This document introduces the LienZero methodology for simplifying construction payment processes. It outlines three key principles - see everyone on the job to reduce fear, make paperwork easy to reduce friction, and talk it out to reduce fires. The current state of construction payments is described as depressing, with decreasing margins, increasing paperwork, slowing payments, and distrust between stakeholders. Liens in particular are described as creating "heart attacks" on projects. LienZero aims to shift the paradigm from protection and leverage to collaboration and good outcomes through applying its SET framework of seeing everyone, easy paperwork, and talking issues out. Testimonials from contractors suggest it can help get faster payments and file fewer liens while growing business.

1. The revolu*onary method for simple construc*on
payment that makes everyone happy.

2. Hi, I’m @sco,wolfejr… and I’m @natebudde.
We’re on a mission to kill liens
and payment frustra*ons.

3. We know a lot about
construc*on payment problems.
Founded
Prac*ced construc*on law.
Created Construc*on Payment Blog.
(Relied on by 100,000+ contractors & suppliers to make payment docs fast & easy)
(Between us, we’re licensed in mul<ple states across the country)
(Read by more than 1,000,000 industry players every year)
Wrote The Book On It!
(We literally wrote the book on how to make construc<on payment simple and fair)

4. No
one
wants
bad
things
to
happen.
Let’s start with an easy fact.
Literally no one.

5. No one walks onto a job and thinks,
“I can’t wait to lien this job.”
100%of people hate liens.
(true sta<s<c)

6. So, then, what happens?
Why is construc*on payment is such a mess?

7. Oh, wait.
Are you saying that payment stuff
is all easy-peasy for you?

8. “We always get paid.”
(I’m all set)
“We pay our subs
quickly so we never
run into problems”
(I’m all set)

9. Okay.
That doesn’t seem to be the case when
you look at the industry as a whole,
but maybe you’re an excep*on.
(you’re probably not)

10. “We only do business
with people we trust”
“We’re protected by
our contracts.”
(We’ll be fine)
(We’ll be fine)

11. Sure. I suppose that works some*mes.
Maybe you’ll never run into any issues,
and payments will always be
fast, easy, and fair for you.
(again, of course, probably not)

12. “We don’t have any
problems right now.”

13. We get it.
But, wai*ng un*l a problem
— like a lien —
pops up is just too late.

14. Wait, a lien?
That makes me angry!
What
low-down,
dirty,
no-good,
yella,
scumbag
would file a lien on the job?

15. You’re not alone.
Everyone hates liens.
We hate liens.

16. Remember
100%of people hate liens.
(true sta<s<c)

17. Here’s a scale of things
everyone loves and hates.
HANDSHAKE
DEALS
GOOD
PARTNERS
LONG,
STRONG
CONTRACTS
USING
LEVERAGE
LIENS
SLOW PAY
& DISPUTES
this is great!
well, I guess we
can live with this.
Pure hatred.

18. These days…
this is hard to find.
HANDSHAKE
DEALS
GOOD
PARTNERS
LONG,
STRONG
CONTRACTS
USING
LEVERAGE
this is great!
well, I guess we
can live with this.
Pure hatred.
LIENS
SLOW PAY
& DISPUTES

19. With so many
regula*ons and
things that can
go wrong…
everyone winds
up doing this.
HANDSHAKE
DEALS
GOOD
PARTNERS
LONG,
STRONG
CONTRACTS
USING
LEVERAGE
this is great!
well, I guess we
can live with this.
Pure hatred.
LIENS
SLOW PAY
& DISPUTES
(Psst: Your aOorneys really like this solu<on)

20. And so too oTen…
We wind up here.
HANDSHAKE
DEALS
GOOD
PARTNERS
LONG,
STRONG
CONTRACTS
USING
LEVERAGE
this is great!
well, I guess we
can live with this.
Pure hatred.
LIENS
SLOW PAY
& DISPUTES

21. • Hope
• Suffocate others
• “Stay ahead”
• Write Offs
• Put their head in sand
• Turn down business
• Try to ‘transfer risk’
• Deal with it
• Lawyers!
(These are all preZy bad strategies)
Here’s a list of
things companies
do to protect
themselves
against bad
outcomes like
liens.

22. All of this “protec<on”
is part of the problem.
:(

23. • Lien waivers
• Strict pay app
requirements
• Prompt pay laws
• Retainage laws
• Misappropria*on of
funds laws
• Prelim No*ces
• Liens
• Bonds
It’s created a
bunch of noise
for you to deal
with…

24. …Not to men*on that everyone
has their own way.
no, this
use this
use this
this is the
best
use this
but, my
lawyer
says…

25. So how do folks manage all of this noise today?

26. Protect. Protect. Leverage. Protect. Protect.
LAWYER-UP USE
COLLECTION
SERVICES
STRICTLY
PREQUALIFY
EVERYONE
“It’s just so hard to find
good subs these days”
“Stay ahead of that one”
“Let’s work this one
on a joint check.”
pay-when-paid
pay-if-paid
risk-transfer provisions.
must give noAce of
claims within 7 days…
“do I have to sign this, or
can I strike out some of
this stuff?”
“Secure your payment”
“Take advantage of your
lien rights.”
“Make sure you check
the credit of that sub.”
(Psst. This stuff hasn’t worked very well)

27. The overall state of affairs is depressing.
Margins are decreasing.
Paperwork and compliance is increasing.
Retainage prac*ces are growing.
Payments are slowing.
Suppliers file liens just to get aZen*on.
Stakeholders lack trust and have bad inten*ons.
And so the industry has fallen deep, deep, deep, deep,
into a bizarre-o game of leverage tug-of-war.
It’s not working.

28. Since it’s all so complicated,
it’s no surprise
that things go wrong.
…
And what happens
when things go wrong?

29. LIENS!
(hey, we just got liened. I don’t even know who this person is.
Were they even on this job? Argh!)
(hey, even though its a last resort we have to file a lien on this job.
Otherwise, we won’t get paid and we’ll lose our rights. Argh!)

30. Liens are nuclear.
They create a heart aOack on the project.
Money stops.
Schedules get delayed.
Contracts get breached.
Rela*onships spoil.
And it has a ripple effect across so many different par*es and jobs.
don’t. go. nuclear.

31. Remember
100%of people hate liens.
(true sta<s<c)

32. Okay, okay, okay.
I don’t want anything nuclear to
happen on our job. I want the
process to be easy.
What’s a beZer way?

33. (what in the world is lienzero?)

34. Takes the headaches with construc*on payment
and gets them out of your way.
Instead of protecZon.
It focuses on collaboraZon.
Instead of leverage.
It focuses on good outcomes.

35. And it helps you build,
maintain, and prosper with:
Good rela*onships
Repeat business
Compe**ve advantage
Wow, that sounds great.
Can I hear more?
Yes, we’re glad you asked.

36. It’s actually quite simple.

39. There are 3 killers to collabora*ve
& simple construc*on payment.
Fears
Fric*ons
Fires

40. Fear
breeds paranoia.
Which leads to a protec*onist
mindset and unhealthy use of
leverage.

41. FricZons
breed frustra*on.
Which erodes trust, rela*onships,
and puts people into a bad and
unhelpful state of mind.

42. Fires
breed war!
Which entrenches the par*es into
comba*ve posi*ons and offers few
ways out.

43. You can take one of two
approaches to these
collabora*on killers.

44. Lots of forces fan the flames of
fear, and love the old way:
- Lawyers make piles of
money in contract
nego*a*on and protected
disputes
- Collec*on agencies found
specialty in material supply
& equipment rental
collec*ons
- Trade associa*ons and
lobbyist have business in
promises & advoca*ng for
the next miracle pill for their
cons*tuents.
OLD WAY
• Set up protec*ons
• Assert leverage
• “Stay ahead”
• Hope
• Lawyer-up
You could just
keep doing all
off this…

45. Lots of forces fan the flames of fear,
and love the old way:
-Lawyers - Make $$ from contracts & disputes
-Collec*on Agencies - Many focus and have niche
of collec*ng for suppliers and equipment
providers!
-Lobbyist (& Trade Groups) - Raise $$ to advocate
for the next miracle pill that’s going to solve it all!
OLD WAY
In fact…

46. But what about you?
How do you think the old way is
working out for you?

47. “Every na<on has the
government it deserves”
Declara<on of French writer and diplomat Joseph de Maistre, 1811

48. You are a good person.
You are part of a good company.
You have good inten*ons.
The industry is full of good people
with good intenZons like you.

49. It is high-Zme that good
people come together to
stand up to the fear, the
fricZon, and the fires…
and put collaboraZon-first
in the payment process.

50. REDUCE
REDUCE
REDUCE
FEAR
BY
Seeing Everyone &
Priori*zing Visibility
BY
Making easy
paperwork easy
BY
Crea*ng channels
to talk it out!
FRICTION
FIRES

51. We call this the
SET Framework
When you get a new job, think about having to “SET” the job.
See Everyone On The Job (& Reduce Fear)
Easy Paperwork (& Reduce Fric*ons)
Talk It Out (& Reduce Fires)

52. These three simple
principles can shi_ the
paradigm of risk and fear
on your next job, and
drama*cally improve the
results for everyone.

53. Principle #1: See Everyone
“…we know there are known
knowns; there are things we know
we know. We also know there are
known unknowns; that is to say we
know there are some things we do
not know. But there are also
unknown unknowns - the ones we
don’t know we don’t know…it is
the laOer category that tend to be
the difficult ones.”
— Donald Rumsfeld.
Problems With
Not Seeing Everyone…
- You’re exposed to risks
you don’t know about
- It’s inefficient to get
docs to and from
people you don’t know
- The unknown,
unknowns create fear
THE PROBLEM
IS FEAR

54. Principle #1: See Everyone
The 4 Steps To Overcoming Visibility Challenge
1.Be a good steward and send no*ce to others on job
2.Encourage others to send no*ce. Elect to work with lienzero
contractors and suppliers who send no*ce.
3. Send requests to everyone you do know to provide the
informa*on they know. Make. It. Easy.
4.Leverage tools, services, databases to fill in your job tree.
HOW TO SEE EVERYONE
& REDUCE FEARS

55. Principle #2: Make Paperwork Easy
“An<cipate the difficult by
managing the easy.”
— Lao Tzu
Problems With
Paperwork…
- You encounter basic
paper that tries to do
legal posturing.
- You have to deal with
unnecessary, invented
requirements.
- It’s just plain hard to
understand.
THE PROBLEM
IS FRICTIONS

56. The 3 Steps To Overcoming The Paper Chase
1.Be a good steward of easy paperwork
2.Tools, tools, tools
3. FEeD (Fight frustra*on, Educate to your world view, and Do your
best) when you encounter non-lienzero paperwork
HOW TO MAKE PAPERWORK EASY
Principle #2: Make Paperwork Easy
& REDUCE FRICTIONS

57. Principle #3: Talk It Out
Problems With
Fires…
- It’s impossible to avoid them
completely.
- Common approaches of geong
lawyers, silence, or procras*na*ng
make things worse.
- It’s too easy to get past a point of
no return.
THE PROBLEM
IS FIRES

58. The 4 Steps To Talking It Out
1.Be a good steward of communica*on
2.Build channels for communica*on
3.Actually talk. With your voice.
4.Widen your op*ons.
HOW TO MAKE TALKING EASY
& REDUCE FIRES
Principle #3: Talk It Out

59. “I wish we would
have started sooner.”
It Works!
Vjera Thompson
AccounAng Manager
9 Wood
Gets payments faster
Files less liens
Grew business!

60. “I really believe that we
can bring the tyranny to
an end if more liNle guys
had you in their corner.”
It Works!
Kathlene Miller
President
JK Design LLC
Gets payments faster
Files less liens

61. Were You Can Learn More
Get the book.
Free to you for
a limited Ame.
FREE BOOK

62. Check Out zlien
A tool to help you implement
the lienzero methodology.
GET STARTED