Freight Startups Attract Silicon Valley’s Attention • Hacker News Board

Re: Freight Startups Attract Silicon Valley’s Attention

#11

Post by thedogeye » Thu, Aug 06, 2015, 5:59 PM UTC

kato wrote: post #7

character0 wrote: post #3

"Many freight veterans and analysts are skeptical of these efforts, saying forwarding is too complex and too dependent on longstanding relationships for new online entrants to compete." Because that's never been a problem technology has overcome. Any industry with veterans stating this sentiment is ripe for change. Not because an online app is going to solve all the worlds ills, but because there are people resisting…

The veterans aren't "resisting progress", as much as protecting their own interests by using their experience. It may be at the cost of other people, but I think it's short-sighted to call them luddites. Currently, they have no incentive to invest in tech in the way of a silicon valley startup backed by VCs. If the aim is progress to everyone's benefit, tech will make its mark once it's in the hands of some of the es…

Flexport now manages freight for several publicly traded companies. You'd be surprised how badly the market wants this solution.

Re: Freight Startups Attract Silicon Valley’s Attention

#12

Post by thedogeye » Thu, Aug 06, 2015, 6:00 PM UTC

shahryc wrote: post #2

"Since the start of 2014, venture-capital firms have pumped over $1 billion into startup freight-forwarding companies, twice the amount invested in the five years before that..."

I have no idea where they got that stat but it's not true.

Re: Freight Startups Attract Silicon Valley’s Attention

#13

Post by thedogeye » Thu, Aug 06, 2015, 6:01 PM UTC

thedogeye wrote: post #12

shahryc wrote: post #2

"Since the start of 2014, venture-capital firms have pumped over $1 billion into startup freight-forwarding companies, twice the amount invested in the five years before that..."

I have no idea where they got that stat but it's not true.

Ah, it includes XPO.com -- hard to call a leveraged buyout firm doing a private equity rollup a "venture capital investment" but okay

Re: Freight Startups Attract Silicon Valley’s Attention

#14

Post by wehadfun » Thu, Aug 06, 2015, 6:02 PM UTC

Is this like an Uber for freight?

Re: Freight Startups Attract Silicon Valley’s Attention

#15

Post by ThomPete » Thu, Aug 06, 2015, 6:14 PM UTC

From this thread https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=9799007 I learned how hard it is to do anything in this field.

None the less, if someone find a way to solve it, it's truly going to be transformative.

Re: Freight Startups Attract Silicon Valley’s Attention

#16

Post by bluedino » Thu, Aug 06, 2015, 6:15 PM UTC

saosebastiao wrote: post #10

I'm involved extensively in logistics, and although I'm not Flexport's target customer nor involved in their specific space of logistics, I can easily say that they are the most exciting new thing in logistics since the container. The thing is, they aren't doing anything revolutionary. They are doing the same exact things that a lot of companies have done for decades. What makes them revolutionary is 1) They are doin…

Regulations are the hard part about freight. Each state has different rules on things, it's really crazy.

Re: Freight Startups Attract Silicon Valley’s Attention

#17

Post by seanlinehan » Thu, Aug 06, 2015, 6:18 PM UTC

saosebastiao wrote: post #10

I'm involved extensively in logistics, and although I'm not Flexport's target customer nor involved in their specific space of logistics, I can easily say that they are the most exciting new thing in logistics since the container. The thing is, they aren't doing anything revolutionary. They are doing the same exact things that a lot of companies have done for decades. What makes them revolutionary is 1) They are doin…

Shoot me an email.. Would love to chat! sean@flexport.com

Re: Freight Startups Attract Silicon Valley’s Attention

#18

Post by seanlinehan » Thu, Aug 06, 2015, 6:23 PM UTC

wehadfun wrote: post #14

Is this like an Uber for freight?

Bloomberg called us that[0], but the ocean / air / rail freight business has a fundamentally different set of constraints and challenges.

[0] http://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2015-05-11/flexport-w...

Re: Freight Startups Attract Silicon Valley’s Attention

#19

Post by carbeewo » Thu, Aug 06, 2015, 6:26 PM UTC

This could be pretty huge. I've dealt with several freight forwarding companies while building a previous startup of mine and it definitely struck me as an antiquated industry (this was 2007ish). Maybe a good benchmark for "disruptable" industries is that you have to actually make a telephone call to get something done. Time to get out the yellow pages and do some research!

Re: Freight Startups Attract Silicon Valley’s Attention

#20

Post by mark212 » Thu, Aug 06, 2015, 6:39 PM UTC

An oddly written story. Claims significant money invested in these companies ("$1 billion since the start of 2014") and proceeds to name only two -- Flexport and Freightos. The latter of which doesn't seem to fit the central disruption-of-established-industry theme because they sell software to the incumbents.