Dirt Talk by BuildWitt

Episode: Q1 Planning and 2026 Budget (Building BuildWitt #34) — DT 405
Date: January 5, 2026
Host: Aaron Witt (Founder, BuildWitt)

Episode Overview

This episode offers a transparent, behind-the-scenes look at BuildWitt's planning for the first quarter of 2026 and the rollout of their new annual budget and bonus plan. Aaron Witt discusses company goals, strategic planning, lessons learned, and shares honest reflections on the challenges of the past year, the push for better transparency, and ongoing efforts to develop BuildWitt's platform for the Dirt World community.

Key Discussion Points & Insights

1. Reflections on a Tough Year & the Value of Transparency

• Aaron opens up about the difficulties faced in 2025, especially after the company's focus shift in 2024 following the sale of their creative marketing business.
• Emphasizes "transparency wins" as a core value, highlighting why he shares detailed updates.

“It's not been a year I want to repeat. It's just been tough… one of those years where it feels like you're just working and you're working…but the points aren't necessarily on the board.”
—Aaron Witt (01:30)

2. 2026 Company Goals ("Rocks")

• At the executive planning retreat, two key goals were established for 2026:

  1. Eliminate Customer Churn: Particularly focusing on customers leaving the "BillWitt Improve" training platform.
  2. Wow Our Customers: Delivering exceptional value and experiences.

• For Q1 2026, company-wide "rocks" (priorities) were set:

  1. Successfully Launch the New BillWitt Improve Home Screen

     • Major update aimed at reducing friction, improving onboarding, and making rich content and features more discoverable.
     • “We're making a big change…it's not just the home screen. It's reducing friction for users. It's ensuring companies can onboard very quickly…” (04:20)

  2. Tell Our Customers’ Success Stories

     • Highlighting real-world outcomes and the impact of their platform on civil construction companies.
     • Aaron acknowledges the company excels at telling others' stories, but admits a past shortfall in sharing their own successes.
     • “This is something we've preached to contractors all the time. You've got to talk about what you do. And here we are not doing a great job…that goes no further.” (08:45)

  3. Learn from Churn

     • Deep investigation into why customers churn, with actionable improvements to preempt further loss.
     • “If we want to eliminate our churn, we have to really understand why the churn is occurring.” (11:25)

• Noted that each team (media, product, customer success, sales) must create their own measurable objectives to support these rocks.

3. BuildWitt’s Mission and Broader Activities

• Reiterates the company's purpose: "to build the dirt world’s next generation” — supporting the infrastructure builders of tomorrow.
• Core business: BillWitt Improve, a daily training/development platform for about 300 civil construction companies.
• Additional activities: Hosting the annual Ariat Dirt World Summit, content creation, and community engagement.

4. 2026 Budget and Bonus Plan Rollout

• Announcement that, for the first time, the entire team will have real-time access to company financials through a shared dashboard, reviewed weekly.
• Introduction of a real bonus plan—tied to revenue and profit metrics—where the team receives a share of success as both cash and “phantom” stock.

“Being able to share our finances with the team…here's what we want to go in, here's what we want to go out…so they know exactly where the score is financially, that's damn cool.” (18:40)
“It’s never sat well with me to see…a small proportion of a company make a vast proportion of the money with everybody else working for a wage…That, to me personally, just doesn’t make a lot of sense.” (22:15)

• Emphasis on team-oriented profit sharing: “I am far more excited about getting our people money than me personally.” (29:10)

• Special credit given to Randy for masterminding the bonus plan.

5. Customer Health Score Launch

• Debut of a new customer health scoring system, enabling proactive customer success efforts based on real-time data about user engagement.

“Our customer success team can now be far more proactive, working with each company as they reinforce daily training…” (33:20)

6. Dirt World Summit Ticket Momentum

• Over 1,000 tickets sold for the 2026 event by January 1, 2026. Noted trend of companies now sending larger groups, which multiplies learning impact.

“Sometimes companies have gone all in…now that they've felt it out…they’re bringing groups, which is awesome…that’s really where the magic happens.” (36:00)

• Goal: Sell out the event in Q1 and deliver a “world class” experience.

Notable Quotes & Memorable Moments

• “I do give out my email on this episode…someone said, ‘Is that really your email?’ I'm like, yes, I do…no wife, kids, no dog, nothing. I just work. I love it.”
  —Aaron Witt (39:10)

Important Segment Timestamps

| Segment | Timestamp | |--------------------------------------------|------------| | Opening reflections, transparency | 00:00–03:30| | 2026 goals & Q1 rocks | 03:30–12:00| | Telling customer success stories | 08:30–11:30| | Mission & overview of BuildWitt | 12:00–13:40| | Budget & bonus plan rollout | 17:30–28:00| | New customer health score system | 32:50–34:00| | Dirt World Summit ticket momentum | 35:30–37:10| | Closing, personal email mention | 39:10–end |

Episode Tone & Final Thoughts

Aaron maintains an open, candid, and conversational tone throughout, often self-deprecating and reflective, but always focused on forward progress and team recognition. The emphasis on transparency, team culture, and supporting the next generation in the Dirt World runs throughout the episode.

Contact:
Aaron Witt welcomes listener emails: aaron@buildwitt.com

Closing Line:
“Stay dirty.”