Introduction
Mark LePage, founder of EntreArchitect, CEO of Gābl Technologies and president of Fivecat Architecture Studio, joins Jack Ossa on The Power of Design Podcast to talk about the business side of architecture. Mark is an architect who built a career around teaching other architects how to run profitable firms, using blogs, podcasts, online communities and technology.
Jack, who has followed Mark's blog and podcast for years, asks why architects find business hard, how Mark built his own practice and platform, and where the profession is going.
About the Episode
Mark explains that architects are trained as designers and discover only later that a practice is a business. He describes how his career started in a small firm run by an entrepreneur architect, continued through a very large engineering firm and a mid-sized architecture firm, and led to starting a practice in 1999 with his wife, Anne Marie, who is also an architect.
He shares how the firm found a niche in high-end small residential projects, and how his 2007 blog for architects grew into a community, the EntreArchitect podcast and platform launched on December 12, 2012. He describes a private community of architects, a second group called Architects and Allies for the wider building industry, mastermind groups, and a new media company that helps industry leaders expand their own platforms.
The conversation ends with the future of the profession: technology and AI, a generation of architects who grew up online, and Mark's belief that designers are problem solvers who can help solve larger problems. Jack adds that design skills apply to businesses, strategies and platforms as well as buildings.
Key Takeaways
- Business is not taught: architecture schools and internships rarely cover running a firm, so architects learn it in the field.
- Start with a niche: the firm gained traction by focusing on high-end small projects instead of competing for the largest homes.
- Share what you learn: Mark's blog started as a personal reference and became a community because it answered a real need.
- Purpose beats size: Mark says his goal is to impact the world through architects, not to build a big business.
- Private, positive communities work: a members-only group with clear rules of respect keeps conversations honest.
- Embrace technology: Mark warns that architects who resist automation and AI risk becoming obsolete.
- Design is broader than buildings: designing businesses, strategies and platforms is also design.
Highlights from the Conversation
I love the business side of things and I look at it as a game.
Mark LePage
Love, learn, share. Those are my three lessons in life.
Mark LePage
I believe that designers can save the world because we're the problem solvers.
Mark LePage
Topics Discussed
- Why architects struggle with business
- Gaps in architecture school and internships
- Starting a firm in 1999 and finding a niche
- From blog to EntreArchitect podcast and community
- Private communities and the Architects and Allies group
- Mastermind groups and a media platform for industry leaders
- Technology, AI and the future of the profession
- The power of design beyond buildings
Why This Conversation Matters
Mark shows that an architecture practice grows when it has a clear niche, a recognizable brand and a way to share its knowledge. That is the thinking behind our branding work for professional firms such as MSW Engineers, and behind our podcast production project Gohjo Podcast Production. His focus on additions and alterations also relates to the architecture we do on existing buildings, such as the Crowder Construction Expansion.
About the Guest
Mark LePage is an architect and entrepreneur. He is the founder of EntreArchitect, a platform that helps small-firm architects build better businesses, CEO of Gābl Technologies and president of Fivecat Architecture Studio, the practice he runs with his wife. He grew up in New Jersey, studied at Roger Williams University and practiced in New York's Westchester County. Connect with him on LinkedIn.
