Freight startup Flexport soars from ‘unsexy’ to $800M valuation

Get out and meet new people and learn new things!

Don't go to your local "I want to build a startup!" meetup as those are almost always useless. 99% of the people there have an idea and "just need someone to build it!"

Instead, check out events, meetups, conferences, trainings outside your core field. I went to a few game developer events and then music+tech meetups and learned a bunch but the most valuable were construction technology. Project management is project management. Accounting is accounting. The industry/situation changes some of the specifics but it's many of the same principles and concepts.

The vast majority are free, you just have to show up.

Flexport is also hiring engineering interns! Contact me via my profile here, or apply directly: https://www.flexport.com/careers/job/221999

You can learn more about what's involved on our engineering blog at https://flexport.engineering.

You should pick up the domain you're programming in. Like when I was working on a product for the construction industry, I knew all about how certain parts of it worked. I knew all the terms and insider slang and quite a few of the problems they face because I built those things for them. There were plenty of problems I heard about that our product wasn't aimed at.

When I was working for the credit industry, and that was only for 2 months, again I picked up a lot of the terms, asked questions about how the debt buying companies works, how were the banks using the information we gave them, how the debt relief system in the uk works, looked up our clients to find out what they do, ask the customer support team what they do, etc.

Now I'm working making tools for the restaurant business, etc., etc.

One of the things I've noticed is that most other programmers don't. Because they don't talk to the sales people. They don't talk to customers. They don't talk to the consultants. They don't ask questions about why they're implementing something. They don't ask how their product is used.

You have to ask yourself, if you're not picking up problems in the domain you're presently working on, why would you if you'd worked anywhere else?

Love it. Logistics and supply chain verticals are ripe for the taking by young, scrappy, and smart companies.

We're one of them -- and looking for more like-minded people to join us. If you're interested, hit me up at the email in my profile.

I've loved working in the logistics space, because there are so many resources already available. It's a matter of pulling them together into a package of convenience and quality, which is a fun prospect.

Still, lots of complex problems and unique constraints in the space that make for a challenging and ultimately rewarding domain to develop software for.