zooms out to the macro.
The average age of a first-time homebuyer has climbed into the forties. Household formation is delayed. Birth rates are declining in part because housing affordability continues to erode.
At the same time, public homebuilders are showing strong stock performance. Not because supply is abundant, but because demand absorbs nearly everything they can produce.
The constraint is not demand.
It is throughput.
If we cannot meaningfully increase housing production, affordability challenges compound across generations.
6. Networking as a Competitive Advantage
The second half of the episode shifts from housing systems to career systems.
Aleks’ advice is simple and powerful:
- Prioritize access to interesting people over maximizing early salary.
- Add value without immediately asking for something in return.
- Have four new conversations each week with people you have never met.
In real estate, the best deals rarely sit in plain sight. They live in conversations, relationships, and information asymmetries.
Which leads to the bigger idea.
The Bigger Idea
Aleks and I close the conversation with something worth sitting with.
AI will increasingly handle the analytical work. The Excel boxes. The data pulls. The market summaries.
What it will not replace is:
- Trust
- Reputation
- Pattern recognition built from lived experience
- The willingness to help others win
In an industry still defined by information asymmetry, your network is your moat.
As Aleks put it: “No one actually knows anything. But if you help enough people win, your tide rises with theirs.”
Frequently Asked Questions about Episode 2 of Multipliers – Cuby: Building More With Less
What problem is Cuby trying to solve?
The post frames the housing crisis as “a math problem” driven by “Not enough homes. Not enough skilled labor to build them. Not enough margin for developers to make deals pencil.”
Cuby targets the root issue of productivity and throughput in homebuilding. As noted, construction productivity has improved only “roughly 1%” over 50 years, while most industries increased productivity “7x to 8x.” Cuby’s thesis is that this is a structural opportunity to fundamentally change the economics of homebuilding.
Who is Aleks Gampel and what is Cuby?
Aleksandr Gampel is the “Co-Founder and Chief Operating Officer of Cuby Technologies, Inc., a construction technology startup founded in 2021 with a bold ambition: fundamentally change the economics of homebuilding.”
Cuby deploys “Mobile Micro-Factories (MMFs),” which are “portable, engineering-driven factory units that can be deployed near a project site to manufacture and assemble housing components locally.” Instead of centralizing production, “Cuby brings the factory to the housing demand.”
What is a Mobile Micro-Factory (MMF)?
Rather than using “massive centralized plants,” Cuby replicates “smaller, deployable factories near demand centers.” These MMFs manufacture home components locally and assemble them “with largely unskilled labor using engineered systems.”
A real-world example cited in the episode: a home in Michigan was completed in “60 working days at roughly $103 per square foot, with just four people on site.”
The goal is to “bring process control and repeatability to an industry that still largely builds one-off prototypes in the field.”
How did procurement become part of Cuby’s model?
In trying to control costs, Aleks “went deep into supply chain,” opening “a subsidiary in China,” visiting “more than 100 factories,” and building a sourcing team capable of procuring materials “at five to twelve times cheaper than typical U.S. market rates.”
This internal capability evolved when “Other developers wanted access.” What began as a cost-control function became “a standalone competitive advantage,” demonstrating how vertical integration can unlock adjacent value.
How can I discuss the procurement opportunity with Cuby?
Aleks mentions Cuby’s ability to source materials at significant savings. The post notes:
“If you’re interested in discussing this with Cuby/Aleks, shoot us a message and we’ll make the introduction.”
To start that conversation, reach out here: Contact us
The team will help facilitate an introduction.
Why do developers leave money on the table?
Aleks observes that “Most developers and general contractors do not source from first principles.” Instead, they “buy from familiar vendors, accept quoted pricing, and rarely trace materials back to origin to test whether alternatives exist.”
In a margin-compressed environment, “five to ten percent savings in hard costs often goes unexplored.” The post characterizes this as “not a market problem” but “an operational discipline problem.”
What is the bigger macro housing issue?
The constraint in housing today is described as not demand, but “throughput.” While “public homebuilders are showing strong stock performance,” it is “not because supply is abundant, but because demand absorbs nearly everything they can produce.”
If production cannot meaningfully increase, “affordability challenges compound across generations.” Cuby’s model is positioned as an attempt to increase housing supply elasticity in constrained markets.
What career lessons does Aleks share?
Aleks emphasizes prioritizing relationships and long-term value creation:
“Prioritize access to interesting people over maximizing early salary.”
“Add value without immediately asking for something in return.”
“Have four new conversations each week with people you have never met.”
He also notes that while AI may increasingly handle “The Excel boxes. The data pulls. The market summaries,” it will not replace “Trust,” “Reputation,” “Pattern recognition built from lived experience,” and “The willingness to help others win.”
As he puts it: “No one actually knows anything. But if you help enough people win, your tide rises with theirs.”
