Flexport (YC W14) raises $65M Series B • Hacker News Board

Re: Flexport (YC W14) raises $65M Series B

#21

Post by inuhj » Mon, Sep 26, 2016, 11:12 PM UTC

sleazebreeze wrote: post #4

As a former developer at one of the mentioned "large competitors", it became clear to me that the logistics and shipping field is wide open for startups like Flexport. DHL and Expeditors are still thinking it's the 80s and they don't know any other way of conducting business. Congrats on the raise, I can't wait to see what you guys do in the future!

My experience with flexport has been nothing short of awful. Poor sourcing, unqualified staff, and high prices. Compared to established enterprises that are experienced shipping perishable goods reliably they are not a serious competitor. Flexport couldn't even tell me the dimensions of the crates, number of crates, or weight of the crates they were supposed to deliver. Innovation is not a pretty UI in the freight industry.

Re: Flexport (YC W14) raises $65M Series B

#22

Post by throwawaylalala » Mon, Sep 26, 2016, 11:50 PM UTC

Flexport customer here; compared to working with other freight forwarders abd customs brokers the experience is night and day a better and simpler experience.

Re: Flexport (YC W14) raises $65M Series B

#23

Post by throwawaylalala » Mon, Sep 26, 2016, 11:51 PM UTC

tcas wrote: post #19

Hopefully this will allow them to take on smaller clients -- we've wanted to start to move some of our shipments from air to sea, but unless you're shipping multiple containers a year they don't have capacity for new clients right now. There doesn't seem to be a great solution for trying to save money when you're shipping only a few thousands KG a year.

Keep asking, and get bigger:)

Re: Flexport (YC W14) raises $65M Series B

#24

Post by a-no-n » Tue, Sep 27, 2016, 12:06 AM UTC

This is great to see as having likely validation. In 2009, I met some Russian guys whom moved to Long Beach specifically to do fractional freight-forwarding matching/auctioning startup to replace the crazy amount of manual paperwork and inefficient legwork involved in that industry at the time. I think they might've been much too early, and timing is one of the more important success factors.

Re: Flexport (YC W14) raises $65M Series B

#25

Post by paul » Tue, Sep 27, 2016, 12:40 AM UTC

HorizonXP wrote: post #3

thedogeye wrote: post #2

Now we just have to pretend we didn't so we don't waste it all...

Just picture @pb asking you what your burn rate is, and that should help. Congrats on the raise! Any specific plans between now and series C?

That would be a good motivational poster :)

Re: Flexport (YC W14) raises $65M Series B

#26

Post by ttam » Tue, Sep 27, 2016, 12:48 AM UTC

Met Ryan in 2013 at Startup School.. could already feel he was going to hit it big when he was telling me what Flexport was doing!

Re: Flexport (YC W14) raises $65M Series B

#27

Post by anon83727123444 » Tue, Sep 27, 2016, 1:52 AM UTC

inuhj wrote: post #21

sleazebreeze wrote: post #4

As a former developer at one of the mentioned "large competitors", it became clear to me that the logistics and shipping field is wide open for startups like Flexport. DHL and Expeditors are still thinking it's the 80s and they don't know any other way of conducting business. Congrats on the raise, I can't wait to see what you guys do in the future!

My experience with flexport has been nothing short of awful. Poor sourcing, unqualified staff, and high prices. Compared to established enterprises that are experienced shipping perishable goods reliably they are not a serious competitor. Flexport couldn't even tell me the dimensions of the crates, number of crates, or weight of the crates they were supposed to deliver. Innovation is not a pretty UI in the freight in…

Same, I stopped my interview process early and kept my job in industry. They have a few OK senior guys, sort of, but the rest are just startup monkeys learning as they go. Most companies don't like that when they see it given, you know, you're trusting them with your supply chain. Awesome idea though.

Re: Flexport (YC W14) raises $65M Series B

#28

Post by asimuvPR » Tue, Sep 27, 2016, 2:23 AM UTC

iamabraham wrote: post #6

I think it's curious that there are four comments in two hours because this industry - like many ready for big change - are unsexy.

Dunno why people think its unsexy. Shipping is a really complex problem. Its much sexier than selling ads. ;-)

Re: Flexport (YC W14) raises $65M Series B

#29

Post by asah » Tue, Sep 27, 2016, 4:31 AM UTC

throwawaylalala wrote: post #22

Flexport customer here; compared to working with other freight forwarders abd customs brokers the experience is night and day a better and simpler experience.

Same here, changed the game for us.

Re: Flexport (YC W14) raises $65M Series B

#30

Post by onion2k » Tue, Sep 27, 2016, 5:14 AM UTC

bisRepetita wrote: post #12

Every time Flexport is hiring on HN, it goes front page. I always wondered why... Are they gaming the system? Has PG a way to pump them up since he is an investor? Or is shipping sexy to the HN crowd?

Or is shipping sexy to the HN crowd?

Any suitably complex problem space can be 'sexy' if you consider it in abstract terms. It doesn't matter if you're solving how to move crates on ships, or move people in cars, or move streams of data in networks - it can all be a lot of fun irrespective of the end result. The main differences are the constraints on the problems, not the problems themselves.