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A few days ago, I posted about founders building in "sleeping giant" industries, where buyers have: -- profits -- a willingness to spend -- outdated processes that can be radically altered with great software Well, here's another awesome founder innovating in a "sleeping giant" industry: Josh Kolar is building driverDOC, a digital management platform for trucking companies. - 97% of US trucking companies have fleets of <20 trucks - And, more importantly, many of them still rely on paper documents and manual processes That's where driverDOC comes in! driverDOC makes document management dead simple for trucking companies. #sleepinggiants #trucking #startups #tech #vc

Wow. This article by Paul Berger is worth reading if logistics technology is your thing. By 2018, it had become clear to me and Lisa Morales-Hellebo that we had to think about REFASHIOND Ventures: The Industrial Transformation Fund quite differently than conventional wisdom would suggest if we wanted to protect our limited partners from the vagaries of economic cycles. The process of back and forth debate and discussion we went through has led us to the current version of our investment thesis. Our Thesis: REFASHIOND Ventures: The Industrial Transformation Fund invests in early stage startups refashioning legacy industries through Data & AI, Advanced Materials, Advanced Manufacturing, & Next Generation Supply Chains; Defensible through economic moats. We emphasize scalable networks, platforms, ecosystems, and information infrastructure. We launched with a rolling fund on AngelList in July 2021, and made our first investment in September 2021. We have now closed 53 investments across 47 startups. Join us. It's still Day 0, and the opportunity couldn't be any bigger; We are in the early-stages of the largest sector-driven investment opportunity of our lifetime - the technology-driven refashioning, transformation, and reinvention of industrial value chains AND supply chains. #IndustrialTransformation #SupplyChain #Innovation #Technology #Startups #VentureCapital 

Convoy Trucking Startup, Backed By Jeff Bezos and Bill Gates, Is Closing Operation With No Buyer: Ty Roush reports via Forbes: Convoy, a Seattle-based digital freight booker with investors that include billionaires Bill Gates and Jeff Bezos, announced Thursday it would be shutting down, according to Bloomberg, after the company failed to find a buyer amid a "massive freight recession." Convoy's founder and chief executive Dan Lewis notified employees in an internal memo Thursday that "today is your last day at the company," noting the company is "exploring and evaluating strategic options for what might come next," Bloomberg reported. Lewis said the company had evaluated potential suitors to acquire it, though "none of the options ultimately materialized into anything sufficient to keep the company going in its then current form." Convoy was in "the middle of a massive freight recession and a contraction in the capital markets," according to Lewis, who added "this combination ultimately crushed our progress" and likely swayed potential suitors away from acquiring the firm. "Following an exhaustive process, spanning many, many months during which we explored all viable strategic options for the business, the result is where we are today," Lewis wrote. Convoy was founded in 2015 in an effort to prevent trucks from driving "empty miles" without loads. The idea was to use technology to make freight more efficient by connecting truck drivers with freight companies -- reducing shippers' costs, increasing carriers' earnings, and eliminating carbon emissions in the process. Read more of this story at Slashdot.

Undoubtedly, the future of transportation is upon us with innovations and disruptions in every corner. One company steering this change is Optimance Transport. In our latest article, "Is Door-to-Door Auto Shipping Changing the Future of Transportation Industry?" we highlighted how this efficient and personalized shipping transport service, founded by visionary leaders, is transforming the industry and setting new standards for vehicle transportation. How exactly are they doing this? Click the link below to find out! 🚗💨 https://lnkd.in/ePBs9CfF Be sure to follow Optimance Transport to keep up on their journey and learn more about where the transportation industry is heading. #Innovation #Transportation #StartUp #AutoShipping #DoorToDoor #FutureOfTransportation #Disruption #StartupBubbl

A phenomenal read. #Tech is a means to an end and not an end in and of itself. While the efficiencies gained through Convoy's tech are laudable, successfully monetizing them to generate superior returns ran smack into the state of near-perfect competition of the industry. Successful trucking companies, asset-heavy or asset-light, have and will always rely on #relationships with #shippers first, judicious #lane management second, precise #fleet configuration third, and finally, tech in #support of the first three.

Owner-Operator Startup Checklist Starting your journey as an owner-operator in the trucking world is a big step. 👇 👇👇 https://lnkd.in/gdBxc9f3 https://lnkd.in/gsGGw5ty

From AllTopStartups: How to Create a Solution to Missed Chances and Reduced Profits ------------------------------- Every loss means missed chances and reduced profits. Picture a solution that not only enhances efficiency but also promotes connections within the auto-hauling industry. Welcome to the future of trucking… The post How to Create a Solution to Missed Chances and Reduced Profits appeared first on AllTopStartups . #entrepreneur #startups #learnbusiness #techstartups #marketingtips #emailmarketing #businesstools #marketingstrategy #businessowner #startupbusiness #startuplife

Convoy Trucking Startup, Backed By Jeff Bezos and Bill Gates, Is Closing Operation With No Buyer: Ty Roush reports via Forbes: Convoy, a Seattle-based digital freight booker with investors that include billionaires Bill Gates and Jeff Bezos, announced Thursday it would be shutting down, according to Bloomberg, after the company failed to find a buyer amid a "massive freight recession." Convoy's founder and chief executive Dan Lewis notified employees in an internal memo Thursday that "today is your last day at the company," noting the company is "exploring and evaluating strategic options for what might come next," Bloomberg reported. Lewis said the company had evaluated potential suitors to acquire it, though "none of the options ultimately materialized into anything sufficient to keep the company going in its then current form." Convoy was in "the middle of a massive freight recession and a contraction in the capital markets," according to Lewis, who added "this combination ultimately crushed our progress" and likely swayed potential suitors away from acquiring the firm. "Following an exhaustive process, spanning many, many months during which we explored all viable strategic options for the business, the result is where we are today," Lewis wrote. Convoy was founded in 2015 in an effort to prevent trucks from driving "empty miles" without loads. The idea was to use technology to make freight more efficient by connecting truck drivers with freight companies -- reducing shippers' costs, increasing carriers' earnings, and eliminating carbon emissions in the process. Read more of this story at Slashdot.

Convoy Trucking Startup, Backed By Jeff Bezos and Bill Gates, Is Closing Operation With No Buyer: Ty Roush reports via Forbes: Convoy, a Seattle-based digital freight booker with investors that include billionaires Bill Gates and Jeff Bezos, announced Thursday it would be shutting down, according to Bloomberg, after the company failed to find a buyer amid a "massive freight recession." Convoy's founder and chief executive Dan Lewis notified employees in an internal memo Thursday that "today is your last day at the company," noting the company is "exploring and evaluating strategic options for what might come next," Bloomberg reported. Lewis said the company had evaluated potential suitors to acquire it, though "none of the options ultimately materialized into anything sufficient to keep the company going in its then current form." Convoy was in "the middle of a massive freight recession and a contraction in the capital markets," according to Lewis, who added "this combination ultimately crushed our progress" and likely swayed potential suitors away from acquiring the firm. "Following an exhaustive process, spanning many, many months during which we explored all viable strategic options for the business, the result is where we are today," Lewis wrote. Convoy was founded in 2015 in an effort to prevent trucks from driving "empty miles" without loads. The idea was to use technology to make freight more efficient by connecting truck drivers with freight companies -- reducing shippers' costs, increasing carriers' earnings, and eliminating carbon emissions in the process. Read more of this story at Slashdot.

Interesting read with your morning coffee ☕ We applaud the startups that become "unicorns" and make VC's unimaginable $$$ and the Founders that executed the vision and disruption. Let's analyze why startups with all-star backers, credentialed founders and huge markets fail. Why did Convoy, the Uber of trucking with Jeff Bezos and Bill Gates as investors fail... thoughts? #startups #entrepreneurship