Dan Lewis launched Convoy in 2015 into the highly fragmented industry of trucking. Now worth $3.8 billion, the company is a leader in bringing digital services to trucking and freight. I’m thrilled to have him on TechCrunch Live this week, along with Chris Howard, founding partner at Fuel Capital, which invested in Convoy’s first several rounds.
As you’ll hear, in 2014 and 2015, freight was ready for reinvention. Uber was becoming a verb, and the trucking industry needed a digital solution to connect the different parts of the industry. Convoy launched at the right time, CEO Chris Howard told me. Starting in 2014 wireless carriers started offering free smartphones, and once truckers got their hands on these devices, the industry quickly started to change.
But there’s more to this story than just free smartphones. Lewis and his fellow co-founders spent countless hours with truckers, trying to understand the market and how digital services would impact their businesses. Dan even explains that the company occasionally holds off-sites at truck stops.
During this event, we’ll look at Convoy’s early pitch decks, which illustrates why Convoy launched when it did and how it established clear guiding principles.
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