#174: Why Global Supply Chain Continues to Thrive with Ryan Petersen of Flexport
Hosted by Santosh Sankar on January 3, 2024
Summary
During this episode, Santosh is joined by Ryan Petersen, Co-Founder and CEO of Flexport, an American multinational corporation that focuses on supply chain management and logistics, including order management, delivery, trade financing, insurance, freight forwarding and customs brokerage. In this conversation, Ryan and Santosh discuss the challenges and changes in the supply chain industry, including Peterson's unexpected return to the CEO role at Flexport. Key topics also include the acquisitions of technology capabilities at Convoy, the importance of customer value, the role of culture, velocity, and trust in the logistics industry, the ups and downs of the global market, how LLMs can benefit supply chain companies, and more.
Show Notes
Highlights from their conversation include:
- The transition back to CEO and managing company changes (1:23
- Acquisition of Shopify Logistics and Convoy (3:41)
- Focus on profitability and going public (10:15)
- The culture of velocity (11:13)
- Building trust and transparency (12:10)
- Focus, quality, and cost discipline (14:02)
- User experience for importers and exporters vs. freight forwarders (22:29)
- Supply chain start-ups and the importance of return on invested capital (23:47)
- The endurance of supply chain and the value of technology in the industry (28:33)
- The importance of network effects (33:37)
- The value of automation in global logistics (38:57)
- Optimizing ship routing in freight forwarding (42:55)
- Machine learning and reducing cancellation rates (45:51)
- Nearshoring and diversification of manufacturing (48:28)
- The Mississippi River network for container shipping (55:46)
- Potential impacts and topics for 2024 (57:00)
Dynamo is a VC firm led by supply chain and mobility specialists that focus on seed-stage, enterprise startups.
Find out more at: https://www.dynamo.vc/