Where There Is Mystery, There Is Margin

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[00:03:27] - [First question] - Overview of what Flexport does

[00:04:52] - His introduction into the world of shipping

[00:06:52] - Difference between parcel and freight

[00:08:56] - Market cap of the overall shipping industry

[00:09:27] - Fragmentation of shipping and what Flexport is solving for

[00:12:55] - Worst parts of the shipping world

[00:15:37] - Improving the tech behind the shipping container

[00:19:09] - Why the shipping container changed the world

[00:21:30] - Teams and outsider perspectives in solving problems

[00:22:37] - How their business could make shipping more efficient and reduce costs

[00:25:27] - Where the margins and profits are made in shipping

[00:27:14] - The finance side of shipping

[00:28:59] - Maritime law and the ocean

[00:31:00] - How much is left in the digitization of shipping

[00:33:51] - The perfect state of shipping using Flexport

[00:38:22] - Investing in hard assets to expand the business

[00:41:06] - Lessons about building a business and global coordination

[00:43:18] - Multidisciplinary thinking among their team

[00:44:07] - Global supply chain issues in light of Covid and ocean policing 

[00:48:02] - Testing out demand in the beginning

[00:50:31] - The process of testing out new ideas and killing off losers

[00:52:36] - Important lessons/themes for founders

[00:54:54] - Hardest learned lesson, fundraising

[00:58:09] - Other opportunities in shipping

[00:59:50] - Lessons for creating a new standard

[01:02:25] - Using their standardization to improve global relief work

[01:04:43] - Creating synchronicity in a company

[01:07:12] - What he’s excited about for the future

[01:07:56] - Kindest thing anyone has done for him