New Orleans, LA
FI Louisiana Spring 2025 Cohort
Support the trades with AI one contractor at a time.
Pitch Summary
Build-A-Way Inc. is an AI-native platform built for solo and small home service professionals. We are targeting plumbers, HVAC techs, landscapers, and electricians. Right now they are losing thousands of dollars each year from missed calls, delayed invoices, and manual workflows. While contractors work, our AI assistant answers calls, book jobs, and prepares invoices.
Milestones & Traction
- MVP live with paying users
- Validated pricing through customer surveys
- Partnering with local supply houses to drive adoption
- Completed Founder Institute Louisiana (Demo Day: August 12, 2025)
- Finalist in Nexus Technology Cup (Top 20)
About the Company
Build-A-Way Inc. was founded by Ashton Hilliard after years of watching his father, a renowned New Orleans musician, lose income from missed calls and delayed invoicing. After taking over the family business, Ashton faced the same struggles firsthand. His co-founder Josh experienced the problem from the client side dealing with home service pros who couldn’t follow up or send invoices on time.
Together, they launched Build-A-Way to solve this for millions of solo tradespeople. The platform offers a 24/7 AI assistant that answers calls, books jobs, sends invoices, and handles follow-ups automatically. Now service pros will never miss a customer.
About the Team
Ashton Hillard
Co-Founder
Josh Bartholomew
Co-Founder
Cam’ron Caldwell
Chief AI Officer
Ashton Hillard
Ashton is a sales-focused founder with 15+ years of experience in small business strategy, customer growth, and go-to-market execution. He grew up around solo entrepreneurs and built his career helping service-driven businesses grow through hands-on sales leadership and operational insight.
Before launching Build-A-Way Inc., Ashton became a top-performing sales consultant and team trainer in the automotive industry. He brings deep experience working with the same local businesses the company now serves.
At Build-A-Way, Ashton leads go-to-market partnerships, user growth, and investor relations. He drives adoption through strategic relationships, helps shape the product with real user feedback, and represents the company in fundraising, demos, and media. His founder-market fit, sales leadership, and execution across GTM and partnerships make him a key force behind the company’s traction and growth.
Josh Bartholomew
Josh is a full-stack marketer and tech-enabled operator with over 15 years of experience helping solo and small business owners grow. He has trained hundreds of salespeople, managers, and business owners on how to scale using CRM systems, marketing automation, and both digital and traditional campaigns.
Cam’ron Caldwell
Cam’ron Caldwell is a full-stack engineer and systems architect. He leads the development of Build-A-Way’s Operator AI platform. He has deep experience in JavaScript, TypeScript, React, Prisma, and AWS. As our Chief AI Officer, he is building our automation-ready infrastructure that powers AI invoicing, call handling, and workflow tools for small service businesses.
He’s delivered production-grade apps across wellness, travel, and community platforms. He’s proven his ability to ship fast and solve real-world problems. As a teaching assistant at Operation Spark, he mentored over 80 developers. He brings both technical depth and leadership. In contract roles, he’s modernized legacy codebases into scalable, modular frontends.
Cam’ron brings a rare combination of hands-on execution, startup scrappiness, and empathy for the end user. He makes sure Operator AI doesn’t just function—it delivers.