20VC: Flexport's Ryan Petersen on Why Investor Relations Are Overrated, Why Boards Have To Be Rethought & Why MBAs Do Not Make Bad Entrepreneurs

Ryan Petersen is the Founder and CEO of Flexport, the freight forwarder for the internet age. Flexport recently raised a phenomenal $65m Series B from the likes of Founders Fund, First Round, Felicis, Bloomberg Beta, Yuri Milner, Susa Ventures and more incredible investors. With none other than YC founder Paul Graham stating 'Ryan has the rare ability to not just satisfy the market but grow it'. Prior to Flexport, Ryan was Founder and CEO of ImportGenius.com, the largest provider of business intelligence to the import-export industry.

In Today's Episode You Will Learn:

1.) How Ryan came to found Flexport? What was the a-ha moment for him?

2.) Why does Ryan believe it is crap that MBA's do not make good entrepreneurs? How did Ryan design his life to be an entrepreneur without the opportunity to work for someone else?

3.) How has Ryan found the experience of being a single founder? What are the pros and cons? What was the investor reaction? What does Ryan advise other single founders?

4.) How did Ryan find the fundraising for the latest $65m raise? What did he do well? What would he like to improve upon for later rounds? How did he educate investors without being patronising?

5.) Why does Ryan want to see boards be rethought? What is so inefficient about boards? When did Ryan gain his board? What would Ryan advise fellow founders on building a board?

Items Mentioned In Today's Show:

Ryan's Fave Blog: SaaStr

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