Hacker News Board Hacker News, browsed like a classic message board
Live data from Hacker News

Flexport CEO resigns a year after joining logistics company

geekwire.com

Post reply on HN
Print view View original

151–160 of 160 posts

Re: Flexport CEO resigns a year after joining logistics company

#151

Post by jaypinho »

ec109685 wrote: post #73
PedroBatista wrote: post #67

Isn't Flexport the company that was on HN's top page pretty much every week for like 2-3 years? Always hiring? Having a general idea of how logistics work ( it's an huge complex and many times insane monster sometimes devourer of men ), something's was "off" with this whole Flexport signaling. Not saying it's a time bomb or a WeWork because I don't have any information about that, but I always had the general feeling…

They're back: https://news.ycombinator.com/jobs?next=37238976

Are they though? https://twitter.com/typesfast/status/1700092765798048093

Re: Flexport CEO resigns a year after joining logistics company

#152

Post by uaeu321321 »

psunavy03 wrote: post #109
tschwimmer wrote: post #107

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I sat with the Flexport logistics teams for months on end. I watched them move hundreds of shipments. Maybe they concealed all the secret sauce for when I got up to the go the bathroom but nothing I saw was particularly notable. They had rules like "make sure the ISV is filed at least 3 days before expected arrival" and "if the origin agent hasn't picked up the can after more than 2 days, call Joe at the destination…

Then why has it not yet been done? Has God touched Flexport on the shoulder and said "We deem Ye worthy to redeem the freight forwarding industry?" It seems to me that if it's so easy as you describe, and yet it hasn't been done, than maybe it's not so easy after all. Perhaps not impossible. Perhaps doable. But perhaps not that easy. People who work in the industry are not stupid. They don't want to do unnecessary bu…

1. You seriously think people with 30-40 years of experience in this area want to automate themselves out of a job?

2. It hasn't been 100% automated because 100% automation is not the goal (or reasonable). "Most things are automated" is already a huge improvement anywhere. What do you think "it hasn't been done"? Are you assuming those overnight shipments are being done entirely by humans with pen and paper?

3. Companies that need this kind of shipment are huge. Huge companies are slow for obvious reasons to anyone that has worked in any enterprise. They don't change quickly. Sometimes they don't change at all and have all market inertia in their favor.

It seems to me you're not experienced with huge operations. It's fine and usually people assume it's way easier than it looks. I'm surprised you assume it's way harder and can't be done at all. Don't bet against software, we have decades of examples showing it wins in the end.

Re: Flexport CEO resigns a year after joining logistics company

#153

Post by ec109685 »

jaypinho wrote: post #151
ec109685 wrote: post #73

Earlier quoted context omitted.

They're back: https://news.ycombinator.com/jobs?next=37238976

Are they though? https://twitter.com/typesfast/status/1700092765798048093

Can’t trust everything you read on ycombinator’s job board, clearly.

Re: Flexport CEO resigns a year after joining logistics company

#154

Post by q7xvh97o2pDhNrh »

gausswho wrote: post #129
q7xvh97o2pDhNrh wrote: post #64

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Do you mind saying more about "the choking out of candidness"? I know they've got their "leadership principles" kool-aid [1] at the interview stage, but I always assumed that a seriously profitable and hard-working company (which they seem to be) wouldn't waste time mincing words. [1]: https://www.aboutamazon.com/about-us/leadership-principles

With the incoming cabal there were many meetings of reading doxuments and solicitations for feedback. But it became apparent veey quickly that the confused muddle of documents were their wishes. Being candid, by say raising feasibility concerns, would only get you a fiesty rebuttal followed by being ostracized from future decision making. What was a very social confident team at peace with asking vulnerable questions…

That sounds rather grim; I'm sorry you had to go through that.

It sounds like it just underscores the reality that, no matter what process a team uses, there's no substitute for psychological safety.

Re: Flexport CEO resigns a year after joining logistics company

#155

Post by rchaud »

psunavy03 wrote: post #38

The thing to keep in mind is that they have competitors still eating their lunch while running 40+ year-old COBOL backends which have their IS departments tearing their hair out regularly. It's as if the efficacy of a business isn't completely positively correlated with the coolness of its tech stack. I work for one of their competitors, and I'd kill for their tech stack. But ultimately their business revolves around…

> It's as if the efficacy of a business isn't completely positively correlated with the coolness of its tech stack.

Hard reality to acknowledge by an industry that takes the term 'software is eating the world' at face value.

Re: Flexport CEO resigns a year after joining logistics company

#157

Post by mrbonner »

gausswho wrote: post #26
scrum-treats wrote: post #2

Additional information on Dave Clark's impact: "Some Flexport insiders say layoffs and an influx of former Amazon leaders are wrecking morale."[1] '"These people do not have conversations — they make demands," one laid-off employee said. Unsatisfactory answers could be met with harsh feedback, sources said. One laid-off Flexporter said an Amazon veteran told them, "I don't believe a word you're saying," during a pres…

I don't like to look askance at alumni of particular employers, but I have had one too many a poor experience from ex-Amazon hired into leadership roles. The above matches my experience. For me, the worst casualty as various lackeys followed arrival (also ex-Amazon) was the choking out of candidness. Second worst was turning the company into a document factory.

You have me at “document factory “. Writing a doc is good to convey your intentions. Revising a doc for the fucking 20 times because of unsettled sentences, paragraphs are a waste of time.

Re: Flexport CEO resigns a year after joining logistics company

#158

Post by rideontime »

babyshake wrote: post #120
psunavy03 wrote: post #37

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Pretty provincial attitude probably propagated by some overpaid MAANG bro who doesn't realize that there's an entire industry of tech folks out there who aren't making $300K/yr TC. So if you are making that . . . a little humility is in order.

Off topic, but wouldn't MANGA be a better aconym?

The problem with that is “manga” is also a japanese word for “comic book,” which could result in some confusion.

Re: Flexport CEO resigns a year after joining logistics company

#159

Post by jzb »

darksaints wrote: post #43
jzb wrote: post #22

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Not saying you’re wrong, but a bit more substance and less vitriol might be illuminating. I can’t recall hearing anything about him good or bad (This comment aside…).

I could probably write a book on him and everything he did at Amazon that was worth talking about, and I gotta admit, I didn't want to start today, but you're right that he deserves an explanation. Here's a few snippets that can be directly attributed to him: * Amazon's policy of firing people on the spot for talking about unionizing. * Their (former) policy of not operating anywhere where they would end up having to…

A bit late, but thanks for the more substantive update. I had no real name recognition for the dude. Sounds almost uniquely awful.
Post reply on HN