The Future of Supply Chain: a Dynamo Ventures Podcast: Recent Episodes
The Future of Supply Chain: a Dynamo Podcast
On each episode of the Future of Supply Chain, we sit down with a different entrepreneur, investor, or industry veteran to discuss their story, views on the industry, and how we can collectively build the future of supply chain together.
In this episode, Manna founder Bobby Healy explains how his company designs and operates autonomous electric delivery drones, achieving over 300,000 flights and 97% availability in harsh Irish weather by running operations like a low-cost airline focused on high utilization and efficiency. He discusses why a recent U.S. policy shift and forthcoming Part 108 regulations prompted Manna to go all-in on America, starting with a citywide drone delivery mesh in Tulsa, Oklahoma, chosen for its suburban density, aerospace ecosystem, and pro-drone stance. Bobby outlines why he sees players like Wing, Zipline, and Amazon more as fellow builders in a massive, non–winner-take-all market, and why partnering with aggregators such as DoorDash and Uber Eats is the most efficient go-to-market path. He also covers Manna’s recent $50 million fundraise to scale manufacturing, operations, and R&D, and shares his 10-year vision in which drone delivery becomes the dominant, far cheaper, and faster last-mile solution for tens of millions of U.S. suburban homes.
Highlights from their conversation include:
- Introducing Bobby Healy and Manna Overview (0:29)
- Making Drone Delivery Work Commercially Like a Low-Cost Airline (1:34)
- Why Now Is the Time for Manna To Enter the U.S. Market (3:28)
- Why Tulsa, Oklahoma Is Manna’s U.S. Launch City (6:19)
- Competing With Wing, Zipline, Amazon, and Other Drone Players (8:04)
- Role of DoorDash, Uber Eats, and Aggregators in Manna’s Strategy (11:24)
- Operational Playbook for Launching New Drone Cities (15:23)
- How Manna Will Use Its Recent $50 Million Fundraise (17:51)
- Ten-Year Vision for Drone-First Last-Mile Delivery in the U.S. (19:19)
- Final Thoughts and Takeaways (21:18)
Dynamo Ventures is a venture firm backing founders upgrading the physical economy. As intelligence moves into critical infrastructure and technology collides with physics, industry is entering a new era of transformation - the industrial renaissance.
Born from the dirt and grit of supply chains and shaped by operations, not spreadsheets, Dynamo focuses on the complex realities of building in the real world. We invest in companies transforming infrastructure, manufacturing, logistics, transportation, and the systems that power global commerce.
Dynamo works closely with founders who combine ambition with a bias to action, bringing a builder mindset to venture capital through deep operational insight, systematic pressure-testing and hands-on partnership.
Our purpose is simple: to back the relentless shaping the industrial renaissance. Learn more at www.dynamo.vc.
Hosted by Simplecast, an AdsWizz company. See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for advertising.
In this episode, Madelyn O’Farrell talks with Freight Hero Co-Founder and CEO, Andre Martins, about how his company uses AI-powered operations as a service to automate the highly manual world of freight brokerage. Andre explains the broker’s cradle-to-grave responsibilities, why traditional software often fails in an exception-heavy, relationship-driven industry, and how Freight Hero instead “does the work” with an AI agent (Robin) plus a human-in-the-loop team. They discuss real-world results such as brokers growing revenue without adding headcount, surviving margin compression during the “Great Freight Recession,” and reallocating staff from low-value tracking tasks to higher-value sales and customer service. Andre also shares details on Freight Hero’s recent seed round, their roadmap into billing and carrier sales, and his advice for brokers who are skeptical about adopting AI but need a low-friction way to modernize their operations.
Highlights from their conversation include:
- Meet Andre Martins And Freight Hero Overview (0:29)
- Andre’s Previous Startup And Path into Freight Brokerage (1:18)
- What Freight Brokers Actually Do Day to Day (3:27)
- Why Freight Hero Sells Outcomes, not Software (8:11)
- How Robin Learns And Operates Across 40,000+ Loads (13:19)
- Human-in-the-Loop Stories And Handling Driver Exceptions (17:23)
- Customer Results, Cost Pressure, And Great Freight Recession (18:31)
- Growing Revenue 80% With No New Headcount (21:53)
- Seed Round Announcement And Why Investors Bought In (22:12)
- Roadmap Beyond Track And Trace To Full Back Office (23:33)
- Vision For Brokerage Of the Future And Role Of Relationships (27:15)
- Lessons Learned And Advice For AI-Skeptical Brokers (28:01)
- Closing Thoughts And Episode Wrap-Up (30:56)
Dynamo Ventures is a venture firm backing founders upgrading the physical economy. As intelligence moves into critical infrastructure and technology collides with physics, industry is entering a new era of transformation - the industrial renaissance.
Born from the dirt and grit of supply chains and shaped by operations, not spreadsheets, Dynamo focuses on the complex realities of building in the real world. We invest in companies transforming infrastructure, manufacturing, logistics, transportation, and the systems that power global commerce.
Dynamo works closely with founders who combine ambition with a bias to action, bringing a builder mindset to venture capital through deep operational insight, systematic pressure-testing and hands-on partnership.
Our purpose is simple: to back the relentless shaping the industrial renaissance. Learn more at www.dynamo.vc
Hosted by Simplecast, an AdsWizz company. See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for advertising.
In this episode, Scott Friedman, VP of Government Affairs at Altana, joins Madelyn to trace his journey from crafting trade enforcement policy in government to building the technology that underpins it. He explains how trade has shifted from an era of assumed free trade to being a deliberate tool of state power, highlighting rapid changes in U.S. policy, the gap between policymakers’ ambitions and what regulators and companies can practically execute, and the crucial role of modern data and technology. Scott outlines Altana’s vision for a trusted, transparent global trade network, including product passports as a “global entry for goods” and a federated data architecture that enables collaboration without sacrificing privacy. He contrasts Western transparency-driven systems with China’s state-directed, opaque but highly efficient digital trade ecosystem, and explores evolving U.S.–EU alignment on customs, traceability, and digital infrastructure. The key takeaway: full end-to-end traceability is fast becoming the baseline expectation, and companies that lean into data-driven transparency now will be far better positioned in an increasingly complex enforcement environment.
Highlights from their conversation include:
- Scott's Journey from Government to Trade Tech (0:41)
- America Founded on a Customs Dispute and Boston Tea Party (2:47)
- How Today's Trade Enforcement Differs from Past Eras (4:54)
- Gap between Policymakers, Regulators, and Global Trade (7:46)
- Altana Overview and Vision for Trusted Global Trade (11:22)
- Product Passports as Global Entry for Goods (14:08)
- Why Altana Uses a Federated Network Model (19:06)
- China's State-Directed Supply Chain Architecture (22:19)
- U.S. and EU Alignment on Customs, Data, and Traceability (29:29)
- What End-to-End Traceability Now Means for Importers (34:37)
- Key Takeaways and Episode Wrap-Up (39:14)
Dynamo Ventures is a venture firm backing founders upgrading the physical economy. As intelligence moves into critical infrastructure and technology collides with physics, industry is entering a new era of transformation - the industrial renaissance.
Born from the dirt and grit of supply chains and shaped by operations, not spreadsheets, Dynamo focuses on the complex realities of building in the real world. We invest in companies transforming infrastructure, manufacturing, logistics, transportation, and the systems that power global commerce.
Dynamo works closely with founders who combine ambition with a bias to action, bringing a builder mindset to venture capital through deep operational insight, systematic pressure-testing and hands-on partnership.
Our purpose is simple: to back the relentless shaping the industrial renaissance. Learn more at www.dynamo.vc.
Hosted by Simplecast, an AdsWizz company. See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for advertising.
In this episode, energy policy expert Erik Olson joins Madelyn O’Farrell to unpack how surging electricity demand from AI and data centers is colliding with an aging, slow-moving U.S. grid and regulatory system. They discuss why today’s load growth is comparable to the 1970s air conditioning boom, the challenges utilities face in integrating massive, fast-moving data center projects, and the financial risks of overbuilding grid infrastructure that may never be fully used. Erik explains how geography, water constraints, transmission limits, and state-by-state rules shape where data centers can actually go, and highlights creative solutions like data centers directly funding clean energy projects or paying to improve residential energy efficiency to offset their load. He closes with lessons from his time at the Department of Energy, arguing that policymakers need to prioritize simplicity, speed, and clear implementation over “perfect” policy design if they want to keep up with the pace of real-world energy infrastructure development.
Highlights from their conversation include:
- Erik’s Background in Energy Policy (0:28)
- Explaining the Generational Surge in Electricity Demand (1:34)
- Collision Between Fast Tech Companies and Slow Grid Institutions (1:50)
- How Massive Data Centers Strain Traditional Utility Planning (3:54)
- Risks of Overbuilding, Stranded Assets, and Who Pays (7:37)
- Geographic Hotspots, Constraints, and State-by-State Differences (8:27)
- Creative Workarounds Like Curtailment, Direct Funding, and Efficiency (11:18)
- Lessons From DOE on Policy, Implementation, and Speed in Government (15:12)
- Final Thoughts on Moving at the Speed of Business (20:51)
Dynamo Ventures is a venture firm backing founders upgrading the physical economy. As intelligence moves into critical infrastructure and technology collides with physics, industry is entering a new era of transformation - the industrial renaissance.
Born from the dirt and grit of supply chains and shaped by operations, not spreadsheets, Dynamo focuses on the complex realities of building in the real world. We invest in companies transforming infrastructure, manufacturing, logistics, transportation, and the systems that power global commerce.
Dynamo works closely with founders who combine ambition with a bias to action, bringing a builder mindset to venture capital through deep operational insight, systematic pressure-testing and hands-on partnership.
Our purpose is simple: to back the relentless shaping the industrial renaissance. Learn more at www.dynamo.vc.
Hosted by Simplecast, an AdsWizz company. See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for advertising.
In this episode, Madelyn O’Farrell talks with Mike Matson, Co-Founder and CEO of Birch Geothermal, about his journey from the US Navy and academia through oil and gas, carbon capture, and consulting at BCG to founding Birch. They unpack what Enhanced Geothermal Systems (EGS) are, why Birch is “rooted in speed,” and how geothermal can scale quickly to meet soaring power demand from data centers and AI infrastructure. Mike explains geothermal’s rare bipartisan appeal, the strong market signal from Fervo’s recent IPO, and how 80–90% of oil and gas subsurface skills transfer directly into geothermal. They also explore what must go right for geothermal to move from a rounding error to a meaningful share of the US power mix over the next decade, and where the biggest “picks and shovels” investment opportunities lie across drilling, subsurface design, monitoring, and modular power systems.
Highlights from their conversation include:
- Mike’s Journey from Navy Service to Academia and Teaching (0:41)
- Midlife Rowing Expedition and Move into Drilling Operations (2:55)
- Shift from Oil and Gas to Carbon Capture and Clean Energy (3:42)
- Joining BCG and Discovering a Thesis Around Geothermal (4:31)
- Why Geothermal Has Unique Bipartisan Support in Politics (6:08)
- Market Signal from Fervo’s Landmark IPO and Debt Financing (10:36)
- Why the Mountain West Is Ground Zero for Early EGS Projects (13:55)
- How Oil and Gas Skills Transfer 80–90% into Geothermal Roles (16:27)
- Birch’s Thesis: Scaling Geothermal without a Green Premium (19:55)
- AI, Data Centers, and the 10-Year Outlook for Geothermal in the US Mix (23:19)
- Picks and Shovels Opportunities Across Drilling, Subsurface, and ORC Systems (25:51)
- Final Thoughts and Takeaways (29:37)
Dynamo Ventures is a venture firm backing founders upgrading the physical economy. As intelligence moves into critical infrastructure and technology collides with physics, industry is entering a new era of transformation - the industrial renaissance.
Born from the dirt and grit of supply chains and shaped by operations, not spreadsheets, Dynamo focuses on the complex realities of building in the real world. We invest in companies transforming infrastructure, manufacturing, logistics, transportation, and the systems that power global commerce.
Dynamo works closely with founders who combine ambition with a bias to action, bringing a builder mindset to venture capital through deep operational insight, systematic pressure-testing and hands-on partnership.
Our purpose is simple: to back the relentless shaping the industrial renaissance. Learn more at www.dynamo.vc.
Hosted by Simplecast, an AdsWizz company. See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for advertising.
In this episode, Madelyn O’Farrell talks with Drew DeLong, Lead, Corporate Statecraft, Kearney Foresight, about how companies can navigate a new era of persistent geopolitical and economic volatility. Drew traces his path from engineering at Carnegie Mellon to policy roles in Congress, the White House, DOT, FAA, and State, and now advising global firms at Kearney Foresight. They discuss the shift from pure efficiency to resilience after COVID exposed supply chain vulnerabilities, the reality behind “reshoring” and what Kearney’s reshoring index actually shows, and how tariff volatility and sectoral tariffs are reshaping global manufacturing decisions. Drew explains how companies should think about capital planning, total landed cost, and automation in this environment, and explores China’s move up the value chain and the emerging race over semiconductors, critical minerals, and AI infrastructure. He closes by raising the open question of what a coherent, long-term American industrial policy should look like, and how the US government can realistically execute it.
Highlights from their conversation include:
- From Engineering to Policy and Corporate Statecraft (0:47)
- What Kearney and Corporate Statecraft Do for Clients (4:26)
- Shift from Efficiency to Resilience after Covid (8:47)
- What Kearney’s Reshoring Index Reveals about Imports (12:29)
- How Sectoral Tariffs Signal US Industrial Strategy (17:10)
- Capital Planning amid Tariffs and Geopolitical Volatility (21:12)
- China’s Move up the Value Chain and Strategic Sectors (24:32)
- What an American Industrial Policy Could Look Like (28:49)
- Final Thoughts and Takeaways (29:30)
Dynamo Ventures is a venture firm backing founders upgrading the physical economy. As intelligence moves into critical infrastructure and technology collides with physics, industry is entering a new era of transformation - the industrial renaissance.
Born from the dirt and grit of supply chains and shaped by operations, not spreadsheets, Dynamo focuses on the complex realities of building in the real world. We invest in companies transforming infrastructure, manufacturing, logistics, transportation, and the systems that power global commerce.
Dynamo works closely with founders who combine ambition with a bias to action, bringing a builder mindset to venture capital through deep operational insight, systematic pressure-testing and hands-on partnership.
Our purpose is simple: to back the relentless shaping the industrial renaissance. Learn more at www.dynamo.vc.
Hosted by Simplecast, an AdsWizz company. See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for advertising.
In this episode, Madelyn O’Farrell talks with Oana Jinga, Co-Founder and Chief Commercial Officer of Dexory, about her non-technical path into tech, how her experience at Telefonica and Google shaped her approach to “knowing the user and knowing the magic,” and how Dexory evolved from a home security robot to retail shelf scanning and ultimately to a global warehouse intelligence platform. They discuss why Dexory chose tall, ground-based robots over drones to safely and efficiently digitize warehouses in real time, what it really takes to win and support enterprise customers like Maersk, DHL, and GXO, and how a robotics-as-a-service model lets customers buy data and insights rather than hardware. Oana also dives into the ethics of robotics and unbiased AI, emphasizing transparency with workers, privacy-aware data practices, and building a diverse team, before painting a picture of the future: supply chains transformed into connected, predictive supply networks powered by distributed intelligence and shared best practices across global sites.
Highlights from their conversation include:
- Oana’s Nontraditional Path Into Tech and Career at Telefonica and Google (0:43)
- What Dexory Is and How It Digitizes Warehouses in Real Time (2:44)
- Evolution From Home Security Robot to Retail Shelf Scanning to Warehouses (3:40)
- Why Dexory Chose Tall Ground Robots Instead of Drones (5:30)
- Selling Enterprise Robotics to Maersk, DHL, GXO, and Other Logistics Leaders (8:40)
- Robotics as a Service and Selling Data Instead of Hardware (11:51)
- Global Deployments Across the US, Europe, Australia, and Asia (12:30)
- Ethics of Robotics, Workforce Impact, and Unbiased AI Practices (15:00)
- Future of Connected, Predictive Supply Networks and Distributed Intelligence (17:44)
- Final Thoughts and Takeaways (20:17)
Dynamo Ventures is a venture firm backing founders upgrading the physical economy. As intelligence moves into critical infrastructure and technology collides with physics, industry is entering a new era of transformation - the industrial renaissance.
Born from the dirt and grit of supply chains and shaped by operations, not spreadsheets, Dynamo focuses on the complex realities of building in the real world. We invest in companies transforming infrastructure, manufacturing, logistics, transportation, and the systems that power global commerce.
Dynamo works closely with founders who combine ambition with a bias to action, bringing a builder mindset to venture capital through deep operational insight, systematic pressure-testing and hands-on partnership.
Our purpose is simple: to back the relentless shaping the industrial renaissance. Learn more at www.dynamo.vc.
Hosted by Simplecast, an AdsWizz company. See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for advertising.
In this episode, Madelyn O’Farrell talks with Celadyne founder and CEO Gary Ong about how a new membrane material can unlock the full potential of electrochemistry for hydrogen, long-duration energy storage, and critical material separations. Gary shares his journey from PhD researcher to startup founder after big corporates passed on his invention, then explains how Celadyne’s membrane dramatically reduces hydrogen crossover, boosting fuel-cell durability and cutting critical materials in electrolyzers. They dive into the grid-capacity crunch facing hyperscalers, why hydrogen plus electrolyzers and fuel cells makes sense at 50–100+ MW scale, and how salt-cavern storage enables multi-day and even week-long clean power from solar. Gary also unpacks the geopolitical race over hydrogen technology between the U.S. and China, the strategic role of hydrogen for defense and fuel logistics, and closes by arguing that the real constraint to building next-generation energy and AI infrastructure in the U.S. is workforce development and the shortage of skilled trades.
Highlights from their conversation include:
- Gary’s Journey From PhD to Energy Tech Founder (0:44)
- What Celadyne Does and Why Electrochemistry Matters (2:11)
- Reinventing Membranes and Unlocking New Markets (4:54)
- Grid Capacity, Hyperscalers, and Long Duration Storage (7:14)
- Electrolyzers Plus Fuel Cells for Multi Day Energy (10:45)
- Why Power Price Matters Less Than Compute Productivity (14:21)
- Geopolitics, China, and The Hydrogen Technology Race (15:29)
- Hydrogen’s Role in U.S. Energy Mix and Resiliency (19:59)
- Defense Use Cases, Submarines, and Synthetic Fuel (20:56)
- Air Force Funding and Early Defense Partnerships (25:27)
- Workforce Development as the Real Infrastructure Bottleneck (26:58)
- Closing Thoughts on Reindustrialization and Skilled Trades (28:58)
Dynamo Ventures is a venture firm backing founders upgrading the physical economy. As intelligence moves into critical infrastructure and technology collides with physics, industry is entering a new era of transformation - the industrial renaissance.
Born from the dirt and grit of supply chains and shaped by operations, not spreadsheets, Dynamo focuses on the complex realities of building in the real world. We invest in companies transforming infrastructure, manufacturing, logistics, transportation, and the systems that power global commerce.
Dynamo works closely with founders who combine ambition with a bias to action, bringing a builder mindset to venture capital through deep operational insight, systematic pressure-testing and hands-on partnership.
Our purpose is simple: to back the relentless shaping the industrial renaissance. Learn more at www.dynamo.vc.
Hosted by Simplecast, an AdsWizz company. See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for advertising.
From time to time, we’ll re-air a previous episode of the show that our newer audience may have missed. In this episode, Cargado founder Matt Silver joins Madelyn O’Farrell to unpack the future of cross-border freight between the U.S., Mexico, and Canada. He shares his journey from Coyote Logistics and Forager to launching Corgado, a marketplace and pricing tool built specifically for freight brokers. They dive into why WhatsApp and spreadsheets break down collaboration across the 8–12 parties in a typical cross-border shipment, how better-structured data and workflow tools can replace today’s manual copy-paste work, and where AI fits in as more than just a band-aid on legacy TMS systems. Matt also explains why Mexico has become strategically critical for U.S. supply chains, the impact of NAFTA/USMCA, trade tensions with China, and pandemic-driven nearshoring, as well as remaining challenges in Mexican infrastructure and politics. Key takeaways: brokers should focus on relationships and problem-solving, not data entry; modern tools will blur the line between system of action and system of record; and long-term, supply chain collaboration will happen on shared, AI-augmented platforms that connect brokers, carriers, and shippers across North America.
Highlights from their conversation include:
- Matt’s Background in Freight and the Origin of Corgado (0:46)
- Building a Cross-Border Marketplace and Pricing Tool for Brokers (3:52)
- Why WhatsApp and Spreadsheets Break Cross-Border Collaboration (6:46)
- Brokers Should Manage Relationships, Not Copy and Paste Data (11:15)
- Balancing Automation and Human Relationships in Brokerage (17:29)
- Why Mexico Has Become Strategically Critical to U.S. Supply Chains (20:12)
- Political and Infrastructure Challenges for Mexico as a Logistics Hub (24:58)
- The Future of Supply Chain Collaboration Across North America (28:55)
- Closing Thoughts and Episode Wrap-Up (30:33)
Dynamo Ventures is a venture firm backing founders upgrading the physical economy. As intelligence moves into critical infrastructure and technology collides with physics, industry is entering a new era of transformation - the industrial renaissance.
Born from the dirt and grit of supply chains and shaped by operations, not spreadsheets, Dynamo focuses on the complex realities of building in the real world. We invest in companies transforming infrastructure, manufacturing, logistics, transportation, and the systems that power global commerce.
Dynamo works closely with founders who combine ambition with a bias to action, bringing a builder mindset to venture capital through deep operational insight, systematic pressure-testing and hands-on partnership.
Our purpose is simple: to back the relentless shaping the industrial renaissance. Learn more at www.dynamo.vc.
Hosted by Simplecast, an AdsWizz company. See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for advertising.
Highlights from their conversation include:
- Keith Smith’s Journey into Manufacturing and Industrial Engineering (0:49)
- Overview of Vonco Products as a Medical Device Contract Manufacturer (1:53)
- Single Use Fluid Bags, Horizontal Services, and Turnkey Offering (2:06)
- Being “Freaks About Leaks” and the Liqui Lock Guarantee (4:16)
- RF Welding vs Heat Seal Welding for Different Polymers (5:39)
- The Spark Program and On-Site Rapid Prototyping with Customers (7:03)
- Enter Lock Innovation for Enteral Feeding and Customer Adoption (8:21)
- Geopolitical Shocks, Iran Conflict, and Plastic Supply Volatility (9:32)
- Reshoring, Near Shoring, and Rethinking Global Supply Chains (12:18)
- COVID, Panic Buying, and Stockpiling Risk in Medical Devices (14:34)
- Automation Priorities, Staffing Challenges, and Failed Experiments (17:01)
- Diversification Strategy, Customer Mix, and Supply Chain Resilience (19:28)
- Parting Thoughts and Takeaways (20:46)
Dynamo Ventures is a venture firm backing founders upgrading the physical economy. As intelligence moves into critical infrastructure and technology collides with physics, industry is entering a new era of transformation - the industrial renaissance.
Born from the dirt and grit of supply chains and shaped by operations, not spreadsheets, Dynamo focuses on the complex realities of building in the real world. We invest in companies transforming infrastructure, manufacturing, logistics, transportation, and the systems that power global commerce.
Dynamo works closely with founders who combine ambition with a bias to action, bringing a builder mindset to venture capital through deep operational insight, systematic pressure-testing and hands-on partnership.
Our purpose is simple: to back the relentless shaping the industrial renaissance. Learn more at www.dynamo.vc.
Hosted by Simplecast, an AdsWizz company. See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for advertising.
In this episode, Madelyn O’Farrell sits down with Bala Ramamurthy, CEO and Co-Founder of Critical Loop, to explore how his journey from NASA and SpaceX led him to tackle one of today’s most urgent problems: industrial access to reliable, scalable power. They discuss why the electricity grid is an underutilized, aging asset facing soaring demand from reindustrialization, data centers, and EV fleets, and how bottlenecks like multi-year wait times for utility upgrades can cripple factories and logistics operators. Bala explains Critical Loop’s solution: modular, relocatable microgrids that combine battery energy storage, generation, and autonomous controls to dramatically shorten “time to power,” including a high-stakes deployment that kept a factory running for nine months during a utility outage. He also covers how Critical Loop works behind the meter and with utilities, the importance of reliability borrowed from aerospace engineering, navigating shifting policy and supply chains, and why industrial operators shouldn’t give up on their preferred locations just because the grid says “no” at first.
Highlights from their conversation include:
- Welcoming Bala Ramamurthy to the Show (0:29)
- What Critical Loop Does for Industrial Power (1:35)
- Why the Grid Is Complex, Underutilized Infrastructure (3:05)
- How Grid Bottlenecks Impact Industrial Operators (4:41)
- How Critical Loop Analyzes Sites and Designs Solutions (7:21)
- High Stakes Deployment During Nine-Month Outage (10:18)
- Where Critical Loop Sits in the Grid Stack (12:03)
- Deployment Scale Today and Ambition to Reach Gigawatts (14:19)
- Navigating Policy, Regulation, and Market Tailwinds (17:20)
- What Rockets and Industrial Power Systems Have in Common (21:59)
- Advice for Operators Facing Energy as a New Constraint (24:09)
- Parting Thoughts and Takeaways (25:05)
Dynamo Ventures is a venture firm backing founders upgrading the physical economy. As intelligence moves into critical infrastructure and technology collides with physics, industry is entering a new era of transformation - the industrial renaissance.
Born from the dirt and grit of supply chains and shaped by operations, not spreadsheets, Dynamo focuses on the complex realities of building in the real world. We invest in companies transforming infrastructure, manufacturing, logistics, transportation, and the systems that power global commerce.
Dynamo works closely with founders who combine ambition with a bias to action, bringing a builder mindset to venture capital through deep operational insight, systematic pressure-testing and hands-on partnership.
Our purpose is simple: to back the relentless shaping the industrial renaissance. Learn more at www.dynamo.vc.
Hosted by Simplecast, an AdsWizz company. See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for advertising.
In this episode, Madelyn O’Farrell speaks with Santosh Sankar about the broken skilled trades pipeline and its impact on America’s push to reindustrialize. Santosh traces the problem back to the 1983 “A Nation at Risk” report and subsequent policy shifts that de-emphasized vocational education, fueled stigma around trades, and dismantled employer-school partnerships. He highlights looming shortages in critical industrial roles such as welders, pipefitters, millwrights, industrial electricians, and CNC machinists, noting that most current hiring is just replacing retirees and that training timelines make quick fixes impossible. The conversation explores why these industrial trades are hard to automate, the cultural and structural barriers to attracting new talent, and the urgent need for employer-led, modernized vocational training models—potentially even “vocational training as a service”—to close the skills gap and unlock the promise of America’s industrial renaissance.
Highlights from their conversation include:
- Historical Roots of the Skills Trade Pipeline Crisis (0:26)
- How 1980s Education Policy Undermined Vocational Trades (1:09)
- Optics, Stigma, and Cultural Bias Against Skilled Trades (5:30)
- The Big 5 Industrial Trades Driving Reindustrialization (6:28)
- Aging Workforce, Replacement Demand, and Automation Limits (7:53)
- Rethinking Vocational Ed Capacity, Equipment, and Instruction (11:30)
- Role of Employers in Rebuilding Training and Apprenticeships (15:28)
- Vertically Integrated Training Models and Credentialing (15:50)
- Investment Case and “Vocational Training as a Service” (19:04)
- Regional Labor Constraints and Final Thoughts on Opportunity (21:27)
Dynamo Ventures is a venture firm backing founders upgrading the physical economy. As intelligence moves into critical infrastructure and technology collides with physics, industry is entering a new era of transformation - the industrial renaissance.
Born from the dirt and grit of supply chains and shaped by operations, not spreadsheets, Dynamo focuses on the complex realities of building in the real world. We invest in companies transforming infrastructure, manufacturing, logistics, transportation, and the systems that power global commerce.
Dynamo works closely with founders who combine ambition with a bias to action, bringing a builder mindset to venture capital through deep operational insight, systematic pressure-testing and hands-on partnership.
Our purpose is simple: to back the relentless shaping the industrial renaissance. Learn more at www.dynamo.vc
Hosted by Simplecast, an AdsWizz company. See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for advertising.
In this episode, Friddy Hoegener, co-founder of SCOPE Recruiting, shares how his background in supply chain led him to build a niche recruiting firm that only hires recruiters with real supply chain experience. He explains why generic job descriptions fail, how defining an ideal candidate profile and using a structured scorecard creates more objective and faster hiring, and why specific, outcome-based examples in interviews matter. Friddy discusses the industry’s shift from pure cost savings to risk mitigation and vendor relationships, the growing importance of cross-functional, people-oriented skills over narrow niche expertise, and the strategic value of embedding procurement early in product design. He also offers practical advice for high-growth industrial startups on when to hire their first supply chain professional, how to compete with Fortune 500s for talent, and why a single rockstar generalist often beats a team of specialists in the early stages.
Highlights from their conversation include:
- Friddy’s Supply Chain Background and Move Into Recruiting (0:29)
- Founding SCOPE Recruiting and Identifying a Niche (2:15)
- Why Supply Chain Background Matters for Recruiters (3:21)
- Defining Roles and Ideal Candidate Profiles with Clients (4:42)
- Building and Using a Candidate Scorecard for Objectivity (7:17)
- Balancing Cost Reduction and Supplier Risk Management (9:46)
- How AI Is Changing Desired Supply Chain Skills (11:55)
- Embedding Procurement with Operations and Engineering (13:51)
- When Startups Should Hire Their First Supply Chain Professional (15:52)
- Competing With Fortune 500s for Supply Chain Talent (17:28)
- Choosing a Rockstar Generalist vs Multiple Specialists (19:41)
- Final Thoughts and Takeaways (20:04)
Dynamo Ventures is a venture firm backing founders upgrading the physical economy. As intelligence moves into critical infrastructure and technology collides with physics, industry is entering a new era of transformation - the industrial renaissance.
Born from the dirt and grit of supply chains and shaped by operations, not spreadsheets, Dynamo focuses on the complex realities of building in the real world. We invest in companies transforming infrastructure, manufacturing, logistics, transportation, and the systems that power global commerce.
Dynamo works closely with founders who combine ambition with a bias to action, bringing a builder mindset to venture capital through deep operational insight, systematic pressure-testing and hands-on partnership.
Our purpose is simple: to back the relentless shaping the industrial renaissance. Learn more at www.dynamo.vc
Hosted by Simplecast, an AdsWizz company. See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for advertising.
In this episode, Madelyn O’Farrell chats with Jay Allardyce, Chief Product Officer at Octave (part of Hexagon), about how integrated data, design, and operations can transform industrial supply chains. Jay traces his path through HP, GE, Uptake, Google Cloud, and private equity–backed software to Octave, where he oversees tools that span the lifecycle of major infrastructure from design and build to operate and protect, including public safety and 911 systems. Using Octave’s partnership with the Visa Cash App Racing Bulls Formula 1 team, he explains F1 as a “traveling city” and a live example of an integrated, feedback-rich supply chain and digital thread, in contrast to the value lost at each handoff in most industries. He argues that reliability and cost efficiency start at design and depend on context-rich digital twins and continuous feedback loops, not just more data. Jay also highlights the importance of thoughtful AI adoption, praising safety-focused approaches like Anthropic’s and stressing that future, software-defined supply chains will be anticipatory networks enabled as much by better human questions and mindset shifts as by new technology. Don’t miss this great conversation.
Highlights from their conversation include:
- Jay’s Career Journey Across HP, GE, Uptake, and Google (0:49)
- What Octave Is: Design, Build, Operate, Protect Software Portfolio (3:23)
- Octave’s Partnership With Formula 1 and Visa Cash App Racing Bulls (5:45)
- Treating F1 as a “Traveling City” and Supply Chain Showcase (6:20)
- Digital Thread, Digital Twins, and Supply Chain Feedback Loops (8:40)
- Cost of Broken Digital Threads and 1x–10x Value Loss at Handoffs (9:55)
- Reliability as System Context, Not Just Single-Part Failure (11:46)
- Step Back From the Data: First Principles and 360-Degree Asset View (13:30)
- How To Ground AI Initiatives Before Spinning Up Infrastructure (16:30)
- Society’s Need to Retrain How We Ask Questions of AI (18:50)
- Future Vision: Anticipatory, Software-Defined, Networked Supply Chains (20:08)
Dynamo Ventures is a venture firm backing founders upgrading the physical economy. As intelligence moves into critical infrastructure and technology collides with physics, industry is entering a new era of transformation - the industrial renaissance.
Born from the dirt and grit of supply chains and shaped by operations, not spreadsheets, Dynamo focuses on the complex realities of building in the real world. We invest in companies transforming infrastructure, manufacturing, logistics, transportation, and the systems that power global commerce.
Dynamo works closely with founders who combine ambition with a bias to action, bringing a builder mindset to venture capital through deep operational insight, systematic pressure-testing and hands-on partnership.
Our purpose is simple: to back the relentless shaping the industrial renaissance. Learn more at www.dynamo.vc
Hosted by Simplecast, an AdsWizz company. See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for advertising.
In this episode, Madelyn O’Farrell sits down with Ryan Soskin, Co-Founder and CEO of GoodShip, to explore how the company is transforming freight orchestration and procurement for large shippers. Ryan shares his journey through Coyote, Convoy, and Stord, and how those experiences shaped Goodship’s focus on disciplined capital deployment, high hiring standards, and truly shipper-centric tools. They dive into why shipper decision-making is much messier than simple rate-based bids, how GoodShip connects procurement and day-to-day network orchestration, and the role of Laney, their new AI transportation analyst, in turning complex transportation data into fast, actionable insights. The conversation also covers why neutrality (remaining a pure software layer, not a freight participant) is critical to earning shipper trust, how the freight tech stack is likely to consolidate into a single operating system powered by AI, and what Ryan has learned stepping into the founder role while scaling GoodsShip after a $25M Series B.
Highlights from their conversation include:
- Introduction and What GoodShip Does (0:29)
- Ryan’s Path Into Supply Chain and Early Career (2:34)
- Learnings From Convoy and Stord For Building GoodShip (4:49)
- How Shippers Actually Make Freight Decisions (5:40)
- Connecting Procurement and Orchestration In Practice (7:45)
- Launching Laney, the AI Transportation Analyst (8:52)
- Human in the Loop and Goodship’s Agentic Strategy (11:35)
- Why Neutrality Matters in Freight Technology Platforms (13:08)
- The Future Freight Tech Stack and Role of AI (15:00)
- Fundraising, Series B, and What the Team Says Yes or No To (17:18)
- Founder Lessons, Talent, and Financial Discipline (19:23)
Dynamo Ventures is a venture firm backing founders upgrading the physical economy. As intelligence moves into critical infrastructure and technology collides with physics, industry is entering a new era of transformation - the industrial renaissance.
Born from the dirt and grit of supply chains and shaped by operations, not spreadsheets, Dynamo focuses on the complex realities of building in the real world. We invest in companies transforming infrastructure, manufacturing, logistics, transportation, and the systems that power global commerce.
Dynamo works closely with founders who combine ambition with a bias to action, bringing a builder mindset to venture capital through deep operational insight, systematic pressure-testing and hands-on partnership.
Our purpose is simple: to back the relentless shaping the industrial renaissance. Learn more at
www.dynamo.vc
Hosted by Simplecast, an AdsWizz company. See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for advertising.
In this episode, Madelyn O’Farrell speaks with Didi Caldwell, President and CEO of Global Location Strategies, about why site selection is a core supply chain decision rather than just a real estate choice. They cover common mistakes companies make, such as overvaluing incentives and underestimating labor market realities, and break down the key cost drivers of energy, labor, and logistics alongside risk and quality. Didi explains how shocks like COVID-19, tariffs, geopolitical conflict, and export controls have pushed manufacturers to prioritize resilience, multimodal logistics, and more rigorous environmental and utility due diligence. The conversation also explores sector-specific trends in automotive, pharma, metals, and AI-driven data centers, along with structural challenges like labor shortages, grid constraints, and water stress. Listeners come away with a clearer understanding of how demographic shifts, infrastructure needs, and emerging AI tools will shape manufacturing location strategy in the decade ahead, plus practical advice on why expert-led, data-driven site selection is critical for long-term success.
Highlights from their conversation include:
- What Global Location Strategies Actually Does Day-To-Day (0:46)
- Why Site Selection is a Core Supply Chain Decision, Not Just Real Estate (2:12)
- Balancing Cost, Quality, and Risk in Choosing a Location (4:04)
- How Covid, Tariffs, and Geopolitics Changed Supply Chain Strategy (5:39)
- Practical Ways Companies Mitigate Risk in Site Selection (7:17)
- Foreign Trade Zones, Bonded Warehouses, and Tariff Strategies (9:07)
- Building Multimodal Logistics Resilience and Avoiding Single Points of Failure (10:34)
- Sector-Specific Trends: Energy, EVs, Pharma, and Labor Constraints (12:12)
- Demographic Cliff, Grid Transformation, and Water Stress (14:56)
- Emerging AI-Driven Supply Chains and Future Location Strategy (17:57)
- Rapid Fire Segment for Didi (18:17)
- The Critical Importance Of Expert, Data-Driven Site Selection (21:28)
Dynamo Ventures is a venture firm backing founders upgrading the physical economy. As intelligence moves into critical infrastructure and technology collides with physics, industry is entering a new era of transformation - the industrial renaissance.
Born from the dirt and grit of supply chains and shaped by operations, not spreadsheets, Dynamo focuses on the complex realities of building in the real world. We invest in companies transforming infrastructure, manufacturing, logistics, transportation, and the systems that power global commerce.
Dynamo works closely with founders who combine ambition with a bias to action, bringing a builder mindset to venture capital through deep operational insight, systematic pressure-testing and hands-on partnership.
Our purpose is simple: to back the relentless shaping the industrial renaissance. Learn more at www.dynamo.vc.
Hosted by Simplecast, an AdsWizz company. See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for advertising.
In this episode, Madelyn O’Farrell sits down with Juan Aparicio, Co-Founder and CEO of Reshape Automation, to explore how AI agents are transforming industrial companies and what it really takes to deploy them successfully. Juan shares his journey from Siemens to Silicon Valley startups and ultimately founding Reshape to tackle the gap between massive automation potential and low actual robot adoption in U.S. manufacturing. They dive into the realities of robotics-as-a-service, why so many automation projects end up in the “robot graveyard,” and the critical role of process expertise and vendor partnerships. The conversation also covers the hype and limitations of humanoid robots in factories, and why deterministic, domain-specific AI agents are far better suited than generic copilots for high-stakes industrial use cases.
Highlights from their conversation include:
- Introduction to Juan and Reshape Automation (0:36)
- How Reshape’s AI Agents Are Designed, Deployed, and Improved (2:13)
- Juan’s Journey From Spain to Siemens in the U.S. (3:45)
- Designing the “Factory Of The Future” at Siemens (7:04)
- Founding Reshape Automation to Tackle the Automation Gap (9:43)
- The Reality of Robotics as a Service For Manufacturers (11:12)
- Why So Many Automation Projects Fail in Factories (16:26)
- Empowering Local Vendors and Integrators With AI Agents (20:53)
- The Hype and Limits of Humanoid Robots in Industry (22:22)
- Where Humanoids Actually Make Sense in the Near Term (26:38)
- Why Deterministic, Domain-Specific AI Beats Generic Copilots (31:00)
- Ensuring 99.9% Reliability in Industrial AI Agents (35:48)
Dynamo Ventures is a venture firm backing founders upgrading the physical economy. As intelligence moves into critical infrastructure and technology collides with physics, industry is entering a new era of transformation - the industrial renaissance.
Born from the dirt and grit of supply chains and shaped by operations, not spreadsheets, Dynamo focuses on the complex realities of building in the real world. We invest in companies transforming infrastructure, manufacturing, logistics, transportation, and the systems that power global commerce.
Dynamo works closely with founders who combine ambition with a bias to action, bringing a builder mindset to venture capital through deep operational insight, systematic pressure-testing and hands-on partnership.
Our purpose is simple: to back the relentless shaping the industrial renaissance. Learn more at www.dynamo.vc.
Hosted by Simplecast, an AdsWizz company. See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for advertising.
In this episode, founder Phoebe Tan shares how her background at Amazon and Singapore Airlines led her to build Taelor, a “Netflix for outfits” circular fashion platform focused on busy professional men. She explains Taelor’s two-sided model, where subscribers rent curated outfits and partner brands monetize inventory and gain rich feedback to improve product design. The discussion dives into how circular systems transform traditional supply chains, the AI and data challenges of working with 100+ brands and non-standard sizing, and how reverse logistics and operations are built for scale from day one. Phoebe also highlights the power of unbiased customer feedback, why access-over-ownership and personalization will accelerate circular fashion over the next 5–10 years, and how sharing models can extend far beyond apparel into other categories of underutilized goods.
Highlights from their conversation include:
- The Origin Story Behind Taelor and Phoebe’s Background (0:29)
- How Taelor Works as “Netflix For Outfits” for Busy Men (3:21)
- Rethinking Inventory as Recurring Revenue in Circular Fashion (5:43)
- Using AI and Data to Solve Sizing and Styling Complexity (8:39)
- Building Scalable Reverse Logistics and Operations From Day One (11:15)
- Lessons From Amazon and Singapore Airlines Applied to Taelor (13:32)
- What Rental and Resale Data Reveal About Consumer Behavior (15:54)
- Why Access Over Ownership and Personalization Will Dominate (18:07)
- The Future of Circular Fashion and Taelor’s Role in The Ecosystem (20:32)
- Resource Sharing Beyond Apparel and Rapid-Fire Founder Questions (23:29)
- Final Thoughts and Takeaways (25:02)
Dynamo Ventures is a venture firm backing founders upgrading the physical economy. As intelligence moves into critical infrastructure and technology collides with physics, industry is entering a new era of transformation - the industrial renaissance.
Born from the dirt and grit of supply chains and shaped by operations, not spreadsheets, Dynamo focuses on the complex realities of building in the real world. We invest in companies transforming infrastructure, manufacturing, logistics, transportation, and the systems that power global commerce.
Dynamo works closely with founders who combine ambition with a bias to action, bringing a builder mindset to venture capital through deep operational insight, systematic pressure-testing and hands-on partnership.
Our purpose is simple: to back the relentless shaping the industrial renaissance. Learn more at www.dynamo.vc
Hosted by Simplecast, an AdsWizz company. See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for advertising.
In this episode, Cargado founder Matt Silver joins Madelyn O’Farrell to unpack the future of cross-border freight between the U.S., Mexico, and Canada. He shares his journey from Coyote Logistics and Forager to launching Corgado, a marketplace and pricing tool built specifically for freight brokers. They dive into why WhatsApp and spreadsheets break down collaboration across the 8–12 parties in a typical cross-border shipment, how better-structured data and workflow tools can replace today’s manual copy-paste work, and where AI fits in as more than just a band-aid on legacy TMS systems. Matt also explains why Mexico has become strategically critical for U.S. supply chains, the impact of NAFTA/USMCA, trade tensions with China, and pandemic-driven nearshoring, as well as remaining challenges in Mexican infrastructure and politics. Key takeaways: brokers should focus on relationships and problem-solving, not data entry; modern tools will blur the line between system of action and system of record; and long term, supply chain collaboration will happen on shared, AI-augmented platforms that connect brokers, carriers, and shippers across North America.
Highlights from their conversation include:
- Matt’s Background in Freight and the Origin of Corgado (0:46)
- Building a Cross-Border Marketplace and Pricing Tool for Brokers (3:52)
- Why WhatsApp and Spreadsheets Break Cross-Border Collaboration (6:46)
- Brokers Should Manage Relationships, Not Copy and Paste Data (11:15)
- Balancing Automation and Human Relationships in Brokerage (17:29)
- Why Mexico Has Become Strategically Critical to U.S. Supply Chains (20:12)
- Political and Infrastructure Challenges for Mexico as a Logistics Hub (24:58)
- The Future of Supply Chain Collaboration Across North America (28:55)
- Closing Thoughts and Episode Wrap-Up (30:33)
Dynamo Ventures is a venture firm backing founders upgrading the physical economy. As intelligence moves into critical infrastructure and technology collides with physics, industry is entering a new era of transformation - the industrial renaissance.
Born from the dirt and grit of supply chains and shaped by operations, not spreadsheets, Dynamo focuses on the complex realities of building in the real world. We invest in companies transforming infrastructure, manufacturing, logistics, transportation, and the systems that power global commerce.
Dynamo works closely with founders who combine ambition with a bias to action, bringing a builder mindset to venture capital through deep operational insight, systematic pressure-testing and hands-on partnership.
Our purpose is simple: to back the relentless shaping the industrial renaissance. Learn more at www.dynamo.vc
Hosted by Simplecast, an AdsWizz company. See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for advertising.
In this episode, Santosh Sankar hosts his final installment of The Future of Supply Chain and passes the torch to new host Madelyn O’Farrell as the show rebrands to The Dynamo Show. They discuss Dynamo’s broader focus on the industrial economy beyond traditional logistics, including manufacturing, grid infrastructure, data centers, robotics, and the concept of “new industrialists” driving an industrial renaissance. Madelyn shares her vision for the podcast as a go-to resource for anyone who cares about how the physical world is built, moved, and powered, while committing to maintaining high-caliber, diverse guests and a consistent, conversational format. Listeners are encouraged to follow the transition to The Dynamo Show for deeper, more expansive coverage of making, moving, and monetizing goods.
Highlights from their conversation include:
- Santosh Announces Final Episode and Host Transition to Madelyn (0:40)
- Introducing The Dynamo Show and Expanded Supply Chain Scope (2:23)
- Industrial Renaissance, New Industrialists, and Evolving Messaging (3:39)
- Grid Infrastructure, Data Centers, and Robotics as the New Factory (4:41)
- Madelyn’s Long-Term Vision for the Podcast as a Go-To Resource (6:44)
- Core Values, Authenticity, and Diversity of Guests to Preserve (8:27)
- Closing Thoughts and Teasing the Launch of The Dynamo Show (9:44)
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/
Hosted by Simplecast, an AdsWizz company. See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for advertising.
From time to time, we’ll re-air a previous episode of the show that our newer audience may have missed. During this episode, Santosh is joined by Izzy Rosenzweig, Founder and CEO of Portless, a logistics and fulfillment company that enables U.S. e-commerce brands to ship products directly from factories in China to American customers in just 5–9 days, eliminating the need for U.S.-based warehousing. Izzy shares a revolutionary approach to supply chain logistics, transforming e-commerce fulfillment by reducing inventory time from months to days. He helps brands optimize cash flow, minimize tariffs, and improve delivery efficiency by leveraging strategic air cargo and international facilities. Izzy shares his journey from e-commerce to logistics, highlighting the challenges of international trade, tariffs, and sustainability. Don’t miss this great conversation!
Highlights from their conversation include:
- Izzy’s Background and Journey in Cross-Border Logistics (0:41)
- Challenges of Traditional Supply Chains (2:08)
- Direct Fulfillment Model Explained (5:40)
- Skepticism Around Near Shoring (8:46)
- Impact of Trade Policies (11:44)
- Sustainability in Supply Chains (14:42)
- Operational Challenges in Cross-Border Logistics (16:57)
- Advice for Founders in Unsexy Industries (18:38)
- This or That Segment to Close (19:34)
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/
Hosted by Simplecast, an AdsWizz company. See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for advertising.
From time to time, we’ll re-air a previous episode of the show that our newer audience may have missed. During this episode, Santosh is joined by Graham Scott, Vice President of Procurement at Jabil, a global manufacturing solutions provider that designs, produces, and delivers a wide range of electronic products and supply chain services for industries including healthcare, automotive, aerospace, and consumer electronics. Santosh and Graham explore the evolving landscape of supply chains, focusing on electronics manufacturing and semiconductors. Key topics include the complexities of managing a large supplier base, the balance between supplier diversification and consolidation, and the impact of geopolitical factors and tariffs. Graham highlights the challenges in the semiconductor supply chain, the necessity for continued investment, and the transformative potential of AI in procurement. The episode underscores the importance of adaptability, strategic supplier relationships, and so much more.
Highlights from their conversation include:
- Graham's Background and Journey to Jabil (1:32)
- Overview of Jabil (2:33)
- Graham's Role in Procurement (3:43)
- Supplier Base Complexity (7:57)
- Resilience in Supply Chain (9:44)
- Challenges of Geopolitics (11:56)
- Future of Procurement with AI (13:52)
- Trends in Electronics Manufacturing (15:11)
- Semiconductor Supply Chain Overview (18:55)
- Concerns in Mature Technologies (22:49)
- AI in Procurement (25:51)
- Data Mining and Negotiations (27:03)
- Rapid Fire Segment to Close (29:04)
- Final Thoughts and Takeaways (30:32)
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/
Hosted by Simplecast, an AdsWizz company. See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for advertising.
From time to time, we’ll re-air a previous episode of the show that our newer audience may have missed. During this episode, Santosh is joined by Ian Fletcher and Marc Fasteau, Co-Authors of “Industrial Policy for the United States: Winning the Competition for Good Jobs and High-Value Industries." In this conversation, Marc and Ian emphasize the need for a strategic approach to support key industries, highlighting the importance of government-sponsored research, trade protection, and a competitively valued currency. The conversation also covers the role of tariffs, workforce development, and the necessity of a unified economic strategy. The group advocates for intentional policies to foster economic growth, innovation, competitiveness in the global market, and more.
Highlights from their conversation include:
- Introducing Marc and Ian and the New Book (0:41)
- Defining Modern Industrial Policy (4:33)
- Industry-Based Economic View (5:35)
- Importance of Industry Selection (7:23)
- Global Perspectives on Industrial Policy (11:25)
- Three Pillars of Industrial Policy (17:26)
- List of Industrial Policy Tools (19:16)
- Granularity of Industrial Policy (25:27)
- Role of Tariffs in Industrial Policy (26:49)
- Workforce Development and Automation (29:00)
- Future of U.S. Industrial Policy (30:58)
- Challenges of Policy Silos (31:36)
- Hope for Unified Discipline in Industrial Policy (32:24)
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/
Hosted by Simplecast, an AdsWizz company. See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for advertising.
From time to time, we’ll re-air a previous episode of the show that our newer audience may have missed. During this episode, Santosh is joined by Alex Barroux, Co-Founder and CEO at Bonx, a company that offers a customizable, no-code ERP system designed to streamline operations for small and medium-sized manufacturing businesses. Santosh and Alex discuss Bonx’s innovative ERP solutions as Alex highlights the challenges companies face with traditional ERP systems and explains how Bonx's low-code platform offers rapid implementation and user autonomy. The conversation covers market dynamics, customer success stories, and Bonx’s expansion beyond France. Alex shares his vision for the future and emphasizes the importance of adaptability and innovation in ERP systems for manufacturing.
Highlights from their conversation include:
- Bonx’s ERP Approach (1:25)
- Alex’s Background and Journey (3:17)
- Challenges in Traditional ERP Systems (6:54)
- User Autonomy and Customization (9:33)
- Rapid Implementation Timeline (11:46)
- Sales Cycle Efficiency (13:47)
- Identifying Potential Customers (17:30)
- Expansion Beyond France (18:26)
- Sales Playbook Success (20:20)
- Vision for Bonx (22:25)
- AI in Manufacturing (24:35)
- The Future of ERP (25:06)
- Final Thoughts and Takeaways (25:24)
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/
Hosted by Simplecast, an AdsWizz company. See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for advertising.
From time to time, we’ll re-air a previous episode of the show that our newer audience may have missed. During this episode, Santosh is joined by Gary Ong, Founder & CEO at Celadyne Technologies Inc., a company specializing in developing advanced materials and technologies that enhance the durability and efficiency of hydrogen fuel cells and electrolyzers, aiming to decarbonize heavy-duty industries like transportation and manufacturing. Santosh and Gary explore hydrogen's transformative potential in supply chains and energy sectors as Gary shares his journey from battery technology to hydrogen, highlighting its advantages in industrial applications, transportation, and energy storage. The pair addresses public misconceptions about hydrogen, its historical context, and its role in re-industrialization and energy independence in the U.S. The episode underscores hydrogen's critical importance in achieving decarbonization and a sustainable energy future. Don’t miss this episode.
Highlights from their conversation include:
- Gary’s Background in Hydrogen (0:41)
- Hydrogen's Potential (2:13)
- Why Hydrogen Over Batteries? (5:37)
- Challenges of Energy Storage (8:25)
- Public Perception of Hydrogen (10:01)
- Hydrogen's Industrial Applications (12:35)
- Energy Independence and Global Leverage (16:09)
- Hydrogen in Transportation and Logistics (19:23)
- Understanding Fuel Cells (22:02)
- Collaborations with Major Companies (28:46)
- Hydrogen Distribution Challenges (31:08)
- The Importance of a Hydrogen Thesis (36:59)
- Hydrogen's Multibillion Dollar Potential (39:05)
- The Future of Fuel (40:43)
- This or That to Wrap (41:09)
- Final Thoughts and Takeaways (42:45)
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/
Hosted by Simplecast, an AdsWizz company. See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for advertising.
From time to time, we’ll re-air a previous episode of the show that our newer audience may have missed. During this episode, Santosh is joined by Andrei Danescu, CEO and Co-Founder of Dexory, a company specializing in AI-powered autonomous robots and a real-time data platform to optimize warehouse operations by providing continuous, accurate insights without disrupting workflows. In this conversation, Andrei and Santosh discuss the transformative role of robotics in supply chain management, focusing on optimizing warehouse operations. Andrei shares his background and the challenges in the supply chain industry, such as visibility and data consistency issues. He explains how Dexory uses autonomous robots and real-time data to address these challenges, improve efficiency, and meet evolving customer expectations. The conversation also covers technological advancements, market trends, a vision for the future of supply chain operations, and more.
Highlights from their conversation include:
- Andrei's Background in Robotics (1:18)
- The Core Problem in Supply Chain (5:25)
- Dexory Technology Overview (6:47)
- Identifying Customer Pain Points (8:04)
- Case Study of Success (11:27)
- State of Warehousing Robotics in Europe (13:36)
- Current Trends in Warehouse Robotics (15:08)
- Changing ROI Expectations (16:38)
- Dexter's Vision for the Future (19:31)
- NVIDIA's Impact on Robotics (21:22)
- Lessons Learned in Robotics Scaling (24:24)
- Vision for Product Introduction (25:34)
- This or That Segment and Final Takeaways (26:22)
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/
Hosted by Simplecast, an AdsWizz company. See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for advertising.
From time to time, we’ll re-air a previous episode of the show that our newer audience may have missed. During this episode, Santosh is joined by Renan Devillieres, Founder and CEO at OSS Ventures, a venture capital firm and startup studio that specializes in creating and investing in industrial tech companies to enhance operational productivity, product quality, worker conditions, and address climate challenges. In this conversation, Renan shares his journey from economist to industrial sector expert, emphasizing the importance of automation, reshoring, and sustainability in modern manufacturing. He discusses OSS Ventures' unique venture builder model, which supports startups in addressing industry challenges. The conversation also highlights the need for resilience and adaptability in founders, provides valuable insights into the evolving landscape of supply chains, explores the critical role of technology and sustainability, and so much more.
Highlights from their conversation include:
- Renan’s Background and Journey to OSS Centures (0:41)
- OSS Ventures Overview (1:11)
- Venture Builder Model (4:08)
- Traits of Successful Founders (6:29)
- Key Areas for 2025 (8:27)
- Reshoring Manufacturing Operations (12:02)
- Sustainability in Supply Chains (17:59)
- Manufacturing Technology Implementation (21:00)
- Advice for Founders (22:23)
- The Electric Vehicle Strategy (25:31)
- Public Sector Funding in France (27:47)
- Advice for Securing Non-Dilutive Funding (28:17)
- Rapid Fire Segment to Close (30:20)
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/
Hosted by Simplecast, an AdsWizz company. See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for advertising.
From time to time, we’ll re-air a previous episode of the show that our newer audience may have missed. During this episode, Santosh is joined by Earnest Sweat, GP at Stresswood Ventures. In this conversation, Santosh and Earnest explore the evolving landscape of supply chain investment, emphasizing the importance of resilience among founders and investors. Earnest shares insights from his venture capital journey, the role of technology, and the significance of storytelling in investing. They also discuss challenges like labor shortages and opportunities in reverse logistics and labor optimization while also highlighting the need for conviction in non-AI investments, the critical role of human connection in the industry, and so much more.
Highlights from their conversation include:
- Welcoming Back Earnest to the Show (0:45)
- Inspiration Behind "Stress Wood" (1:05)
- The Importance of Resilience (2:21)
- Value of Storytelling in Investing (9:17)
- Understanding the Supply Chain Landscape (12:27)
- Opportunities in Non-AI Companies (15:18)
- Future Investment Focus Areas (21:43)
- The Industrial Landscape and Labor Challenges (24:43)
- The Role of Investors in Series A (27:54)
- Importance of Industry Knowledge (30:17)
- Pre-Seed and Seed Investment Strategies (31:21)
- Customer Introductions as a Value Proposition (32:28)
- Future of Electrification (34:07)
- Best Ecosystems for Supply Chain Startups and Parting Thoughts (34:16)
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/
Hosted by Simplecast, an AdsWizz company. See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for advertising.
From time to time, we’ll re-air a previous episode of the show that our newer audience may have missed. During this episode, Santosh is joined by Matthew Perkins, the Founder & CEO of Macro Oceans, a company that transforms 100% traceable kelp into potent marine bioactives and innovative materials. The discussion centers on Macro Oceans' innovative transformation of kelp into low-carbon biomaterials as sustainable alternatives to petrochemical products. Matthew shares insights into kelp farming in Alaska, the benefits of kelp in beauty and skincare products, and the company's commitment to sustainability and transparency. The episode highlights the intersection of technology, sustainability, and consumer demand, showcasing Macro Oceans' efforts to utilize 100% of harvested kelp and promote eco-friendly practices. Don’t miss it!
Highlights from their conversation include:
- Macro Oceans Overview (1:10)
- Matthew's Background and Journey to Macro Oceans (2:19)
- Kelp in Beauty Products (3:23)
- Kelp Industry Overview (6:23)
- Post-Harvest Processing (8:26)
- Consumer Demand for Transparency (10:28)
- Operationalizing Traceability (12:21)
- Green Premium Concept (15:30)
- Zero Waste Philosophy (17:28)
- Final Thoughts and Takeaways (19:50)
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/
Hosted by Simplecast, an AdsWizz company. See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for advertising.
From time to time, we’ll re-air a previous episode of the show that our newer audience may have missed. During this episode, Santosh is joined by Kevin O'Marah, Chief Research Officer at zero100, a company that brings leaders together to power growth, resilience and sustainability through digital supply chain transformation. Santosh and Kevin explore how demand, amplified by social media platforms like TikTok, now drives supply chain operations. Kevin emphasizes the need for agility and real-time demand sensing in supply chains to adapt to rapid consumer behavior changes, the need for supply chains to balance demand and sustainability to meet the needs of a growing global population, and so much more.
Highlights from their conversation include:
- Kevin’s Background in Supply Chain (0:41)
- zero100 Overview (1:15)
- Demand vs. Supply Dynamics (4:08)
- Impact of Social Media on Demand (5:05)
- Understanding TikTok (6:14)
- Gen Z and Demand Persistence (13:22)
- Sustainability Challenges (15:23)
- Designing a TikTok Supply Chain (18:55)
- Successful Examples in Supply Chain (21:15)
- This or That Segment: TikTok vs. Instagram (23:34)
- This or That Segment: Airfreight or Ocean Cargo (24:30)
- Final Thoughts and Takeaways (25:38)
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/
Hosted by Simplecast, an AdsWizz company. See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for advertising.
Highlights from their conversation include:
- CCR’s Background and Journey to FleetPulse (0:41)
- FleetPulse Overview (1:19)
- Trailer Telematics Industry Primer (4:41)
- Technological Advancements in Trailers (5:10)
- The Rise of Cargo Theft (7:50)
- Understanding Trailer Neglect (8:18)
- Impact of Cargo Theft Trends (10:07)
- Value of Smart Trailers (12:31)
- Case Study on FleetPulse Benefits (14:48)
- Safety Concerns in US-Mexico Trade (18:07)
- Establishing a Startup Culture (23:15)
- Investor Expectations in Industrial Tech (26:07)
- Hiring at Fleet Pulse (29:13)
- Supply Chain Prediction for 2025 (30:11)
- Coaching and Mentoring Approach and Final Thoughts (30:55)
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/
Hosted by Simplecast, an AdsWizz company. See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for advertising.
From time to time, we’ll re-air a previous episode of the show that our newer audience may have missed. During this episode, Santosh is joined by Kathy Fulton, Executive Director at American Logistics Aid Network (ALAN), an organization that helps non-profits find the logistics equipment, expertise, and services they need. In this conversation, Santosh and Kathy delve into disaster recovery logistics, emphasizing the crucial role of supply chains in responding to natural disasters like hurricanes and tornadoes. Kathy explains ALAN's mission to enhance disaster relief by leveraging commercial logistics practices. She shares her journey into disaster logistics, the phases of disaster recovery, and the importance of resilience and collaboration among businesses and volunteers. The episode underscores the need for preparedness and effective supply chain management in disaster scenarios, and so much more.
Highlights from their conversation include:
- Kathy’s Background and Journey to Disaster Recovery Logistics (0:41)
- Overview of ALAN (1:10)
- Importance of Supply Chains in Disasters (4:26)
- Disaster Recovery Lifecycle (7:22)
- First 24-48 Hours Post-Disaster (9:55)
- Role of Volunteers and Local Businesses (11:57)
- Building Resilient Supply Chains (13:43)
- Creative Local Business Support (16:20)
- Challenges in Disaster Logistics Resilience (20:18)
- Rapid Fire Segment to Close (21:23)
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
Hosted by Simplecast, an AdsWizz company. See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for advertising.
From time to time, we’ll re-air a previous episode of the show that our newer audience may have missed. During this episode, Santosh is joined by Zach Fredericks, Principal at Primary Venture Partners, an early-stage VC firm that focuses on B2B SaaS, fintech, health, devtools, built world, and supply chain. In this conversation, Santosh and Zach discuss Zach’s unexpected entry into supply chain and venture capital, detailing his experiences at Loadsmart and BlackRock. The discussion highlights the pandemic's impact on supply chains, emphasizing the need for resilience and adaptable solutions. Zach underscores the importance of decision intelligence and data interoperability, predicting a shift from EDI to APIs. He also discusses investment trends, advocating for near-shoring and expressing optimism about the trucking industry's future. The episode offers valuable insights into supply chain innovation and investment opportunities and so much more!
Highlights from their conversation include:
- Overview of Primary Ventures (1:17)
- Zach's Background in Supply Chain (2:42)
- Macro Thesis from Pandemic Insights (4:46)
- Surprises in Software Adoption (6:55)
- Opportunities for Entrepreneurs (9:03)
- Decision Intelligence Importance (12:07)
- AI's Role in Supply Chain (14:48)
- Investment in Lyriq (19:01)
- Advice for Founders in Supply Chain (22:20)
- Investment Strategies in Supply Chain (23:48)
- Business Model Viability (25:01)
- This or That Segment: (26:27)
- Final Thoughts and Takeaways (27:05)
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/
Hosted by Simplecast, an AdsWizz company. See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for advertising.
From time to time, we’ll re-air a previous episode of the show that our newer audience may have missed. During this episode, Santosh is joined by Alex Yaseen, Founder and CEO of Parabola, the spreadsheet alternative where you combine the data running throughout your company and create automated processes. In this conversation, Santosh and Alex discuss the limitations of traditional spreadsheets in data management and how Parabola offers a collaborative, user-friendly platform for non-technical users. Alex explains how Parabola automates repetitive tasks, integrates various data sources, and enhances collaboration, thereby addressing common issues like data silos and version control. The episode underscores the importance of robust data infrastructure for leveraging AI and machine learning, highlighting Parabola's role in streamlining supply chain operations, and so much more.
Highlights from their conversation include:
- Overview of Parabola (1:20)
- Alex's Background Leading to Founding Parabola (2:51)
- Features of Parabola (6:14)
- Skepticism Towards Spreadsheets (10:16)
- Customer Examples (14:10)
- Importance of Data Infrastructure (16:45)
- Combining Expertise with AI (19:14)
- A Founder's Journey (20:40)
- The First Marketing Hire in B2B Businesses (21:10)
- Getting Attention in Legacy Industries (24:26)
- Focus and Prioritization (27:36)
- Managing Team Dynamics (29:14)
- Segment: This or That? to Close the Episode (30:06)
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/
Hosted by Simplecast, an AdsWizz company. See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for advertising.
From time to time, we’ll re-air a previous episode of the show that our newer audience may have missed. In this episode, Santosh is joined by Adam Lang, Director of Customer Advisory Services at Netradyne, a company working to improve road and driver safety through the development of revolutionary technology. In this conversation, Santosh and Adam discuss fleet safety and how Netradyne is using AI-driven camera solutions, which enhances safety in the trucking industry. Adam shares his journey from human services to transportation, emphasizing the importance of ongoing driver training and the benefits of technology for coaching and exoneration. The episode also addresses challenges in unionized fleets, the need for transparency with drivers, best practices for implementing telematics solutions, improving safety culture and driver behavior, and more.
Highlights from their conversation include:
- Adam’s Background and Journey Into Fleet Safety (0:46)
- Netradyne’s Camera-Based Solution (1:15)
- Understanding Fleet Safety (6:06)
- The Benefits of Netradyne’s Solution (9:57)
- Driver Concerns About Monitoring (12:24)
- Unionized Fleets and Technology (18:26)
- Best Practices for Implementing Telematics (22:59)
- Recognition and Incentives for Drivers (26:33)
- Creative Engagement Strategies (27:42)
- Rapid Fire Segment to Wrap (28:40)
- Parting Thoughts and Takeaways (30:24)
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/
Hosted by Simplecast, an AdsWizz company. See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for advertising.
From time to time, we’ll re-air a previous episode of the show that our newer audience may have missed. During this episode, Santosh is joined by Matthew Putman, Co-Founder and CEO of Nanotronics, a company providing customized solutions for automated optical inspection, process control, and security. During the conversation, Santosh and Matthew explore the current state and future of semiconductor manufacturing in the U.S., emphasizing the challenges and opportunities. Matthew shares his unique journey from a background in theater and music to leading innovations in semiconductor manufacturing. Key topics include the implications of the CHIPS Act, the concept of "cube fabs," the importance of reskilling the workforce, the transformative role of AI in manufacturing, the need for creativity and adaptability in the industry, and so much more.
Highlights from their conversation include:
- Matthew’s Background and Journey Into Manufacturing (0:41)
- The State of Semiconductor Manufacturing (4:33)
- Impact of the CHIPS Act (7:01)
- Reskilling the Workforce (11:17)
- Critique of the CHIPS Act Funding (13:00)
- Opportunities in Manufacturing Technology (17:58)
- Collaboration Between Academia and Industry (20:46)
- Risks of Diversifying Semiconductor Production (23:18)
- The Value of AI in Manufacturing (25:10)
- Creativity in Business and Music (26:11)
- Science and Engineering Thought Processes (28:10)
- Impact of Upcoming Elections on Manufacturing (29:33)
- Labor Shortage Perspectives (30:00)
- Final Thoughts and Takeaways (30:31)
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/
Hosted by Simplecast, an AdsWizz company. See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for advertising.
From time to time, we’ll re-air a previous episode of the show that our newer audience may have missed. During this episode, Santosh is joined by Paul-Bernard Jaroslawski, Co-Founder at FreightCaviar and ShipperCRM. Paul shares his unexpected entry into the freight brokerage industry, his journey through various roles, and the creation of his successful ventures. The discussion highlights the importance of content marketing, particularly using memes and other industry-specific tools to engage the logistics audience. Paul emphasizes consistency in content creation, balancing quality and quantity, and measuring success through engagement metrics. The episode offers valuable insights into building a strong community and driving business success in the logistics sector. Don’t miss it!
Highlights from their conversation include:
- Paul's Background and Journey in Build Freight Caviar (1:05)
- Experience as a Freight Broker (2:29)
- Starting New Ventures (5:19)
- Founding Freight Caviar and ShipperCRM (6:45)
- Audience Engagement and Product Ideas (8:06)
- Mentorship and CRM Development (10:51)
- Pivoting to Shipper Database (12:44)
- Content Marketing Insights (17:51)
- Collaboration Dynamics (19:04)
- Consistency in Content Creation (20:52)
- The Role of Quantity in Quality (21:58)
- Importance of Consistent Newsletters (23:56)
- Measuring Success in Content (25:29)
- Interesting Advice from Guests (30:41)
- Desire to Interview Industry Pioneers (32:25)
- This or That Segment to Close (34:43)
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/.
Hosted by Simplecast, an AdsWizz company. See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for advertising.
During this episode, Santosh is joined by Wayne Usie, EVP of Market Development at Blue Yonder. Wayene shares his journey into supply chain software and discusses how Blue Yonder leverages AI, automation, and data to power next-generation supply chains. The conversation also covers the importance of domain-specific solutions, the development of AI-powered agents for warehouse and logistics management, the evolving workforce, and innovations in returns management. Key takeaways include the growing impact of AI on operational efficiency, the vital role of trust and transparency, the industry's shift toward more autonomous, data-driven supply chains, and so much more.
Highlights from their conversation include:
- Introduction and Wayne Usie's Journey to Supply Chain (0:11)
- Blue Yonder’s Evolution and Embracing AI in Supply Chain (3:00)
- Interoperability, Data, and the Power of Agents (6:27)
- Building Trust and the Scale of AI Predictions (9:27)
- The Importance of Domain-Specific Solutions (13:27)
- Business Outcomes and AI Value in Retail (16:27)
- Workforce Transformation and Human-AI Collaboration (18:56)
- Returns Management and Holistic Inventory Strategies (21:48)
- Future Predictions: The Autonomous Supply Chain (24:58)
- Rapid-Fire "This or That" Closing Segment (27:27)
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/
Hosted by Simplecast, an AdsWizz company. See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for advertising.
From time to time, we’ll re-air a previous episode of the show that our newer audience may have missed. During this episode, Santosh is joined by Chris Jamroz, CEO of Roadrunner Freight. In this conversation, Santosh and Chris explore the transformative impact of technology and innovative business models in the less-than-truckload (LTL) freight sector. Chris shares his journey from investment banking to logistics, detailing Roadrunner's significant turnaround. The discussion covers the complexities of the LTL market, the importance of disciplined pricing, and the role of technology in modernizing the industry. Chris emphasizes the need for automation and digitization to enhance efficiency and reduce manual tasks, highlighting the sector's potential for growth and improvement. Don’t miss this great conversation.
Highlights from their conversation include:
- Chris’s Background and Journey to Roadrunner (1:18)
- Roadrunner's Comeback Story (2:39)
- Vision for Roadrunner's Future (4:50)
- Management Frameworks (6:15)
- Understanding LTL (9:33)
- Types of Freight for LTL (12:46)
- LTL Pricing Complexity (15:02)
- Carrier Pricing Philosophy (18:13)
- Current State of the LTL Market (21:34)
- Freight Brokers and LTL (23:58)
- Investment in Technology (26:31)
- Impact of US Elections on Supply Chains (28:40)
- Overused Business Buzzwords (29:02)
- Final Thoughts and Takeaways (29:32)
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/
Hosted by Simplecast, an AdsWizz company. See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for advertising.
From time to time, we’ll re-air a previous episode of the show that our newer audience may have missed. During this episode, Santosh is joined by Chris Kuntz, Vice President of Strategic Operations at Augmentir. Chris introduces Augmentir's AI-powered connected worker platform, which helps companies onboard workers faster, digitize workflows, and improve safety, quality, and productivity. The conversation also explores the importance of augmenting human workers with technology, the need to rethink hiring and training strategies, and the role of AI in enhancing manufacturing operations. Chris and Santosh also discuss the critical intersection of technology and workforce development in addressing industry challenges. Don’t miss this episode!
Highlights from their conversation include:
- Chris’s Background and Journey to Augmentir (0:41)
- Overview of Augmentir (1:05)
- Identifying Customer Needs (4:15)
- Starting Points for Digitization (5:49)
- Measuring ROI (8:29)
- Case Study: Colgate-Palmolive (10:48)
- State of U.S. Manufacturing (12:32)
- Skills and Training Investment (14:28)
- Addressing Systemic Problems (15:57)
- Nearshoring Trends (17:52)
- AI's Role in Manufacturing (19:31)
- Challenges in Mid-Market Manufacturing (22:50)
- Chips Act and Semiconductor Manufacturing (24:11)
- Final Thoughts and Takeaways (25:19)
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/
Hosted by Simplecast, an AdsWizz company. See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for advertising.
From time to time, we’ll re-air a previous episode of the show that our newer audience may have missed. During this episode, Santosh is joined by Carla DeSantis, Operations Transformation Partner at PwC. Carla shares insights on the future of supply chain management, emphasizing the role of technology and business model innovation. Key topics include the challenges of technology investments, AI integration, workforce upskilling, and climate considerations. Carla also highlights findings from PwC's digital trends survey, noting issues like the lack of expected returns on tech investments and the importance of clear objectives. The episode underscores the need for agile methodologies, robust data security, collaborative approaches in supply chain operations, and more.
Highlights from their conversation include:
- Carla's Background and Journey to PwC (1:02)
- Digital Trends in Operations Survey (2:43)
- Key Takeaways from the Study (4:40)
- Clarity in Tech Investments (6:02)
- AI Integration in Supply Chain (7:06)
- Workforce Digital Skills (8:18)
- Technology Integration Challenges (12:04)
- Climate Considerations in Supply Chain (16:02)
- State of Supply Chain Technology Investment (19:57)
- Cybersecurity in Supply Chain Operations (23:22)
- Rethinking Access Controls (24:55)
- Expansion of Data Protection Laws (26:05)
- Digital Twins for Safe Experimentation (28:41)
- Collaboration Across Functions (32:56)
- Impact of US Elections on Technology Buying (34:40)
- Final Thoughts and Takeaways (35:23)
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/
Hosted by Simplecast, an AdsWizz company. See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for advertising.
From time to time, we’ll re-air a previous episode of the show that our newer audience may have missed. During this episode, Santosh is joined by Lisa Smith, Co-Founder and Managing Director of Prewave, a platform using predictive risk intelligence to cover the critical elements of enterprises. Sanotsh and Lisa explore supply chain risk intelligence and how Prewave helps enterprises manage risks using AI. Lisa shares her journey from earning a PhD in computer science to co-founding Prewave. Key topics include the importance of transparency, compliance, and sustainability in supply chains, the role of technology in automating risk analysis, the evolving regulatory landscape, how companies can implement effective risk management frameworks, and more.
Highlights from their conversation include:
- Overview of Prewave (1:23)
- Lisa's Background and Journey (2:10)
- Understanding Supply Chain Complexity (3:13)
- Development of Prewave's Technology (4:13)
- Defining Supply Chain Risk Intelligence (5:15)
- Proactive and Reactive Strategies (6:35)
- Starting Point for Risk Management (9:57)
- Importance of Transparency (11:42)
- Realizing ROI in Risk Management (13:56)
- Regulatory and Sustainability Trends (16:18)
- Unique Value Proposition of Prewave (19:42)
- Holistic Risk Management (21:40)
- Future of Compliance (23:16)
- Series B Funding Announcement (25:08)
- Rapid Fire Round on U.S. Elections, AI and Olympics (26:20)
- Final thoughts and takeaways (27:47)
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/
Hosted by Simplecast, an AdsWizz company. See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for advertising.
During this episode, Graham Anderson, Co-Founder and CEO of Importal, joins Santosh to discuss how AI is transforming customs brokerage and trade compliance. The conversation explores the integration of technology in managing complex regulations, the impact of ongoing trade wars and tariff changes, lessons from real brands like Bad Birdie, and how businesses can adapt to policy volatility and government shutdowns. Key takeaways include the necessity for importers to proactively manage trade compliance, leverage AI-driven solutions for greater accuracy and efficiency, the critical role of trust in global supply chains, and so much more.
Highlights from their conversation include:
- Introduction to Importal and Its Mission (1:15)
- Defining Trade Compliance and Customs Brokerage (3:19)
- Why Integrating Trade Compliance and Brokerage Matters (4:31)
- The Process of Importing Goods Into the U.S. (5:41)
- How the Industry Operated Historically and Technology’s Role (8:18)
- Coping with Policy Lags and Tariff Changes (9:48)
- Using AI for Real-Time Compliance and Customer Impact (11:51)
- Bad Birdie’s Success and Supplier Diversification (13:22)
- Required Certifications and Regulatory Documentation (0:15:30)
- Industrial vs. Consumer Economy Supply Chain Strategies (17:41)
- Tariffs, Inflation, and Global Shifting of Manufacturing (19:18)
- The Effect of the Government Shutdown on Trade (20:42)
- Trust in Global Trade Value Chains (24:04)
- Rapid Fire Segment and Parting Thoughts (26:20)
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/
Hosted by Simplecast, an AdsWizz company. See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for advertising.
Highlights from their conversation include:
- Peter’s Background and Entry into Shipping (2:19)
- Lessons from Market Volatility and Crisis Response (3:41)
- The Shift Toward Data-Driven Decision Making (4:49)
- Embracing Transparency and Index-Linked Contracts (5:48)
- Standardization and Hedging in Ocean and Air Freight (9:17)
- How Index-Linked Contracts Work in Practice (11:58)
- Advice on Tendering Cycles and Spreading Risk (16:18)
- Overcapacity, Trade Wars, and 2026 Demand Forecast (20:40)
- Building a Data-Driven and Trustworthy Culture (25:06)
- Rapid Fire: Peter’s Favorite Port and Career Alternatives (28:42)
- If Containers Could Talk: Stories from Around the World (29:15)
- Final Thoughts and Takeaways (30:02)
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/
Hosted by Simplecast, an AdsWizz company. See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for advertising.
During this episode, Dr. Andrea Limbago, SVP of Applied AI at Interos, joins Santosh to discuss the evolving landscape of supply chain risk management. The conversation explores the intersection of AI, cybersecurity, and geopolitics, highlighting recent high-profile supply chain disruptions and the growing complexity of global risks. Key topics include the importance of multi-source redundancy over single-source suppliers, the need to detect current risks while building predictive capabilities for the future, and the value of continuous verification of suppliers. Listeners will gain practical insights on how organizations can build resilience, leverage technology, and foster collaboration to better prepare for and respond to supply chain threats. You won’t want to miss this great conversation.
Highlights from their conversation include:
- Previewing Today’s Topic and interos.ai (0:51)
- Andrea Background and Career Path (3:00)
- Defining Applied AI and Its Role in Supply Chain (4:19)
- Major Supply Chain Disruptions and Geopolitical Risks (6:06)
- Are We More at Risk for Future Supply Chain Attacks? (9:14)
- Leading Indicators and Data Challenges in Supply Chain (10:52)
- Supplier Visibility and Risk Tolerance Strategies (13:24)
- Simulation and Scenario Planning for Supply Chain Resilience (16:20)
- Cyber-Physical Weak Spots in Supply Chains (18:10)
- Hardening Supplier Processes and Cybersecurity Collaboration (20:55)
- Business Continuity and Employee Transitions (22:29)
- Quantifying and Managing Supply Chain Resilience (23:34)
- Rapid-Fire “This or That” Segment and Key Takeaways (24:50)
- Final Thoughts and Episode Wrap-Up (26:21)
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/
Hosted by Simplecast, an AdsWizz company. See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for advertising.
From time to time, we’ll re-air a previous episode of the show that our newer audience may have missed. During this episode, guest host Madelyn O'Farrell is joined by Robert Gaffney, Corporate Sr. Director, Supply Chain Planning and Optimization, Coca-Cola Bottling United. During the episode, Madelyn and Robert discuss the company's operations, emphasizing the role of technology and innovation in the supply chain. Key topics include the use of AI and automation to streamline processes, the daily workflow of Coca-Cola Bottling, and the potential for AI to enhance decision-making and operational efficiency. The episode also highlights the importance of employee engagement and collaboration in adopting new technologies to improve the supply chain and so much more.
Highlights from their conversation include:
- Robert’s Background and Journey to Coca-Cola (0:41)
- Background on Coca-Cola Bottling United (1:03)
- Introduction to Kona (1:32)
- Current Trends in Supply Chain (3:12)
- Coca-Cola's Workflow Overview (4:01)
- AI Integration in Operations (5:09)
- External Collaboration for AI (6:14)
- AI Opportunities in Supply Chain (8:27)
- Building vs. Buying AI Solutions (9:58)
- ROI Considerations for AI Solutions (10:47)
- Demand Forecasting Capabilities (12:32)
- Cost-Cutting Focus (13:41)
- Barriers to AI Adoption (14:18)
- Final Thoughts and Takeaways (15:10)
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/
Hosted by Simplecast, an AdsWizz company. See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for advertising.
During this episode, Santosh is joined by Pedro Neto, a supply chain data scientist at HP. Pedro discusses the real-world impact of generative AI on supply chain management. The conversation also explores practical opportunities for AI adoption, common challenges like model drift and data security, and the importance of starting with small, high-impact use cases. Pedro emphasizes the need for robust model evaluation, strong data governance, and empowering teams with accessible AI tools. Listeners will gain actionable insights on how to approach AI implementation, avoid common pitfalls, foster a culture of innovation within their organizations, and so much more.
Highlights from their conversation include:
- Pedro’s Introduction & Background (0:41)
- Opportunities and Challenges of Generative AI (3:00)
- AI Fatigue Among Practitioners (5:15)
- Prioritizing Gen AI in Supply Chain (7:39)
- Best Use Cases for Gen AI (10:28)
- Concrete Examples of Gen AI Impact (13:30)
- Handling Model Drift and Evaluation (16:45)
- Data Security and Governance in Gen AI (19:13)
- Keys to Successful AI Adoption (21:27)
- Rapid Fire: Overhyped AI, Irrelevant KPIs, and Dream Tools (23:26)
- Final Thoughts and Takeaways (25:37)
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/
Hosted by Simplecast, an AdsWizz company. See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for advertising.
During this episode, Santosh is joined by supply chain expert and Professor of Engineering Systems at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT), Yossi Sheffi. Santosh and Yossi discuss the evolving landscape of global supply chains amid trade wars, policy uncertainty, and rapid technological change. Key topics include the challenges of unpredictability for supply chain leaders, the importance of resilience as a hedge against uncertainty, and the growing influence of AI and digital transformation on the workforce. Yossi also addresses the limitations of current sustainability efforts, advocating for nuclear power as a scalable solution, and emphasizes the need for cultural and policy shifts to ensure long-term resilience. Listeners will gain practical insights on navigating volatility, fostering adaptability, and preparing for the future of supply chains.
Highlights from their conversation include:
- Yossi’s Journey into Supply Chain (1:15)
- Trade Wars and Tariff Unpredictability (2:39)
- The Real Problem: Uncertainty and Volatility (3:31)
- Managing Supply Chains Amid Uncertainty (6:13)
- Retail Margins and Political Implications (8:08)
- Resilience as a Hedge, Not a Bet (9:50)
- Resilience vs. Insurance (11:31)
- Global Examples of Resilient Cultures (13:55)
- Trade-Offs in Reshoring and Environmental Policy (16:17)
- Sustainability: Real Impact vs. Virtue Signaling (20:14)
- Nuclear Power as a Solution (21:47)
- Global Energy Demand and Equity (23:51)
- AI and the Future of Work (25:10)
- Job Market Evolution and Adaptation (26:19)
- Education and Skills for the Future (29:49)
- Limits of AI and Robotics (30:39)
- Rapid Fire Segment to Close (32:26)
- Final Thoughts and Takeaways Conclusion and Farewell (34:03)
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/.
Hosted by Simplecast, an AdsWizz company. See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for advertising.
During this episode, Santosh is joined by Devin Bhushan, Founder and CEO of Squint. Devin shares how his company is revolutionizing manufacturing by using AI to capture and scale the tribal knowledge of frontline workers. The discussion covers the challenges of labor shortages, the importance of empowering operators, and the need to digitize best practices for efficiency and quality. Devin also explains how Squint’s multimodal platform leverages video, voice, and data to create a centralized knowledge base, and emphasizes the critical role of trustworthy AI in mission-critical environments. Key takeaways include the value of combining human creativity with technology, the need for robust governance to prevent bad practices, Squint’s vision to optimize the entire manufacturing supply chain from design to service, and so much more.
Highlights from their conversation include:
- How Squint is Revolutionizing Manufacturing (0:41)
- Devin’s Background & Inspiration (2:18)
- AI’s Role: Augmenting Human Potential (4:20)
- Scaling Best Practices with AI (6:43)
- Designing Software for Factory Operators (7:48)
- Capturing and Sharing Tacit Knowledge (10:13)
- Retooling Brownfields & Quality Use Cases (13:54)
- Eliminating Search: The Future of Knowledge Access (15:03)
- Building Trustworthy AI for Mission-Critical Tasks (17:13)
- Preventing the Spread of Bad Practices (20:11)
- What’s Next for Squint: Beyond the Factory Floor (23:30)
- Rapid-Fire “This or That” Segment (24:59)
- Final Thoughts and Takeaways (25:55)
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/
Hosted by Simplecast, an AdsWizz company. See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for advertising.
From time to time, we’ll re-air a previous episode of the show that our newer audience may have missed. During this episode, guest host Madelyn O'Farrell is joined by TJ England, Chief Legal Officer at C.R. England, a pioneer in the transportation services industry providing asset-based Dedicated, Truckload, and Intermodal solutions to solve a wide variety of customer needs. During the conversation, TJ and Madelyn explore the intersection of technology and business model innovation in the trucking industry. TJ provides a historical overview of C.R. England, a family-owned trucking company founded in 1920, and shares his personal journey into the legal side of the industry. They discuss the challenges of operating in a low-margin sector, the deployment of AI to enhance operations, the importance of effective communication among carriers, shippers, and stakeholders in the supply chain, and so much more.
Highlights from their conversation include:
- C.R. England’s Journey in Trucking (0:52)
- TJ's Journey into the Family Business (1:58)
- Challenges in the Trucking Industry (3:41)
- Exploring AI in Trucking (6:15)
- Potential of AI for Network Optimization (10:06)
- Human in the Loop Approach (14:17)
- Technological Solutions for Communication (17:39)
- Fragmentation and Small Businesses (20:43)
- AI in Legal Framework (25:57)
- Automated Vehicles and Legal Risks (27:17)
- Train Derailments and Technology (29:41)
- Legal Perspectives on Cybersecurity (32:00)
- In-House vs. Outsourcing Technology (35:10)
- ROI and Customer-Centric Solutions (39:05)
- Current State of the Trucking Market (41:22)
- Importance of Lean Operations (46:50)
- Challenges of Investment in Technology (48:18)
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/
Hosted by Simplecast, an AdsWizz company. See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for advertising.
During this episode, Santosh is joined by Conrad Snover, CEO of ProcureAbility. Conrad explores the evolving role of procurement in the utility sector. He also discusses the importance of sustainable procurement—focusing on both security of supply and responsible practices—alongside the challenges and opportunities brought by electrification, renewable energy, and increased demand. The conversation highlights the need for supply chain resilience, especially in the wake of COVID-19, and emphasizes the value of optionality and risk management. Listeners will gain insights into how procurement can drive value, adapt to industry shifts, and why even simple tools like Excel remain indispensable for procurement professionals. Don’t miss this great conversation.
Highlights from their conversation include:
- Overview of ProcureAbility (0:41)
- Conrad’s Career Journey (2:04)
- Sustainable Procurement: Definition & Implementation (4:01)
- Sustainability Trends in Utilities (6:30)
- Procurement in the Utility Sector: Fundamentals (8:36)
- Utility Industry Structure & Financial Model (9:21)
- Procurement’s Role in Utility Operations (12:09)
- Skills Shift: IoT, Cybersecurity, and Construction (16:48)
- Complexity of Large-Scale Energy Projects (18:05)
- Supply Chain Resilience & COVID-19 Lessons (19:35)
- Current Material Shortages & Integrated Supply Chain (23:24)
- Procurement’s Strategic Value in Contracting (25:35)
- Risk Management Lessons from Mountaineering (27:16)
- Final Thoughts and Takeaways (29:36)
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/
Hosted by Simplecast, an AdsWizz company. See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for advertising.
Highlights from their conversation include:
- The G10 Fulfillment Founding Story (1:04)
- Mark Becker’s Career Background (3:19)
- Early E-commerce and Amazon Insights (6:31)
- Evolving Customer Demands & Service Model (7:59)
- Warehouse Network Strategy (8:45)
- Network Optimization & Data-Driven Decisions (11:01)
- Automation in B2C vs. B2B Fulfillment (15:56)
- Philosophy on Robotics & Automation Investment (19:15)
- Robotics Implementation & Efficiency Gains (21:49)
- Limits of Robotics in Fulfillment (25:06)
- Future of Warehouse Networks (26:14)
- This or That Segment to Close (27:46)
- Final Thoughts and Conclusion (29:24)
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/
Hosted by Simplecast, an AdsWizz company. See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for advertising.
During this episode, Santosh is joined by Stephen Dombroski, Director, CPG & Food and Beverage at QAD. Stephen joins the show to discuss the future of manufacturing and supply chain innovation. Topics include the evolution of ERP systems, the shift from reactive to proactive planning, the impact of AI and real-time data on demand forecasting, and the practical meaning of a connected workforce. Stephen emphasizes the importance of integrating people, processes, and systems, empowering frontline workers with technology, and fostering open communication to drive change. Key takeaways for listeners are the value of embracing digital transformation, leveraging AI as a support tool, adopting a mindset that prioritizes adaptability and collaboration across the manufacturing ecosystem, and so much more.
Highlights from their conversation include:
- Overview of QAD and Its Evolution (1:13)
- Stephen’s Career Journey into Manufacturing Tech (3:12)
- Reactive vs. Proactive Manufacturing Planning (6:16)
- Demand Forecasting in Volatile Times (8:57)
- Connected Workforce: Meaning and Impact (13:12)
- AI as a Support Tool for Frontline Workers (16:32)
- Integrating ERP, S&OP, and AI in Manufacturing (19:36)
- Managing Change and Digital Transformation (24:27)
- Rapid Fire Questions to Close: Industry Challenges and Mindset (29:19)
- Final Thoughts and Takeaways (31:02)
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/
Hosted by Simplecast, an AdsWizz company. See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for advertising.
From time to time, we’ll re-air a previous episode of the show that our newer audience may have missed. During this episode, Santosh is joined by Dr. Tom Goldsby, Chair of Logistics at the Haslam College of Business at the University of Tennessee. Santosh and Tom discuss the complexities of supply chain management and other important topics. Tom shares his background, the growth of the University of Tennessee's supply chain program, and the importance of nearshoring and agility in today's volatile environment. They also explore the evolution of parcel logistics, the challenges of last-mile delivery, the impacts of AI on supply chain innovation for the future, and more.
Highlights from their conversation include:
- Tom’s Background in Supply Chain and Logistics (1:22)
- The Impact of Nearshoring (6:41)
- Geopolitical Considerations (9:38)
- Agility in Supply Chain (13:04)
- Adapting to Pandemic Challenges (16:16)
- Parcel Logistics Evolution (19:49)
- USPS incentives and parcel network changes (23:25)
- Walmart's last mile and returns strategy (24:01)
- Rapid fire Segment: AI, Port of Baltimore, and Trucking (25:09)
- Final Thoughts and Takeaways (28:24)
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/
Hosted by Simplecast, an AdsWizz company. See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for advertising.
From time to time, we’ll re-air a previous episode of the show that our newer audience may have missed.
During this episode, Santosh is joined by Radu Palamariu, the Managing Director for Europe and Asia Pacific at Alcott Global, a company that provides executive search solutions for the world's top companies in eCommerce, supply chain, logistics, and other sectors. During the episode, Radu shares insights on the importance of talent in the supply chain industry and the current market dynamics. He talks about Alcott Global's focus on recruitment for the global value chain and its initiatives to recognize supply chain leaders. He also discusses the shift to an employer market, driven by economic and geopolitical factors, and the demand for talent capable of driving change. He also stresses the need for investment in technology and innovation, particularly in Asia and the Middle East, and the challenges of attracting talent to manufacturing. The episode also covers leadership transitions and the strategic approach to appointing independent board directors.
Highlights from their conversation include:
- Alcott Global’s Mission (1:00)
- Radu’s Background in Search and Talent (3:27)
- State of the Supply Chain Industry (6:46)
- Skills in Demand in Supply Chain (8:54)
- Investment and Innovation in Supply Chain (15:18)
- Attracting Talent to Supply Chain (19:52)
- Contributing to the Greater Good (22:22)
- Transitioning leadership in a growing company (24:25)
- Challenges of scaling a company (26:13)
- AI's role in the supply chain (32:18)
- Final thoughts and takeaways (34:39)
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/
Hosted by Simplecast, an AdsWizz company. See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for advertising.
During this episode, Santosh is joined by Joe Darcy, Investment Director at Volvo Group VC, as they explore the intersection of corporate venture capital, industrial innovation, and technology. Joe shares insights into Volvo's strategic venture approach, emphasizing their 28-year history of investing in startups that can benefit both the company and its customers. The conversation also delves into the nuanced world of corporate venture capital, with a particular focus on AI's role in industrial settings, highlighting the importance of "human-in-the-loop" technologies. Joe discusses the firm's investment strategy, which balances financial returns with strategic opportunities, and provides a personal narrative of his journey from Wall Street to venture capital. Key takeaways include the evolving relationship between startups and large corporations, the potential of AI to augment rather than replace human workflows, the critical importance of long-term partnerships in driving technological innovation in the industrial sector, and so much more.
Highlights from their conversation include:
- Overview of Volvo Group VC (0:57)
- Joe Darcy’s Background (2:17)
- Volvo Group VC’s Investment Approach (4:33)
- Types of Startups Volvo Invests In (7:55)
- Stage Fit and Investment Criteria (10:08)
- Venture Capital Realities and Founder Advice (12:10)
- Overhyped vs. Underappreciated Trends (14:07)
- Non-AI Areas of Interest (16:50)
- Contrarian Take on AI and Industry (17:49)
- Rapid Fire Segment to Close: Myths, Heroes, and Hobbies (18:39)
- Final Thoughts and Takeaways (20:58)
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/
Hosted by Simplecast, an AdsWizz company. See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for advertising.
During this episode, Santosh is joined by Jake Wieseneck, Principal at Maniv, a venture capital firm focused on mobility and transportation technologies. Jake shares insights into Maniv's investment strategy, emphasizing their focus on decarbonization and the digitization of transportation. The conversation also explores emerging trends in AI, particularly its application in verticalized industries like maintenance, freight, and manufacturing. Key discussions include the evolving Series A fundraising landscape, the importance of domain expertise in AI applications, and the potential transformation of automotive OEMs. Jake highlights the firm's approach to investing in companies with clear cost imperatives and multiple business model pathways, while also providing a bold prediction that automotive companies will become broader technology providers by the end of the decade. Don’t miss this conversation!
Highlights from their conversation include:
- Jake’s Background and Path to Mobility Investing (1:09)
- Maniv’s Investment Strategy and Industry Partnerships (3:34)
- Bidirectional Value with Strategic Partners (6:02)
- Current Market Dynamics and Exciting Trends (8:08)
- AI and Mobility: Investment Focus Areas (9:45)
- Series A Market Expectations and Guidance (11:27)
- Optionality and Transparency for Founders (13:23)
- Investor-Founder Alignment and Board Dynamics (18:22)
- Defensibility and Moats in AI-Driven Businesses (20:23)
- Distribution, Data, and Domain as Competitive Advantages (22:19)
- Decarbonization and Electrification Investment Approach (27:28)
- Bold Predictions for the Automotive Industry (30:22)
- Rapid Fire Segment to Closs (31:31)
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/
Hosted by Simplecast, an AdsWizz company. See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for advertising.
During this episode, Santosh is joined by Adam Honig, CEO of Spiro.ai. During the conversation, Adam and Santosh discuss the limitations of traditional CRM systems and introduce an "anti-CRM" approach tailored for the industrial sector. Adam shares his experiences in sales and technology, highlighting how Spiro.ai uses AI to automatically collect and update customer data, reducing manual entry and improving sales productivity. The conversation also explores challenges in industrial sales, including generational knowledge transfer, technology adoption, and the need for practical, actionable insights. Key takeaways include the importance of proactive relationship management, the potential of AI to streamline sales processes, the need for flexible, user-friendly solutions that provide real value to sales teams, and so much more.
Highlights from their conversation include:
- Adam’s Background and CRM Experience (1:01)
- The Fundamental Flaws of Traditional CRMs (3:03)
- Proactive Relationship Management Explained (6:53)
- Why Focus on the Industrial Sector? (8:30)
- Actionable Insights and Business Impact (10:40)
- AI Adoption in Industrial Sales (12:53)
- Advice for Industrial Leaders on Digital Transformation (14:51)
- Common Sales Mistakes in Manufacturing (17:00)
- CRM 1.0 vs. CRM 2.0: What’s Changed? (19:10)
- The Future of CRM and Systems of Record (23:22)
- Final Thoughts and Takeaways (24:33)
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/
Hosted by Simplecast, an AdsWizz company. See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for advertising.
From time to time, we’ll re-air a previous episode of the show that our newer audience may have missed.
During this episode, Santosh is joined by Jaime Tabachnik, Co-Founder and CEO at Solvento, a company unlocking the flow of money for truckers in Latin America. During the conversation, Santosh and Jaime discuss the intersection of freight and finance. Jaime shares his transition from civil engineering to logistics and payments, and how his experience led to founding Solvento. The company aims to help SMEs in the Mexican trucking industry by providing software and financial solutions to improve cash flow and efficiency. They discuss Solvento's $50 million lending facility, the specifics of the Mexican trucking market, and the impact of nearshoring. Jaime also addresses venture capital investment in lending models, the potential for transformative change in the Mexican economy, and more.
Highlights from their conversation include:
- Solvento and Logistics Payment Automation (0:41)
- Jaime’s background in Supply Chain and Logistics (1:51)
- Solvento's Infrastructure for Freight Industry (9:46
- Lending Facility and Quick Pay Solutions (15:49)
- Mexican Trucking Industry Insights (22:34)
- Nearshoring and the Mexican Supply Chain (25:53)
- Lending Models in Emerging Markets (28:39)
- VC Investment and Capital Efficiency (30:51)
- Jaime’s Motivation and Industry Impact (32:05)
- Rapid Fire: Security, Elections, and Interest Rates (34:01)
- Final thoughts and takeaways (37:01)
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/
Hosted by Simplecast, an AdsWizz company. See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for advertising.
During this episode, Santosh is joined by Michael Murray, Senior Director, Global Supply Chain Management at DSV Inventory Management Solutions. Michael discusses the complex semiconductor supply chain landscape and explores critical topics such as the Section 232 trade investigation, challenges of onshoring, and strategies for managing inventory amid global trade tensions. He also emphasizes the importance of transparency, strategic partnerships, and creative solutions like consigned inventory to balance supply risk and cost efficiency. Key takeaways include the need for closer collaboration between suppliers and manufacturers, adapting to changing trade policies, and viewing supply chain relationships as strategic partnerships rather than transactional interactions. The conversation provides insights into how semiconductor companies are navigating national security concerns, tariff challenges, the evolving global manufacturing environment, and so much more.
Highlights from their conversation include:
- DSV Inventory Management Solutions Overview (0:58)
- Michael’s Background and Career Journey (2:26)
- Section 232 Investigation Explained (3:44)
- Trade War and Near-Term Disruptions (5:11)
- Trade Compliance and Coding (7:49)
- Cost vs. Control in Sourcing (10:38)
- Balancing Lean and Resilient Inventory (13:01)
- Strategic Partnerships and Trust (17:26)
- Macro View: Future of Supply Chains & Trade Policy (18:08)
- This or That Segment and Parting Thoughts (19:59)
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/
During this episode, Santosh is joined by Joel Wayment, VP and GM of 3PL logistics at Cardinal Health. Joel provides an in-depth exploration of pharmaceutical cold chain logistics, highlighting the critical evolution of medical product transportation. He discusses how emerging technologies, sustainability efforts, and innovative packaging solutions are transforming the supply chain, particularly for ultra-sensitive medical products like cell and gene therapies. Joel also emphasizes the importance of minimizing product touches, leveraging AI and data insights, and creating environmentally friendly shipping solutions. Key takeaways include the role of technology in improving supply chain visibility, the impact of disruptions like COVID-19 on logistics innovation, the ongoing challenge of getting critical medical products safely and efficiently from manufacturers to patients, and so much more.
Highlights from their conversation include:
- Cardinal Health Overview (1:10)
- Joel’s Background and Journey (1:58)
- Evolution of Cold Chain Logistics (2:49)
- Advancements in Packaging Solutions (4:43)
- Visibility and Transparency in Shipping (5:40)
- Patient-Centric Approaches (7:30)
- Monitoring Product Conditions (9:20)
- Sustainability in Packaging (11:14)
- Consolidation and Optimization Strategies (14:52)
- Lessons from Supply Chain Disruptions (16:41)
- Balancing Regulation and Flexibility (19:40)
- Data Insights for Accountability (21:46)
- The Role of AI in Logistics (24:45)
- Proactive Decision-Making with Data (26:54)
- Final Thoughts and Takeaways (28:13)
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/
Highlights from their conversation include:
- Overview of Highway and Michael's Background in Freight (1:35)
- Rise of Freight Fraud (2:29)
- Types of Fraud Encountered (5:52)
- Fraudulent Carrier Tactics (8:11)
- Highway's Carrier Vetting Process (10:23)
- Impact of Freight Fraud (11:53)
- Highway's Identity Engine (16:57)
- Comparison with Other Tools (19:09)
- Quality of Assets in Freight (22:23)
- Freight Fraud Index Launch (24:03)
- Compromised Email Inboxes and Phone Spoofing Tactics (26:04)
- Myths About Freight Brokers (28:06)
- Final Thoughts and Closing Remarks (29:07)
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/
Highlights from their conversation include:
- David’s background and journey in co-founding sennder (0:41)
- European Freight Market Dynamics (2:39)
- The State of the European Freight Industry (4:47)
- Diversification and Business Strategy (6:14)
- Influence of Market Dynamics on Strategy (8:40)
- Outlook for 2024 and Managed Transportation Capability (10:47)
- Profitability and Investment in Technology (12:20)
- Technology Adoption and Future Services (15:17)
- Challenges and Opportunities of Leveraging Technology (20:26)
- Key Technology Metrics and Path to Profitability (22:26
- Inorganic Growth and Acquisitions (24:41)
- Challenges of the European trucking industry (28:55)
- Final thoughts and takeaways (32:32)
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/
Highlights from their conversation include:
- Manna's Mission (1:23)
- Customer Adoption Rates (4:56)
- Regulatory Environment (7:54)
- Scaling Operations (8:38)
- Regulatory Advice (13:01)
- Community Engagement Challenges (16:38)
- Importance of Local Communication (20:59)
- Impact of Scale on Delivery Economics (24:05)
- Doordash's Offensive Strategy (27:06)
- Challenges of U.S. Market Entry (28:10)
- Future of Drone Delivery (30:21)
- Evolution of Shopping Behavior (32:20)
- Future Logistics and Fulfillment Centers (33:24)
- Final Thoughts and Takeaways (34:33)
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/
Highlights from their conversation include:
- Welcoming Bola to the Dynamo Team (0:41)
- Founders in the Industrial Sector (3:14)
- Madelyn’s Promotion and Focus (5:37)
- Geopolitical Tensions and Supply Chain (7:35)
- Dynamo's Rebranding and Focus (12:03)
- AI's Role in Venture Capital (18:02)
- Navigating Global Trade Policies (22:54)
- Impact of Tariffs on Supply Chain (24:01)
- Non-Tariff Restrictions and Semiconductor Industry (26:04)
- Consumer Confidence and Economic Outlook (29:12)
- Uncertainty in Manufacturing Sector (32:29)
- Autonomous Vehicles and Market Trends (35:12)
- Future of Drone Delivery and Parting Thoughts (39:15)
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/
Highlights from their conversation include:
- Izzy’s Background and Journey in Cross-Border Logistics (0:41)
- Challenges of Traditional Supply Chains (2:08)
- Direct Fulfillment Model Explained (5:40)
- Skepticism Around Near Shoring (8:46)
- Impact of Trade Policies (11:44)
- Sustainability in Supply Chains (14:42)
- Operational Challenges in Cross-Border Logistics (16:57)
- Advice for Founders in Unsexy Industries (18:38)
- This or That Segment to Close (19:34)
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/
Highlights from their conversation include:
- Barry’s journey in Co-Founding Access America (0:53)
- Venture Capital and Technology in the Freight Industry (4:39)
- Challenges and Strategies in the Industry (8:26)
- Future Outlook and Business Optimization (14:02)
- Role of Technology in Freight Brokerage (15:54)
- The Impact of AI and Future Trends (19:18)
- Opportunities in the Supply Chain Industry (21:21)
- Final thoughts and takeaways (23:29)
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/
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/
Highlights from their conversation include:
- Graham's Background and Journey to Jabil (1:32)
- Overview of Jabil (2:33)
- Graham's Role in Procurement (3:43)
- Supplier Base Complexity (7:57)
- Resilience in Supply Chain (9:44)
- Challenges of Geopolitics (11:56)
- Future of Procurement with AI (13:52)
- Trends in Electronics Manufacturing (15:11)
- Semiconductor Supply Chain Overview (18:55)
- Concerns in Mature Technologies (22:49)
- AI in Procurement (25:51)
- Data Mining and Negotiations (27:03)
- Rapid Fire Segment to Close (29:04)
- Final Thoughts and Takeaways (30:32)
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/
Highlights from their conversation include:
- Introducing Marc and Ian and the New Book (0:41)
- Defining Modern Industrial Policy (4:33)
- Industry-Based Economic View (5:35)
- Importance of Industry Selection (7:23)
- Global Perspectives on Industrial Policy (11:25)
- Three Pillars of Industrial Policy (17:26)
- List of Industrial Policy Tools (19:16)
- Granularity of Industrial Policy (25:27)
- Role of Tariffs in Industrial Policy (26:49)
- Workforce Development and Automation (29:00)
- Future of U.S. Industrial Policy (30:58)
- Challenges of Policy Silos (31:36)
- Hope for Unified Discipline in Industrial Policy (32:24)
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/
During this episode, Santosh is joined by Alex Barroux, Co-Founder and CEO at Bonx, a company that offers a customizable, no-code ERP system designed to streamline operations for small and medium-sized manufacturing businesses. Santosh and Alex discuss Bonx’s innovative ERP solutions as Alex highlights the challenges companies face with traditional ERP systems and explains how Bonx's low-code platform offers rapid implementation and user autonomy. The conversation covers market dynamics, customer success stories, and Bonx’s expansion beyond France. Alex shares his vision for the future and emphasizes the importance of adaptability and innovation in ERP systems for manufacturing.
Highlights from their conversation include:
- Gary’s Background in Hydrogen (0:41)
- Hydrogen's Potential (2:13)
- Why Hydrogen Over Batteries? (5:37)
- Challenges of Energy Storage (8:25)
- Public Perception of Hydrogen (10:01)
- Hydrogen's Industrial Applications (12:35)
- Energy Independence and Global Leverage (16:09)
- Hydrogen in Transportation and Logistics (19:23)
- Understanding Fuel Cells (22:02)
- Collaborations with Major Companies (28:46)
- Hydrogen Distribution Challenges (31:08)
- The Importance of a Hydrogen Thesis (36:59)
- Hydrogen's Multibillion Dollar Potential (39:05)
- The Future of Fuel (40:43)
- This or That to Wrap (41:09)
- Final Thoughts and Takeaways (42:45)
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/
Highlights from their conversation include:
- The failure of Convoy and its impact on the industry (1:25)
- Were Convoy’s margins a factor in failure (5:18)
- The role of investors and understanding the industry (9:31)
- The failure of Convoy's board and understanding of the freight market (11:45)
- Challenges of venture capital in the freight brokerage industry (12:36)
- The impact of cash burn and lack of profitability on Convoy's failure (13:49)
- The rise of Convoy and its advantages (23:11)
- Investor sentiment and the future of the freight brokerage industry (26:15)
- Issues with raising capital (33:46)
- The challenges of building a competitive TMS (36:59)
- The rise of fintech during the financial crisis (44:40)
- Running a business without unlimited cash and resources (46:00)
- The impact of valuations on the industry (47:11)
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/
Highlights from their conversation include:
- Andrei's Background in Robotics (1:18)
- The Core Problem in Supply Chain (5:25)
- Dexory Technology Overview (6:47)
- Identifying Customer Pain Points (8:04)
- Case Study of Success (11:27)
- State of Warehousing Robotics in Europe (13:36)
- Current Trends in Warehouse Robotics (15:08)
- Changing ROI Expectations (16:38)
- Dexter's Vision for the Future (19:31)
- NVIDIA's Impact on Robotics (21:22)
- Lessons Learned in Robotics Scaling (24:24)
- Vision for Product Introduction (25:34)
- This or That Segment and Final Takeaways (26:22)
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/
Highlights from their conversation include:
- Renan’s Background and Journey to OSS Centures (0:41)
- OSS Ventures Overview (1:11)
- Venture Builder Model (4:08)
- Traits of Successful Founders (6:29)
- Key Areas for 2025 (8:27)
- Reshoring Manufacturing Operations (12:02)
- Sustainability in Supply Chains (17:59)
- Manufacturing Technology Implementation (21:00)
- Advice for Founders (22:23)
- The Electric Vehicle Strategy (25:31)
- Public Sector Funding in France (27:47)
- Advice for Securing Non-Dilutive Funding (28:17)
- Rapid Fire Segment to Close (30:20)
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/
Highlights from their conversation include:
- The origin story of Equal Ventures (0:41
- The challenges of the new brokerage concept (5:16)
- Impacts of market dynamics on brokerage business models (8:16)
- The Entrepreneur's Agency (11:11)
- Rolling Over Equity (12:13)
- Platform Solution for Freight Forwarders (15:27)
- The freight cycle and the future of startups (22:18)
- Consolidation and partnerships in the industry (26:39)
- Enabling rather than disrupting the industry (28:07)
- The success of brokers based on relationships (31:20)
- Appreciation for the supply chain ecosystem (32:21)
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/
Highlights from their conversation include:
- Welcoming Back Earnest to the Show (0:45)
- Inspiration Behind "Stress Wood" (1:05)
- The Importance of Resilience (2:21)
- Value of Storytelling in Investing (9:17)
- Understanding the Supply Chain Landscape (12:27)
- Opportunities in Non-AI Companies (15:18)
- Future Investment Focus Areas (21:43)
- The Industrial Landscape and Labor Challenges (24:43)
- The Role of Investors in Series A (27:54)
- Importance of Industry Knowledge (30:17)
- Pre-Seed and Seed Investment Strategies (31:21)
- Customer Introductions as a Value Proposition (32:28)
- Future of Electrification (34:07)
- Best Ecosystems for Supply Chain Startups and Parting Thoughts (34:16)
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/
Highlights from their conversation include:
- Grace's Journey into Supply Chain (1:14)
- Early Career in Brokerage (3:17)
- Current Market Conditions (7:02)
- Adoption of AI Tools (10:08)
- Addressing Freight Fraud (15:15)
- Technology Solutions for Security (18:51)
- Challenges of Evolving Technology (20:19)
- The impact of freight fraud (22:23)
- Arctic shipping developments (25:51)
- Building relationships with journalists (27:35)
- Importance of storytelling in PR (30:01)
- Final Thoughts and Takeaways (35:25)
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/
Highlights from their conversation include:
- Zach's Journey into Freight (1:00)
- Transition to Data in Freight (3:15)
- Understanding Data's Value (5:21)
- Current State of the Freight Market (6:29)
- Tender Rejections and Market Indicators (8:38)
- Predictions for 2025 (9:38)
- Historical Context of Supply Chain Stability (11:46)
- Freight Recessions Explained (13:04)
- Duration of Recessions (16:43)
- Indicators of Freight Recessions (19:00)
- Current Trends in Intermodal Growth (22:06)
- LTL Market Trends (25:16)
- This or That Segment (28:48)
- Final Thoughts and Takeaways (31:23)
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/
Highlights from their conversation include:
- The rise of Loadsmart (0:58)
- Shift in Loadsmart's focus (2:28)
- Comparison of Loadsmart and Convoy (7:39)
- The challenges of scaling a digital freight brokerage model (13:18)
- The lean business model of brokerage and different misconceptions (14:32)
- Adoption of cloud-based solutions in the supply chain industry (17:17)
- The Value of Outsourcing Freight (24:29)
- Challenges and Opportunities in the Brokerage Business Model (27:39)
- The Future of Add-On Offerings in the Industry (30:34)
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/
Highlights from their conversation include:
- Macro Oceans Overview (1:10)
- Matthew's Background and Journey to Macro Oceans (2:19)
- Kelp in Beauty Products (3:23)
- Kelp Industry Overview (6:23)
- Post-Harvest Processing (8:26)
- Consumer Demand for Transparency (10:28)
- Operationalizing Traceability (12:21)
- Green Premium Concept (15:30)
- Zero Waste Philosophy (17:28)
- Final Thoughts and Takeaways (19:50)
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/
Highlights from their conversation include:
- Kevin’s Background in Supply Chain (0:41)
- zero100 Overview (1:15)
- Demand vs. Supply Dynamics (4:08)
- Impact of Social Media on Demand (5:05)
- Understanding TikTok (6:14)
- Gen Z and Demand Persistence (13:22)
- Sustainability Challenges (15:23)
- Designing a TikTok Supply Chain (18:55)
- Successful Examples in Supply Chain (21:15)
- This or That Segment: TikTok vs. Instagram (23:34)
- This or That Segment: Airfreight or Ocean Cargo (24:30)
- Final Thoughts and Takeaways (25:38)
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/
Highlights from their conversation include:
- CCR’s Background and Journey to FleetPulse (0:41)
- FleetPulse Overview (1:19)
- Trailer Telematics Industry Primer (4:41)
- Technological Advancements in Trailers (5:10)
- The Rise of Cargo Theft (7:50)
- Understanding Trailer Neglect (8:18)
- Impact of Cargo Theft Trends (10:07)
- Value of Smart Trailers (12:31)
- Case Study on FleetPulse Benefits (14:48)
- Safety Concerns in US-Mexico Trade (18:07)
- Establishing a Startup Culture (23:15)
- Investor Expectations in Industrial Tech (26:07)
- Hiring at Fleet Pulse (29:13)
- Supply Chain Prediction for 2025 (30:11)
- Coaching and Mentoring Approach and Final Thoughts (30:55)
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/
Highlights from their conversation include:
- Pawan’s background and journey in supply chain (0:58)
- The core concepts of AI and its impact on supply chain (4:02)
- The role of AI in supply chain operations (10:28)
- Framework for adopting AI in organizations (11:38)
- Considerations for implementing AI in supply chain (12:51)
- The closed loop solution (21:29)
- AI developments in interaction (25:00)
- Changing business processes (26:46)
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/
Highlights from their conversation include:
- Nisarg’s background and journey in founding Raft AI (1:20)
- The use of transformers in Raft (3:02)
- Delivering customer value with transformers (5:01)
- The impacts of AI and language models on supply chain (8:48)
- The movement of goods, money, and information (14:12)
- Revolutionizing supply chain with technology (15:32)
- Considerations for building an AI product (16:15)
- Final thoughts and takeaways (22:24)
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/
Highlights from their conversation include:
- Kathy’s Background and Journey to Disaster Recovery Logistics (0:41)
- Overview of ALAN (1:10)
- Importance of Supply Chains in Disasters (4:26)
- Disaster Recovery Lifecycle (7:22)
- First 24-48 Hours Post-Disaster (9:55)
- Role of Volunteers and Local Businesses (11:57)
- Building Resilient Supply Chains (13:43)
- Creative Local Business Support (16:20)
- Challenges in Disaster Logistics Resilience (20:18)
- Rapid Fire Segment to Close (21:23)
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/
Highlights from their conversation include:
- Overview of Primary Ventures (1:17)
- Zach's Background in Supply Chain (2:42)
- Macro Thesis from Pandemic Insights (4:46)
- Surprises in Software Adoption (6:55)
- Opportunities for Entrepreneurs (9:03)
- Decision Intelligence Importance (12:07)
- AI's Role in Supply Chain (14:48)
- Investment in Lyriq (19:01)
- Advice for Founders in Supply Chain (22:20)
- Investment Strategies in Supply Chain (23:48)
- Business Model Viability (25:01)
- This or That Segment: (26:27)
- Final Thoughts and Takeaways (27:05)
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/
Highlights from their conversation include:
- Overview of Parabola (1:20)
- Alex's Background Leading to Founding Parabola (2:51)
- Features of Parabola (6:14)
- Skepticism Towards Spreadsheets (10:16)
- Customer Examples (14:10)
- Importance of Data Infrastructure (16:45)
- Combining Expertise with AI (19:14)
- A Founder's Journey (20:40)
- The First Marketing Hire in B2B Businesses (21:10)
- Getting Attention in Legacy Industries (24:26)
- Focus and Prioritization (27:36)
- Managing Team Dynamics (29:14)
- Segment: This or That? to Close the Episode (30:06)
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/
Highlights from their conversation include:
- Steve’s journey into supply chain investment (1:27)
- The Intersection of AI and Supply Chain (3:28)
- Applicability of Generative AI in Supply Chain (11:23)
- Capital efficiency and scaling challenges (12:36)
- AI's role in improving efficiency (14:02)
- Use of generative AI for internal operations (15:57)
- AI’s application for SaaS and other mediums (18:48)
- Final thoughts and takeaways (21:01)
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/
Highlights from their conversation include:
- Adam’s Background and Journey Into Fleet Safety (0:46)
- Netradyne’s Camera-Based Solution (1:15)
- Understanding Fleet Safety (6:06)
- The Benefits of Netradyne’s Solution (9:57)
- Driver Concerns About Monitoring (12:24)
- Unionized Fleets and Technology (18:26)
- Best Practices for Implementing Telematics (22:59)
- Recognition and Incentives for Drivers (26:33)
- Creative Engagement Strategies (27:42)
- Rapid Fire Segment to Wrap (28:40)
- Parting Thoughts and Takeaways (30:24)
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/
Highlights from their conversation include:
- Matthew’s Background and Journey Into Manufacturing (0:41)
- The State of Semiconductor Manufacturing (4:33)
- Impact of the CHIPS Act (7:01)
- Reskilling the Workforce (11:17)
- Critique of the CHIPS Act Funding (13:00)
- Opportunities in Manufacturing Technology (17:58)
- Collaboration Between Academia and Industry (20:46)
- Risks of Diversifying Semiconductor Production (23:18)
- The Value of AI in Manufacturing (25:10)
- Creativity in Business and Music (26:11)
- Science and Engineering Thought Processes (28:10)
- Impact of Upcoming Elections on Manufacturing (29:33)
- Labor Shortage Perspectives (30:00)
- Final Thoughts and Takeaways (30:31)
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/
Highlights from their conversation include:
- Peter’s Background and Journey to the New York Times (1:15)
- Global Political Landscape (2:16)
- Personal Experiences During the Pandemic (5:17)
- Surprising Research Findings (7:27)
- Balancing Efficiency and Resilience (10:17)
- Opportunities in Supply Chain Technology (12:19)
- India's Economic Growth Potential (13:58)
- Nearshoring and Supply Chain Realities (19:03)
- Future of Manufacturing in Mexico (20:38)
- The Impact of Nearshoring (23:04)
- Government Subsidies in Manufacturing (25:38)
- U.S. Elections and Trade Policy (28:09)
- Automation and Labor Concerns (29:08)
- Final Thoughts and Takeaways (29:43)
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/
Highlights from their conversation include:
- The story behind Gatik (1:00)
- Gatik’s growth and impact in recent years (6:46)
- Understanding AI and Machine Learning (10:43)
- Navigating the hype of AI and ChatGPT (13:38)
- The architecture of transformers and its impact (14:38)
- ML techniques in delivering the autonomous experience (20:11)
- The functionality and explainability of transformer networks (26:34)
- The importance of application-specific accuracy (27:22)
- Final thoughts and takeaways (28:12)
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/
Highlights from their conversation include:
- Paul's Background and Journey in Build Freight Caviar (1:05)
- Experience as a Freight Broker (2:29)
- Starting New Ventures (5:19)
- Founding Freight Caviar and ShipperCRM (6:45)
- Audience Engagement and Product Ideas (8:06)
- Mentorship and CRM Development (10:51)
- Pivoting to Shipper Database (12:44)
- Content Marketing Insights (17:51)
- Collaboration Dynamics (19:04)
- Consistency in Content Creation (20:52)
- The Role of Quantity in Quality (21:58)
- Importance of Consistent Newsletters (23:56)
- Measuring Success in Content (25:29)
- Interesting Advice from Guests (30:41)
- Desire to Interview Industry Pioneers (32:25)
- This or That Segment to Close (34:43)
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/
Highlights from their conversation include:
- Max’s Background and Journey to Supply Chain Dive (0:53)
- Understanding De Minimis (3:17)
- Potential Changes to De Minimis (5:09)
- Impact of E-Commerce on Sustainability (9:45)
- Parcel Market Trends (13:31)
- USPS Service Changes (15:58)
- Shipper Reactions to Rate Changes (18:06)
- The Role of Smaller Carriers (20:32)
- Political Implications on Supply Chain (22:17)
- Impact of Leadership on Supply Chain (25:02)
- Final Thoughts and Takeaways (26:21)
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/
Highlights from their conversation include:
- Chris’s Background and Journey to Roadrunner (1:18)
- Roadrunner's Comeback Story (2:39)
- Vision for Roadrunner's Future (4:50)
- Management Frameworks (6:15)
- Understanding LTL (9:33)
- Types of Freight for LTL (12:46)
- LTL Pricing Complexity (15:02)
- Carrier Pricing Philosophy (18:13)
- Current State of the LTL Market (21:34)
- Freight Brokers and LTL (23:58)
- Investment in Technology (26:31)
- Impact of US Elections on Supply Chains (28:40)
- Overused Business Buzzwords (29:02)
- Final Thoughts and Takeaways (29:32)
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/
Highlights from their conversation include:
- The intersection of AI and Supply Chain (0:56)
- The technology-centric approach at Lineage Logistics (1:24)
- Specific focus areas at Lineage Logistics (3:29)
- The talent stack needed for AI in supply chain (14:00)
- The importance of varied backgrounds in AI (15:13)
- Cultural shift in working with AI in supply chain (20:39)
- Current developments in the field (26:51)
- Real-world problems and disasters (27:56)
- Focusing on being problem-centric (29:34)
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/
Highlights from their conversation include:
- Chris’s Background and Journey to Augmentir (0:41)
- Overview of Augmentir (1:05)
- Identifying Customer Needs (4:15)
- Starting Points for Digitization (5:49)
- Measuring ROI (8:29)
- Case Study: Colgate-Palmolive (10:48)
- State of U.S. Manufacturing (12:32)
- Skills and Training Investment (14:28)
- Addressing Systemic Problems (15:57)
- Nearshoring Trends (17:52)
- AI's Role in Manufacturing (19:31)
- Challenges in Mid-Market Manufacturing (22:50)
- Chips Act and Semiconductor Manufacturing (24:11)
- Final Thoughts and Takeaways (25:19)
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/
Highlights from their conversation include:
- Carla's Background and Journey to PwC (1:02)
- Digital Trends in Operations Survey (2:43)
- Key Takeaways from the Study (4:40)
- Clarity in Tech Investments (6:02)
- AI Integration in Supply Chain (7:06)
- Workforce Digital Skills (8:18)
- Technology Integration Challenges (12:04)
- Climate Considerations in Supply Chain (16:02)
- State of Supply Chain Technology Investment (19:57)
- Cybersecurity in Supply Chain Operations (23:22)
- Rethinking Access Controls (24:55)
- Expansion of Data Protection Laws (26:05)
- Digital Twins for Safe Experimentation (28:41)
- Collaboration Across Functions (32:56)
- Impact of US Elections on Technology Buying (34:40)
- Final Thoughts and Takeaways (35:23)
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/
Highlights from their conversation include:
- Overview of Prewave (1:23)
- Lisa's Background and Journey (2:10)
- Understanding Supply Chain Complexity (3:13)
- Development of Prewave's Technology (4:13)
- Defining Supply Chain Risk Intelligence (5:15)
- Proactive and Reactive Strategies (6:35)
- Starting Point for Risk Management (9:57)
- Importance of Transparency (11:42)
- Realizing ROI in Risk Management (13:56)
- Regulatory and Sustainability Trends (16:18)
- Unique Value Proposition of Prewave (19:42)
- Holistic Risk Management (21:40)
- Future of Compliance (23:16)
- Series B Funding Announcement (25:08)
- Rapid Fire Round on U.S. Elections, AI and Olympics (26:20)
- Final thoughts and takeaways (27:47)
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/
Highlights from their conversation include:
- Robert’s Background and Journey to Coca-Cola (0:41)
- Background on Coca-Cola Bottling United (1:03)
- Introduction to Kona (1:32)
- Current Trends in Supply Chain (3:12)
- Coca-Cola's Workflow Overview (4:01)
- AI Integration in Operations (5:09)
- External Collaboration for AI (6:14)
- AI Opportunities in Supply Chain (8:27)
- Building vs. Buying AI Solutions (9:58)
- ROI Considerations for AI Solutions (10:47)
- Demand Forecasting Capabilities (12:32)
- Cost-Cutting Focus (13:41)
- Barriers to AI Adoption (14:18)
- Final Thoughts and Takeaways (15:10)
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/
Highlights from their conversation include:
- C.R. England’s Journey in Trucking (0:52)
- TJ's Journey into the Family Business (1:58)
- Challenges in the Trucking Industry (3:41)
- Exploring AI in Trucking (6:15)
- Potential of AI for Network Optimization (10:06)
- Human in the Loop Approach (14:17)
- Technological Solutions for Communication (17:39)
- Fragmentation and Small Businesses (20:43)
- AI in Legal Framework (25:57)
- Automated Vehicles and Legal Risks (27:17)
- Train Derailments and Technology (29:41)
- Legal Perspectives on Cybersecurity (32:00)
- In-House vs. Outsourcing Technology (35:10)
- ROI and Customer-Centric Solutions (39:05)
- Current State of the Trucking Market (41:22)
- Importance of Lean Operations (46:50)
- Challenges of Investment in Technology (48:18)
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/
Highlights from their conversation include:
- AI Fund and Its Mission (0:39)
- Bola's Background and Journey into AI (1:56)
- Overview of AI and Its Evolution (3:16)
- Advancements in ChatGPT and Multimodal Models (6:56)
- Deploying AI Capability in Enterprises (8:42)
- Ways Startups Can Differentiate Themselves (11:47)
- AI Companies as a Trojan Horse (15:07)
- Challenges for Growth and Adoption of AI in Enterprises (17:02)
- Emerging Areas in AI: Benchmarks and Agents (19:43)
- Reflection Design Pattern (23:46)
- Tool Use Design Pattern (24:57)
- Multi-Agent Collaboration (26:06)
- Measuring Model Performance (28:22)
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/
Highlights from their conversation include:
- Madelyn’s Background and Journey to Join Dynamo (0:40)
- The Intersection of AI and Freight Brokerage (2:29)
- Discussion on AI and technology in freight brokerage (5:19)
- Challenges in adopting AI and technology (17:06)
- Differentiation and data advantage (20:12)
- User interface and AI use cases (24:02)
- Final thoughts and takeaways (26:00)
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/
Highlights from their conversation include:
- The Origin Story of Factored Quality (0:41)
- Prince’s Background and Inspiration for Factored Quality (3:16)
- Understanding the Supply Chain Process (6:36)
- Challenges in Quality Assurance (10:26)
- Role of Technology in Quality Assurance (14:21)
- Limitations of Automated Quality Assurance (18:01)
- Emergence of SaaS Product Line (21:49)
- Automating Service with Software (23:12)
- Data Structuring and Visibility (24:24)
- Core Operating System for Supply Chain (27:52)
- Labor Provenance and Material Quality (29:15)
- AI in Quality Assurance (34:25)
- Monetization and AI in Enterprise (38:25)
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/
Highlights from their conversation include:
- Tom’s Background in Supply Chain and Logistics (1:22)
- The Impact of Nearshoring (6:41)
- Geopolitical Considerations (9:38)
- Agility in Supply Chain (13:04)
- Adapting to Pandemic Challenges (16:16)
- Parcel Logistics Evolution (19:49)
- USPS incentives and parcel network changes (23:25)
- Walmart's last mile and returns strategy (24:01)
- Rapid fire Segment: AI, Port of Baltimore, and Trucking (25:09)
- Final Thoughts and Takeaways (28:24)
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/
Highlights from their conversation include:
- Alcott Global’s Mission (1:00)
- Radu’s Background in Search and Talent (3:27)
- State of the Supply Chain Industry (6:46)
- Skills in Demand in Supply Chain (8:54)
- Investment and Innovation in Supply Chain (15:18)
- Attracting Talent to Supply Chain (19:52)
- Contributing to the Greater Good (22:22)
- Transitioning leadership in a growing company (24:25)
- Challenges of scaling a company (26:13)
- AI's role in the supply chain (32:18)
- Final thoughts and takeaways (34:39)
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/
Highlights from their conversation include:
- Solvento and Logistics Payment Automation (0:41)
- Jaime’s background in Supply Chain and Logistics (1:51)
- Solvento's Infrastructure for Freight Industry (9:46
- Lending Facility and Quick Pay Solutions (15:49)
- Mexican Trucking Industry Insights (22:34)
- Nearshoring and the Mexican Supply Chain (25:53)
- Lending Models in Emerging Markets (28:39)
- VC Investment and Capital Efficiency (30:51)
- Jaime’s Motivation and Industry Impact (32:05)
- Rapid Fire: Security, Elections, and Interest Rates (34:01)
- Final thoughts and takeaways (37:01)
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/
Highlights from their conversation include:
- Discussion about recent supply chain conferences (0:41)
- Cautious optimism and conference reflections (3:21)
- Venture side of funding (8:35)
- Outlook on the market and funding (12:15)
- Discussion on downstream capital and themes (16:13)
- Series A and B funding perspective (19:09)
- Freight market challenges and optimism (22:26)
- The freight market dynamics (23:19)
- Retail sales warnings and their impact (27:21)
- Capacity changes and seasonality in the freight market (28:20)
- Future trends in supply chain and logistics (30:52)
- Geopolitical impact on supply chains (35:48)
- Technology convergence and industrial automation (39:03)
- Final thoughts and wrap-up (40:14)
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/
Highlights from their conversation include:
- David’s background and journey in co-founding sennder (0:41)
- European Freight Market Dynamics (2:39)
- The State of the European Freight Industry (4:47)
- Diversification and Business Strategy (6:14)
- Influence of Market Dynamics on Strategy (8:40)
- Outlook for 2024 and Managed Transportation Capability (10:47)
- Profitability and Investment in Technology (12:20)
- Technology Adoption and Future Services (15:17)
- Challenges and Opportunities of Leveraging Technology (20:26)
- Key Technology Metrics and Path to Profitability (22:26
- Inorganic Growth and Acquisitions (24:41)
- Challenges of the European trucking industry (28:55)
- Final thoughts and takeaways (32:32)
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/
Highlights from their conversation include:
- Barry’s journey in Co-Founding Access America (0:53)
- Venture Capital and Technology in the Freight Industry (4:39)
- Challenges and Strategies in the Industry (8:26)
- Future Outlook and Business Optimization (14:02)
- Role of Technology in Freight Brokerage (15:54)
- The Impact of AI and Future Trends (19:18)
- Opportunities in the Supply Chain Industry (21:21)
- Final thoughts and takeaways (23:29)
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/
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/
Highlights from their conversation include:
- The failure of Convoy and its impact on the industry (1:25)
- Were Convoy’s margins a factor in failure (5:18)
- The role of investors and understanding the industry (9:31)
- The failure of Convoy's board and understanding of the freight market (11:45)
- Challenges of venture capital in the freight brokerage industry (12:36)
- The impact of cash burn and lack of profitability on Convoy's failure (13:49)
- The rise of Convoy and its advantages (23:11)
- Investor sentiment and the future of the freight brokerage industry (26:15)
- Issues with raising capital (33:46)
- The challenges of building a competitive TMS (36:59)
- The rise of fintech during the financial crisis (44:40)
- Running a business without unlimited cash and resources (46:00)
- The impact of valuations on the industry (47:11)
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/.
Highlights from their conversation include:
- The origin story of Equal Ventures (0:41)
- The challenges of the new brokerage concept (5:16)
- Impacts of market dynamics on brokerage business models (8:16)
- The Entrepreneur's Agency (11:11)
- Rolling Over Equity (12:13)
- Platform Solution for Freight Forwarders (15:27)
- The freight cycle and the future of startups (22:18)
- Consolidation and partnerships in the industry (26:39)
- Enabling rather than disrupting the industry (28:07)
- The success of brokers based on relationships (00:31:20)
- Appreciation for the supply chain ecosystem (32:21)
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/
Highlights from their conversation include:
- The rise of Loadsmart (0:58)
- Shift in Loadsmart's focus (2:28)
- Comparison of Loadsmart and Convoy (7:39)
- The challenges of scaling a digital freight brokerage model (13:18)
- The lean business model of brokerage and different misconceptions (14:32)
- Adoption of cloud-based solutions in the supply chain industry (17:17)
- The Value of Outsourcing Freight (24:29)
- Challenges and Opportunities in the Brokerage Business Model (27:39)
- The Future of Add-On Offerings in the Industry (30:34)
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/
Highlights from their conversation include:
- Pawan’s background and journey in supply chain (0:58)
- The core concepts of AI and its impact on supply chain (4:02)
- The role of AI in supply chain operations (10:28)
- Framework for adopting AI in organizations (11:38)
- Considerations for implementing AI in supply chain (12:51)
- The closed loop solution (21:29)
- AI developments in interaction (25:00)
- Changing business processes (26:46)
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/
Highlights from their conversation include:
- Nisarg’s background and journey in founding Raft AI (1:20)
- The use of transformers in Raft (3:02)
- Delivering customer value with transformers (5:01)
- The impacts of AI and language models on supply chain (8:48)
- The movement of goods, money, and information (14:12)
- Revolutionizing supply chain with technology (15:32)
- Considerations for building an AI product (16:15)
- Final thoughts and takeaways (22:24)
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/
Highlights from their conversation include:
- Steve’s journey into supply chain investment (1:27)
- The Intersection of AI and Supply Chain (3:28)
- Applicability of Generative AI in Supply Chain (11:23)
- Capital efficiency and scaling challenges (12:36)
- AI's role in improving efficiency (14:02)
- Use of generative AI for internal operations (15:57)
- AI’s application for SaaS and other mediums (18:48)
- Final thoughts and takeaways (21:01)
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/
Highlights from their conversation include:
- The story behind Gatik (1:00)
- Gatik’s growth and impact in recent years (6:46)
- Understanding AI and Machine Learning (10:43)
- Navigating the hype of AI and ChatGPT (13:38)
- The architecture of transformers and its impact (14:38)
- ML techniques in delivering the autonomous experience (20:11)
- The functionality and explainability of transformer networks (26:34)
- The importance of application-specific accuracy (27:22)
- Final thoughts and takeaways (28:12)
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/
Highlights from their conversation include:
- The intersection of AI and Supply Chain (0:56)
- The technology-centric approach at Lineage Logistics (1:24)
- Specific focus areas at Lineage Logistics (3:29)
- The talent stack needed for AI in supply chain (14:00)
- The importance of varied backgrounds in AI (15:13)
- Cultural shift in working with AI in supply chain (20:39)
- Current developments in the field (26:51)
- Real-world problems and disasters (27:56)
- Focusing on being problem-centric (29:34)
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/
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/
Highlights from their conversation include:
- Tracy Black’s introduction into the supply chain and venture capital (1:21)
- NewRoad’s VC strategy (5:21)
- The questions that startups need to be asking (9:27)
- Tracy’s experience at J.B. Hunt from growth to cloud and how that helps her as an investor (11:42)
- Fleet management and platform science (16:18)
- Technology driving margins up (20:48)
- Digesting what’s going on in the supply chain today (22:39)
NewRoad is a growth equity firm currently investing out of a $176 million fund where 75% of investments goes into logistics and supply chain. Find out more at https://newroadcp.com/
About The Future of Supply Chain:
During each episode of The Future of Supply Chain, we sit down with a different entrepreneur, investor, or industry veteran to discuss their story, views on the industry, and how we can collectively build the future of supply chain together.
Highlights from their conversation include:
- Ware2Go helps small and mid-sized businesses get closer to their customers to compete in the world of e-commerce (1:15)
- Steve’s path to Ware2Go (2:58)
- How Ware2Go got its initial funding (6:15)
- The customer-vendor fit with Ware2Go (9:21)
- Seller-fulfilled prime status (16:30)
- Plugging into the ecosystem of a merchant’s choice and enabling it (19:59)
- Five trends in e-commerce Steve is paying attention to (23:04)
- B2E and having a supply chain to do business with everyone (27:39)
- The next innovations to hit the warehousing and fulfillment landscape (30:59)
Ware2Go (A UPS Company) offers a nationwide network of certified warehouses and technology to streamline fulfillment across sales channels for a fully scalable and truly on-demand solution. Their mission is to change the traditional 3PL model to make one- to two-day delivery easy and affordable for all merchants. Find out more at https://ware2go.co/about-us/
About The Future of Supply Chain:
During each episode of The Future of Supply Chain, we sit down with a different entrepreneur, investor, or industry veteran to discuss their story, views on the industry, and how we can collectively build the future of supply chain together.
Highlights from their conversation include:
- Zvi Schreiber’s background in software engineering and computer science and his transition to logistics (1:25)
- Balancing being connected to the tech world and being a CEO working to scale up an organization (3:31)
- Modernizing international shipping for customers (5:28)
- Key modules in the supply chain cycle (9:20)
- Digital Air Cargo (14:58)
- Maritime logistics industry projections (19:48)
- Marketplaces are powerful things—when they work (22:43)
- Open office layouts (26:05)
Established in 2012, Freightos created an online freight marketplace and SaaS software to usher the logistics industry into the digital era, making global shipping faster, more cost-effective, and smoother. Find out more at https://www.freightos.com/about-freightos/
About The Future of Supply Chain:
During each episode of The Future of Supply Chain, we sit down with a different entrepreneur, investor, or industry veteran to discuss their story, views on the industry, and how we can collectively build the future of supply chain together.
Highlights from their conversation include:
- The First Resonance story (0:26)
- Karan’s journey into software manufacturing and supply chain (1:20)
- How ION replaces outdated manufacturing processes (3:21)
- Advice on dealing with sales cycles in manufacturing (9:32)
- Why First Resonance broadened their scope beyond aerospace (13:41)
- Nearshoring in manufacturing (17:04)
- A daily ritual that keeps Karan productive (19:59)
- Needed investment in supply chain today (21:46)
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/
Highlights from their conversation include:
- What is the Delving story? (0:26)
- Josh’s journey into software and supply chain (1:12)
- Why Excel has become the default for some in supply chain (5:28)
- The importance of quality and version control for Excel (9:06)
- How small errors can cause death (12:44)
- Devling’s solution to version control (15:49)
- Why businesses should consider moving from spreadsheets (21:52)
- Technology is more power the less visible it gets (24:40)
- Josh’s daily ritual that keeps him grounded and focused (30:47)
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/
Highlights from their conversation include:
- Deliverr’s origin and emphasis on ultra-fast shipping, simple pricing, and easy on-boarding (1:19)
- The acceleration in e-commerce trends (4:58)
- Lower tolerance for longer delivery times (11:58)
- Supply shocks filled by smaller businesses (13:57)
- How Deliverr benefits retailers, merchants, and customers (16:40)
- Differences and similarities in the use cases of Deliverr for small and large brands (22:25)
- Understanding what it is your customer wants and test that out (24:10)
- What Michael wishes he knew before setting out to start Deliverr (27:37)
Deliverr has made it its mission to enable sellers of all sizes to fulfill shipments for customers quickly and cost-effectively. Find out more at https://deliverr.com/about-us/
About The Future of Supply Chain:
During each episode of The Future of Supply Chain, we sit down with a different entrepreneur, investor, or industry veteran to discuss their story, views on the industry, and how we can collectively build the future of supply chain together.
Highlights from their conversation include:
- The Prologis Ventures story (0:17)
- How Lisa got into supply chain innovation and investing (2:58)
- The CVC dichotomy of financial returns and corporate innovation (5:19)
- Exploring interactions of emerging tech companies with large corporations (7:51)
- How CVC’s can best support start-ups (11:32)
- What startups should be doing to ensure mutual success (14:06)
- Supply chain, innovations, and excitement for 2023 (15:44)
- What’s a big problem in supply chain that needs to be addressed? (17:55)
- Advice for graduates entering corporate innovation or CVC (20:02)
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/
Highlights from their conversation include:
- The Schneider story (0:29)
- Brian’s story of getting into logistics (2:36)
- Innovative efforts in Sustainability at Schneider (5:42)
- Exploring EV’s and other alternative sustainability solutions (8:30)
- The shift from trucking to intermodule shipping (11:18)
- The launch of The Grove innovation center for Schneider (14:36)
- Balancing innovation with fast-paced results (17:03)
- How technology drives innovation (19:58)
- Problem areas that need to be addressed in supply chain (22:14)
- Rapid fire questions to wrap up (23:40)
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/
Highlights from their conversation include:
- The story of Goodyear Ventures (0:25)
- Abhijit’s journey in corporate venturing (1:19)
- Emrbacing the mobility of freight (2:35)
- Middle-mile autonomy and other trends (4:56)
- Balancing CVC’s need for financial returns with corporate innovation (8:05)
- Advice in investing innovation dollars in the current macro environment (9:55)
- Sustainability trends in the supply chain space (12:25)
- Characteristics of successful pitches to a CVC (15:09)
- Rapid fire questions to wrap up (17:46)
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/
Highlights from their conversation include:
- John Urban’s background (1:32)
- The innovations of GT Nexus “The slowest overnight success” (3:29)
- Challenges with over-interest in visibility and whether visibility is a means to an end (6:20)
- Consulting with young companies to take the supply chain to the next level (10:19)
- AI and digitization (15:02)
- Long-term adjustments for good sparked by a global pandemic (17:01)
- How John decided to lean in and work with the companies he’s with today (21:09)
- Product-oriented advice for startups in the supply chain (24:54)
- Selling software into an industry that is slow to adopt software (26:57)
- Digesting decades of experience (30:19)
GT Nexus is now Infor Nexus. Find out more at https://www.infor.com/about
About The Future of Supply Chain:
During each episode of The Future of Supply Chain, we sit down with a different entrepreneur, investor, or industry veteran to discuss their story, views on the industry, and how we can collectively build the future of supply chain together.
Highlights from their conversation include:
- The Veho story (0:23)
- Exploring the post-purchase experience for customers (3:07)
- What is the state of the last mile logistics industry today? (5:21)
- Growing with strong unit economics (9:11)
- Key decisions for growth in the early stages of Veho (12:45)
- Maintaining the corporate culture in rapid growth companies (15:48)
- One-way door decisions vs two-way door decisions (24:01)
- Leaders that have impacted Itamar in his journey (27:06)
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/
Highlights from their conversation include:
- What is Doris Dev? (1:26)
- Justin’s background in supply chain (2:39)
- From ideation to shipping (11:35)
- The nearshoring push (16:09)
- Investing in quality control (21:38)
- Introducing Canopy (22:54)
- Advice for supply chain founders (26:07)
- Rapid fire questions to wrap up (27:42)
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/.
Highlights from their conversation include:
- What is FreightCaviar? (1:37)
- Paul’s journey into the supply chain space (2:46)
- Content marketing and lead generation tactics for founders (5:49)
- Metrics that are important when generating content (8:13)
- Best tools in managing social media and content (12:21)
- What are freight brokers saying about the market today? (15:53)
- What is ShipperCRM? (22:15)
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/.
Highlights from their conversation include:
- SVT Robotics’ mission and AK’s introduction to automated logistics (1:27)
- Tackling the inefficiencies and barriers built into industry software that prevent them from communicating with each other (3:52)
- How customers integrate SVT Robotics (10:04)
- Advice for the lead to deal cycle (20:42)
- Most surprising thing learned building SVT (25:10)
- Rapid-fire questions for AK (27:00)
SVT stands for Simplicity, Velocity, and Transparency. Find out more about SVT Robotics at https://www.svtrobotics.com/about/
About The Future of Supply Chain:
During each episode of The Future of Supply Chain, we sit down with a different entrepreneur, investor, or industry veteran to discuss their story, views on the industry, and how we can collectively build the future of supply chain together.
Highlights from their conversation include:
- Waybridge’s trade management platform (0:56)
- Andrea’s background in supply chain (2:17)
- The need for transparency and digitization (4:06)
- Challenges in adopting digital tools (9:06)
- Assembling a great team and empowering others (13:15)
- Encouraging more women in supply chain (16:48)
- Andrea’s favorite daily ritual (19:12)
- Rapid fire questions (20:21)
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/
Highlights from their conversation include:
- Overview of TIHC & Nolan Transportation Group (0:23)
- How Drew got into the world of supply chain (1:13)
- Recent challenges trucking companies are facing (2:14)
- Best practices carriers should employ to combat the tough market (4:18)
- Solutions for the driver shortage (7:47)
- Ways technology can recruit the next generation of drivers (11:24)
- Opportunities with nearshoring (14:58)
- Advice to those entering the supply chain space (19:55)
- How Drew stays grounded (22:42)
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/
Highlights from their conversation include:
- The Manna story (0:19)
- Drone delivery technology today (1:01)
- Actions regulators can take to accelerate drone delivery technology (4:09)
- The ideal environment for drone delivery (7:13)
- Manna’s launch in the U.S. (9:11)
- How Manna differentiates itself in the market (11:24)
- Economics of the drone delivery network (13:47)
- Handling food safety issues (15:59)
- Final thoughts and takeaways (18:33)
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/
Highlights from their conversation include:
- Avi’s MIT computer science background and how the trucking industry drew him in (1:10)
- The decision to have Maven’s home base in Pittsburgh (3:46)
- Building a cloud-based platform that integrates with all areas of a trucking company (8:43)
- Measurable transformation in use cases (14:53)
- Focusing on the driver’s experience (19:14)
- Comparing the value of unified, integrated platforms with unbundled programs (21:48)
- How the role of the driver evolve in the near future (26:26)
Founded in 2014, Maven Machines positions itself as the leading fleet management technology provider for trucking companies. Find out more at https://mavenmachines.com/about/
About The Future of Supply Chain:
During each episode of The Future of Supply Chain, we sit down with a different entrepreneur, investor, or industry veteran to discuss their story, views on the industry, and how we can collectively build the future of supply chain together.
Highlights from their conversation include:
- What is MacroFab? (1:01)
- MacroFab’s future plans after acquiring Series C funding (3:04)
- Misha’s journey into supply chain logistics (5:10)
- Addressing the emerging trend of reshoring (8:26)
- Will Mexico become North America’s manufacturing floor? (12:03)
- The world of manufacturing electronics (14:28)
- Nearshoring’s impact on national security and the economy (19:35)
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/
Highlights from their conversation include:
- The genesis behind SpringTime Ventures (0:53)
- Making the move to Supply Chain investing (6:09)
- Exciting investment opportunities in 2023 (9:31)
- Investments in Paccurare and Blue Cargo (12:33)
- Business Building Advice as a Seed Investor (17:44)
- Common mistakes founders make in seed stage (20:06)
- Investing in people and teams, not just a business (22:40)
- Rapid-fire questions (26:20)
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/
Highlights from their conversation include:
- An introduction to Quuppa and Tom’s background and role at the company (1:09)
- The evolution beyond passive RFIDs in Real-Time Locating (5:26)
- How listening mode works for Quuppa’s locators and how it differs from beaconing (12:35)
- Tracking assets and building processes around that (17:07)
- A reference of location tracking technologies (22:30)
- Use cases of Quuppa customers (29:00)
- The future of an open tag ecosystem (31:25)
Quuppa helps companies achieve more with location across all industries. Find out more at https://quuppa.com/applications/use-cases/
About The Future of Supply Chain:
During each episode of The Future of Supply Chain, we sit down with a different entrepreneur, investor, or industry veteran to discuss their story, views on the industry, and how we can collectively build the future of supply chain together.
Highlights from their conversation include:
- Introducing the panel (0:42)
- Recapping Manifest (1:49)
- Where is supply chain today? (5:09)
- What’s the lasting impact of COVID on the supply chain? (8:28)
- Then and Now for Supply Chain Logistics (17:19)
- What are the hot and hype trends in 2023? (30:40)
- How the valuation of companies will change in the future (36:06)
- Rapid fire questions for the panel to wrap up (40:52)
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/
Highlights from their conversation include:
- What o9 is building in the space (0:24)
- Stanton’s journey into supply chain sustainability (2:10)
- How does the o9 digital brain work for companies (4:42)
- How the platform manages data (7:21)
- o9’s commitment to sustainability (10:32)
- Data points that help companies become more sustainable (14:16)
- The government’s role in sustainability (19:14)
- Advice for companies looking to pursue more sustainability (23:28)
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/.
Highlights from their conversation include:
- What Activant Capital is building in the space (0:22)
- David’s journey to VC and supply chain (1:43)
- Every company becoming a supply chain company (4:25)
- What’s exciting in supply chain in 2023? (7:23)
- Last mile logistics (10:15)
- Where should businesses invest in technology in the future (14:09)
- Sustainability in supply chain (16:05)
- Combatting the challenges of raising capital (17:39)
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/.
Highlights from their conversation include:
- What is Factored Quality? (0:27)
- How Prince got into the world of supply chain (1:44)
- What should people know about the quality control function in supply chain? (4:05)
- How Factored provides streamlined solutions for high-level brands (6:41)
- The data set of suppliers that Factored is building (12:56)
- How nearshoring impacts business (14:59)
- How Prince sells in today’s market? (19:13)
- Pivots made during the startup journey (23:04)
- What would Prince be building in supply chain if he wasn’t in QC? (28:31)
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/
Highlights from their conversation include:
- Addressing the lack of labor force in the supply chain (1:26)
- The role digitization continues to play (4:45)
- Will sustainability continue to be an important topic in 2023? (8:33)
- Supply chain regionalization (10:42)
- Nearshoring and reshoring (13:55)
- Cost prioritization (15:13)
- Final predictions for 2023 (17:27)
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/
Highlights from their conversation include:
- Microsoft’s global supply chain and David’s engineering background (1:22)
- David’s responsibility to make sure the right product gets to the right place at the right time (9:24)
- Dealing with the demand for the latest Xbox (10:31)
- End-to-end visibility and turning events into supply chain events (12:21)
- Is RPA where the value is? (17:23)
- How automation will impact the supply chain (20:08)
- The cognitive supply chain (24:10)
- Digital transformation and layering on top of ERP (29:50)
- Excitement about opportunities in the present and future of the supply chain (33:28)
Microsoft’s global supply chain will have 1.3 million unique ship-to locations this year. Find out more about Microsoft at https://www.microsoft.com/about
About The Future of Supply Chain:
During each episode of The Future of Supply Chain, we sit down with a different entrepreneur, investor, or industry veteran to discuss their story, views on the industry, and how we can collectively build the future of supply chain together.
Highlights from their conversation include:
- Nate’s responsibilities at XPO and his background (1:12)
- State of LTL in 2021 (5:28)
- Improving the LTL space with gamification (9:49)
- Simulation and optimization (15:28)
- Leaning into data and automation (19:14)
- Quick takes about current events in the supply chain (23:40)
XPO Logistics is a top-10 global provider of transportation and logistics services with a highly integrated network of people, technology and physical assets. Find out more at https://www.xpo.com/about-us/
About The Future of Supply Chain:
During each episode of The Future of Supply Chain, we sit down with a different entrepreneur, investor, or industry veteran to discuss their story, views on the industry, and how we can collectively build the future of supply chain together.
Highlights from their conversation include:
- Overview of BlueGrace and Mark’s career (1:07)
- State of the market today and being flexible with changes (7:16)
- Managed transportation offering (12:17)
- Focusing on the things that give you a competitive advantage (17:07)
- How technology benefits employees (19:22)
- Balancing internal development with external collaboration (22:46)
- 3PLs need to differentiate themselves by what they do best (25:30)
- Bid fatigue and strategy (28:17)
- Opportunity in the supply chain (32:54)
Founded in Tampa, Florida, in 2009, BlueGrace Logistics takes a progressive approach to transportation management to help customers of all sizes drive savings and simplicity into their supply chains. Find out more at https://mybluegrace.com/about-us/about-bluegrace/
About The Future of Supply Chain:
During each episode of The Future of Supply Chain, we sit down with a different entrepreneur, investor, or industry veteran to discuss their story, views on the industry, and how we can collectively build the future of supply chain together.
Highlights from their conversation include:
- How Dr. Griffis got started in Supply Chain (0:23)
- Illicit supply chains and unfair labor practices (2:01)
- How major businesses are addressing headline risks (7:37)
- Risk factors in adjusting supply chains (14:47)
- The resiliency of certain supply chains (18:45)
- How legislation will shape supply chain practices going forward (22:33)
- Supply chain sustainability (26:56)
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/
Highlights from their conversation include:
- An introduction to what Mercado Labs is working on and who Rob is (1:14)
- Rob’s take on the current state of imports (6:21)
- Why Rob thinks things will normalize by the end of April (9:55)
- Data’s role in dealing with uncertainty (13:43)
- Benefits of having an import management system in place (16:14)
- Plan, buy, and move workflows (21:38)
- Contrasting first mile and final mile (25:00)
- PSP: people, service, profits (31:13)
Mercado Labs, based in Dallas, Texas, transforms supply chains with its import management system by connecting products, suppliers and teams with customer demand. Find out more at https://mercadolabs.com/why-mercado/
About The Future of Supply Chain:
During each episode of The Future of Supply Chain, we sit down with a different entrepreneur, investor, or industry veteran to discuss their story, views on the industry, and how we can collectively build the future of supply chain together.
Highlights from their conversation include:
- Harry’s journey into the world of fulfillment (1:01)
- How should businesses be thinking about eCommerce and fulfillment today? (3:52)
- Cost vs capability (9:40)
- The impact of technology on fulfillment (14:22)
- Pros and Cons of Amazon’s FBA (16:48)
- Zone skipping and microfulfillment (20:23)
- Predictions for eCommerce fulfillment in 2023 (28:13)
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/.
Highlights from their conversation include:
- How Shaily got started in Supply Chain (1:38)
- Who are the key customers of GlobalFair? (3:25)
- The challenge of securing building materials worldwide (4:37)
- Benefits of finding a streamlined solution for sourcing materials (10:21)
- Sourcing contractors while balancing customer acquisition (12:05)
- Biggest learnings from building a company in this space? (14:35)
- Being a female pioneer in this industry (16:50)
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/
Highlights from their conversation include:
- The breadth of the supply chain efforts at Georgia Pacific and Trey’s background in philosophy and urban development (1:13)
- Current state of ocean freight (4:23)
- Will there be a leveling of the playing field between west and east coast ports? (9:10)
- What’s top of mind for international logistics in 2021? (13:00)
- Incentives for carriers to have more competitive rates (16:18)
- What is the next opportunity for founders to explore? (21:31)
- Thinking about engagement with start-ups (25:32)
- Understanding the virtuous cycles of mutual benefit (26:58)
With more than 30,000 employees globally and 180 locations worldwide, Georgia Pacific is a household name. They are one of the world’s leading makers of tissue, pulp, packaging, building products and related chemicals. Find out more at gp.com/about-us
About The Future of Supply Chain:
During each episode of The Future of Supply Chain, we sit down with a different entrepreneur, investor, or industry veteran to discuss their story, views on the industry, and how we can collectively build the future of supply chain together.
Highlights from their conversation include:
- The breadth of the supply chain efforts at Georgia Pacific and Trey’s background in philosophy and urban development (1:13)
- Current state of ocean freight (4:23)
- Will there be a leveling of the playing field between west and east coast ports? (9:10)
- What’s top of mind for international logistics in 2021? (13:00)
- Incentives for carriers to have more competitive rates (16:18)
- What is the next opportunity for founders to explore? (21:31)
- Thinking about engagement with start-ups (25:32)
- Understanding the virtuous cycles of mutual benefit (26:58)
With more than 30,000 employees globally and 180 locations worldwide, Georgia Pacific is a household name. They are one of the world’s leading makers of tissue, pulp, packaging, building products and related chemicals. Find out more at gp.com/about-us
About The Future of Supply Chain:
During each episode of The Future of Supply Chain, we sit down with a different entrepreneur, investor, or industry veteran to discuss their story, views on the industry, and how we can collectively build the future of supply chain together.
Highlights from their conversation include:
- The coverage at Bloomberg Intelligence (1:14)
- How intertwined we are with international activity (2:46)
- Chip manufacturing (5:06)
- Reducing our dependency on China (7:11)
- Sovereignty over the semiconductor supply chain (10:05)
- The magnitude of investment required (15:22)
- What you should be keeping tabs on (21:40)
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/
Highlights from their conversation include:
- Introducing Nexxiot (1:28)
- The Dan MacGregor story (3:44)
- The pillars of Nexxiot: hardware, software, analytics (4:54)
- Partnerships across the industry (8:55)
- The importance of bringing Nexia to market (15:52)
- Distinguish capabilities, enablement, and value (21:25)
- Untapped areas of the supply chain (25:05)
- Dan’s favorite daily habit (27:22)
Find Nexxiot here: https://nexxiot.com/
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/
Highlights from their conversation include:
- Introducing Nexxiot (1:28)
- The Dan MacGregor story (3:44)
- The pillars of Nexxiot: hardware, software, analytics (4:54)
- Partnerships across the industry (8:55)
- The importance of bringing Nexia to market (15:52)
- Distinguish capabilities, enablement, and value (21:25)
- Untapped areas of the supply chain (25:05)
- Dan’s favorite daily habit (27:22)
Find Nexxiot here: https://nexxiot.com/
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/
Highlights from their conversation include:
- An overview of ASCM, its work with individuals and organizations (1:06)
- Technology’s impact on the supply chain in the near future (7:36)
- Competencies incoming professionals need to develop and the skill gaps that exist (11:40)
- Long-term benefit of professional development for company and employee (15:23)
- Upscaling warehouse workers (21:04)
- Compelling reasons for someone to consider a career in the supply chain (24:48)
ASCM is an unbiased partner, connecting companies around the world to the newest thought leadership on all aspects of supply chain. ASCM is driving innovation in the industry with new products, services and partnerships that enable companies to further optimize their supply chains, secure their competitive advantage and positively impact their bottom lines. Find out more at https://www.ascm.org/about-ascm/
About The Future of Supply Chain:
During each episode of The Future of Supply Chain, we sit down with a different entrepreneur, investor, or industry veteran to discuss their story, views on the industry, and how we can collectively build the future of supply chain together.
Highlights from their conversation include:
- An overview of ASCM, its work with individuals and organizations (1:06)
- Technology’s impact on the supply chain in the near future (7:36)
- Competencies incoming professionals need to develop and the skill gaps that exist (11:40)
- Long-term benefit of professional development for company and employee (15:23)
- Upscaling warehouse workers (21:04)
- Compelling reasons for someone to consider a career in the supply chain (24:48)
ASCM is an unbiased partner, connecting companies around the world to the newest thought leadership on all aspects of supply chain. ASCM is driving innovation in the industry with new products, services and partnerships that enable companies to further optimize their supply chains, secure their competitive advantage and positively impact their bottom lines. Find out more at https://www.ascm.org/about-ascm/
About The Future of Supply Chain:
During each episode of The Future of Supply Chain, we sit down with a different entrepreneur, investor, or industry veteran to discuss their story, views on the industry, and how we can collectively build the future of supply chain together.
Highlights from their conversation include:
- Introducing Solvento (1:17)
- The Jaime Tabachnik story (2:03)
- Breaking down the problem (4:47)
- What this industry needs (15:47)
- FinTech vs supply chain business (18:01)
- Customer success story (23:19)
- Untapped areas of opportunity (27:32)
- What’s open in Jaime’s browser (32:19)
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/
Highlights from their conversation include:
- Introducing Solvento (1:17)
- The Jaime Tabachnik story (2:03)
- Breaking down the problem (4:47)
- What this industry needs (15:47)
- FinTech vs supply chain business (18:01)
- Customer success story (23:19)
- Untapped areas of opportunity (27:32)
- What’s open in Jaime’s browser (32:19)
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/
Highlights from their conversation include:
- About RRD Supply Chain Solutions (1:25)
- The John Marrow story (3:56)
- Combining marketing and supply chain (5:48)
- RRD partnerships (8:38, 15:38)
- The most vital part of RRD’s tech stack (10:44)
- The value of being healthcare focussed (12:34)
- An untapped area of logistics (18:04)
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/
Highlights from their conversation include:
- About RRD Supply Chain Solutions (1:25)
- The John Marrow story (3:56)
- Combining marketing and supply chain (5:48)
- RRD partnerships (8:38, 15:38)
- The most vital part of RRD’s tech stack (10:44)
- The value of being healthcare focussed (12:34)
- An untapped area of logistics (18:04)
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/
Highlights from their conversation include:
- Why nearshoring is important (1:40)
- Benefits to industry stakeholders (6:39)
- Hurdles we have to overcome (13:30)
- What this means for a seed investor (17:37)
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/
Highlights from their conversation include:
- Why nearshoring is important (1:40)
- Benefits to industry stakeholders (6:39)
- Hurdles we have to overcome (13:30)
- What this means for a seed investor (17:37)
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/
Highlights from their conversation include:
- Clay’s background (2:09)
- Dynamo fellowship (3:23)
- Career-wide impact (4:29)
- Mentorship within the fellowship (13:51)
- What makes Dynamo different (16:48)
- Summarizing the fellowship (20:17)
- Favorite portfolio projects (22:23)
- If you could do the fellowship again… (24:25)
- Moving to Chattanooga, Tennessee (27:07)
- Why YOU should do the fellowship (29:55)
- Application details (30:36)
Application
Dynamo is a VC firm led by supply chain and mobility specialists that focus on seed stage and enterprise startups. Find out more at: https://www.dynamo.vc/.
Highlights from their conversation include:
- What Craft is focusing on building currently (1:02)
- Ilya Levtov’s background (1:48)
- Three modules of supplier discovery, evaluation and monitoring (4:21)
- Mapping a complex supply chain network (7:16)
- Sample of a customer’s experience (13:03)
- Benefits for Craft’s customers (18:08)
- Craft’s position in the future of the supply chain (21:32)
Founded in 2015, Craft is an enterprise intelligence company helping organizations make data-informed business decisions. Their platform provides comprehensive, validated and always up-to-date commercial data, analytics, and actionable insights. Find out more at https://craft.co/craft
About The Future of Supply Chain:
During each episode of The Future of Supply Chain, we sit down with a different entrepreneur, investor, or industry veteran to discuss their story, views on the industry, and how we can collectively build the future of supply chain together.
Highlights from their conversation include:
- About Partstat (1:11)
- The Dennis Menefee story (4:39)
- Capital inventory pre-purchasing (7:31)
- How Partstat makes money (12:38)
- Challenges Partstat customers face (17:31)
- How Partstat views nearshoring (23:18)
- Untapped areas in the supply chain (28:21)
- The most interesting read (31:16)
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/
Highlights from their conversation include:
- Background on FEV as a company and Dean’s role (1:07)
- State of alternative energy drive systems starting with hybrid vehicles (5:38)
- Electric Trucks (9:00)
- Utilizing hydrogen (10:58)
- Use case of battery electric vehicles in logistics (17:12)
- Technical breakthroughs needed (21:47)
- Dealing with the impact of regulation (24:32)
- Evolutionary progress and predictions for 2021 (26:30)
FEV is an internationally recognized leader in the design and development of internal combustion engines, conventional, electric, and alternative vehicle drive systems, energy technology, and a major supplier of advanced testing and instrumentation products and services to some of the world's largest OEMs. Find out more about FEV at https://www.fev.com/en/who-we-are/company-history.html
About The Future of Supply Chain:
During each episode of The Future of Supply Chain, we sit down with a different entrepreneur, investor, or industry veteran to discuss their story, views on the industry, and how we can collectively build the future of supply chain together.
Highlights from their conversation include:
- About OSM Worldwide (1:14)
- The Gaston Curk story (2:43)
- Defining “parcel injection” (4:22)
- The underlying business model (9:47)
- How Dr. Squatch leverages OSM (10:50)
- eComm volumes for the rest of the year (14:38)
- An important lesson about parcel capabilities (16:54)
- The competition of the larger private parcel businesses (19:39)
- An area untapped by technology (21:35)
- Gaston’s favorite daily habit (23:13)
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/
Highlights from their conversation include:
- The Matt Hertz story (1:10)
- About Second Marathon (5:08)
- How to establish supply chain competency (7:58)
- Perspective on delivery times (12:10)
- Advice for high-growth companies (19:58)
- Matt’s favorite summer activity (26:30)
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/
Highlights from their conversation include:
- What’s being built at Manna (1:10)
- The Bobby Healy story (1:48)
- What drones are best suited for (4:23)
- How Bobby chose the enabler route (11:00)
- Safety at Manna (14:27)
- Varying designs for drones (19:38)
- Deterrents of drone expansion (25:12)
- The economics of drone delivery (29:33)
- Advice for rising founders (32:48)
- Bobby's favorite summer activity (34:01)
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/.
Highlights from their conversation include:
- About UPS Capital (1:11)
- The Jeff Iannone story (1:39)
- What UPS offers (2:18)
- Managing risk exposure (3:14)
- Thinking about claims management (4:48)
- When considering insurance partnerships (7:15)
- How underwriting is improving (9:05)
- Making a plan amongst shortages (10:52)
- Rethinking supplier relationships (14:35)
- Untapped supply chain problem areas (17:07)
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/
Highlights from their conversation include:
- About Haul (1:22)
- The Tim Henry story (1:58)
- The driver shortage issue (7:00)
- A secular solution (12:48)
- Getting screened for Haul (15:26)
- The Haul customer experience (18:23)
- California Assembly Bill 5 Impact (21:40)
- Most important lesson from selling to fleets (26:43)
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/.
Highlights from their conversation include:
- What Mark’s building in Africa (1:15)
- Mark’s background and career journey (2:17)
- The freight opportunity in Africa (3:34)
- Who Amitruck serves best (5:59)
- How Amitruck helps solve the issue (7:03)
- Driver recruitment and relations (8:55)
- Amitruck’s technology enablement (10:50)
- Working on the underlying fundamentals (13:24)
- Hardest learned lesson (15:33)
- How to educate yourself (16:25)
- Favorite weekend pastime (17:49)
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/.
Highlights from their conversation include:
- Carolyn Mooney’s path from missiles to food delivery to nextmv (1:08)
- Using Dash to experiment and simulate and Hop to solve optimization (4:10)
- Customer benefit use cases (12:42)
- Practically implementing the nextmv API (14:53)
- Simulating thousands of decision paths and selecting the most optimal one (16:43)
- Could this be used to help with vaccine distribution? (18:50)
Nextmv’s tools allow users to encode, test, and manage decisions in the cloud, so they can scale their business with predictable performance and lower cost. Find out more at nextmv.io/about.
About The Future of Supply Chain:
During each episode of The Future of Supply Chain, we sit down with a different entrepreneur, investor, or industry veteran to discuss their story, views on the industry, and how we can collectively build the future of supply chain together.
Highlights from their conversation include:
- About Wyebot (1:07)
- The Roger Sands’ story (2:20)
- Current connectivity status quo (3:46)
- The wireless intelligence platform (8:08)
- Internet connectivity today (11:31)
- How ROI decisions are thought through (13:27)
- Necessary organizational adjustments (17:17)
- Selling and servicing WiFi capability (19:53)
- Unsolved wireless capability issues (21:21)
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/.
Highlights from their conversation include:
- About Truck Labs (1:18)
- The Daniel Burrows story (2:50)
- The one-on-one of “truck wings” (4:34)
- A new software product for fleets (11:01)
- Founder advice for selling technology to fleets (13:33)
- Daniel’s opinion on the debate (21:46)
- New business opportunities (25:31)
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/.
Highlights from their conversation include:
- About Zebox (1:14)
- The Charley Dehoney story (4:10)
- Why and how you should join Zebox (8:09)
- Common mistakes made when engaging with enterprises (12:48)
- How supply chain visibility has changed in the last year (15:23)
- Looking for supply chain visibility solutions (18:44)
- The Supply Chain Reform Act of 2022 (22:13)
- The reality of nearshoring (30:55)
- Request for a startup (33:40)
- A little-known fact about Charley Dehoney (34:30)
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/.
Highlights from their conversation include:
- Introduction to Anchor Harvey and what sets it apart (1:02)
- Having a data-driven approach to forging (4:32)
- Commonly forged products (6:39)
- Monitoring the steps in the process (10:27)
- Developing a process control system (11:51)
- Is there an unraveling of globalization or just a course correction for supply chains? (15:48)
- Staying relevant and offering value to customers (20:11)
- Streamlining workflows (22:05)
Anchor Harvey is a data-driven aluminum forging company with a century-long legacy in precision manufacturing, engineering, and supply chain management. They’ve modernized the age-old aluminum forging process by introducing sophisticated technology to monitor and control every step of the operation, ensuring part consistency from 1 to over 1,000,000. Find out more about Anchor Harvey at anchorharvey.com/about/
About The Future of Supply Chain:
During each episode of The Future of Supply Chain, we sit down with a different entrepreneur, investor, or industry veteran to discuss their story, views on the industry, and how we can collectively build the future of supply chain together.
Highlights from their conversation include:
- About Zebra Technologies (1:16)
- The Mark Wheeler story (1:57)
- Acquisition of Fetch Robotics (3:31)
- How Zebra enabled customers through the pandemic (6:40)
- Intelligent edge solutions (8:06)
- RFID as a technology (13:39)
- Outlook for the supply chain (17:34)
- Advice for entrepreneurs (19:03)
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/
Highlights from their conversation include:
- An overview of Capstone Logistics and Sean’s path in the industry (1:05)
- Weighing the added value from a new partner against the risk it could bring to the relationship with the customer (5:04)
- 3PL’s build versus buy discussion (8:35)
- Analyzing the 3PL and shipper relationship (13:30)
- Creative deal structures (18:55)
- Insights on disruption and change in the future of the industry (21:41)
- Quick takes on recent supply chain news, including the distribution of coronavirus vaccines (24:18)
Positioned to help customers reduce warehousing and transportation costs, Capstone is a leading North American supply chain solutions partner with more than 500 operating locations,14,500 associates, and 60,000 carriers. They have capabilities in freight management, warehouse and distribution center support, last mile delivery, supply chain analytics and optimization, and more. Find out more at https://www.capstonelogistics.com/
About The Future of Supply Chain:
During each episode of The Future of Supply Chain, we sit down with a different entrepreneur, investor, or industry veteran to discuss their story, views on the industry, and how we can collectively build the future of supply chain together.
Highlights from their conversation include:
- The Philipp story (1:26)
- Explaining emissions (4:06)
- How Climatiq approaches variation (5:48)
- How to better steward the environment (9:04)
- Businesses’ willingness to pay for sustainability consciousness (11:27)
- ROI associated with carbon emissions accounting (12:57)
- Implementing Climatiq’s software (15:05)
- Making investments in climate related technology (17:48)
- Selling climate oriented SaaS products (18:50)
- Advice for supply chain founders (20:29)
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/.
Highlights from their conversation include:
- Clay’s background (2:09)
- Dynamo fellowship (3:23)
- Career-wide impact (4:29)
- Mentorship within the fellowship (13:51)
- What makes Dynamo different (16:48)
- Summarizing the fellowship (20:17)
- Favorite portfolio projects (22:23)
- If you could do the fellowship again… (24:25)
- Moving to Chattanooga, Tennessee (27:07)
- Why YOU should do the fellowship (29:55)
- Application details (30:36)
Application: https://www.dynamo.vc/blog-posts/join-dynamo-ventures-fellowship-program-2
Dynamo is a VC firm led by supply chain and mobility specialists that focus on seed stage and enterprise startups. Find out more at: https://www.dynamo.vc/.
Highlights from the conversation:
- How Parade got started (1:18)
- Defining capacity management (5:20)
- The ideal Parade customer/partner (9:10)
- How capacity management is typically dealt with (10:57)
- Benefits of working with Parade (12:47)
- How Parade implements AI (16:52)
- How Parade interfaces with the TMS (20:33)
- Lessons from selling into freight brokerages (23:02)
- The future for the brokerage industry (25:11)
- Rapide fire round: the slowdown in North American trucking, sustained strength in industrial demand, favorite daily habit (27:11)
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/.
Highlights from their conversation include:
- Ryan’s foray into supply chain and RFID (1:06)
- RFID’s adoption curve in the supply chain (5:46)
- Ways RFID has evolved recently (9:17)
- Optimizing the visibility that RFID provides (11:45)
- Use cases for determining ROI with RFID (17:40)
- Comparing and contrasting emerging technologies with RFID (23:48)
- Trends in demand for RFID in 2020 and beyond (27:14)
Avery Dennison is a global materials science company specializing in the design and manufacture of a wide variety of labeling and functional materials, including radio frequency identification (RFID) solutions serving retail apparel and other markets. Find out more about Avery Dennison at https://www.averydennison.com/en/home/about-us.html
About The Future of Supply Chain:
During each episode of The Future of Supply Chain, we sit down with a different entrepreneur, investor, or industry veteran to discuss their story, views on the industry, and how we can collectively build the future of supply chain together. Listen to more episodes at https://www.dynamo.vc/podcasts
Highlights from their conversation include:
- About TexAmericas Center (TAC) (1:12)
- The Eric story (1:42)
- How TAC is enabling better logistics for its industrial customers (3:58)
- How TAC is able to have such strong coverage (6:30)
- Eric’s perspective on nearshoring (8:43)
- How transportation managers are restrategizing with TAC (10:44)
- TAC success stories (14:19)
- Inventory levels through TAC’s facilities (17:21)
- How TAC leverages technology to better its service (19:19)
- Which supply chain areas entrepreneurs should focus on (20:45)
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/.
Highlights from their conversation include:
- What’s being built at Semicab (1:08)
- The Ajesh story (2:50)
- The problems Semicab is solving for its customers (5:04)
- Semicab as a collaborative platform (9:24)
- Getting scale behind new technology (11:58)
- Benefiting from Semicab’s advantaged approach (16:03)
- Integrating with Semicab (18:05)
- When Semicab is not a great solution (19:27)
- How Semicab is promoting ESG goals (21:18)
- Rapid-fire round: signs of a pending freight recession, the future of digital freight brokerage, favorite book (23:01)
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/.
Highlights from their conversation include:
- Milk Moovement’s mission (1:20)
- The Rob story (2:30)
- Breaking down the dairy industry (5:10)
- The data farmers are interested in (8:40)
- The benefits of leveraging Milk Moovement (11:11)
- The scale of Milk Moovement (13:32)
- The grand vision for Milk Moovement (15:05)
- Benefits of taking daily walks (18:02)
- Valuable business lesson (19:58)
- If you could take up an opportunity in supply chain… (21:27)
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/.
Highlights from their conversation included:
- Using advanced image processing to help bulk materials companies eliminate that year-end surprise (1:14)
- How bulk materials companies used to assess their inventory (5:53)
- Interpreting pixels captured by smartphones, drones and more for attributes of a stockpile (9:38)
- Sample use cases for image acquisition and data integration (13:00)
- Attitude shifts in inventory management in 2020 (17:37)
- Offering a bundled option compared to a white label option (19:35)
- Focusing on a problem to solve and partnering to provide a complete solution (23:23)
- Projecting the future of Stockpile Reports (25:22)
Stockpile Reports enables companies to become the market leaders by solving their most difficult inventory, operations, and financial problems with their Every Pile, Any Time™ mindset. Turn your biggest headache into an asset you can leverage to create competitive advantage through material visibility across your enterprise supply chains. Find out more at stockpilereports.com/about-us/.
About The Future of Supply Chain:
During each episode of The Future of Supply Chain, we sit down with a different entrepreneur, investor, or industry veteran to discuss their story, views on the industry, and how we can collectively build the future of supply chain together.
Highlights from their conversation include:
- About Locomation AI (1:14)
- The Çetin story (4:02)
- Locomation’s competitive advantage (6:43)
- The different way Locomation is selling (9:34)
- Long haul trucking being split into relays (11:03)
- The necessity of underlying trucking OEMs (13:12)
- The lack of a clear, federal level safety framework (15:58)
- Transporting 2x as more in the same amount of time (17:53)
- The arrival of level five autonomy (20:53)
- Electrification as the energy system of the future (22:39)
- Solving other supply chain issues (24:57)
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/.
Highlights from their conversation include:
- What Rob and team are building at Backbone AI (1:02)
- Rob’s background and career journey (1:49)
- The massive ripple effects of spreadsheet limitations (3:56)
- Backbone’s practical solution: Databots (10:16)
- The transformation to digital sales happening in B2B (14:27)
- Backbone IRL: 2 case studies (16:18)
- Rob’s POV on utilizing the blockchain for supply chain (24:43)
- Rapid fire on business building (26:54)
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/.
Highlights from their conversation include:
- About XPO (1:15)
- Matt’s background and career journey (2:45)
- XPO’s record-breaking year in 2021 (3:52)
- The Greenwich arrangement (5:20)
- Tech’s role in XPO’s business (7:57)
- XPO’s driver school (12:01)
- LTL’s 2022 Outlook (14:13)
- The North American Freight Brokerage outlook (17:36)
- Rapid-fire round: Ukrainian-Russian conflict, truck shortages, prized daily habit (19:43)
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/.
Their conversation about the state of the container shipping industry covered:
- The state of the container business in 2020 (3:34)
- Integration ambition, building larger vessels and depressing sea rates (9:56)
- Carrier consolidation and global alliances (15:10)
- Carriers being smart with pricing and keeping space open (19:23)
- Technological adoption for liners (22:00)
- Average annual global container growth and proliferation of regional trade (30:44)
- What does the state of global trade mean for VCOs? (37:21)
IHS Markit positions itself as the leading source of information and insight in critical areas that shape today's business landscape. Customers around the world rely on IHS Markit to address strategic and operational challenges. Find out more at ihsmarkit.com/about
About The Future of Supply Chain:
During each episode of The Future of Supply Chain, we sit down with a different entrepreneur, investor, or industry veteran to discuss their story, views on the industry, and how we can collectively build the future of supply chain together.
Highlights from their conversation include:
- KINETIC and how Haytham got there (1:07)
- The problem KINETIC is trying to solve (4:39)
- What KINETIC’s device work (8:33)
- Selling as an IoT enabled business (12:14)
- Monetizing around insurance (15:08)
- Adapting as a CEO (18:47)
- Brokerage, the MGA model, & underwriting (20:30)
- Rapid-fire round: labor shortages across supply, favorite hardware product, the outlook for the New York City startup ecosystem (23:48)
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/.
Highlights from their conversation include:
- The Flexport story (2:00)
- Ben’s career journey (4:41)
- International global supply chains (9:54)
- Technology adoption in the forwarding market (13:28)
- The start of Flexport (18:40)
- Raising rounds’ effect on the scaling process (26:22)
- Multi-product line training and quota attainment (30:24)
- Expansion tactics, incentives, and considerations (35:13)
- Rapid-fire round: favorite book, important daily habit, uncommon belief (38:34)
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/.
Highlights from their conversation include:
- Chris’ entry into venture (1:27)
- Fontinalis’ start and current investments (4:58)
- Automotive’s impact on Fontinalis (8:56)
- Investing in hardware versus software (11:33)
- Autonomous vehicles (17:02)
- EVs and commercial applications (21:30)
- eCommerce enablement (23:11)
- The of role Spack (24:29)
- Advice for founders (27:42)
- Rapid fire round: COVID breaking open the heartland as a place to build a big business, most important daily habit, outlook for Michigan football (30:48)
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/.
Highlights from their conversation include:
- Trucksters and Luis’s background (1:19)
- Benefits of Trucksters (4:49)
- Defining relays (8:15)
- Why European shippers should implement relays (10:38)
- The relay vision and market today (12:46)
- Trucksters’ use of artificial intelligence (14:08)
- Overcoming the cultural barriers of expansion (16:05)
- Rapid-fire round: biggest scaling lesson, daily habits, 2022 goal (18:06)
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/
Highlights from their discussion include:
- Brad’s experience in the international logistics software world (1:13)
- International TMS execution workflows (5:14)
- Localization challenges to delivering a TMS at scale globally (10:13)
- Improving access to high-quality data in international freight (19:17)
- COVID’s impact on logistics teams (23:05)
- A founder’s approach to product pricing from seed to series A (25:31)
- Surprise at large organizations that still aren’t using software to manage workflows (30:55)
Haven automates global logistics for commodity traders, food producers, and other large shippers every day. In a system notorious for inefficiency, their solutions-focused TMS streamlines workloads, saving over 50,000 hours of human time thus far. Their tools unlock shipment data that otherwise gets buried or lost in emails and phone calls, and turns that information into actionable insights that make work easier and more efficient. With Haven, tedium and frustration is traded for greater transparency and smoother collaboration.
About The Future of Supply Chain:
During each episode of The Future of Supply Chain, we sit down with a different entrepreneur, investor, or industry veteran to discuss their story, views on the industry, and how we can collectively build the future of supply chain together.
Highlights from this conversation include:
- Overview of Jabu (1:14)
- David’s background (2:09)
- How operations work in today’s market (5:07)
- Economic mobility in Africa (8:47)
- Why David is building Jabu full-stack (9:57)
- Africa’s physical infrastructure (12:35)
- The Jabu experience (15:14)
- Benefits Jabu stakeholders acquire (18:01)
- Cash-based economy (20:27)
- Advice for acting on financial opportunities (23:29)
- Underappreciating broadening the African supply chain (24:46)
- The future of Jabu (26:16)
- Speed round: favorite habits, biggest company building challenge, fondest founder memory (27:31)
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/.
Highlights from their conversation include:
- Clay’s background and how he ended up at Dynamo (1:23)
- Africa’s automotive supply chain (4:57)
- Importance of infrastructure (8:19)
- Africa as “the last frontier” for unhindered progress (10:03)
- Nearshore vs offshore manufacturing (11:16)
- Fast and fun round: Omicron, Semiconductor Shortage (15:59)
- Clay’s self-help advice (17:17)
Dynamo is a VC firm led by supply chain and mobility specialists that focus on seed-stage and enterprise startups. Find out more at: https://www.dynamo.vc/.
Important points in the conversation include:
- Alden breaks down his background with supply chain and automation (1:18)
- The state of self-driving vehicles in 2020 (2:47)
- How Ike differentiates itself from competitors (14:31)
- Navigating regulations and ensuring safety (19:39)
- Discussing the news of working with Ryder, NFI, and DHL (28:01)
- Pitching to fleets and helping them prepare for this vision of the future (34:03)
- Alden’s take on the value of demonstrating the technology on public roads early on (37:01)
Ike is building cutting-edge automation technology to help improve the trucking industry and was recently acquired by Nuro. Ike envisions a world with automated trucks that focus on highway driving and hand-off the more complex and high-value parts of freight transportation to human operators. Find out more at ike.com
About The Future of Supply Chain:
During each episode of The Future of Supply Chain, we sit down with a different entrepreneur, investor, or industry veteran to discuss their story, views on the industry, and how we can collectively build the future of supply chain together.
Highlights from their conversation include:
- Rob’s background and founding story (6:02)
- How Clockwork enables shippers to control the delivery moment (11:06)
- The 4 key solutions delivered through Clockwork (13:21)
- The ideal Clockwork customer profile (20:28)
- Achieving scale by building configurable software (25:31)
- Solving detention and demurrage through real time delivery tracking (28:27)
- Fast and fun round: Theranos, 2022 goals, Prediction (33:54)
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/.
Santosh and Julian discussion covered supply chain start-ups, e-commerce, warehouse automation, the coolest robots and more. Highlights in the conversation include:
- Getting to know Julian’s background in seed investing and the supply chain (1:17)
- Discussing the current state of warehouse robotics and industrial automation (7:33)
- The excitement and challenges of rail automation (20:55)
- Start-ups and avoiding pitfalls with long-sale cycles (23:35)
- Offering contrarian takes on robotics and investing (33:56)
- Picking our favorite robots (38:24)
Schematic Ventures is an early-stage venture capital fund located in San Francisco. The fund is focused on investments in technology companies within supply chain, manufacturing, commerce infrastructure & digital industrial sectors. Find out more at schematicventures.com
About The Future of Supply Chain:
During each episode of The Future of Supply Chain, we sit down with a different entrepreneur, investor, or industry veteran to discuss their story, views on the industry, and how we can collectively build the future of supply chain together.
Highlights from their conversation include:
- Description of Transporeon (1:25)
- How Stephan got into the Supply Chain technology industry (2:06)
- The European landscape for supply chain software (5:21)
- Breaking down Transporeon’s service offerings (11:28)
- How Transporeon built and launched a carbon visibility product (19:21)
- Investing in an end to end platform to serve Supply Chain customer needs (26:45)
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/
Highlights from their conversation include:
- Synopsis of Jonathan’s book, “Supply Chain for Startups” (1:30)
- Jonathan’s career background & journey to Google (2:46)
- The importance of mapping products & strategic planning (7:13)
- Nearshoring to mitigate risk in supply chain (16:28)
- Scaling quality control as a competitive advantage (20:28)
- Opportunities for innovation in early stage raw material procurement (22:45)
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/
Highlights from their conversation include:
- Why Michael started SwagUp (1:10)
- The supply chain challenges behind getting startups their Swag (5:26)
- How SwagUp manages forecasting product availability (9:13)
- Opportunities for innovation in the swag supply chain (14:28)
- How the swag supply chain works today (17:20)
- Managing quality control for customer swag (20:28)
- How Michael has built learning and growth into his daily habits (26:35)
- Where to look for future opportunities for innovation (30:10)
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/
Highlights from their conversation include:
- HV Capital’s investment thesis (1:30)
- Felix’s background and career arc (2:26)
- ‘State of the Union’ on European road freight (5:23)
- Incumbent obstacles to innovation (11:28)
- Freight accumulation as a model for growth (15:20)
- HV’s POV and investment in construction logistics (18:45)
- Investing €1,000,000 in a single growth area (24:35)
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/
Highlights from this episode include:
- Launching Pactum as a start-up (2:50)
- Reaching pareto optimality in negotiations (4:45)
- Use case description of negotiation with vendors (6:23)
- Benefits seen and value created for customers and suppliers (12:28)
- Example of Pactum in retail (20:15)
- Where Pactum fits into the future of the supply chain (21:57)
- How launching a second startup compares to launching your first one (24:01)
- Determining pricing strategy and utilizing profit-sharing (26:01)
- Lessons learned from having an engineering team in Estonia (28:50)
Pactum is an AI-based system that helps global companies to autonomously offer personalized, commercial negotiations on a massive scale. The system adds value and saves time for both the Pactum client and their negotiation partner by aligning their values to determine win-win agreements via an easy-to-use chat interface that implements best-practice negotiation strategies. The company is based in Mountain View with engineering and operations in Estonia. Find out more at pactum.com
About The Future of Supply Chain:
During each episode of The Future of Supply Chain, we sit down with a different entrepreneur, investor, or industry veteran to discuss their story, views on the industry, and how we can collectively build the future of supply chain together.
Highlights from their conversation include:
- Post-Brexit fallout for supply chain (1:30)
- How the pandemic has changed the VC playbook (4:18)
- Market opportunities around sustainability (5:23)
- Innovation in mobility (10:28)
- Leading and Lagging European OEMs (12:54)
- Temperature of the European venture markets (17:15)
- Biggest lessons learned since starting cargo.one (34:52)
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/
About The Future of Supply Chain:
During each episode of The Future of Supply Chain, we sit down with a different entrepreneur, investor, or industry veteran to discuss their story, views on the industry, and how we can collectively build the future of supply chain together.
Highlights from their conversation include:
- What cargo.one is building (1:15)
- How Oliver and Moritz started two businesses together (2:18)
- cargo.one’s ideal customer profile (5:49)
- How air freight handled operations for years and how that’s shifting (8:09)
- Value add for freight forwarders (10:54)
- Building an organization that provides technology that scales (14:15)
- Generating value on both sides of the marketplace (19:08)
- Importance of cargo.one’s aggregation and workflow (21:13)
- Global ambitions and perspective of cargo.one (26:44)
- Adapting to cultural differences in an international marketplace (32:09)
- Biggest lessons learned since starting cargo.one (34:52)
cargo.one’s platform allows for users to search for quotes, compare real-time quotes across airlines, and then directly book quotes with instant confirmation. Find out more at: https://www.cargo.one/#How-it-works
About The Future of Supply Chain:
During each episode of The Future of Supply Chain, we sit down with a different entrepreneur, investor, or industry veteran to discuss their story, views on the industry, and how we can collectively build the future of supply chain together.
Highlights from their conversation include:
- David’s story and pivoting from his original idea (1:36)
- Tapping into the European road freight market (4:57)
- Balancing organic and inorganic growth (9:12)
- Understanding what motivates the team around you (13:39)
- Re-inventing business models, including with autonomous trucks (17:06)
- Fostering trust with carriers and shippers (21:10)
- Managing a wide network of carriers (24:23)
- Employees contribution to sennder’s culture (28:09)
- David’s effective habits and advice for entrepreneurs (30:41)
sennder places a focus on digitization and automation of all road logistics processes and positions itself as Europe’s leading freight forwarder that connects shippers with a fleet of thousands of trucks. Find out more at: https://www.sennder.com/about-us
About The Future of Supply Chain:
During each episode of The Future of Supply Chain, we sit down with a different entrepreneur, investor, or industry veteran to discuss their story, views on the industry, and how we can collectively build the future of supply chain together.
Highlights from their conversation include:
- Michael’s backstory in logistics and autonomous vehicles (2:21)
- Ryder and Gatik’s collaboration (6:17)
- Autonomous vehicle diagnostics, hardware, and maintenance (8:49)
- Dealing with different drivetrains (15:39)
- Building scalable solutions across geographies (18:58)
- Locking down a solid playbook for scalability (20:38)
- Developing transparent and collaborative partnerships (22:12)
- A bullish outlook on autonomous vehicles (25:38)
Gatik, the leader in middle mile logistics, delivers goods safely and efficiently with its fleet of light and medium duty trucks. Its fleet of autonomous box trucks is available in multiple markets including Arkansas, Louisiana, Texas, and Ontario. Focusing on short-haul, B2B logistics for the retail industry, Gatik enables its customers to optimize their supply chain with affordable convenience. Find out more at https://gatik.ai/about/
About The Future of Supply Chain:
During each episode of The Future of Supply Chain, we sit down with a different entrepreneur, investor, or industry veteran to discuss their story, views on the industry, and how we can collectively build the future of supply chain together.
Highlights of this conversation include:
- Transfix’s origin story (1:35)
- Applying software to create a competitive advantage and drive people toward the future (5:05)
- With every segment of the supply chain being digitized, where is the digitalization really accelerating? (9:10)
- Learning to harmonize the digital and the physical to become a world-class 3PL (14:14)
- Addressing criticism of margins in digital freight brokerage and driving value (18:30)
- Full truckload vs. less than truckload and listening to AI to solve problems (28:05)
- Challenges of going from a start up to a scale up and knowing when to step aside as CEO (38:41)
Drew McElroy co-founded Transfix in 2013 with the goal of creating a simpler, smarter and more sustainable freight ecosystem. Learn more about Transfix at transfix.io.
About The Future of Supply Chain:
During each episode of The Future of Supply Chain, we sit down with a different entrepreneur, investor, or industry veteran to discuss their story, views on the industry, and how we can collectively build the future of supply chain together.
Highlights from their conversation include:
- Building a next-generation transportation management system (1:03)
- Announcing Rose Rocket’s Series A and discussing bringing a horizontal software to address multiple trucking verticals (6:09)
- Providing transparency with a platform layer (11:30)
- How Rose Rocket solves problems for its customers (15:36)
- The Rose Rocket shipper portal and a freemium model (17:21)
- Three points on what makes Rose Rocket stand out (19:56)
- Business best practices, pricing strategy, and scaling culture (21:21)
- Making adjustments to office life (28:30)
- Lessons learned from being a Canadian business (31:03)
Rose Rocket is a platform transportation management software (TMS) that helps manage the unique needs of today’s transportation companies, helping improve communications with systems, customers, and the people who move freight. Find out more at: https://www.roserocket.com/
About The Future of Supply Chain:
During each episode of The Future of Supply Chain, we sit down with a different entrepreneur, investor, or industry veteran to discuss their story, views on the industry, and how we can collectively build the future of supply chain together.
Highlights from their conversation include:
- Mike background and growth and expansion at Pure Storage (1:33)
- Mike’s responsibilities as VP of Operations (6:22)
- Current state of the hardware supply chain (8:56)
- Risk mitigation lessons learned from previous disasters and disruptions (11:44)
- Visibility in the supply chain (14:08)
- Preparing for the worst and planning for the best (19:54)
- Near-shoring and manufacturing renaissance in North America (23:23)
- Startup collaboration (25:20)
- Opportunities for growth in the industry (26:34)
Pure's data solutions enable SaaS companies, cloud service providers, and enterprise and public sector customers to deliver real-time, secure data to power their mission-critical production, DevOps, and modern analytics environments in a multi-cloud environment. Find out more at https://www.purestorage.com/company.html
About The Future of Supply Chain:
During each episode of The Future of Supply Chain, we sit down with a different entrepreneur, investor, or industry veteran to discuss their story, views on the industry, and how we can collectively build the future of supply chain together.
Highlights from their conversation include:
- Nulogy’s fit in the supply chain and Jason’s background at Kellogg’s (1:12)
- E-commerce acceleration (5:38)
- Defining co-packers (8:22)
- Typical customers using Nulogy (12:46)
- Problems that Nulogy addresses (14:30)
- Operational effectiveness and on-time and full metrics (18:20)
- Nulogy University’s role in business building (20:18)
- How culture scales as a business grows (25:54)
Founded in 2002 and based in Toronto, Nulogy provides a technological platform for automation, visibility, and orchestration to communicate, collaborate, and synchronize to reduce waste across the supply chain. Find out more at: https://nulogy.com/about-us/
About The Future of Supply Chain:
During each episode of The Future of Supply Chain, we sit down with a different entrepreneur, investor, or industry veteran to discuss their story, views on the industry, and how we can collectively build the future of supply chain together.
Topics in this conversation include:
- How Craig coined Chattanooga as the “Freight Alley” and decided to found Freightwaves there (1:58)
- How the Sonar Freight Forecasting Platform works (11:38)
- Bull or Bear outlook for the freight markets moving forward? (24:20)
- The current state of digitizing freight (31:42)
- The biggest lessons learned in building Freightwaves & the purpose of the media arm (41:20)
- Where new founders should be focusing their efforts (48:00)
Craig has led the Freightwaves team to raise over $75 million to build products like Sonar and FreightWaves TV which serves a daily audience of over 25,000 viewers . You can learn more about the Craig and the Freightwaves team by visiting https://www.freightwaves.com/
About The Future of Supply Chain:
During each episode of The Future of Supply Chain, we sit down with a different entrepreneur, investor, or industry veteran to discuss their story, views on the industry, and how we can collectively build the future of supply chain together.
Highlights from their conversation include:
- Alan had been running UPS Ventures when he last appeared on the show. What he’s been up to since then. (1:45)
- Looking at the changing landscape for the last mile in fulfillment, delivery, and returns (7:35)
- Three key takeaways (12:07)
- Data science driving operations (17:50)
- What will separate the winners from the losers in the next five years (23:27)
- Heavyweight drones and electric airplanes (27:00)
- Trends in outsourcing return logistics (31:47)
- Big and bulky e-commerce, returns, and lifecycle logistics (34:43)
The Global Supply Chain Institute is part of the Haslam College of Business at The University of Tennessee, Knoxville. The program partners with companies, industry organizations, academics and students to help identify their supply chain management (SCM) strategy and develop their talent, extending relationships to the industry and driving transformation in the profession. Find out more at: https://supplychainmanagement.utk.edu/
About The Future of Supply Chain:
During each episode of The Future of Supply Chain, we sit down with a different entrepreneur, investor, or industry veteran to discuss their story, views on the industry, and how we can collectively build the future of supply chain together.
Highlights from their conversation include:
- Peter’s background in journalism (1:22)
- Eric’s focus on technology (2:28)
- Extreme increases in freight benchmarks and decreases in service (4:30)
- Frustrations in container shipping detention (11:10)
- Slowdown in circulation of assets (13:25)
- E-commerce boom’s impact on distribution centers and more (19:28)
- When this boom will peak (23:00)
- Demand for visibility tools (25:56)
- International Longshoremen's and Warehousemen's Union negotiations and automation (32:20)
IHS Markit positions itself as the leading source of information and insight in critical areas that shape today's business landscape. Customers around the world rely on IHS Markit to address strategic and operational challenges. Find out more at ihsmarkit.com/about
About The Future of Supply Chain:
During each episode of The Future of Supply Chain, we sit down with a different entrepreneur, investor, or industry veteran to discuss their story, views on the industry, and how we can collectively build the future of supply chain together.
Highlights from their conversation include:
- Jeppe’s background (1:22)
- Overview of Maersk Growth and its dedicated investment and portfolio management teams (2:51)
- Making investments that are future-minded (5:46)
- Having a steady, long-term commitment (8:18)
- Exciting supply chain opportunities (11:55)
- Exposing an old industry to new technology (14:35)
- Challenges with getting to prime market fit (17:29)
- The next big disruptors and investment opportunities in the supply chain (21:01)
- Rapid-fire topics: congestion, Uber Freight, digitization in freight forwarding (24:58)
Maersk Growth is the corporate venture arm of A.P. Moller-Maersk that looks to accelerate the future of trade. Find out more at https://www.maersk.com/growth
About The Future of Supply Chain:
During each episode of The Future of Supply Chain, we sit down with a different entrepreneur, investor, or industry veteran to discuss their story, views on the industry, and how we can collectively build the future of supply chain together.
Highlights from their conversation include:
- Sunny and taking on the challenge of creating Fulcrum Manufacturing (1:12)
- The urge to use technology to improve manufacturing (4:08)
- What Fulcrum provides for customers (8:07)
- Fulcrum’s one-stop shop solutions for companies of various sizes (16:00)
- Removing inefficiencies (19:01)
- Shifts in process control methods (21:41)
- Benefits realized by customers and overcoming resistance to cloud computing (24:35)
- Marketplace volatility in the North American supply chain (27:21)
- Prospects for US manufacturing (31:32)
Based in Minneapolis, Fulcrum is a Software-as-a-Service (SaaS) ERP, MRP, and MES platform allowing small and mid-sized manufacturers to improve efficiency through workflow optimization and automated data collection. Find out more at https://fulcrumpro.com/why-fulcrum.
About The Future of Supply Chain:
During each episode of The Future of Supply Chain, we sit down with a different entrepreneur, investor, or industry veteran to discuss their story, views on the industry, and how we can collectively build the future of supply chain together.
Topics in this conversation include:
- Norton Transport’s humble beginnings: delivering buses (1:45)
- Defining driveaway services for commercial vehicles and manufacturers (5:16)
- Cultivating a genuinely unique culture for Norton drivers (12:36)
- New tech, carbon-neutral trucks, and low emission vehicles (21:50)
- Opportunities for innovation in the driveaway industry (28:20)
Justin and the crew at Norton have built an impressive business brick by brick over the years in the driveaway space. You can learn more about the Norton Transport team by visiting https://www.nortontransport.com/
About The Future of Supply Chain:
During each episode of The Future of Supply Chain, we sit down with a different entrepreneur, investor, or industry veteran to discuss their story, views on the industry, and how we can collectively build the future of supply chain together.
Siva and Santosh span a number of topics including the global pandemic and:
- Starting a global logistics career by sailing on a container ship (1:25)
- Managing a global supply chain during a global pandemic (4:32)
- Inventory management by customer segmentation (10:30)
- Technology at the forefront of risk management innovation (18:20)
- On-shore, Near-shore, and vendor diversification as a defense strategy (21:32)
- The priority of digital enablement for supply chain in 2020 (28:20)
Siva and Solvay are some of the few individuals who are experts in handling a logistics marketplace like the one we’re currently experiencing. You can learn more about the Solvay Technology team by visiting https://www.solvay.com/en/
About The Future of Supply Chain:
During each episode of The Future of Supply Chain, we sit down with a different entrepreneur, investor, or industry veteran to discuss their story, views on the industry, and how we can collectively build the future of supply chain together.
Topics include:
- David’s early years, life struggles, & turning points (1:25)
- The wild career ride from nearly being fired to CEO of Honeywell (6:15)
- Top 3 lessons for growth-stage CEOs (20:55)
- The one thing David is most proud of from his time at Honeywell (30:45)
- What will change (and stay the same) in the “new normal” ((38:00)
Thanks to David for joining the show! We enjoyed the exciting and insightful conversation together. You can learn more about David and his brand new book by visiting www.winningnowwinninglater.com.
About The Future of Supply Chain:
During each episode of The Future of Supply Chain, we sit down with a different entrepreneur, investor, or industry veteran to discuss their story, views on the industry, and how we can collectively build the future of supply chain together.
From time to time, we’ll re-air a previous episode of the show that our newer audience may have missed.
In this episode, Santosh sits down with James Coombes, CEO and Co-Founder of Vector AI solutions for paperwork and documentation for businesses.
Highlights from their conversation include:
- Daley’s journey with startups and venture backing (1:15)
- How Engage works with Atlanta’s unique nexus of innovation in the southeast (3:58)
- Corporate engagement with startup growth (7:40)
- Thinking differently about ROI (11:46)
- Making sure that CEOs are on board with innovation cycles (19:55)
- Perpetrators of innovation theater (23:26)
- Dealing with the innovator’s dilemma (25:29)
- How founders should prepare for their first Fortune 500 sales meeting (31:29)
- Avoiding the infamous pilot’s purgatory (34:53)
- Fixing pricing later (38:02)
Engage is designed to promote innovation through a network of connections between startups, corporations, university researchers, and the venture community. Find out more at https://www.engage.vc/about/
About The Future of Supply Chain:
During each episode of The Future of Supply Chain, we sit down with a different entrepreneur, investor, or industry veteran to discuss their story, views on the industry, and how we can collectively build the future of supply chain together.
Highlights from their conversation include:
- Kyle’s realization that shipping containers were integral to the supply chain (1:19)
- Data as a fundamental gatekeeper to the supply chain (4:04)
- Understanding the journey a container goes through (6:43)
- How Vizion triangulates data sources and creates a fully automated data pipeline (12:40)
- Massive volume of ocean shipping (14:21)
- Seeing 10 years of e-commerce growth play out over nine months (16:20)
- The benefits of API to customers (19:26)
- User success stories (21:49)
- The rise of alternative ports (26:54)
Vizion offers data services that consolidate and evaluate data from multiple sources to help logistics teams all around the globe to stay on top of day-to-day operations and strategic analysis. Find out more at https://vizionapi.com/about
About The Future of Supply Chain:
During each episode of The Future of Supply Chain, we sit down with a different entrepreneur, investor, or industry veteran to discuss their story, views on the industry, and how we can collectively build the future of supply chain together.
From time to time, we’ll re-air a previous episode of the show that our newer audience may have missed.
In this episode, we sit down with Ed Clarke, Co-Founder and CEO of Yojee to talk about smart dispatching, route optimization, and accountability and control with logistics.
About The Future of Supply Chain:
During each episode of The Future of Supply Chain, we sit down with a different entrepreneur, investor, or industry veteran to discuss their story, views on the industry, and how we can collectively build the future of supply chain together.
Highlights from their conversation include:
- The vision of FloorFound—to expand the lifespan of retail products and enable sustainability efforts (1:15)
- Chris’ background and how that led him to FloorFound (2:45)
- Oversized returns and impact on repeat buyers (5:27)
- Pandemic acceleration of oversized eCommerce market (8:11)
- Defining re-commerce (10:41)
- Benefits about partnering with FloorFound (14:25)
- The heavy lifting FloorFound does behind the scenes and dealing with current supply chain limitations (18:49)
- Circular economy principles and sustainability perspectives (23:25)
- Most surprising lessons learned as an entrepreneur (28:39)
- Running a business in Austin (31:05)
- Intentional habits that helped fuel Chris’ success (33:56)
FloorFound is an Austin, Texas, based company that helps big/bulky eCommerce retailers turn their returns and trade-ins into a resale opportunity, providing efficiency in velocity and cost recovery, while maintaining the brand’s integrity. Find out more at https://floorfound.com/about/
About The Future of Supply Chain:
During each episode of The Future of Supply Chain, we sit down with a different entrepreneur, investor, or industry veteran to discuss their story, views on the industry, and how we can collectively build the future of supply chain together.
Highlights from their conversation include:
- Detailing the raising of the second fund and how the pandemic elevated the conversation around the supply chain (0:56)
- Multiple layers in the supply chain is becoming increasingly important (4:56)
- The state of ports and container data (7:06)
- Trade finance (12:09)
- Brokers and leverage (15:28)
- E-commerce penetration in the UK now (18:45)
- Inventory insurance and Amazon (21:19)
- Last mile investment (24:27)
- Reverse logistics and nano fulfillment (27:39)
- Large verticals (29:46)
About The Future of Supply Chain:
During each episode of The Future of Supply Chain, we sit down with a different entrepreneur, investor, or industry veteran to discuss their story, views on the industry, and how we can collectively build the future of supply chain together.
From time to time we’ll re-air a previous episode of the show that our newer audience may have missed.
In this episode, we sit down with Dan Covert, Director of Supply Chain R&D at Ahold Delhaize to talk about grocery logistics, distribution, and innovation in the supply chain.
About The Future of Supply Chain:
During each episode of The Future of Supply Chain, we sit down with a different entrepreneur, investor, or industry veteran to discuss their story, views on the industry, and how we can collectively build the future of supply chain together.
Highlights from their conversation include:
- Steve Wen’s entrepreneurial path to starting Dray Alliance (1:23)
- Reducing inefficiencies of delivering shipping containers with a DoorDash-style system (5:30)
- Using data-driven insights to help drivers become more efficient (7:21)
- Use case of how Dray Alliance is implemented (9:05)
- Container visibility and transparency (11:37)
- Assessing the current state of ports (13:22)
- Dealing with criticism of digital brokerage (16:45)
- Technology freeing up human capital (19:05)
- Advice for entrepreneurs on creating good habits and working with people you trust (22:31)
Based in Long Beach, California, Dray Alliance is a venture-backed company on a mission to transform the trucking and logistics industry, starting with drayage. Their technology simplifies the antiquated process of moving containers across short distances, with focus on port and rail moves. Find out more at https://www.drayalliance.com/home/about
About The Future of Supply Chain:
During each episode of The Future of Supply Chain, we sit down with a different entrepreneur, investor, or industry veteran to discuss their story, views on the industry, and how we can collectively build the future of supply chain together.
On this week’s episode of The Future of Supply Chain, Santosh talks with Matt Silver, CEO, and co-founder of Forager, to discuss how they’ve built a platform and a marketplace for cross-border freight. With more than 10,000,000 North American cross-border shipments a year,
Highlights from their conversation include:
- Forager’s origin (1:03)
- Matt’s path from making music videos to working in logistics (2:10)
- Orchestrating cross-border shipments and synchronizing with all the parties involved (7:18)
- Scout: Forager’s end-to-end user experience as a cloud-based TMS and marketplace (9:19)
- Operating leverage and how technology and marketplace businesses disrupt brokerages (14:04)
- Market fluctuations and pricing adjustments (20:09)
- How more companies are inserting themselves on top of the brokerages (28:06)
- Most surprising lessons learned from starting Forager (34:21)
- Rapid-fire questions: North American manufacturing, Chicago vs. Chattanooga, and freight visibility (36:11)
Founded in 2018 to help streamline the North American supply chain, Forager describes itself as the leader in cross-border logistics, Find out more at https://www.foragerscs.com/about-us.
About The Future of Supply Chain:
During each episode of The Future of Supply Chain, we sit down with a different entrepreneur, investor, or industry veteran to discuss their story, views on the industry, and how we can collectively build the future of supply chain together.
On this week’s episode of The Future of Supply Chain, Santosh chats with Tracy Black, operating partner at NewRoad Capital Partners. Together they discuss exciting opportunities in the supply chain world and provide a VC perspective on the industry.
Highlights from their conversation include:
- Tracy Black’s introduction into the supply chain and venture capital (1:21)
- NewRoad’s VC strategy (5:21)
- The questions that startups need to be asking (9:27)
- Tracy’s experience at J.B. Hunt from growth to cloud and how that helps her as an investor (11:42)
- Fleet management and platform science (16:18)
- Technology driving margins up (20:48)
- Digesting what’s going on in the supply chain today (22:39)
NewRoad is a growth equity firm currently investing out of a $176 million fund where 75% of investments go into logistics and supply chain. Find out more at https://newroadcp.com/
About The Future of Supply Chain:
During each episode of The Future of Supply Chain, we sit down with a different entrepreneur, investor, or industry veteran to discuss their story, views on the industry, and how we can collectively build the future of supply chain together.
From time to time we’ll re-air a previous episode of the show that our newer audience may have missed.
In this episode, we sit down with Ken Braunbach, VP of Transportation at Walmart to talk about retail, eCommerce transportation, and logistics as well as growth opportunities for the future.
This week on The Future of Supply Chain, Santosh chats with Steve Denton, CEO of Ware2Go, a UPS company. Together they discuss doing business with everyone, the geospatial considerations involved with that, and optimizing the supply to better reach customers.
Highlights from their conversation include:
- Ware2Go helps small and mid-sized businesses get closer to their customers to compete in the world of e-commerce (1:15)
- Steve’s path to Ware2Go (2:58)
- How Ware2Go got its initial funding (6:15)
- The customer-vendor fit with Ware2Go (9:21)
- Seller-fulfilled prime status (16:30)
- Plugging into the ecosystem of a merchant’s choice and enabling it (19:59)
- Five trends in ecommerce Steve is paying attention to (23:04)
- B2E and having a supply chain to do business with everyone (27:39)
- The next innovations to hit the warehousing and fulfillment landscape (30:59)
Ware2Go (A UPS Company) offers a nationwide network of certified warehouses and technology to streamline fulfillment across sales channels for a fully scalable and truly on-demand solution. Their mission is to change the traditional 3PL model to make one- to two-day delivery easy and affordable for all merchants. Find out more at https://ware2go.co/about-us/
About The Future of Supply Chain:
During each episode of The Future of Supply Chain, we sit down with a different entrepreneur, investor, or industry veteran to discuss their story, views on the industry, and how we can collectively build the future of supply chain together.
This week on The Future of Supply Chain, Santosh is joined by Zvi Schreiber, founder, and CEO of Freightos, to discuss the intersection of international logistics and marketplaces.
Highlights from their conversation include:
- Zvi Schreiber’s background in software engineering and computer science and his transition to logistics (1:25)
- Balancing being connected to the tech world and being a CEO working to scale up an organization (3:31)
- Modernizing international shipping for customers (5:28)
- Key modules in the supply chain cycle (9:20)
- Digital Air Cargo (14:58)
- Maritime logistics industry projections (19:48)
- Marketplaces are powerful things—when they work (22:43)
- Open office layouts (26:05)
Established in 2012, Freightos created an online freight marketplace and SaaS software to usher the logistics industry into the digital era, making global shipping faster, more cost-effective, and smoother. Find out more at https://www.freightos.com/about-freightos/
About The Future of Supply Chain:
During each episode of The Future of Supply Chain, we sit down with a different entrepreneur, investor, or industry veteran to discuss their story, views on the industry, and how we can collectively build the future of supply chain together.
On this week’s episode of The Future of Supply Chain, Santosh sits down with Michael Krakaris, the co-founder of Deliverr, to talk about the rapidly changing world of e-commerce.
Highlights from their conversation include:
- Deliverr’s origin and emphasis on ultra-fast shipping, simple pricing, and easy on-boarding (1:19)
- The acceleration in e-commerce trends (4:58)
- Lower tolerance for longer delivery times (11:58)
- Supply shocks filled by smaller businesses (13:57)
- How Deliverr benefits retailers, merchants, and customers (16:40)
- Differences and similarities in the use cases of Deliverr for small and large brands (22:25)
- Understanding what it is your customer wants and test that out (24:10)
- What Michael wishes he knew before setting out to start Deliverr (27:37)
Deliverr has made it its mission to enable sellers of all sizes to fulfill shipments for customers quickly and cost-effectively. Find out more at https://deliverr.com/about-us/
About The Future of Supply Chain:
During each episode of The Future of Supply Chain, we sit down with a different entrepreneur, investor, or industry veteran to discuss their story, views on the industry, and how we can collectively build the future of supply chain together.
From time to time we’ll re-air a previous episode of the show that our newer audience may have missed.
On this episode, we host Paul Noble, Co-founder and CEO of Verusen, and Aaron Meredith, Director of Manufacturing Innovation at Georgia Pacific. The discussion covers the importance of experimentation, change management, and startup/corporate engagement.
About The Future of Supply Chain:
During each episode of The Future of Supply Chain, we sit down with a different entrepreneur, investor, or industry veteran to discuss their story, views on the industry, and how we can collectively build the future of supply chain together.
On this week’s episode of The Future of Supply Chain, Santosh talks with John Urban, the now-retired co-founder and president of GT Nexus. John shares his experience founding, scaling, and selling his supply chain software business.
Highlights from their conversation include:
- John Urban’s background (1:32)
- The innovations of GT Nexus “The slowest overnight success” (3:29)
- Challenges with over interest in visibility and whether visibility is a means to an end (6:20)
- Consulting with young companies to take the supply chain to the next level (10:19)
- AI and digitization (15:02)
- Long-term adjustments for good sparked by a global pandemic (17:01)
- How John decided to lean in and work with the companies he’s with today (21:09)
- Product-oriented advice for startups in the supply chain (24:54)
- Selling software into an industry that is slow to adopt software (26:57)
- Digesting decades of experience (30:19)
GT Nexus is now Infor Nexus. Find out more at https://www.infor.com/about
About The Future of Supply Chain:
During each episode of The Future of Supply Chain, we sit down with a different entrepreneur, investor, or industry veteran to discuss their story, views on the industry, and how we can collectively build the future of supply chain together.
On this week’s episode of The Future of Supply Chain, Santosh talks with AK Schultz, the CEO and co-founder of SVT Robotics. SVT Robotics connects businesses to robots, using its SOFTBOT Platform to enable clients to rapidly deploy enterprise robot technology.
Highlights from their conversation include:
- SVT Robotics’ mission and AK’s introduction to automated logistics (1:27)
- Tackling the inefficiencies and barriers built into industry software that prevent them from communicating with each other (3:52)
- How customers integrate SVT Robotics (10:04)
- Advice for the lead to deal cycle (20:42)
- The most surprising thing learned building SVT (25:10)
- Rapid-fire questions for AK (27:00)
SVT stands for Simplicity, Velocity, and Transparency. Find out more about SVT Robotics at https://www.svtrobotics.com/about/
About The Future of Supply Chain:
During each episode of The Future of Supply Chain, we sit down with a different entrepreneur, investor, or industry veteran to discuss their story, views on the industry, and how we can collectively build the future of supply chain together.
On this week’s episode of The Future of Supply Chain, Santosh talks with Avi Gellar, co-founder of Maven Machines. They discuss the incredible opportunities to help trucking operations run more efficiently, successfully, and profitably with modern software platforms.
Highlights from their conversation include:
- Avi’s MIT computer science background and how the trucking industry drew him in (1:10)
- The decision to have Maven’s home base in Pittsburgh (3:46)
- Building a cloud-based platform that integrates with all areas of a trucking company (8:43)
- Measurable transformation in use cases (14:53)
- Focusing on the driver’s experience (19:14)
- Comparing the value of unified, integrated platforms with unbundled programs (21:48)
- How the role of the driver evolve in the near future (26:26)
Founded in 2014, Maven Machines positions itself as the leading fleet management technology provider for trucking companies. Find out more at https://mavenmachines.com/about/
About The Future of Supply Chain:
During each episode of The Future of Supply Chain, we sit down with a different entrepreneur, investor, or industry veteran to discuss their story, views on the industry, and how we can collectively build the future of supply chain together.
From time to time we’ll re-air a previous episode of the show that our newer audience may have missed.
In this week's episode, we sat down with Rich Tompkins, VP of Southeast Operations at Veryable to discuss flex labor solutions and helping businesses navigate surge and scale issues in today's workplace environment.
On this week’s episode of The Future of Supply Chain, Santosh is joined by Tom Ruth, VP Americas at Quuppa. Headquartered in Finland with US offices in Washington D.C., Quuppa is a leading provider of Real-Time Locating Systems, using Bluetooth as a primary transport medium.
Highlights from their conversation include:
- An introduction to Quuppa and Tom’s background and role at the company (1:09)
- The evolution beyond passive RFIDs in Real-Time Locating (5:26)
- How listening mode works for Quuppa’s locators and how it differs from beaconing (12:35)
- Tracking assets and building processes around that (17:07)
- A reference of location tracking technologies (22:30)
- Use cases of Quuppa customers (29:00)
- The future of an open tag ecosystem (31:25)
Quuppa helps companies achieve more with location across all industries. Find out more at https://quuppa.com/applications/use-cases/
About The Future of Supply Chain:
During each episode of The Future of Supply Chain, we sit down with a different entrepreneur, investor, or industry veteran to discuss their story, views on the industry, and how we can collectively build the future of supply chain together.
On this week’s episode of The Future of Supply Chain, Santosh talks with David Warrick, Microsoft’s Global Supply Chain GM. Together they look at how the supply chain industry is on the cusp of going from a stagnant system to being a “thinking, living, breathing supply chain.”
Highlights from their conversation include:
- Microsoft’s global supply chain and David’s engineering background (1:22)
- David’s responsibility to make sure the right product gets to the right place at the right time (9:24)
- Dealing with the demand for the latest Xbox (10:31)
- End-to-end visibility and turning events into supply chain events (12:21)
- Is RPA where the value is? (17:23)
- How automation will impact the supply chain (20:08)
- The cognitive supply chain (24:10)
- Digital transformation and layering on top of ERP (29:50)
- Excitement about opportunities in the present and future of the supply chain (33:28)
Microsoft’s global supply chain will have 1.3 million unique ship-to locations this year. Find out more about Microsoft at https://www.microsoft.com/about
About The Future of Supply Chain:
During each episode of The Future of Supply Chain, we sit down with a different entrepreneur, investor, or industry veteran to discuss their story, views on the industry, and how we can collectively build the future of supply chain together.
On this week’s episode of The Future of Supply Chain, Santosh is joined by Nate Wells, SVP LTL Operations & Innovation at XPO Logistics. Together they look at the state of affairs in the LTL space, discuss ways XPO is pushing innovation, and talk about the idea of “finding your goldilocks”.
Highlights from their conversation include:
- Nate’s responsibilities at XPO and his background (1:12)
- State of LTL in 2021 (5:28)
- Improving the LTL space with gamification (9:49)
- Simulation and optimization (15:28)
- Leaning into data and automation (19:14)
- Quick takes about current events in the supply chain (23:40)
XPO Logistics is a top-10 global provider of transportation and logistics services with a highly integrated network of people, technology and physical assets. Find out more at https://www.xpo.com/about-us/
About The Future of Supply Chain:
During each episode of The Future of Supply Chain, we sit down with a different entrepreneur, investor, or industry veteran to discuss their story, views on the industry, and how we can collectively build the future of supply chain together.
From time to time we’ll re-air a previous episode of the show that our newer audience may have missed.
In this episode, we sit down with Bruce Welty, Founder and CEO of Quiet 3PF to talk about autonomous robots, warehouse logistics, and the future of e-commerce and omni-channel fulfillment.
About The Future of Supply Chain:
During each episode of The Future of Supply Chain, we sit down with a different entrepreneur, investor, or industry veteran to discuss their story, views on the industry, and how we can collectively build the future of supply chain together.
On this week’s episode of The Future of Supply Chain, Santosh is joined by Mark Ford, COO of BlueGrace Logistics. BlueGrace is a mode-agnostic, full-service 3PL that, among other things, differentiates itself by how it handles LTL and truckload, its managed logistics, its transparency, live data, and more.
Highlights from their conversation include:
- Overview of BlueGrace and Mark’s career (1:07)
- State of the market today and being flexible with changes (7:16)
- Managed transportation offering (12:17)
- Focusing on the things that give you a competitive advantage (17:07)
- How technology benefits employees (19:22)
- Balancing internal development with external collaboration (22:46)
- 3PLs need to differentiate themselves by what they do best (25:30)
- Bid fatigue and strategy (28:17)
- Opportunity in the supply chain (32:54)
Founded in Tampa, Florida, in 2009, BlueGrace Logistics takes a progressive approach to transportation management to help customers of all sizes drive savings and simplicity into their supply chains. Find out more at https://mybluegrace.com/about-us/about-bluegrace/
About The Future of Supply Chain:
During each episode of The Future of Supply Chain, we sit down with a different entrepreneur, investor, or industry veteran to discuss their story, views on the industry, and how we can collectively build the future of supply chain together.
On this week’s episode of The Future of Supply Chain, Santosh chats with Rob Garrison, founder, and CEO of Mercado Labs. Mercado’s import management system connects importers with suppliers, partners, and products, connects product with demand, and connects team members together. Using a SaaS platform, Mercado looks to transform the first mile of logistics, a complex part of the supply chain that still relies heavily on spreadsheets and emails.
Highlights from their conversation include:
- An introduction to what Mercado Labs is working on and who Rob is (1:14)
- Rob’s take on the current state of imports (6:21)
- Why Rob thinks things will normalize by the end of April (9:55)
- Data’s role in dealing with uncertainty (13:43)
- Benefits of having an import management system in place (16:14)
- Plan, buy, move workflows (21:38)
- Contrasting first mile and final mile (25:00)
- PSP: people, service, profits (31:13)
Mercado Labs, based in Dallas, Texas, transforms supply chains with its import management system by connecting products, suppliers, and teams with customer demand. Find out more at https://mercadolabs.com/why-mercado/
About The Future of Supply Chain:
During each episode of The Future of Supply Chain, we sit down with a different entrepreneur, investor, or industry veteran to discuss their story, views on the industry, and how we can collectively build the future of supply chain together.
On this week’s episode of The Future of Supply Chain, Santosh is joined by Trey Closson, director of maritime logistics at Georgia Pacific. As a part of Koch Industries, they are the largest US exporter of containerized ocean freight. 2020 was an interesting year for maritime freight and in this conversation, Santosh and Trey explore what 2021 and the future of the industry might look like.
Highlights from their conversation include:
- The breadth of the supply chain efforts at Georgia Pacific and Trey’s background in philosophy and urban development (1:13)
- Current state of ocean freight (4:23)
- Will there be a leveling of the playing field between west and east coast ports? (9:10)
- What’s top of mind for international logistics in 2021? (13:00)
- Incentives for carriers to have more competitive rates (16:18)
- What is the next opportunity for founders to explore? (21:31)
- Thinking about engagement with start-ups (25:32)
- Understanding the virtuous cycles of mutual benefit (26:58)
With more than 30,000 employees globally and 180 locations worldwide, Georgia Pacific is a household name. They are one of the world’s leading makers of tissue, pulp, packaging, building products and related chemicals. Find out more at gp.com/about-us
About The Future of Supply Chain:
During each episode of The Future of Supply Chain, we sit down with a different entrepreneur, investor, or industry veteran to discuss their story, views on the industry, and how we can collectively build the future of supply chain together.
From time to time we’ll re-air a previous episode of the show that our newer audience may have missed.
In this week's episode, Santosh sits down with Katy George, Senior Partner at McKinsey & Company to discuss her recent report on Industry 4.0 and the Lighthouse companies that are leading the way for innovation, automation, and worker adaptation in the new digitally-led environment.
On this week’s episode of The Future of Supply Chain, Santosh talks with Abe Eshkenazi, CEO for the Association for Supply Chain Management (ASCM). ASCM is the largest non-profit association for supply chain professionals with 45,000 members in 40 countries with 300 partners across the globe. Together they discuss how the supply chain can make the world a better place.
Highlights from their conversation include:
- An overview of ASCM, its work with individuals and organizations (1:06)
- Technology’s impact on the supply chain in the near future (7:36)
- Competencies incoming professionals need to develop and the skill gaps that exist (11:40)
- Long-term benefit of professional development for company and employee (15:23)
- Upscaling warehouse workers (21:04)
- Compelling reasons for someone to consider a career in the supply chain (24:48)
ASCM is an unbiased partner, connecting companies around the world to the newest thought leadership on all aspects of supply chain. ASCM is driving innovation in the industry with new products, services, and partnerships that enable companies to further optimize their supply chains, secure their competitive advantage, and positively impact their bottom lines. Find out more at https://www.ascm.org/about-ascm/
About The Future of Supply Chain:
During each episode of The Future of Supply Chain, we sit down with a different entrepreneur, investor, or industry veteran to discuss their story, views on the industry, and how we can collectively build the future of supply chain together.
On this week’s episode of The Future of Supply Chain, Santosh is joined by Ilya Levtov, founder and CEO of Craft. Craft is building a modern platform for enterprise intelligence. Ilya discusses how Craft helps enterprises map, track, and spot risks living in the supply chain.
Highlights from their conversation include:
- What Craft is focusing on building currently (1:02)
- Ilya Levtov’s background (1:48)
- Three modules of supplier discovery, evaluation and monitoring (4:21)
- Mapping a complex supply chain network (7:16)
- Sample of a customer’s experience (13:03)
- Benefits for Craft’s customers (18:08)
- Craft’s position in the future of the supply chain (21:32)
Founded in 2015, Craft is an enterprise intelligence company helping organizations make data-informed business decisions. Their platform provides comprehensive, validated, and always up-to-date commercial data, analytics, and actionable insights. Find out more at https://craft.co/craft
About The Future of Supply Chain:
During each episode of The Future of Supply Chain, we sit down with a different entrepreneur, investor, or industry veteran to discuss their story, views on the industry, and how we can collectively build the future of supply chain together.
On this week’s episode of The Future of Supply Chain, Santosh is joined by Dean Tomazic, EVP and CTO of FEV to discuss the role that alternative fuels can shape the future of logistics. FEV (Forschungsgesellschaft für Energietechnik und Verbrennungsmotoren) is an engineering service provider in the mobility and energy management domain with 6,700 employees globally. FEV seeks solutions to the future challenges within the global transportation industry and among other things, focuses on the advancement of electronic control systems, connected vehicles, and automation.
Highlights from their conversation include:
- Background on FEV as a company and Dean’s role (1:07)
- State of alternative energy drive systems starting with hybrid vehicles (5:38)
- Electric Trucks (9:00)
- Utilizing hydrogen (10:58)
- Use case of battery electric vehicles in logistics (17:12)
- Technical breakthroughs needed (21:47)
- Dealing with the impact of regulation (24:32)
- Evolutionary progress and predictions for 2021 (26:30)
FEV is an internationally recognized leader in the design and development of internal combustion engines, conventional, electric, and alternative vehicle drive systems, energy technology, and a major supplier of advanced testing and instrumentation products and services to some of the world's largest OEMs. Find out more about FEV at https://www.fev.com/en/who-we-are/company-history.html
About The Future of Supply Chain:
During each episode of The Future of Supply Chain, we sit down with a different entrepreneur, investor, or industry veteran to discuss their story, views on the industry, and how we can collectively build the future of supply chain together.
From time to time we’ll re-air a previous episode of the show that our newer audience may have missed.
In this week's episode, we sit down with Sam Ryan, CEO and Co-Founder of Zeelo to talk about personalized bus service for employees and the organization's critical care policy in response to COVID-19.
From time to time we’ll re-air a previous episode of the show that our newer audience may have missed.
In this week's episode, we sit down with Justin Lum, Director of Strategic Alliances at Locus Robotics, to talk about robotics, AI, and a new approach to e-commerce fulfillment and warehouse automation.
On this week’s episode of The Future of Supply Chain, Santosh is joined by Jeremy Bodenhamer, co-founder and CEO of ShipHawk, and together they discuss what it means for a business to “Adapt or Die”, the title of Jeremy’s new book. Founded in 2012, ShipHawk is a packing and shipping software for high-volume retail, wholesale, and eCommerce ERP-connected companies to lower their packing and shipping costs so they can compete with eCommerce giants.
Highlights from their conversation include:
- Introduction to Jeremy Bodenhamer and ShipHawk (1:16)
- The state of the shipping industry (4:57)
- The purpose of the ShipHawk modules (7:06)
- Benefits for the customers in adopting ShipHawk (10:08)
- Writing the book “Adapt or Die” and the focus on behind the buy button (12:14)
- The five APIs of the Apocalypse (18:31)
- Robots work, people rule (23:24)
- Why Jeremy wrote the book (28:15)
ShipHawk accounts for SKU data at the item level to provide a baseline for rating and automation that removes the human element from the carrier selection and fulfillment process. Because it looks at the individual items within an order, ShipHawk automatically accounts for split shipments, drop shipments, multiple boxes, volume, location and other variables that often end up costing more than expected or disrupting fulfillment. Find out more at shiphawk.com/about/
About The Future of Supply Chain:
During each episode of The Future of Supply Chain, we sit down with a different entrepreneur, investor, or industry veteran to discuss their story, views on the industry, and how we can collectively build the future of supply chain together.
On this week’s episode of The Future of Supply Chain, Santosh is joined by Carolyn Mooney, CEO and co-founder of nextmv (pronounced next move). Nextmv positions itself as the first real-time, end-to-end decision automation platform.
Highlights from their conversation include:
- Carolyn Mooney’s path from missiles to food delivery to nextmv (1:08)
- Using Dash to experiment and simulate and Hop to solve optimization (4:10)
- Customer benefit use cases (12:42)
- Practically implementing the nextmv API (14:53)
- Simulating thousands of decision paths and selecting the most optimal one (16:43)
- Could this be used to help with vaccine distribution? (18:50)
Nextmv’s tools allow users to encode, test, and manage decisions in the cloud, so they can scale their business with predictable performance and lower cost. Find out more at nextmv.io/about
About The Future of Supply Chain:
During each episode of The Future of Supply Chain, we sit down with a different entrepreneur, investor, or industry veteran to discuss their story, views on the industry, and how we can collectively build the future of supply chain together.
This week, on The Future of Supply Chain, Santosh talks with Tom Lefaivre, president and CEO of Anchor Harvey Components. Anchor Harvey is known for having a data-driven approach and for how it controls the inputs into the process to ensure that parts are identical no matter when they are made in the process.
Highlights from their conversation include:
- Introduction to Anchor Harvey and what sets it apart (1:02)
- Having a data-driven approach to forging (4:32)
- Commonly forged products (6:39)
- Monitoring the steps in the process (10:27)
- Developing a process control system (11:51)
- Is there an unraveling of globalization or just a course correction for supply chains? (15:48)
- Staying relevant and offering value to customers (20:11)
- Streamlining workflows (22:05)
Anchor Harvey is a data-driven aluminum forging company with a century-long legacy in precision manufacturing, engineering, and supply chain management. They’ve modernized the age-old aluminum forging process by introducing sophisticated technology to monitor and control every step of the operation, ensuring part consistency from 1 to over 1,000,000. Find out more about Anchor Harvey at anchorharvey.com/about/
About The Future of Supply Chain:
During each episode of The Future of Supply Chain, we sit down with a different entrepreneur, investor, or industry veteran to discuss their story, views on the industry, and how we can collectively build the future of supply chain together.
In this week's episode, we sit down with Gautam Narang, Co-Founder and CEO of Gatik to talk about middle mile logistics and autonomous vehicles.
In this week’s episode of The Future of Supply Chain, Santosh is joined by Sean Coakley, chief commercial officer at Capstone Logistics. Capstone is the largest warehouse services company in the country, and Sean focuses on strategic and tactical growth.
Highlights from their conversation include:
- An overview of Capstone Logistics and Sean’s path in the industry (1:05)
- Weighing the added value from a new partner against the risk it could bring to the relationship with the customer (5:04)
- 3PL’s build versus buy discussion (8:35)
- Analyzing the 3PL and shipper relationship (13:30)
- Creative deal structures (18:55)
- Insights on disruption and change in the future of the industry (21:41)
- Quick takes on recent supply chain news, including the distribution of coronavirus vaccines (24:18)
Positioned to help customers reduce warehousing and transportation costs, Capstone is a leading North American supply chain solutions partner with more than 500 operating locations,14,500 associates, and 60,000 carriers. They have capabilities in freight management, warehouse and distribution center support, last mile delivery, supply chain analytics and optimization, and more. Find out more at https://www.capstonelogistics.com/
About The Future of Supply Chain:
During each episode of The Future of Supply Chain, we sit down with a different entrepreneur, investor, or industry veteran to discuss their story, views on the industry, and how we can collectively build the future of supply chain together.
In this week’s episode of The Future of Supply Chain, Santosh is joined by Ryan Yost, vice president and general manager of the printer solutions division at Avery Dennison. By utilizing radio frequency identification (RFID) solutions, Avery Dennison has become a key player in facilitating supply chain visibility around the world.
Highlights from their conversation include:
- Ryan’s foray into supply chain and RFID (1:06)
- RFID’s adoption curve in the supply chain (5:46)
- Ways RFID has evolved recently (9:17)
- Optimizing the visibility that RFID provides (11:45)
- Use cases for determining ROI with RFID (17:40)
- Comparing and contrasting emerging technologies with RFID (23:48)
- Trends in demand for RFID in 2020 and beyond (27:14)
Avery Dennison is a global materials science company specializing in the design and manufacture of a wide variety of labeling and functional materials, including radio frequency identification (RFID) solutions serving retail apparel and other markets. Find out more about Avery Dennison here.
About The Future of Supply Chain:
During each episode of The Future of Supply Chain, we sit down with a different entrepreneur, investor, or industry veteran to discuss their story, views on the industry, and how we can collectively build the future of supply chain together. Listen to more episodes at https://www.dynamo.vc/podcasts
From time to time we’ll re-air a previous episode of the show that our newer audience may have missed.
In this week's episode, we sit down with Ben Jones, Co-Founder, and CEO of Ohi to talk about micro-fulfillment, micro-warehousing and the future of shipping logistics.
On this week’s episode, Santosh talks with Jeff Dangelo, founder of Turvo. Turvo is a collaborative logistics platform that focuses on interaction between organizations in the supply chain.
Highlights from their conversation include:
- Introduction to Turvo and Jeff Dangelo (1:09)
- Why Jeff doesn’t see Turvo as a TMS (6:52)
- Discussing the fate of the broker over the next few years (13:12)
- Productivity gains seen by customers and brokers (17:04)
- Where Turvo is situated in the future of the supply chain (22:39)
- Strategizing on pricing and freemium plans (28:02)
- Rapid-fire questions about industry news (32:29)
Turvo works to empower shippers, carriers, LSPs, and brokers with a streamlined, connected approach to comprehensive supply chain management, all in one platform. Find out more at https://turvo.com/what-is-turvo/
About The Future of Supply Chain:
During each episode of The Future of Supply Chain, we sit down with a different entrepreneur, investor, or industry veteran to discuss their story, views on the industry, and how we can collectively build the future of supply chain together.
Santosh is joined by David Boardman, co-founder and CEO of Stockpile Reports for this week’s episode. Founded in 2012, Stockpile Reports set out to deploy an easy to use, timely, and cost-effective inventory management platform. Using advanced image processing and computer vision, Stockpile Reports creates a system of record for bulk assets with automated, real-time volumetric results.
Highlights from their conversation included:
- Using advanced image processing to help bulk materials companies eliminate that year-end surprise (1:14)
- How bulk materials companies used to assess their inventory (5:53)
- Interpreting pixels captured by smartphones, drones and more for attributes of a stockpile (9:38)
- Sample use cases for image acquisition and data integration (13:00)
- Attitude shifts in inventory management in 2020 (17:37)
- Offering a bundled option compared to a white label option (19:35)
- Focusing on a problem to solve and partnering to provide a complete solution (23:23)
- Projecting the future of Stockpile Reports (25:22)
Stockpile Reports enables companies to become the market leaders by solving their most difficult inventory, operations, and financial problems with their Every Pile, Any Time™ mindset. Turn your biggest headache into an asset you can leverage to create competitive advantage through material visibility across your enterprise supply chains. Find out more at stockpilereports.com/about-us/
About The Future of Supply Chain:
During each episode of The Future of Supply Chain, we sit down with a different entrepreneur, investor, or industry veteran to discuss their story, views on the industry, and how we can collectively build the future of supply chain together.
In this week’s episode, Santosh is joined by Peter Tirschwell and Eric Johnson from IHS Markit and its Journal of Commerce (JOC). Eric, the JOC’s senior editor for technology, is the show’s first returning guest after appearing on the show’s 38th episode. Peter is the vice president for maritime and trade business at IHS Markit and is responsible for all content appearing in JOC publications, websites, events and other products.
Their conversation about the state of the container shipping industry covered:
- The state of the container business in 2020 (3:34)
- Integration ambition, building larger vessels and depressing sea rates (9:56)
- Carrier consolidation and global alliances (15:10)
- Carriers being smart with pricing and keeping space open (19:23)
- Technological adoption for liners (22:00)
- Average annual global container growth and proliferation of regional trade (30:44)
- What does the state of global trade mean for VCOs? (37:21)
IHS Markit positions itself as the leading source of information and insight in critical areas that shape today's business landscape. Customers around the world rely on IHS Markit to address strategic and operational challenges. Find out more at ihsmarkit.com/about
About The Future of Supply Chain:
During each episode of The Future of Supply Chain, we sit down with a different entrepreneur, investor, or industry veteran to discuss their story, views on the industry, and how we can collectively build the future of supply chain together.
In this episode of the Future of Supply Chain podcast, we spoke with Priya Rajagopalan, CPO of FourKites. We discussed integrating technology to bring real-time tracking and data to the supply chain space.
On The Future of Supply Chain this week, Santosh connects with Brad Klaus, CEO at Haven. Haven is dedicated to making global trade as efficient as it can be, using technology to simplify and streamline operations.
Highlights from their discussion include:
- Brad’s experience in the international logistics software world (1:13)
- International TMS execution workflows (5:14)
- Localization challenges to delivering a TMS at scale globally (10:13)
- Improving access to high-quality data in international freight (19:17)
- COVID’s impact on logistics teams (23:05)
- A founder’s approach to product pricing from seed to series A (25:31)
- Surprise at large organizations that still aren’t using software to manage workflows (30:55)
Haven automates global logistics for commodity traders, food producers, and other large shippers every day. In a system notorious for inefficiency, their solutions-focused TMS streamlines workloads, saving over 50,000 hours of human time thus far. Their tools unlock shipment data that otherwise gets buried or lost in emails and phone calls, and turns that information into actionable insights that make work easier and more efficient. With Haven, tedium and frustration is traded for greater transparency and smoother collaboration.
About The Future of Supply Chain:
During each episode of The Future of Supply Chain, we sit down with a different entrepreneur, investor, or industry veteran to discuss their story, views on the industry, and how we can collectively build the future of supply chain together.
In this week’s episode, Santosh is joined by Alden Woodrow, founder, and CEO of IKE, an autonomous trucking startup launched in 2018 by veterans of Google, Apple, and Uber.
With more than 170 billion miles a year being driven on the highway by the trucking industry, Santosh and Alden discuss how Ike is working to automate that part of the freight delivery journey.
Important points in the conversation include:
- Alden breaks down his background with supply chain and automation (1:18)
- The state of self-driving vehicles in 2020 (2:47)
- How Ike differentiates itself from competitors (14:31)
- Navigating regulations and ensuring safety (19:39)
- Discussing the news of working with Ryder, NFI, and DHL (28:01)
- Pitching to fleets and helping them prepare for this vision of the future (34:03)
- Alden’s take on the value of demonstrating the technology on public roads early on (37:01)
Ike is building cutting-edge automation technology to help improve the trucking industry. Ike envisions a world with automated trucks that focus on highway driving and hand-off the more complex and high-value parts of freight transportation to human operators. Find out more at ike.com
About The Future of Supply Chain:
During each episode of The Future of Supply Chain, we sit down with a different entrepreneur, investor, or industry veteran to discuss their story, views on the industry, and how we can collectively build the future of supply chain together.
In this episode, Santosh is joined by Julian Counihan, General Partner at Schematic Ventures. Julian started a career in technology as a software developer for warehouse control and automation systems and since then staked a flag in investing in the supply chain sector.
Santosh and Julian discussion covered supply chain start-ups, e-commerce, warehouse automation, the coolest robots and more. Highlights in the conversation include:
- Getting to know Julian’s background in seed investing and the supply chain (1:17)
- Discussing the current state of warehouse robotics and industrial automation (7:33)
- The excitement and challenges of rail automation (20:55)
- Start-ups and avoiding pitfalls with long-sale cycles (23:35)
- Offering contrarian takes on robotics and investing (33:56)
- Picking our favorite robots (38:24)
Schematic Ventures is an early-stage venture capital fund located in San Francisco. The fund is focused on investments in technology companies within supply chain, manufacturing, commerce infrastructure & digital industrial sectors. Find out more at schematicventures.com
About The Future of Supply Chain:
During each episode of The Future of Supply Chain, we sit down with a different entrepreneur, investor, or industry veteran to discuss their story, views on the industry, and how we can collectively build the future of supply chain together.
From time to time we’ll re-air a previous episode of the show that our newer audience may have missed.
In this episode of the Future of Supply Chain podcast, we spoke with Laura Ann Howell, COO of Reliance Partners. We discussed how to know when a business needs a COO, diversity, and workplace flexibility.
In this episode, Santosh is joined by Martin Rand, CEO and Co-Founder of Pactum.
Santosh and Martin discussed how Pactum unlocks value from the long tail by automatically negotiating contracts on a massive scale using a chat-based format. This episode focused on:
- Launching Pactum as a start-up (2:50)
- Reaching pareto optimality in negotiations (4:45)
- Use case description of negotiation with vendors (6:23)
- Benefits seen and value created for customers and suppliers (12:28)
- Example of Pactum in retail (20:15)
- Where Pactum fits into the future of the supply chain (21:57)
- How launching a second startup compares to launching your first one (24:01)
- Determining pricing strategy and utilizing profit-sharing (26:01)
- Lessons learned from having an engineering team in Estonia (28:50)
Pactum is an AI-based system that helps global companies to autonomously offer personalized, commercial negotiations on a massive scale. The system adds value and saves time for both the Pactum client and their negotiation partner by aligning their values to determine win-win agreements via an easy-to-use chat interface that implements best-practice negotiation strategies. The company is based in Mountain View with engineering and operations in Estonia. Find out more at pactum.com
About The Future of Supply Chain:
During each episode of The Future of Supply Chain, we sit down with a different entrepreneur, investor, or industry veteran to discuss their story, views on the industry, and how we can collectively build the future of supply chain together.
In this episode, Santosh is joined by Jeremy Kellett, director of recruiting at Oakley Trucking.
Santosh and Jeremy discussed some of the roadblocks Oakley Trucking faces and ways it’s found to overcome them. This episode focused on:
- Oakley’s beginning delivering fertilizer and grain and Jeremy’s start in the business (1:06)
- The differences in owner/operator and company driver business models (7:03)
- How Oakley avoids the high turnover rate common in the industry (11:10)
- Challenges of dry bulk commodity transportation (14:25)
- Challenges of recruiting great owner/operators and using referrals to find the best drivers (18:15)
- One-on-one dispatch for communicating with drivers on the road (21:50)
- Problems of insurance minimums skyrocketing (26:20)
- Using podcasts for communicating with drivers (30:55)
Oakley Trucking is a family-owned and operated trucking company headquartered in North Little Rock, Arkansas. You can listen in to their podcast at podcast.bruceoakley.com.
About The Future of Supply Chain:
During each episode of The Future of Supply Chain, we sit down with a different entrepreneur, investor, or industry veteran to discuss their story, views on the industry, and how we can collectively build the future of supply chain together.
In this episode, Santosh is joined by Drew McElroy, Co-founder and Chairman of Transfix. Santosh and Drew’s discussion revolves around the Transfix story and harmonizing physical and digital operations. The conversation included:
- Transfix’s origin story (1:35)
- Applying software to create a competitive advantage and drive people toward the future (5:05)
- With every segment of the supply chain being digitized, where is the digitalization really accelerating? (9:10)
- Learning to harmonize the digital and the physical to become a world-class 3PL (14:14)
- Addressing criticism of margins in digital freight brokerage and driving value (18:30)
- Full truckload vs. less than truckload and using to AI to solve problems (28:05)
- Challenges of going from a start up to a scale up and evolving as a co-founder and CEO (38:41)
Drew McElroy co-founded Transfix in 2013 with the goal of creating a simpler, smarter and more sustainable freight ecosystem. Learn more about Transfix at transfix.io.
About The Future of Supply Chain:
During each episode of The Future of Supply Chain, we sit down with a different entrepreneur, investor, or industry veteran to discuss their story, views on the industry, and how we can collectively build the future of supply chain together.
On this episode of the Future of Supply Chain podcast, we sat down to chat with Chris Nordh, Senior Director of Advanced Vehicle Technologies and Global Fuel Products at Ryder. We discuss electric fleets, updating electrical and physical infrastructure, and automation technology in the supply chain.
On this episode, Santosh is joined by Craig Fuller, Founder and CEO of FreighWaves. Craig and Santosh have a robust conversation spanning across the founding of FreightWaves, the state of digital brokerages, and the biggest lessons learned in building:
- How Craig coined Chattanooga as the “Freight Alley” and decided to found Freightwaves there (1:58)
- How the Sonar Freight Forecasting Platform works (11:38)
- Bull or Bear outlook for the freight markets moving forward? (24:20)
- The current state of digitizing freight (31:42)
- The biggest lessons learned in building Freightwaves & the purpose of the media arm (41:20)
- Where new founders should be focusing their efforts (48:00)
Craig has led the FreightWaves team to raise over $75 million to build products like Sonar and FreightWaves TV which serves a daily audience of over 25,000 viewers. You can learn more about the Craig and the FreightWaves team by visiting https://www.freightwaves.com/
About The Future of Supply Chain:
During each episode of The Future of Supply Chain, we sit down with a different entrepreneur, investor, or industry veteran to discuss their story, views on the industry, and how we can collectively build the future of supply chain together.
Justin and Santosh span a number of topics including the global pandemic, :
- Norton Transport’s humble beginnings: delivering buses (1:45)
- Defining driveaway services for commercial vehicles and manufacturers (5:16)
- Cultivating a genuinely unique culture for Norton drivers (12:36)
- New tech, carbon-neutral trucks, and low emission vehicles (21:50)
- Opportunities for innovation in the driveaway industry (28:20)
Justin and the crew at Norton have built an impressive business brick by brick over the years in the driveaway space. You can learn more about the Norton Transport team by visiting https://www.nortontransport.com/
About The Future of Supply Chain:
During each episode of The Future of Supply Chain, we sit down with a different entrepreneur, investor, or industry veteran to discuss their story, views on the industry, and how we can collectively build the future of supply chain together.
Siva and Santosh span a number of topics including the global pandemic, :
- Starting a global logistics career by sailing on a container ship (1:25)
- Managing a global supply chain during a global pandemic (4:32)
- Inventory management by customer segmentation (10:30)
- Technology at the forefront of risk management innovation (18:20)
- On-shore, Near-shore, and vendor diversification as a defense strategy (21:32)
- The priority of digital enablement for supply chain in 2020 (28:20)
Siva and Solvay are some of the few individuals who are experts in handling a logistics marketplace like the one we’re currently experiencing. You can learn more about the Solvay Technology team by visiting https://www.solvay.com/en/
About The Future of Supply Chain:
During each episode of The Future of Supply Chain, we sit down with a different entrepreneur, investor, or industry veteran to discuss their story, views on the industry, and how we can collectively build the future of supply chain together.
Abby and Santosh discuss her journey into designing logistics systems for the likes of IBM, The Port of Savannah, and others:
- The Importance Of Cultivating A Love For Both Art And Science (2:00)
- Designing Human Centered Logistics Systems (5:15)
- Creating Sustainable Supply Chain Systems (13:30)
- A Case Study: Designing with Speed & Empathy (21:20)
Abby’s work is important and exciting for the Supply Chain industry on the whole. Big thanks for joining! You can learn more about Abby and her work designing logistic systems by visiting https://abbyhollis.com/.
About The Future of Supply Chain:
During each episode of The Future of Supply Chain, we sit down with a different entrepreneur, investor, or industry veteran to discuss their story, views on the industry, and how we can collectively build the future of supply chain together.
From time to time we’ll re-air a previous episode of the show that our newer audience may have missed.
On this episode, Santosh interview Bill Driegert, Head of Operations and Co-Founder of Uber Freight. We discussed surge pricing, understanding the market, and building a sustainable supply chain business.
Topics include:
- David’s early years, life struggles, & turning points (1:25)
- The wild career ride from nearly being fired to CEO of Honeywell (6:15)
- Top 3 lessons for growth-stage CEOs (20:55)
- The one thing David is most proud of from his time at Honeywell (30:45)
- What will change (and stay the same) in the “new normal” ((38:00)
Thanks to David for joining the show! We enjoyed the exciting and insightful conversation together. You can learn more about David and his brand new book by visiting www.winningnowwinninglater.com.
About The Future of Supply Chain:
During each episode of The Future of Supply Chain, we sit down with a different entrepreneur, investor, or industry veteran to discuss their story, views on the industry, and how we can collectively build the future of supply chain together.
Transcription
Santosh Sankar 0:40
Hey ladies and gents Welcome Back to the Future Supply Chain podcast. I'm your host Santosh Sankar. And joining me today: our very own James Coombs, CEO/Fo founder of Vector AI. Welcome!
James Coombes 0:53
Thanks Santosh. Great to be here.
Santosh Sankar 0:54
Yeah, so you're joining us from across the pond, and I would say You're a portfolio company that we talk a lot about when it comes to the industry. Equally, our listeners might not all be aware of what you're building. So we'd love to just kick it off with a quick, you know, two-minute overview of what Vector AI is and what you do.
James Coombes 1:20
Yeah, sure. We often talk about the elevator pitch, right? So maybe you guys have total buildings, but for me, an elevator pitch goes like three or four floors. So we are Vector AI. We are we're a paperwork copilot, we help to automate paperwork and logistics space. And by paperwork, we mean all sorts of things from bills of lading, invoices, packing lists, and so on. We do about 20 different documents. 200 different data points across 20 different docs and growing, growing over time. And in terms of the scale of what we do, on aggregate. Our customers process about $130 million dollars every year at the moment, that's obviously growing. So it's a huge space and one that I think we can look obviously objectively or not objectively, I think we can make a big difference.
Santosh Sankar 2:11
Tell us about the founding story behind Vector. Because you know, I remember first meeting you and Nisar back in 2017 on a trip to London in like this swanky or I guess I remembered as swanky it might not have actually been... coffee shop in Shoreditch. How did this even come to be?
James Coombes 2:33
Yeah, so I don't know how swanky it was. I can't remember exactly the name of a hotel, but it was just a coffee shop. Every coffee shop in Shoreditch is pretty swanky I guess. We saw this massage. So I met my partner at an event called Entrepreneur First. And we met in Mid 2017 and we've been working together ever since. You and I met on some random Slack channel started by a guy called Sam Cropper. I believe his name was from In Motion. And I think you were on the chat as well. And it wasn't a very active chat. And I remember seeing your name and I remember you had basically said you are going to be in the UK at some point would love to meet interesting people. And I was like, yeah, you know, I think I'm interesting. I'll meet. So I dragged my partner along to this random meeting and just random coffee shop slash hotel review with a random dude. You. You put us in touch with a bunch of people literally from having just met. And I just remember being really impressed that you kind of go to those lengths to kind of work, work with us and help us out, given that you'd only just met us. And for us, that meant a lot and I obviously kept on, kept on going away and kept on. I kept the discussion up a review over weeks and months afterward.
Santosh Sankar 4:24
You explored a lot of different ideas around the supply chain. What was that 'aha' moment where you realized we want to go be the co-pilot around paper and paper communication.
James Coombes 4:38
I'm not sure if it was a moment specifically. I mean, my previous career work, I worked in a big bank. I worked in commodities and trade. A lot of my customers when I trade houses, they're doing a lot of trade finance. And so I was just very aware of all the kind of paperwork issues of around that business alone, I'd also set up had also set up a furniture company as well. At the same time, I was at some point in '08, ended up importing a lot of furniture from around the world into the US and Europe. And had so it was pretty, pretty aware of kind of all the moving parts around supply chain and freight forwarding as a result of that experience. So I felt like I had a pretty good overview of not just the kind of finance and the kind of trade and the trade finance world, but also just general operational aspects of the supply chain. And I think I've been able to combine those in a way that kind of gives us abasing an edge. And that that was how we kind of got onto this. And it was a problem and I think it's one of those spaces that is is a huge problem, but not that many people know about it, and that's exactly where I want to be as a company.
Santosh Sankar 5:56
Mm hmm. I think the interesting thing our listeners might have picked up on is that the one thing you and the team at Vector hold to be true? Is that paper is a mainstay of the global supply chain? Explain that expand on that, because we obviously agree as investors that that's true.
James Coombes 6:15
Yeah. Yeah. It's something we get, you know, occasional pushback on. Really what we're addressing is a standard problem run with supply chain and the very definition of a fragmented industry. I mean, you've got everything from mom and pop shops and kind of manufacturers around all around the world customs, houses, government agencies, banks, insurance companies, shippers, I mean, you've got so many different players in the space. And the idea that they're all going to be on one standard, it just doesn't ring true to me. I think given they all have their own systems, standardization is going to be very hard to come by, as much as it is kind of the holy grail but kind of like the target the end. The end goal, I think, given the constraints of the moment, and the constraints of the moment rely on the kind of lowest common denominator. And that common denominator is often just paperwork, right? It's just communication, whereas the method of communication between all these different players, and it's the only kind of standard they have, and we think that's gonna, that's gonna persist. And really, I mean, I could go on for a long time about this, but we're a company we solve problems. And the problem, real problems today, I'm basically saying like, okay, we accept that this is the status quo. How do we help companies do a bit better? And that's, that's really a core belief. In many ways, you can think of us as being like, the universal adapter. We're agnostic, we don't care what comes in, we deal with it. And we help enterprises around the world have taken that nonstructured kind of data and deal with it and analyze it to that format. And I think that's really powerful. I think another great analogy that like I again, I don't want to like belabor this point. But a great analogy is that people talk about blockchain and stuff in the space. And the big problem that that that kind of approach has is what I call the Oracle problem is how do you get something from like, the physical world onto the digital into digital? And I think that's, that's a large part of what we do. We take the status quo, and we bring it into that kind of digital future. And I think that concept is super powerful. And it's obviously something that resonates with a lot of our customers.
Santosh Sankar 8:32
Yeah, and putting a bow on the paper bit. When people ask me and try to push on it. The beauty of paper across languages, borders cultures, is that it's the most flexible medium. So as long as you know, we have this fragmentation just around the people’s side of things. Paper is going to be a big part of it. And I love that you know how you talked about being the adapter? And I think something that people often mistake this for is Hey, is it just, you know, OCR? I think it's lost on people what it means to be the adapter. Could you expand on that?
James Coombes 9:17
Yeah, yeah, for sure. And I also think, like some of the previous kind of previous points that you've done, you've made right in terms of kind of a universal adapter approach. Or, let me kind of take a step back. What we see like what kind of paperwork aspect is really is really in many ways. It's like the content of a contract that people are kind of passing in between each other. And you see this in so many spaces. You see this in a kind of a swift kind of world and then kind of you see it in GDI. You see that even though you've got a bunch of standards, there's always a bunch of like freeform areas where you kind of need to capture the nuance of that communication on that paperwork. I think that's also something that shouldn't be kind of ignored and forgotten that the huge amount of nuance is involved in the paperwork as well. But we capture. Now to your point on the OCR side. Absolutely. I mean, though, OCR on itself is... it comes up a lot. We talked about it in terms of, it's probably like 5% of what we do with a product. But it is really, it's really important to control. We spent a lot of our time. Actually, I mean, a huge amount of time actually building and training our own AI, so we don't use anything else. We use our own. We train them around on literally millions of images. And we've done it specifically in the supply chain space because supply chain paperwork is always really painful. There are watermarks everywhere. People like to print on top of stuff. We do handwriting so it's important to get that right. And so we trained and built our own so we have control and then that feeds the rest of what we do. The balance and this is a kind of a hard bit is more kind of the extraction site is, is to be able to say, you know what it's not just about extracting the text it's about specifically extracting kind of poor learning is why over contain a number of acts. And doing that in a meaningful way but doesn't involve you know, kind of historical approach are like templates and stuff has to do it in a smart way that can adapt and learn with an operator. And that's kind of where the machine learning part of what we do kind of reality comes into the picture. So that is the lion's share of what we do in terms of the extraction site. But you're right, it's leaps and bounds above OCR, and kind of embedding all of that stuff in a workflow as well is super important.
Santosh Sankar 11:48
Yeah, yeah. It's it's basically taking the physical and turning it into a digital fabric of sorts.
James Coombes 11:54
Yeah, but I would add quickly before as well is that like on the I think MLS has often overused an overused term in the space or not just a space in every space. And I think I think that's also something, whilst it is, I believe in the future where people will talk about it in the same way they'll talk about like, React. Like nobody builds a website now and says, you know, we're a react based website like nobody cares, right. And machine learning will be that in the future. But at the moment it is still important as an important part of our platform. And I think it's, it's important to differentiate ourselves as well because often use you see every company out there that says they do machine learning in some, some form. And I think it's really important to look at the team. Like if, if one of the founders and ml specialists, then probably not a real a proper Machine Learning Company. We built it and in the call, since we started, ML has been kind of been competitive in everything we do. And I just like it's important not to underplay that I think in what we do as a company.
Santosh Sankar 12:59
Yeah, no, that's spot on. And as an investor, that's one of the first telltale signs. If you don't have that town at the table, you're, you're likely not an ml company or a vision expert or whatever else. Yeah.
James Coombes 13:17
Look at the team, just about the look of the team, where we're super lucky to a bunch of other guys on the team who do justice. We live and breathe that.
Santosh Sankar 13:30
Yep, yep. Shifting focus here. You have some noteworthy customers, we're not going to mention them by name, but you know, we have a major global bank, a top-five freight forwarder that you're fortunate enough to count as your customers. How have they dealt with, you know, this issue of the paper and then stitching, you know, trade credit and freight forwarding process together, like what is the status quo you're competing against?
James Coombes 14:00
I think I'd probably go back to my kind of my, my banking background. Banks kind of think of this as kind of split things into like a back office, some middle office, and a front office. And the way I think about it, and the way we kind of describe what we do is actually, we've got, you've got the back office, which is kind of database stuff. But we don't really, we don't really touch that. You've got our front office, which is how do you interact with the customer at some point in some shape or form. And really, what gets ignored is that kind of middle space, that kind of a middle office, and if anything, I think what we're doing and what we're helping to build here is it's kind of a new middle office because that's where everything that comes into a bank to a freight forwarder to the carrier to any large enterprise kind of gets lost in that kind of middle ground. That's where all the unstructured stuff or stuff you don't really know what to do with kind of goes towards that middle office. And at the moment, like the only solution all these companies have is just to throw manpower at it, because there's no standardization. It's a standardization problem. When I think about what we do, that's what we saw. We thought about the middle office layer for enterprises. And I think that's probably the best way of thinking about it.
Santosh Sankar 15:19
When a customer adopts vector. What is that experience like,? What are the benefits that they're seeing as you're taking them from an analog world to a digital world?
James Coombes 15:33
We'd like to that we take them on a happy path, right? So we spent a lot of time with our customers to make sure that the way we work and interact with the kind of fits into their workflows. And we have measurable results. So one of our customers, we've directly measured it and so with them, we basically lead to 92% time saving, which is a huge amount of taking something from. It's taking something from 40 minutes before and just put it in those terms. It's, you know, it's not a tough sell, because you can point to genuine productivity.
Santosh Sankar 16:19
We haven't used the word automation or RPA. But you know, what, what happens from here? Is this the baseline for that type of an effort?
James Coombes 16:30
Yeah, I mean, I think I think a lot of what we do is we've created like this contained solution, where you can do things that people generally associate with a classic like RPA in one area, right? So if you control that kind of platform, and that that ability to work with your customers, then you can slowly start. You can start kind of chipping away at the other stuff that they do, but that should be more streamlined. I think like we're working on a ton of these. But, I think one really good example from the finance world, is that often you'll get things that are phrases. And so it will be literally prose that says, you know, you must have three copies or three copies of a commercial invoice or a bill of lading. And they have to be signed. And it will say that it won't, it won't be like a digital event statement. It's literally a phrase. And so what we do is we actually understand that phrase, we understand what it means in the context of what we do. And we kind of helped drive kind of an understanding and automate the understanding of that in the context of all of its documentation. And that is just the tip of the iceberg. So that's where we're going. There are so many other things if, if this was longer, we could get into it.
Santosh Sankar 17:56
I would love to kind of close it off with how you see a solution, such as a Vector improving the freight forwarding world. Because it's one of those industries, right intermediary long tail, people think you can very easily collapse the intermediary, we've come to realize that that's just untrue. But you can work smarter. So I'd be curious, you know, what some of your freight forwarder customers have seen or benefited from?
James Coombes 18:27
Yeah, I think it's exactly what you mean, what you just said, right? It's that intermediary level where you, you don't really have control over the way your customers interact with you. And in fact, control over that kind of standard comes at a premium, right? Because nobody wants to give that power away. So you're kind of stuck as a freight forwarder to kind of dealing with this level of complexity and non-standardization and I think that's where the next step in freight forwarding is. I think there's been obviously a lot of great work in terms of how, where the customer-facing side is. And the back end, but I think that interaction with this kind of diverse, fragmented supply chain, you know, touchpoint. I think that's where you can really add value, and really change things as a freight forwarder. And, you know, we're seeing that across all markets. There's a huge demand for what we do.
Santosh Sankar 19:31
So I'm gonna shift gears on us a little bit here. And I'm going to talk about, you know, startups and building a business. You've been in the fortunate position where you're London based, but you have customers on both sides of the pond. And it's something you know, many European founders ask us about. So I'd be curious, what would your recommendation or advice be how, how can a European business start playing sales into the US?
James Coombes 20:02
That's a good question. I don't know if I have the most representative opinion on this. We have to because we work with supply chain and supply chains by definition international. So that's always going to be a focus for us. So we're not too limited to working with a company based in the UK versus somewhere else. I think it also helped that I live in the US. I've lived in the US for 10 years. Yeah, I've, I've always found that not so easy, but I've always enjoyed working with us customers. They really kind of adapt and get excited about new tech and, and for me, I you know, obviously make it any easier and easier sell and so it's always been enjoyable. So, I guess the advice would be not to be scared of it. For us, it's it you know, yeah, I've enjoyed every every every part of working with us customers. And I imagine that Continue. Yeah, that's a skewed perspective.
Santosh Sankar 21:05
Follow up to that would be you mentioned, you've had time, in this part of the world. You've been able to appreciate, you know, the culture and the requirements around dealing with that culture as a salesperson. Very curious, you know, taking a step back. If there was one skill you think a founder should have, as they tackle a supply chain problem, or build a business in supply chain? What would that skill be?
James Coombes 21:37
Yeah, I mean, to me, I think, again, I can only speak to my own experiences. But I think the one thing that I knew made a difference from my perspective, is the ability to have a kind of a holistic view of how all of this stuff fits together. I don't think the supply chain can ever be taken in isolation. I think you have to consider it in the same kind of space as finance, insurance, general enterprise, and all the kind of moving parts around it. I don't think supply chain exists in isolation very well. So I think you, I think it's important to have an overview. Again, from but from my perspective is something I find really important. And I think I'd advise potential founders in the budget.
Santosh Sankar 22:26
Yeah, last thing for you here. You've been on this journey for about three years now. Or at least three years since we originally met. What would be one piece of advice you wish you had back in 2017, as you set out on this journey to build vector?
James Coombes 22:47
I've been asked this question before, and I've always struggled with it mostly because I always believe in kind of path dependency. And I think it's just something that you, you just can't enter with it. And that's okay. I don't think it was you, you will always have imperfect information. And I think it's important to accept that. And it's important to not the kind of like over-optimize for having all the information. And I think that as a founder, you have to live in a world where you have to make decisions on very incomplete information. So, like, my answer to that is always like, yeah, nothing. There's, there's not really anything that I would do differently. And that's not to say, I didn't make any mistakes. I haven't done anything wrong. I mean, I completely would definitely have but I just think at the right at the time, I thought this was the right thing to do. And I think I think that's the best approach, right? And it's kind of like serendipity is kind of going through and trying to make the best, the best calls with the amount of information you have is the way to go. And, you know, like, if I look back from where we are now I'm super grateful that we, we have an amazing team, we've got amazing customers. I think we were in a great position here where you can really change things and change how people do stuff. And I, like, it's hard to look back and say I would do anything.
Santosh Sankar 24:22
No, I think that's, that's certainly sound advice. I‘ll say, you know, having had the good fortune of working with you. You always look to gather as much data as possible at each juncture before making a decision and that sounds like what you're alluding to, and provided one is comfortable with the framework that they're using and the inputs they're using around a decision. You shouldn't have to look back and really have too many regrets.
James Coombes 24:59
Yeah, because the cost of making that, like the cost of making a decision usually isn't that bad. So it's almost worse than not making the decision. So just make the decision and if it's wrong, adjust.
Santosh Sankar 25:10
Awesome. Well, James, I appreciate you joining us this morning, or rather this afternoon for you. And I look forward to seeing Vector continue to change the future supply chain.
Transcribed by https://otter.ai
From time to time we’ll re-air a previous episode of the show that our newer audience may have missed.
In this episode of the Future of Supply Chain podcast, Santosh sits down with Jon Bradford, Dynamo’s newest partner, to talk about investment opportunities in the supply chain industry. They discuss the shift from startup to B2B, fundamental similarities between supply chain and other industries, building great startup teams, and the vast array of opportunities in the industry right now.
In this episode, we sit down with Ed Clarke, Co-Founder and CEO of Yojee to talk about smart dispatching, route optimization and accountability and control with logistics.
Transcription:
Santosh Sankar 0:00
Hey folks, welcome back to The Future of Supply Chain podcast. I'm your host Santos Sankar and joining me today from Ahold Delhaize is Dan Kovar. Welcome!
Dan Covert 0:50
Thanks, Santosh. Thanks for having me.
Santosh Sankar 0:52
Ahold Delhaize is a big name behind a lot of everyday brands that our listeners are likely familiar with. Could you give us the overview of the business so we can level set the playing field here?
Dan Covert 1:06
Yeah, definitely. It's it's very confusing even even for us to work here, so I'll try my best to explain it. So Ahold Delhaize is a global company. So we've got a bunch of brands in Europe, Indonesia, and the US. the US parent companie is called Ahold Delhaize USA. Of that there's five brands that we support. And then there's two service organizations. So people that eat groceries that go to grocery stores that are familiar with food on the East Coast, probably now one of our brands. So we've got in the northeast of Hannaford going south, we've got Stop and Shop which is in sort of the Boston Market, the New York Metro market, a little bit upstate New York and Connecticut, throughout that area. Further south, we've got Giant company, which is based in Carlisle, Pennsylvania, that kind of services a lot of Pennsylvania market. From there, we have Giant Foods headquartered in Landover, Maryland, and then our further south brand is Food Lion which makes up a lot of the southeast. I think in in Tennessee Santosh, you've got probably a Food Lion somewhere nearby.
Santosh Sankar 2:11
Oh, yeah.
Dan Covert 2:12
Those are the five brands. Then we've got two service organizations. The one that I work for is called Retail Business Services, which isn't isn't the most isn't the flashiest name, but it's got our supply chain group, finance group, IT group so anything that would be a shared service amongst those five brands sits in retail business services. And then we've got a digital eCommerce arm as well. Pea Pod Digital Labs is the seventh component of the US business. All of the confusing PDL does all of our digital eCommerce. Anything home delivery, anything on the internet, where you're interacting with brands, buying groceries online, you can all think PDL for that sale. It's a little bit complicated but hopefully that helps.
Santosh Sankar 3:05
How did you get into the world of supply chain grocery logistics?
Dan Covert 3:11
Yes it's not exactly what everyone thinks they want to be when they grow up. But it's been great for me so far. So I started when I went to undergrad I was a physicist, and I thought that I was going to do something with that. I did some research and avalanche dynamics and snow science thinking. It turns out people don't really want to pay you to do that. So I I saw this offer from Ahold Delhaize at the time, which was just Hannaford food line brand. And it was first international training program that you got to work for some of the European brands and you got to come back. Get exposed to a bunch of different things. And supply chain seems like the right application for what I had studied so I have a liberal arts degree. I have a Bachelors of Arts in math and physics, which is kind of silly. But they let me use some of those skills, but also get to work with people, which is super important. So that's I think one of the one of the cool things about supply chain, especially food retail supply chain is you're, you're one of the customers of your work. So if you make a wrong forecasting decision, and you're starting to get product because of that, then you're ultimately the end consumer of that. So you might not be able to get the product you need for your family. So I really liked that component of it, just the connectivity to society, I guess. And it's super analytical, which I really like. So that's kind of how I got into it. And then I've really kind of dug my heels into supply chains. And I started six or seven years ago and went back to graduate school for supply chain and, now just like fully, fully in love with the space. It's so dynamic, especially in this time, we're seeing, you know, stuff that we've never seen before and our ability to react and play important role in the communities I think, really critical and a really cool part of this company.
Santosh Sankar 5:05
And your oversight now in your current role is around supply chain R&D. So what does that entail?
Dan Covert 5:12
Yeah, so it's kind of an interesting team. So it's a really cool opportunity when I came out of grad school, they're like, we're going to start a supply chain R&D team. We want you to go figure out who should be on the team and then go figure out what you guys should do. This is what you're called to kind of a weird opportunity but a great opportunity to bring in a bunch of different people. I think I have the most diverse team in the company. We got people from Russia, Kazakhstan, India...it's it's a great team. Really, our focus was was on innovation for supply chain. So innovation, super cliche word nowadays, but it's really helping us plan for the future for what supply chain should be. We've got one of the biggest food retail networks on on the east coast. So trying to figure out what what sort of technology we should use, what our strategy is going to be, how we work with, you know, how you and I met through the startup community, how we work with people like you and through your founders camp. It's all of that it's really propelling our supply chain. The future, a lot of it recently has been supply chain analytics. So we saw that as a huge gap when we're doing a lot of our research is that we don't have really robust analytics. That's where a lot of the, you know, exciting new technology is for supply chain. And it's not necessarily physical technology, but in a new software, new way to think about all the data that we have in our supply chain. So we've been we've been really focused on that for the last six months or so. Standing up a team to support that, working with a lot of a lot of cool startups in that space as well. So that's been a super big priority, but I think it's also really important for my team to stay connected to people like you also to any new technology happening in supply chain. Because there's there's so much innovation happening right now. And it's what we think is our is our mission and in this company is to bring that to our company.
Santosh Sankar 7:07
Sure. And I'm gonna come back to that theme around innovation and startup engagement. But we'd love to kind of do a grocery logistics one on one. So people understand what we're dealing with here. A lot of folks who have been in our audience and our listener base, to your point, are consumers of the grocery supply chain. They've likely faced kind of stock outs on shelves or longer lead times when they want essential products. But stepping back, how is the grocery supply chain structured at a high level? What should people know about the way food is moved?
Dan Covert 7:45
Yeah, so it's definitely one of the most interesting supply chains and I think anyone that works in supply chain thinks, you know, a widget is a widget and supply chain fundamentals are kind of the same. When your widgets expire and have to be thrown out after two or three days. It's a little different from, you know how you deal with that. So it's structured kind of like any major supply chain. We work directly with manufacturers, we have many different distribution centers segregated by temperature state, and by movement class. So we might have the need to pick a facility for super slow movers, whereas you might have fast moving facilities for super high velocity products. So, really fundamental on that side. We've got many different distribution centers that deliver directly to our stores. We also work with a lot of local suppliers, and manufacturers to deliver directly to our stores. So many big food suppliers like beer and soda and chips are all delivered DSD, direct store delivery, to our stores. But then we also work with a lot of local produce suppliers and farmers to get fresher product to our stores. It's obviously more efficient to go right from a farm to a store then, you know cross docking through a distribution center or even slotting into distribution center.
One thing that we do some of that, to all those USA brands is vertical integration. So we've got a couple different vertical integration plants. We have one meat processing facility in Pennsylvania and really what that does is brings in sides of beef and cuts into steaks and shipped out to stores. There are a lot more efficient that way than having a butcher in every store. So whenever we're vertically integrated you see a huge growth in that that category in store. So trying to deliver different options for customers and kind of standardize across the company. So it's really a fascinating spot changes because of that perishability and the different sort of order cycle times are really quick. If people work in fashion retail or something like that you're planning like six months to year horizons. Whereas we're planning, you know, what's going to be on sale next week? How about how do we get this product into our stores as quickly as possible? It's it's definitely dynamic, very fast paced, which is exciting, especially in these times.
Santosh Sankar 10:25
And I recall in your prior role, you're involved with demand planning. And I'd be curious, like, how is demand planning and equally supply planning conducted in the grocery world?
Dan Covert 10:37
Yeah, so it's similar to a lot of a lot of industries. We we plan for promotions. And the thing is that if you're working in fashion, you might have a promotion a few times a year for holidays. We're promoting different products every week. So we're planning for exactly what product is going to be on promotion. How big of a display or store is going to build. How much inventory did I need to support that much inventory. They already have one or alternative channels to buy that product, especially in fresh, where you, you might have a tier one supplier and that supplier might have a bad crop, you might have to go to another, another supplier to the spot market, there's a lot of that sort of demand shifting that I think is pretty dynamic, and definitely can be a challenge. So I think from a planning perspective, you know, we generally plan on a two to four week horizon for our promotions to make sure that we have the right product in stock prior to promotions, work really closely with kind of the retail merchandising teams so that we understand their merchandising strategy. So that if they're going to build a display, or something like that, that we have the right amount of product, you also work really closely with suppliers, especially if it's private label to make sure that you know they're manufacturing the amount of product that we're going to need. So it's really in the food, retail space or in our space you kind of in the middle there where we're supporting ourselves. Stores, because that's where the customers are, we've got to make sure that they have enough product. But we also have to look at the manufacturers to make sure that if it's fresh that the crop is good enough that we can get what we need for a promotion. And if it's a private label product, that they're manufacturing, sufficient quantities that we can get what we need for our stores. So definitely a juggling game. One of the other things too, is just the amount of items that you have. It's so much different than a lot of other industries in that we might have 50,000 or 60,000 SKUs in store.
Santosh Sankar 12:29
Wow.
Dan Covert 12:32
You can't you can't individually manage every store item combination, there's probably something like 50 or 60 million store item combinations if you take all of our stores times all of our items. So you rely a lot on on algorithms to do this effectively. And then you focus on you know those those key promotions, those critical items, but then you rely a lot of math and to make sure that you have the right inventory in the plant right for for the rest of the items.
Santosh Sankar 13:00
Sure. And you know, I'd be a bit curious like, how does one account for the sudden demand spikes that we've experienced in the last month like around the holidays? You can you get planned for but how do you deal with an event that you just weren't expecting?
Dan Covert 13:18
Yeah, it's it's a challenge for sure. We've got a great team here. And I think people have done a great job of responding. But, to your point when you're going into Christmas, you know, Christmas is coming on the 25th. Every year, you know what products people are going to buy. There wasn't a sort of 2019 global pandemic SNMP session to say no, when the global pandemic hits this year, this is what we need to go have. It was just oh, wow, we're out of toilet paper flour, rice. People are buying on it that how do we quickly respond? So from a supply chain perspective, everybody always wants to be proactive versus reactive, but certainly in this, we saw some of the writing on the wall and tried to get as much inventory on critical items as we could, but then it hit really suddenly. And now your sales drop dramatically and it's tough to recover. So I think some of the some of the things that I do here is like the strong partnerships with our suppliers are, are really critical here. One of the big dynamics that we're seeing right now is to be more efficient manufacturers are scaling down production on the amount that's used. So there's a lot of rationalization going on in the CPG world where they might have made, you know, 1000 SKUs for us previously, and now they might be making 100. So just so their lines can be more efficient. They don't have to switch over their lines, their assortment is, is kind of much narrower, but they're able to produce a lot more of those fast selling items. So that I think from a supply chain planning perspective becomes a really interesting dynamic is that your shelf when you know you look at a shelf of ketchup, you might have 100 choices. Now he might only have 10 choices and how do we correspondingly work with our retailers to say, we need to change the merchandising in our store so they're not empty because you're only getting, you know, six types of ketchup for the next five months. But it's that's kind of the flavor of it right now.
Santosh Sankar 15:17
Sure.
Dan Covert 15:18
So really being able to work buyers to understand what they're going to make, try to get those strong partnerships so that they're efficient on production. We're getting our trucks there as soon as the product is ready. We're getting into our stores as quickly as possible. And really working with our merchants with a lot of our planning teams on now, what's continuing to sell. How can we start to build inventory on those products? Because what we see is, you know, shelves might be empty, but it's not like this products aren't, aren't coming. They're just selling at, you know, four or five x what they normally sell at. So the when the demand is happening, I think there's there's sort of an interesting shift. That I think a lot of people are experiencing is you want to get to the store first thing in the morning, right when that truck arrives, get toilet paper, flour and beans and all those things that people want so badly right now because they might be gone by day. So sort of trying to tailor delivery schedules to make sure that people get what they want. It's it's a wild time, I think the team has done a super good job responding to it trying to find alternative ways to get a product when some of our key suppliers or you know, if they have an outbreak at one of their, their plants, how can you switch alternative channels quickly? That's that's certainly a tactic that we've tried to deploy as much as possible. But yeah, I think that the partnerships are like in anything in supply chain are really critical. So both with the retailers, with the brands that we're supporting and with the manufacturers to make sure that we were working together to help them out as well.
Santosh Sankar 16:54
Sure just listening to you articulate the nature of the supply side. I kind of forgot that there's this dynamic nature to produce and meats and perishable products where you just might not have the yield you expect versus the demand forecast and that adds a different level of complexity. Related to that, how does food safety play into this? I'd be remiss you know, as we're giving a primer on grocery logistics and food logistics. You know, where does food safety play into it? is it relevant throughout how how should people think about it and walk away educated about it?
Dan Covert 17:35
Sure. I'm know by no means an expert in safety, but I'll try to try to give you my my thoughts on this. Of course, it's it's one of the most critical obligations as a retailer for selling food to people to bring home to their familie. It better, be safe, better be fresh, better be something that that they feel confident in feeding to their family. So yeah, absolutely top of mind for us in all of our products. Every thing from private label too, if it's a big CPG. If it's produce, if it's local, it's shipping from the west coast, it's critical to make sure that everything that we're shipping, we have top competence and the safety of that product. So to get sort of tactical on that, and there's tons of checks that we do, you know, inbound product at our distribution centers, making sure that the product is coming in correct if it's not meeting our specifications, and it's not something that we feel good selling to our customers, then we can reject the trucker or anything like that. So, you know, we check diligently when product comes into our warehouse check diligently when it comes into our store, people in the stores especially in fresher, going around multiple times a day making sure that the product on the shelf is still at the right temperature that the produce isn't bruised and still something that we feel feel competent. Selling to our customers a fresh product, especially in grocery stores is really the differentiator like you can buy Cheerios or candy the same at any store. But if we take a lot of pride and all of our, all the brands that retail business services supports, we take a ton of pride in making sure that, you know, they have the best best quality impression that we're really comfortable selling that to our customers. So I think kind of pivoting this a little bit into sort of the startup world and in emerging technology, there's a huge opportunity there. With fresh technology, you know, we've looked at a lot of different ways to make sure that you know, product is we can track the temperature of product isn't when it's coming all the way across the country and then use predictive analytics to say, you know, this product went above temperature for this amount of time, you either need to reroute that truck or you need to automatically reject the load. So there's a ton of, I think opportunity there in the startup space to improve, to use technology to make or you can say for its traceability, if it's, you know, getting more information on humidity and shock and temperature, time out of tempo all those things are really important so this is this is something that we spend a ton of time on. I've got someone on my team that's specifically focused on fresh supply chain strategy and innovation in that space so it's very much a top priority for our supply chain and for all the brands that we support to make sure that we got the best product for our customers.
Santosh Sankar 20:23
And you know, I'd be curious you know if from your vantage point how our priority shifted from you know, Gen One to sitting here today on the podcast. Have the last several months of turbulence changed your priorities are you still pretty much kind of business as usual as it was set out to be at the start of the year?
Dan Covert 20:45
I would say it's a little bit better. So I think when you when you look at the food retail supply chain, you're you're constantly balancing costs and services grocery is inherently very low margin. So you're trying to reduce your cost as much as possible. Still delivering the highest service you can to your customers. And that's the classic supply chain trade off of customer service. Throughout the pandemic, we've focused very heavily on service. Maybe sometimes being willing to pay more for product because we can provide greater service.I think more critical than ever was the need for for grocery stores and the role that they play in the community. Like, I've worked in this for this company for six or seven years. And I've never been in a time where like, well, I actually feel like we're really impacting the community with what we're doing. People are dependent on us to get the products. So I would say from a priority perspective, our priority has always been serving our customer and getting them the right products that they need. I think more than ever, we're focused on getting customers the product, keeping our pipelines full, making sure that you know, we don't we don't just have products today, but we have it tomorrow. And next week, and that you can count on all of our brands to be to have the product that that every customer needs. So I would say we've really focused on on that. We set out every year with a bunch of key strategic priorities that were, that we're going after. We're still focusing on those, but it's been for the last two or three months, kind of all hands on deck, making sure that we're doing everything we can to, to get product to the customer. So not another huge change in that regard. It's just really a heightened effort. You might scale back on some of the you might focus less on what's the greatest emerging technology, my team has pivoted a little bit from that sort of pie in the sky three year plan to what do we need to be doing right now? What analytics can we do to support our response, you know, in this month, so a little more operational and more tactical, maybe a little bit less long term strategic but ultimately trying to find the best ways to service our customers right now.
Santosh Sankar 22:59
As you look through the supply chain like are there pressures being born on certain constituents or certain parts of the supply chain?
Dan Covert 23:09
Yeah, I think so. So one of one of the big pressures is pressures on vendors, are they are they managing their inventory fairly? You know, when there's a big supply limitation on a lot of this, and I'm a big CPG, I've got to decide where I ship my products. So we're seeing definitely pressure on vendors to make sure that inventory is allocated correctly. There's one of the one of the biggest pressures and kind of the static pressure is when, you know, you'd see the pandemic hit some of our facilities and our association that is really, really hard to really hard to manage. They're not directly on on those lines, but it can be a huge challenge. If you've got a distribution center that gets many positive outbreaks, then that can be really challenging. So that's happening. To suppliers to, to pretty much every retailer, I mean, everyone's being impacted by this. And it's trying to figure out what what you can do how you can keep supporting our associates, like we talked about, you know, our priorities are to make sure our associates are healthy. Making sure that we're servicing our community properly. So I think we are seeing a lot of pressure on labor, being able to get people to feel safe, and you know, going outside like the, the real here then so that people in the grocery stores that are working every day, and it's easy for us to say, you know, this isn't a big deal. We're all working from home, but there's a huge amount of people, you know, we have thousands of associates every day, they're showing up to work, ticking boxes, making sure that that all of our customers are getting stores or getting food and then we have, you know, thousands of people in stores every day that are that are doing the same thing. If I was in that role, I would feel a lot of pressure, and I think that those people have absolutely risen to the occasion. We're super proud as a company of those associates because they're really making the difference.
Santosh Sankar 25:08
Yeah, absolutely. hunkering down on the front lines. Yeah. So I'm gonna go back to a string of thoughts we had during the earlier part of our conversation around innovation. And I would specifically be curious about what your thoughts are around automation. So robotics, specifically, in terms of food and grocery logistics. Where's that going?
Dan Covert 25:34
Yeah. So I think there's, there's huge opportunities there. One of the one of the things that, that we've been looking at is the automation is so expensive, and it takes so much time that you know, the full scale automation, the ASRS solution that people are thinking about, and it takes so much time and such a big capital investment, and there's a lot of there's so much work to be done in this case. So not saying that there's obviously a ton of value in that one. One thing that my team has been working on that we're really excited about is sort of this, you know, flexible enhancement to improve a worker's productivity. Not to improve their productivity rather, but to just improve the working conditions. So we've been working with this company develops these suits that helps our our selectors. It reduces the fatigue on the selection process. Imagine if you're picking 50 pound cases, beef, eight hours every day, five days a week, sometimes longer than that. The amount of fatigue that that puts on your body is it's really taxing. That's kind of one of the projects that we're most excited about this for this year, because it's like automation often gets a stigma of like, you're going to replace the workers. And I think that what's so cool about this is now we're not we're not doing that we're actually making, we're allowing you to continue to do the same job but we're just improving the conditions that you're working in. Making it easier for you to do the same work. So I think that that's a really cool space. Something that we're really excited about is sort of this flexible or co-automation. I guess that's the term that people use to talk about that sort of thing. I think there's a huge opportunity there, because a lot of the work that still done in warehouses is you know, you need to be able to be flexible. And when you have to ramp up demand to 150% of normal, the automated solution can be sort of limited at that you can only get so much capacity out of that. So I think there's always going to be sort of a collaboration here where there's some products definitely make sense to automate where it can be really tedious and working in a freezer all days is very difficult. And people don't often want to do that. But in other areas, it's, you know, when you can rank on capacity really efficiently. There's there's a huge opportunity there. So I think it's kind of kind of a serpentine answer to your question, but I think I think there's a huge opportunity and it's not just sort of a replacement strategy. It's more of a collaboration strategy, which I think we're starting to see some really good benefits from this year.
Santosh Sankar 28:07
Do you think the ROI around automation actually improves? As we've seen, the fragility that having a lot of people in distribution sites brings around having to quit facilities with added safety and health precaution? Do you think that might actually bring the ROI story to a place where people say, yeah, let's accelerate this?
Dan Covert 28:36
I think I think you could definitely make that case that it's becoming, you're seeing a lot of the impact. Now, as I was making the point earlier, that if you have a positive outbreak in your supply chain and facilities, especially then it could really, really cripple that. So I think that that's probably a competitive business case that people didn't really think about two years ago. And I think, yeah, the recent the recent A prevalence of that is really would be very positive for a business case is just sort of as a contingency. There's a lot of a lot of resilience that you can have with an automated facility. But, yeah, I mean, I think it's tough. Because we really value the people in our facilities. And I think that they're kind of critical to our business. So automation can often get the wrong impression, or I don't want to go too far down on that. I think that there's a huge opportunity to want to improve our workers well-being in the facilities. But yeah, I think that that could go in conjunction with the well being conversation with that. Yeah. If you're feeling unsafe being in a facility, then there's alternative solutions for that.
Santosh Sankar 29:46
Yeah. We have one of our portfolio founders Eric Nieves at Plus One robotics says, robots work but people rule because there's a hell of a lot of things that humans will just always be better. So we need to augment our people. Out of curiosity, how do you balance internal R&D and then you know, external efforts such as you know, Dynamo's founders can find for participating in various ecosystem events.
Dan Covert 30:14
It's an interesting balance, because what you want to do is think the external collaborations are super important, because then you're aware of what's going on in the industry. But at the same time, the the internal is really important because you want to be solving the right problem. Everyone loves like shiny objects, like autonomous vehicles and drones. And that sort of stuff, doesn't really solve that many problems that we have right now. They don't solve critical problems with the current state of the technology. So I think what my team tries to do is spend at least 20% of our week on the external side, understanding what's happening in the ecosystem, so we've got a good partnership with the incubator in Cambridge, Massachusetts that we work with quite a bit globally. Got the partnership with you, Dynamo and Founder's camp, we've been to a few times. So I think that that's really important having a pulse to what people are doing in adjacent industries, how the supply chain, startup space is changing. I think that's very important. But then it's also making sure that we're solving the right problems. So spending a lot of time with the operations teams in our company and understanding what problems they're trying to solve, so that we can get sort of imply that external research to the right, sort of problems internally.
Santosh Sankar 31:29
Sure, sure. And for the entrepreneurs in our audience, is there an area of grocery food or just broadly in supply chain that you think is being overlooked? Or people are just unaware of and they should be building in that category?
Dan Covert 31:49
Yeah, I think there's, I think the the almost almost question is looking at, you know, where there is a huge amount of startup activity taking taking place. Then spending time and interest to store and understanding what's really going on. So I think there's there's a ton of work being done ton of companies that are kind of solving the Uber freight type problem. You know, matching carriers and shippers, I think that that's, that's a space that's really heavily populated right now with a lot of a lot of companies doing doing really great stuff. I think really, on the product side is super interesting. Like, especially in the fresh product side, I think that that is going to become increasingly important for us it is kind of one of our one of the most critical parts of the food retail space. But how can we how can we get fresher product to our customers, it's really one of the questions that we think about all the time. So there's a ton of work being done on leafy greens here, like, especially on the East Coast, growing products inside. Growing leafy greens closer to the customer, instead of shipping them from one Valley in California. There's a huge opportunity there, but that's really the only space that we're seeing a lot of that happening. So anything that can shorten the supply chain, I think is very interesting. I think there's a cool opportunity there. Obviously, it's a very capital intensive business. The applications of analytics are obviously endless. And I think that we're spending a lot more time my team especially. Yeah, we have so much information or supply chain. How do we make sense of that? I think that that's a pretty popular space right now as well. I think one of the things that this isn't so much an opportunity, but it's just a way to work with big companies like ours, that we found to be very effective is the startups that we've been able to get stuff done with, like a simple product that people can see that doesn't necessarily involve having an IP integration team at all. I think a lot of the, you know, stuff more on the software side. It's obviously what people are developing. Now that can be really difficult to get a pilot done quickly with a large organization. The stuff that we've had the most success with, they're just like, hey, we've got this way to help pickers. more effectively, it looks like this, I've got it in my hand doesn't take it, you can go plug it into your DC right now give it to your workers help them work more efficiently, stuff like that. kind of the point I was making earlier around automation, where we're working with a company that to help make picking less fatiguing, and we're not going to worry, but less stressful enter on our pickers. So this is something that's been super impactful because we can just say, "Great. Let's go try it in our in our warehouse next week." It's just so easy to do stuff like that, versus Hey, I've got this cool algorithm that has this fancy UI. I need these 50 different streaming data sources. Can I work with your IT team?" And yeah, in three years maybe. So I think finding that that sort of area where it's really quick to test something that you don't have this, you know, this thinking about all the people that would have to be involved for a pilot to be successful is I think sort of the the mark of Are you going to have good traction with a big organization? The smaller the amount of people that have to be involved to get it off the ground, but the better?
Santosh Sankar 35:08
Yeah, no, absolutely. Absolutely. I think those are great insights. Dan. We've had a awesome episode. I think folks who dial in and listen to this are surely going to understand how things get to their store shelves and on their kitchen table a lot clearer. But with that, hopefully can host you here in Chattanooga. I don't know if it'll be this year, but hopefully in the near future, nonetheless. Appreciate it. Cheers.
Dan Covert 35:39
Wonderful. Thanks so much. Yeah. Great. Great to catch up.
Transcribed by https://otter.ai
From time to time we’ll re-air a previous episode of the show that our newer audience may have missed.
In this episode of the Future of Supply Chain podcast, Santosh interviews Ben Gordon of Cambridge Capital. Ben and Santosh discuss how Ben got involved in the supply chain industry, investing in the supply chain, building a winning team, and strategic advice for logistics companies.
In this episode, we sit down with Ken Braunbach, VP of Transportation at Walmart to talk about retail, eCommerce transportation, and logistics as well as growth opportunities for the future.
In this episode, we sit down with Lance Theobald, CEO and Co-Founder of Securspace to talk about solutions for truck parking and shipping container storage in the supply chain.
In this episode, we host Paul Noble, Co-founder and CEO of Verusen, and Aaron Meredith, Director of Manufacturing Innovation at Georgia Pacific. The discussion covers the importance of experimentation, change management, and startup/corporate engagement.
From time to time we’ll re-air a previous episode of the show that our newer audience may have missed.
In this episode of the Future of Supply Chain Podcast, Santosh interviewed Zehra Akbar, Director of Strategy & Operations at SkyGrid. Zehra and Santosh discussed drone technology, safety, regulations, and industry acceptance.
In this week's episode, we sat down with Rich Tompkins, VP of Southeast Operations at Veryable to discuss flex labor and real-time staffing solutions to help businesses navigate surge and scale issues in today's workplace environment.
In this episode, we sit down with Bruce Welty, Founder and CEO of Quiet 3PF to talk about autonomous robots, warehouse logistics, and the future of e-commerce and omni-channel fulfillment.
In this week's episode, Santosh sits down with Katy George, Senior Partner at McKinsey & Company to discuss her recent report on Industry 4.0 and the Lighthouse companies that are leading the way for innovation, automation, and worker adaptation in the new digitally-led environment.
From time to time we’ll re-air a previous episode of the show that our newer audience may have missed.
In this episode of the Future of Supply Chain podcast, we interviewed John Larkin, transportation and logistics operating partner of Clarendon Capital Management, about the cyclical nature of business, how those cycles impact the freight industry, and finding opportunity in inevitable economic dips.
In this week's episode, we sit down with Sam Ryan, CEO and Co-Founder of Zeelo to talk about personalized bus service for employees and the organization's critical care policy in response to COVID-19.
In this week's episode, we sit down with Justin Lum, Director of Strategic Alliances at Locus Robotics, to talk about robotics, AI, and a new approach to e-commerce fulfillment and warehouse automation.
In this week's episode, we sit down with Gautam Narang, Co-Founder and CEO of Gatik to talk about short-haul logistics and autonomous vehicles for B2B operations.
From time to time we’ll re-air a previous episode of the show that our newer audience may have missed.
In the latest episode of the Future of Supply Chain podcast, we sat down with Eric Johnson, senior editor of the Journal of Commerce Technology section. We discussed the 2020 IMO regulations and the impact they have on logistics carriers, port diversification across the United States, and the potential of carriers that partner with multiple transportation management systems (TMS) vendors.
In this week's episode, we sit down with Ben Jones, Co-Founder and CEO of Ohi to talk about micro-fulfillment, micro-warehousing and the future of shipping logistics.
In this episode of the Future of Supply Chain podcast, we spoke with Priya Rajagopalan, CPO of FourKites. We discussed integrating technology to bring real-time tracking and data to the supply chain space.
From time to time we’ll re-air a previous episode of the show that our newer audience may have missed.
Max Farrell, CEO of Workhound, joins Santosh to discuss how Workhound is changing the way trucking and logistics companies handle employee retention.
In this episode of the Future of Supply Chain podcast, we spoke with Laura Ann Howell, COO of Reliance Partners. We discussed how to know when a business needs a COO, diversity, and workplace flexibility.
From time to time we’ll re-air a previous episode of the show that our newer audience may have missed.
Breton Birkhofer, Director of Investments at Prologis Ventures, joins Santosh to discuss the modern warehouse workforce, and how supply chain companies must evolve to attract top talent in the marketplace.
In the latest episode of the Future of Supply Chain podcast, we sat down to chat with Chris Nordh, Senior Director of Advanced Vehicle Technologies and Global Fuel Products at Ryder. We discuss electric fleets, updating electrical and physical infrastructure, and automation technology in the supply chain.
The post #40: Electric Fleets, Updating Infrastructure, and Automation with Chris Nordh of Ryder appeared first on The Future of Supply Chain: A Dynamo Ventures Podcast.
In this episode of the Future of Supply Chain podcast, we sat down with Bill Driegert, Head of Operations and Co-Founder of Uber Freight. We discussed surge pricing, understanding the market, and building a sustainable supply chain business.
The post #39: Surge Pricing, Understanding the Market, and Building a Sustainable Business with Bill Driegert of Uber Freight appeared first on The Future of Supply Chain: A Dynamo Ventures Podcast.
In the latest episode of the Future of Supply Chain podcast, we sat down with Eric Johnson, senior editor of the Journal of Commerce Technology section. We discussed the 2020 IMO regulations and the impact they have on logistics carriers, port diversification across the United States, and the potential of carriers that partner with multiple transportation management system (TMS) vendors.
The post #38: Maritime Emissions Regulations, Port Diversification, and TMS Partnerships with Eric Johnson appeared first on The Future of Supply Chain: A Dynamo Ventures Podcast.
In our latest episode of the Future of Supply Chain podcast, we interviewed John Larkin, transportation and logistics operating partner of Clarendon Capital Management, about the cyclical nature of business, how those cycles impact the freight industry, and finding opportunity in inevitable economic dips.
The post #37: Supply Chain Business Cycles, Freight Downturns, and Future Opportunity with John Larkin of Clarendon Capital appeared first on The Future of Supply Chain: A Dynamo Ventures Podcast.
On this episode, Santosh talks with Eric Rempel, CIO of RedWood Logistics. Eric discusses how he got into the Supply Chain Industry, and what he sees in building the future of TMS.
The post Re-Air: Talking TMS with Eric Rempel appeared first on The Future of Supply Chain: A Dynamo Ventures Podcast.
In the latest episode of the Future of Supply Chain podcast, we sat down with Tom McLeod of McLeod Software to discuss disruption, customer satisfaction, and the future of transportation. The idea of an industry being disrupted by the birth of new technology can be a frightening prospect for many organizations, but Tom shares a fresh perspective on the concept.
The post #36: Disruption, Customer Satisfaction, and the Future of Transportation with Tom McLeod of McLeod Software appeared first on The Future of Supply Chain: A Dynamo Ventures Podcast.
In the latest episode of the Future of Supply Chain podcast, we sit down with Matt McHugh, a recent college graduate and Venture Fellow at Dynamo. We discuss Matt’s unconventional path into venture capital, essential traits of VC professionals, and some major takeaways from his first few months in the industry.
The post #35: Following a Non-Traditional Path into VC with Matt McHugh of Dynamo appeared first on The Future of Supply Chain: A Dynamo Ventures Podcast.
From time to time we’ll re-air a previous episode of the show that our newer audience may have missed.
On this episode, Shastri Mahadeo, Founder & CEO of Union Crate sits down with Santosh to discuss his team is building powerful and flexible products to empower the consumer supply chain by leveraging artificial intelligence.
The post ReAir: Empowering the Consumer Supply Chain through AI with Shastri Mahadeo appeared first on The Future of Supply Chain: A Dynamo Ventures Podcast.
In this episode of the Future of Supply Chain podcast, we talk with Chad Eichelberger, President of Reliance Partners. Chad discusses insurance coverage for truckers and freight brokers, liability coverage in the supply chain industry, and the growing insurance market within the industry.
The post #34: Insurance for Truckers and Freight Brokers with Chad Eichelberger of Reliance Partners appeared first on The Future of Supply Chain: A Dynamo Ventures Podcast.
In this episode of the Future of Supply Chain podcast, Santosh sits down with Jon Bradford, Dynamo’s newest partner, to talk about investment opportunities in the supply chain industry. They discuss the shift from startup to B2B, fundamental similarities between supply chain and other industries, building great startup teams, and the vast array of opportunities in the industry right now.
The post #33. Investment Opportunities in the Supply Chain Industry with Jon Bradford of Dynamo appeared first on The Future of Supply Chain: A Dynamo Ventures Podcast.
In today’s episode of the Future of Supply Chain podcast, Santosh interviews Ben Gordon of Cambridge Capital. Ben and Santosh discuss how Ben got involved in the supply chain industry, investing in the supply chain, building a winning team, and strategic advice for logistics companies.
The post #32: Strategic Advice for Logistics Companies with Benjamin Gordon of Cambridge Capital appeared first on The Future of Supply Chain: A Dynamo Ventures Podcast.
In our latest Origins episode of the Future of Supply Chain podcast, Santosh spoke with Adam Fields of Arta Shipping, Inc. about what inspired him to found Arta, building an API infrastructure, and striking the right balance between logistics services and technology.
The post Origins: Adam Fields of Arta Shipping, Inc. appeared first on The Future of Supply Chain: A Dynamo Ventures Podcast.
Santosh interviews Henry Palmer, venture capital investor and Principal at AMPLIFIER Lab in Berlin, in the latest episode of the Future of Supply Chain podcast. They discuss the supply chain industry as it relates to maritime, making investments in ocean shipping, and discussed market size and potential obstacles for incoming, early-stage companies.
The post #31: Maritime Supply Chain and Investing in Ocean Shipping with Henry Palmer of AMPLIFIER Lab appeared first on The Future of Supply Chain: A Dynamo Ventures Podcast.
From time to time we’ll re-air a previous episode of the show that our newer audience may have missed.
In this new series, Santosh digs deeper into the stories of the founders, investors, and executives we have on the show.
Our first origin story is that of Stefan Seltz Axmacher from Starsky Robotics. Stefan explains how he identified the market need, and the lessons learned in building a world-class team at Starsky.
The post ReAir: Origins: Stefan Seltz Axmacher of Starksy Robotics appeared first on The Future of Supply Chain: A Dynamo Ventures Podcast.
In this episode of the Future of Supply Chain Podcast, Santosh interviewed Zehra Akbar, Director of Strategy & Operations at SkyGrid. Zehra and Santosh discussed drone technology, safety, regulations, and industry acceptance.
The post #30: Drone Regulation and Safety with Zehra Akbar of SkyGrid appeared first on The Future of Supply Chain: A Dynamo Ventures Podcast.
In this episode of the Future of Supply Chain podcast, Santar interviewed Adam Fields, co-founder and CEO of Arta Shipping, Inc. Adam and Santosh discussed white glove logistics, the limitations of traditional parcel handlers, and the new future of e-commerce.
The post #29: White Glove Logistics and the New Future of e-Commerce with Adam Fields of Arta Shipping, Inc. appeared first on The Future of Supply Chain: A Dynamo Ventures Podcast.
From time to time we’ll re-air a previous episode of the show that our newer audience may have missed.
On this episode, Santosh brings Ty Findley (Vice President at Pritzker Group Venture Capital) onto the show to talk about why industrial/manufacturing companies are slow to tech adoption, and where Ty sees the new wave heading as part of “Operations 4.0.”
The post Re-Air: Diving Into Operations 4.0 with Ty Findley appeared first on The Future of Supply Chain: A Dynamo Ventures Podcast.
In this episode of the Future of Supply Chain podcast, Santosh talks with Barry Large, supply chain industry investor, founder, and co-founder of Access America. They discuss the origins of Access America, investing in the supply chain industry, supporting industry founders as their businesses grow and scale, and the future of automation in the industry.
The post Origins: Barry Large of Access America appeared first on The Future of Supply Chain: A Dynamo Ventures Podcast.
From time to time we’ll re-air a previous episode of the show that our newer audience may have missed.
On this episode, Santosh talks with Ricardo Salgado (Founder & CEO of Loadsmart) about re-architecting the truckload lifecycle with technology, and how Loadsmart has improved the shipping experience for their customers.
The post Re-Air: Providing On-Demand Truckload Shipping with Ricardo Salgado appeared first on The Future of Supply Chain: A Dynamo Ventures Podcast.
In our latest episode of Future of Supply Chain, Santosh sat down with Afton Capital’s Justin Hall, an industry-leading visionary, growth fanatic, five-time founder, and supply chain logistics guru. Justin and Santosh talk about Justin’s entry into the industry, tech integrations for supply chain businesses, and often-overlooked ways founders can increase their businesses’ bottom line.
The post #28: Industry Disruption and Process Automation with Justin Hall appeared first on The Future of Supply Chain: A Dynamo Ventures Podcast.
In each “Origins” episode, our host, Santosh, interviews industry leaders in the supply chain world, including founders, investors, and executives.
Today’s episode features Guillermo Garcia of SmartHop, a web-based service that matches truckers with the load board and brokers that need their services. Guillermo talked with us about the company’s origins, how he got started in the supply chain business, and what truckers and businesses should focus on for success in the supply chain industry.
The post Origins: Guillermo Garcia of SmartHop appeared first on The Future of Supply Chain: A Dynamo Ventures Podcast.
In our series of “Origins” episodes, Santosh sits down with executives, founders, and investors of industry-leading supply chain businesses.
On today’s episode, our guest is Dan Johnston of WorkStep. Dan dug deep into his early experience as a founder in the education space and how that translated into the supply chain industry; how he keeps his team passionate about WorkStep’s mission; and the one thing founders in the supply chain business need for success.
The post Origins: Dan Johnston of WorkStep appeared first on The Future of Supply Chain: A Dynamo Ventures Podcast.
From time to time we’ll re-air a previous episode of the show that our newer audience may have missed.
On this episode, Scott Auslund (Chief Supply Chain Officer of Gulf Relay) talks about the importance of innovation supporting the bottom line, and how companies in the industry evaluate new technology for implementation.
The post Re-Air: Innovation That Drives the Bottom Line with Scott Auslund appeared first on The Future of Supply Chain: A Dynamo Ventures Podcast.
On this episode, Santosh chats with Dan Johnston (CEO at Workstep). Together, they discuss how Workstep is rebuilding the industrial hiring process by enabling workers to market their experience and abilities while connecting with companies looking for their specific skill set. The post #27: The Future of the Industrial Workforce with Dan Johnston appeared first on The Future of Supply Chain: A Dynamo Ventures Podcast.
On this episode, Santosh chats with the Co-Founder and CEO of SmartHop, Guillermo Garcia.
Guillermo and Santosh discuss how SmartHop is using artificial intelligence to enable trucking owner/operators to find and book competitive loads in their native language, and how this technology can be applied to help traditional brokerages compete with their digital counterparts.
The post #26: Using A.I. to Book Loads & Empower Trucking Entrepreneurs with Guillermo Garcia appeared first on The Future of Supply Chain: A Dynamo Ventures Podcast.
On this episode, Santosh talks with a founding member and principal at Prologis Ventures, Earnest Sweat. Earnest discusses how he broke into the venture capital scene, how Prologis is cultivating future investors and entrepreneurs, and the ripple market effects dynamic pricing is creating by producing massive savings within the supply chain markets.
The post #25: Breaking into Venture Capital & Solving Enterprise Problems Through Supply Chain with Earnest Sweat appeared first on The Future of Supply Chain: A Dynamo Ventures Podcast.
In the “Origins” series, Santosh digs deeper into the stories of the founders, investors, and executives we have on the show.
On this episode, we hear from Anshu Prasad from Leaf Logistics. Anshu tells the story of how he got into entrepreneurship, and explains his approach and theory behind team building.
The post Origins: Anshu Prasad of Leaf Logistics appeared first on The Future of Supply Chain: A Dynamo Ventures Podcast.
On this episode, Santosh chats with the CEO of Workhound, Max Farrell.
Max and Santosh discuss how Workhound is changing the way trucking and logistics companies handle employee retention, plus they share a special announcement.
The post #24: Making Workforce Retention Simple with Max Farrell appeared first on The Future of Supply Chain: A Dynamo Ventures Podcast.
From time to time we’ll re-air a previous episode of the show that our newer audience may have missed.
On this episode, Co Founder & CEO Graham Parker shares how he and the team at Kontainers are leading the charge in completely digitizing the freight forwarding process and changing the industry along the way.
The post Re-Air: Digitizing Freight Forwarding with Graham Parker appeared first on The Future of Supply Chain: A Dynamo Ventures Podcast.
On this episode, Santosh chats with Anshu Prasad (CEO at Leaf Logistics). Together, they discuss how Leaf Logistics is creating predictable shipping models by implementing dynamic contracts, and the effect this has on the freight markets on the whole.
The post #23: Dynamic Contracting and Predictable Markets with Anshu Prasad appeared first on The Future of Supply Chain: A Dynamo Ventures Podcast.
Breton Birkhofer, Director of Investments at Prologis Ventures, joins Santosh to discuss the modern warehouse workforce, and how supply chain companies must evolve to attract top talent in the marketplace.
The post #22: Innovating The Warehouse Workplace with Breton Birkhofer appeared first on The Future of Supply Chain: A Dynamo Ventures Podcast.
From time to time we’ll re-air a previous episode of the show that our newer audience may have missed.
On this episode, Santosh talks with Jason Traff, President and Co-Founder of Shipwell. Jason discusses how they’re using technology to simplify and automate the transport of freight, and what he sees on the horizon for the industry.
The post Re-Air: Automating Freight Transport with Jason Traff appeared first on The Future of Supply Chain: A Dynamo Ventures Podcast.
In the “Origins” series, Santosh digs deeper into the stories of the founders, investors, and executives we have on the show.
On this episode, we hear from Sean Henry from Stord. Sean talks about his background and discusses how founders and CEOs should look at hiring a team around themselves.
The post Origins: Sean Henry of Stord appeared first on The Future of Supply Chain: A Dynamo Ventures Podcast.
In the “Origins” series, Santosh digs deeper into the stories of the founders, investors, and executives we have on the show.
On this episode, we hear from Michael Loehr from 7percent Ventures. Michael shares his background story, and discusses his challenge (and the benefits) he found when transitioning out of his role as CEO of tiramizoo.
The post Origins: Michael Loehr of 7percent Ventures appeared first on The Future of Supply Chain: A Dynamo Ventures Podcast.
On this episode, Santosh talks with the CEO of Bellhops Moving, Luke Marklin. Luke shares how he’s leveraged the lessons learned from his career with Uber, and how Bellhops is building a gamified marketplace that’s revolutionizing the moving industry.
The post #21: Building a Marketplace for Moving with Luke Marklin appeared first on The Future of Supply Chain: A Dynamo Ventures Podcast.
In the “Origins” series, Santosh digs deeper into the stories of the founders, investors, and executives we have on the show.
On this episode, we hear from Shastri Mahadeo from Union Crate. Shastri tells us the story of starting his first business as a teenager, and how those lessons have helped him in building Union Crate.
The post Origins: Shastri Mahadeo of Union Crate appeared first on The Future of Supply Chain: A Dynamo Ventures Podcast.
From time to time we’ll re-air a previous episode of the show that our newer audience may have missed.
This week’s re-air is our conversation with Erik Nieves, CEO of Plus One Robotics. Erik and Santosh talk about industrial automation’s impact on logistics and why the robotic revolution is something to be embraced.
The post Re-Air: Industrial Automation Primer with Erik Nieves appeared first on The Future of Supply Chain: A Dynamo Ventures Podcast.
On this episode, Santosh talks with Eric Rempel, CIO of RedWood Logistics. Eric discusses how he got into the Supply Chain Industry, and what he sees in building the future of TMS.
The post #20: Talking TMS with Eric Rempel appeared first on The Future of Supply Chain: A Dynamo Ventures Podcast.
On this episode, Santosh talks with Julius Koehler, Co-Founder of Sennder. Julius discusses the evolution of the European market as well as some core challenges in serving Euro-based businesses with digital freight forwarding.
The post #19: The State of Freight in Europe with Julius Koehler appeared first on The Future of Supply Chain: a Dynamo Podcast.
In this new series, Santosh digs deeper into the stories of the founders, investors, and executives we have on the show.
Our first origin story is that of Stefan Seltz Axmacher from Starsky Robotics. Stefan explains how he identified the market need, and the lessons learned in building a world-class team at Starsky.
From time to time we’ll re-air a previous episode of the show that our newer audience may have missed.
This week’s re-air is our conversation with Amari Ruff, Founder of Sudu. On this episode, Santosh and Amari dive into the importance of building a strong and inclusive culture, and how Sudu is disrupting the Supply Chain industry as result.
The post Re-Air: Building a Culture That Wins with Amari Ruff appeared first on The Future of Supply Chain: a Dynamo Podcast.
On this episode, Shastri Mahadeo, Founder & CEO of Union Crate sits down with Santosh to discuss his team is building powerful and flexible products to empower the consumer supply chain by leveraging artificial intelligence.
The post #18: Empowering the Consumer Supply Chain through AI with Shastri Mahadeo appeared first on The Future of Supply Chain: a Dynamo Podcast.
On this episode, Santosh brings Ty Findley (Vice President at Pritzker Group Venture Capital) onto the show to talk about why industrial/manufacturing companies are slow to tech adoption, and where Ty sees the new wave heading as part of “Operations 4.0.”
On this episode, Santosh talks with Rathna Sharad, Founder and CEO of FlavorCloud. Rathna discusses how she got into the cross-border eCommerce logistics industry, and where she sees the greatest opportunity for innovation.
From time to time we’ll re-air a previous episode of the show that our newer audience may have missed.
This week’s re-air is our conversation with Alan Amling of UPS Ventures. On this episode, we discuss what’s happening in the 3D printing space, and how it will affect transportation and logistics on the whole.
On this episode, Associate Investor Robin Dechant from Point Nine Capital sits down with Santosh to discuss how manufacturing startups differ from other SaaS startups in raising capital & selling into legacy-based industries.
On this episode, Santosh sits down with the Co-Founder and CEO of Starsky Robotics, Stefan Seltz-Axmacher. Stefan discusses how Starsky is safely building the future of autonomous vehicles and the practical ramifications of such a pursuit.
On this episode, Scott Auslund (Chief Supply Chain Officer of Gulf Relay) talks about the importance of innovation supporting the bottom line, and how companies in the industry evaluate new technology for implementation.
On this episode, CEO Jason Provonsha discusses how he transitioned from thriving at a domestic freight forwarder to helping build an international company with the team at Steam Logistics, and what’s ahead for the future of international trade.
On this episode, Santosh talks with Ricardo Salgado (Founder & CEO of Loadsmart) about re-architecting the truckload lifecycle with technology, and how Loadsmart has improved the shipping experience for their customers.
On this episode, Santosh talks with Jason Traff, President and Co-Founder of Shipwell. Jason discusses how they’re using technology to simplify and automate the transport of freight, and what he sees on the horizon for the industry.
On this episode, Co Founder & CEO Graham Parker shares how he and the team at Kontainers are leading the charge in completely digitizing the freight forwarding process while changing the industry along the way.
On this episode, Santosh brings Michael Foster (CIO and CTO at CN) onto the show to talk about why the freight industry is ripe for innovation, and how Michael and his team are leading the charge at CN.
On this episode, Amari Ruff (CoFounder and CEO of Sudu) joins the show to discuss how he built a career from being homeless for a stretch in his youth to launching three separate startups. Santosh and Amari dive into the importance of building a strong inclusive culture, and how Sudu is disrupting the Supply Chain industry as result.
On this episode, Parker Holcomb (CoFounder & CEO of Fraight AI) joins Santosh on the show to discuss how Parker started Fraight, the role of AI, and building the brokerage of the future.
On this episode, Santosh brings Rust Felix (CoFounder & CEO of Slope.IO) onto the show to talk about the inventory problems that exist in the clinical study industry, and how Slope is applying real-time inventory tracking to solve them.
On this episode, Santosh talks with Erik Nieves (Founder & CEO of Plus One Robotics) about industrial automation’s impact on logistics and why the robotic revolution is something to be embraced.
On this episode, Sean Henry (Founder and CEO of Stord) talks about why warehousing needs to be reimagined and tells the story of how he started Stord.
On this episode, we sit down with Diane Lansinger of Seeva to discuss the future of driver safety, and what Seeva is building to help protect drivers.
On this episode, we sit down with Alan Amling of UPS Ventures to discuss what’s happening in the 3D printing space, and how it will affect transportation and logistics on the whole.
Welcome to The Future of Supply Chain where we sit down with entrepreneurs, investors, and industry veterans to discuss innovation, technology, and the most exciting opportunities in supply chain and transportation as we build the future of the industry together.
Be sure to head over to podcast.dynamo.vc to keep up to date with our latest content, or subscribe on the podcast platform of your choice.