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Small subcontractors lose track of bids in spreadsheets, email threads and texts from GCs. They complain about it in a handful of online places, usually late at night after estimating. Here is where to find them and how to talk to them without getting banned.

All guidesFor founders of a bid tracker for small construction subcontractors

1. r/Construction

The biggest general construction subreddit, mixed with field crews, PMs and owners. Self-promotion gets removed fast, so don't post links. Search the sub for "bid", "estimating", "ITB" and "how do you track" and answer those threads with a real method, like a simple stage list: invited, takeoff, submitted, follow-up, won/lost. If someone asks what you use, say you're building a tool and offer to share it by DM.

2. r/Contractor

Owners of small contracting businesses ask about pricing, GCs who ghost them, and win rates. That's your exact buyer. Read the sidebar rules first. Then post a genuine question, not a pitch: "Subs who bid 20+ jobs a month, how do you keep track of which GC you sent what to and when to follow up?" Reply to every answer and note the tools and pains people name.

3. Trade-specific subreddits

Go where the trades are: r/electricians, r/Plumbing, r/HVAC, r/drywall, r/Concrete, r/Roofing. Most members are techs, but owners post about bidding commercial work. Search each one for "bid" and "estimate" sorted by new, and only comment where an owner is clearly struggling with volume or follow-up. One useful comment a day beats ten generic ones.

4. r/Estimators

A small sub of people who do takeoffs and bids for a living, including estimators at subcontractor shops. They are the daily users of a bid tracker. Ask how they handle bid day when three GCs send addenda at once, and ask for 15 minutes to watch their current process. Estimators will often say yes because nobody asks about their workflow.

5. r/smallbusiness and r/sweatystartup

Trade business owners post in r/sweatystartup about scaling past the owner doing everything. Search "subcontractor", "GC" and "bidding" there and in r/smallbusiness. When an owner mentions losing jobs because they forgot to follow up, reply with a short follow-up cadence that works by hand. Don't mention your product unless asked.

6. ContractorTalk.com forums

An older forum with active sections by trade and a business section where owners talk about bidding commercial work. Fill in your profile honestly as a founder building bid software, because people there check. Start a thread asking how subs track open bids and their hit rate. Older owners here often run 5 to 30 person shops, the sweet spot for a paid tool.

7. Facebook groups for subcontractors

Search Facebook for "subcontractors", "commercial subcontractors" plus your state, and trade groups like electrical or drywall business owners. Most have a no-promo rule and a weekly promo thread, so use that thread for your link. In the main feed, ask questions like: "How many bids do you send a month and what percent do you win?" DM people who give detailed answers and ask for a call, not a sale.

8. Make it a daily habit

Spend 30 minutes a day: check new posts in these places, answer two or three bidding questions properly, and log every subcontractor who describes the pain so you can follow up later. After two weeks you'll have a list of real owners and estimators to talk to. Hulby, an AI cofounder, can run this search and drafting for you each day so you just review and send.

Mistakes to skip

  • Dropping a link in your first comment, which gets you removed and flagged.
  • Talking to field techs instead of owners, estimators and office managers who actually bid.
  • Posting the same message across ten subreddits on the same day.
  • Pitching features instead of asking how they track bids today.

Want this done for your bid tracker for small construction subcontractors, every day?

Hulby finds the people asking for what you built, writes every reply and email, and keeps you on it until they pay. Free to start.

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Questions

Which subreddit should I start with?

r/Contractor, because it is mostly owners of small contracting businesses who do their own bidding.

Can I ever post my product link?

Only where the rules allow it, like a promo thread, or when someone directly asks. Otherwise share it by DM.

Who is the buyer at a small sub?

Usually the owner. In shops over about ten people it is often the estimator or office manager, with the owner signing off.

How fast will this get me customers?

Expect conversations in the first week and calls in the first few weeks if you show up daily. Paying customers depend on how well the tool solves their follow-up and tracking pain.