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Does freight logistics need a one-stop shop? That’s Flexport’s take, and maybe that’s one of the reasons why Convoy didn’t work out; however, it might be too early for this approach in Latin America. On a different note, investors still seem willing to support startups that help people drink less alcohol, as long as there’s AI involved.
By the way, this newsletter will be taking a break next week, but I’ll be back December 2.— Anna
Lessons to learn?
Entrepreneurs often write postmortems after shutting down or selling their companies, but it is less common for these lessons to be drawn by their acquirers as well. Yet, that’s what happened to Convoy, a failed digital freight unicorn whose tech backbone — including a few team members — is being acquired by Flexport.
In a memo quoted by FreightWaves, Flexport CEO Ryan Petersen made it clear that while he was keen on buying Convoy because of the “incredible tech stack” it built, he was not buying its strategy.