Taking the guesswork out of the architecture business

Monograph, a startup founded by MIT alumni, helps architecture firms manage projects and design better buildings. Managing a building or renovation project really means managing a series of disparate, interconnected tasks. Something as small as a kitchen renovation might involve half a dozen subcontractors including plumbers, electricians, carpenters, and painters. The complexity makes cost and time overruns common. On the other hand, "Architecture is a passion business," says Moe Amaya MA '14. "Most people don't go into because they want to run the operations of a firm. They just want to design buildings - that's the intrinsic value you want to bring to the world." Now, the startup Monograph, which was co-founded by Amaya and two others, is helping architects run projects with a suite of business tools that make it easy to understand if a project is on track.