About
Scott Smith.
Field-to-boardroom.
I’m Scott Smith — a construction PM, MBA, and the founder of Orbaful. I’ve spent 15 years on jobsites and inside operating environments most consultants only read about. I started my first construction company right out of college, sold it four years later, ran a $50M commercial real estate portfolio across the Western U.S., and have since run projects for billion-dollar private clients, Fortune 500 builders, and semiconductor manufacturers. Orbaful exists because the owner-operators I grew up around — the tradesmen, the shop owners, the real builders — deserve better consulting than what the market currently gives them.
The Story
The Story
I grew up in Washington state, started college at 16, and went to work at the same time. I came out of school with a bachelor’s in Construction Management, and by 20 I had four years of superintendent and assistant PM work on both residential and commercial jobs under my belt — enough to start my own construction company. I ran it for four years and sold it. From there I spent a few years in commercial real estate asset management, running a $50M commercial portfolio across the Western U.S. — learning how the money actually moves on the ownership side of the table. After that chapter I moved to Idaho.
From there I went back into construction, up-market this time. Three years at one of the country’s largest home builders — a Fortune 500 — as a Construction Development Manager, learning what enterprise-scale operating discipline actually looks like. Along the way I earned an MBA with concentrations in Business Analysis and Finance. After that came an 18-month run as a Director of Projects in food processing, where I delivered capital projects for billion-dollar private operators. From there into the semiconductor fab world — multi-million-dollar capital projects inside one of the most precise operating environments on earth.
Across all of it I learned something the consulting industry mostly ignores: the difference between a business that works and one that doesn’t usually isn’t strategy. It’s the quiet operational discipline underneath — the schedules that get held, the books that get closed, the promises that get kept.
Orbaful is the company I wish had existed when I was 23 and trying to figure it all out on my own.
Field-to-boardroom
What this background actually means for you.
Most consultants have read about operations. A smaller number have observed them. I’ve run them. The difference shows up in the work.
Real operational chops.
I’ve made payroll on a Friday morning with no money in the bank. I’ve built, sold, and exited a company. That kind of scar tissue isn’t in textbooks.
Financial rigor, plain language.
The MBA in Business Analysis and Finance means I can model the business at a board level. The construction roots mean I can explain any of it without using the word “EBITDA” unless I have to.
Enterprise-grade discipline.
I’ve run projects inside Fortune 500 builders, semiconductor manufacturers, and for billion-dollar private clients. I bring those frameworks down to a scale your business can actually use.
Forthcoming book
Common Sense Isn’t Common
A field guide to leadership communication for middle managers — the unsung operators who translate strategy into results.
Expected launch · Q1 2027
Core values
Three non-negotiables.
Integrity
Say the real thing, even when it costs the engagement. A client who hears only what they want is a client who fails on a predictable timeline.
Systems thinking
Every symptom points to a system. Every system can be designed, measured, and improved. We fix the root, not the branch.
Accountability
Deliverables have dates. Dates get held. When they don’t, you hear from me first — with a reason, not an excuse.