5 Things I Wish Someone Told Me Before I Became the CEO of Cambridge Capital with Benjamin Gordon3/3/2020
5 Things I Wish Someone Told Me Before I Became the CEO of Cambridge Capital, with Benjamin Gordon
I had the pleasure to interview Benjamin Gordon. Benjamin has founded four companies over the course of his career. In 1999, while still in Harvard Business School, Benjamin founded his first business, 3Plex. At 3Plex, Benjamin built one of the first Internet-based transportation management systems (TMS) companies. At Harvard, Benjamin and 3Plex were finalists in the HBS Business Plan Competition. Thereafter, he raised $28 million, built a team of over 200 people, and earned recognition in the New York Times, Business Week, and elsewhere. Benjamin and the 3Plex team sold the company to Maersk in 2002. In 2002, Benjamin went on to found BG Strategic Advisors (BGSA), an investment banking firm focused on transportation and logistics. BGSA services included M&A, capital raising, and other strategic advisory services. BGSA became the go-to firm for a wide range of companies in the supply chain sector. Clients included NFI, UPS, GENCO, DHL, Agility Logistics, New Breed, Agility Logistics, and others. BGSA was particularly well-known for its work helping entrepreneurs to maximize their value through a sale process. Sell-side clients included Wilpak, Converge, Dixie, Raytrans, OpenMile, and others. In 2009, Benjamin decided to start another supply chain technology company. He founded EcoSquid, an ecommerce marketplace enabling consumers to remarket or recycle their used mobility devices. Benjamin sponsored a field story at HBS, and again won a finalist award in the HBS Business Plan Competition. Benjamin sold EcoSquid to uSell in 2012. Around the same time, Benjamin Gordon made the decision to launch his private equity and investment firm, Cambridge Capital. The mandate for Cambridge Capital is to invest in high-quality, high-growth companies in the supply chain sector. Cambridge focuses on businesses that are entrepreneur-led, leaders in a niche, and seeking more than just money. Cambridge has assembled a team of former CEOs and business leaders of major supply chain companies, who serve as Partners or Operating Partners. This team includes the former leaders of firms or divisions at UPS, FedEx Supply Chain, GENCO, Kuehne & Nagel, JDA Software, and others. Cambridge has invested in companies including XPO, Grand Junction (now Target), Bringg, and others. Thank you so much for joining us Benjamin! Can you tell us the story about what brought you to this specific career path? I grew up in the transportation industry. My grandfather, Eugene Ribakoff, founded a truck leasing and car dealership business in 1948. His grandfather started a horse-and-buggy business called Morgenstern Express in 1903. So you could say logistics was in my genes. When I graduated from Yale, I went into strategy consulting at CDI (now a part of Oliver Wyman). I began as a generalist. I discovered that I could make a bigger impact if I carved out a niche area of focus. Since I already knew about transportation, I decided to start there. One of my first clients was a transportation company called XTRA Trailer Leasing. I spent close to a year working with them on their growth strategy. One area of opportunity I identified was third-party logistics. At the time, the 3PL market was still early in its development. XTRA did not end up moving into the 3PL arena, and instead chose to sell to Berkshire Hathaway. Having invested the time to develop a point of view on this new logistics and technology model, I decided it was an exciting opportunity to pursue. Two years later, while I was at Harvard Business School, I noticed that other fragmented industries were spawning ecommerce startups. Two years before me, David Perry had started a company called Chemdex, automating the chemical sector. I thought, “Why not transportation?” And a month later, my classmate and co-founder Tania Yannas and I started 3Plex. We worked very hard to get the business off the ground. It was difficult, because we were simultaneously trying to do several things: write the business plan, recruit employees, pitch customers, raise money, launch the product… and also stay in school! We both came close to getting kicked out for missing too many classes. In the end, it worked out. We managed to graduate. We were also lucky enough to win the finalist award for the HBS New Venture Competition. And Harvard Business Review wrote a case about our HR strategy. The irony is that we made a lot of mistakes in our HR strategy (and elsewhere). But that’s a topic for another case. We raised three rounds of capital at 3Plex. As the business grew, our roles evolved. Eventually it was time to exit. Maersk acquired the business in 2002. As I reflected on 3Plex, I realized that I had gotten to know many CEOs in the logistics sector. Some of them were interested in our software, but more of them seemed interested in my advice. So I listened to my customers and decided to start an advisory business. From 2002 to 2009, I focused exclusively on building BG Strategic Advisors into the best investment bank possible for the logistics and supply chain arena. We worked with outstanding companies all around the world. I spent a year commuting to Kuwait to work with Agility Logistics on their growth strategy and three acquisitions in Asia and the US. We would later work in China with YRC Worldwide, helping them to divest their Chinese freight forwarder. And we worked on many deals in North America, including private equity clients (Pharos Equity, GTCR), large corporations (UPS, DHL), mid-sized niche leaders (GENCO, NFI, New Breed), and high-growth entrepreneur-owned and led businesses (OpenMile, Raytrans, others). Through my work at BGSA, I saw one particularly compelling niche in reverse logistics. GENCO had built a powerhouse in this arena, and would eventually attract FedEx as its acquiror. Why was nobody building a reverse logistics business in the consumer arena? So I wrote a business plan for EcoSquid, a marketplace focused on reverse logistics. At EcoSquid, consumers could resell or recycle their used laptops, cell phones, and electronics. I went back to HBS, sponsored a field study, and put a team together. We again won the Finalist award in the HBS New Venture Competition, but this time we built the company without venture capital. By 2012, we had drawn the interest of a public buyer called uSell, and we sold the company. EcoSquid was effectively my first deal as a venture capital/private equity investor. I decided to go ahead and build an investment business. That was the beginning of Cambridge Capital. At Cambridge Capital, we decided to focus on transportation, logistics, and supply chain technology. This made sense, as a natural extension of the prior decade of businesses we had built. Another key decision was to build out the team and start investing prior to raising a fund. I knew it would cost me more money in the short run, but I also believed it would enable us to build a track record. So we started with a team of Operating Partners. Over time, that team grew to include the former heads of Kuehne & Nagel’s LeadLogistics business, GENCO, FedEx Supply Chain, the UPS Strategic Enterprise Fund, and others. In addition, we built out a team of investment professionals. With this team and strategy in place, we started to invest. We started small, with deals like EcoSquid. Over time, we expanded. Subsequent investments included XPO (now a $10B+ public company), Grand Junction (subsequently sold to Target), Bringg, and others. Today, I am proud of our team and capabilities. With our annual BGSA Supply Chain conference, we can assemble over 250 of the leaders in our industry, and create a network effect for our companies. I believe Cambridge Capital is well on the way to becoming the first choice for entrepreneurs in the supply chain sector who are seeking not just capital, but also value-added help. We can give CEOs the ability to gain access to customers, senior talent, strategic feedback, and acquisitions. Hopefully we will continue to build and grow on this basis. Can you share one of the major challenges you encountered when first leading a company? What lesson did you learn from that? One of my first major challenges was at 3Plex. We sought to build what you would today call a software-as-a-service (SaaS) transportation management system (TMS). Essentially this was an operating system to help logistics companies run their business. This was a big undertaking. We had two colleagues who wanted to pursue other product ideas. One was a combinatoric engine that would enable companies to bid on bundles of lanes. If you were a shipper, you would bid on not just one lane (e.g. Dallas to New York), but also subsequent lanes (e.g. New York to Chicago, Chicago to Atlanta, and Atlanta to Dallas). The idea was that trucking companies would accept a lower payment in exchange for a continuous move. The other idea was a drayage system that would allow shipping companies to communicate electronically with their short-haul trucking partners. This was a smaller market, but one that was inefficient and low on technology. Steamship companies could verify when their carriers arrived, and in turn carriers could ensure they got paid for detention and demurrage fees. The problem was that three products was too many for a startup. We were simultaneously trying to build the TMS, the combinatoric engine, and the drayage system. My mistake was allowing all three to continue at the same time, which was very expensive. We ended up spending close to $28 million on these three fronts. Ironically, the drayage system was the cheapest, and also proved to be the most valuable. It was the reason for Maersk’s interest. And it led to the sale. The lesson for me was to keep things simple. As Jim Collins says, “fire bullets first, and cannonballs second.” It was ok to try three different products. With a small investment of time and money, that meant firing three bullets. The mistake was to keep investing heavily in all three areas. We could not have afforded to fire three cannonballs. When it was time to build subsequent companies, I kept that lesson in mind and tried to keep things simple and more focused.
0 Comments
What Will 2020 Bring to the Logistics Marketplace? BGSA Conference Insights.
If you wanted a crystal ball to predict the economy, where would you find it? To paraphrase Shakira, “My supply chains don’t lie!” If you want a reliable data source, you can look at logistics. In January, BGSA Holdings and sponsors like Cambridge Capital hosted over 250 of the top supply chain CEOs and leaders at the Breakers Hotel in Palm Beach. Insiders refer to the BGSA Conference as the “Davos of Logistics.” You need an invitation to join. Participants talk about the big issues in the industry, ranging from transformative technologies to aggressive acquirers. There is no press allowed, although a few publications managed to write stories based on attendees’ comments, like the Palm Beach Daily News, FreightWaves, and SupplyChainBrain. So what were some of the key takeaways from the BGSA Conference? Logistics LessonsFirst, e-commerce growth is creating supply chain growth in various downstream sectors. As Amazon and other e-tailers grow, who are the beneficiaries? Four areas to start: micro warehouses, eCommerce fulfillment companies, last-mile providers, and reverse logistics. Second, amidst competitive markets, protected niches still thrive. One example is cold storage. How did a slow-growth giant, Americold, come to be valued at 27x EBITDA? And how did a 2008 startup, Lineage Logistics, grow to become the world’s largest refrigerated warehouse company, with 2 billion cubic feet? In the case of Americold, the market has come to view them as a recession hedge. Americold benefits from its real estate ownership and exposure to the cycle-resistant food sector. In the case of Lineage, the company has executed a string of acquisitions including Emergent Cold ($900 million) and Preferred Freezer (over $1 billion). Together, Lineage and Americold now control 63% of the cold chain market. Third, new technology is transforming the supply chain. We see high-growth firms in different sub-sectors across the supply chain technology landscape, including digital freight management, Internet of Things and asset tracking, blockchain, last-mile, drones, warehouse automation, autonomous trucking, fleet management, analytics, and more. Fourth, capital is flowing into logistics. At least 53 unicorns populate the global logistics technology ecosystem, including Didi Chuxing, Grab, DoorDash, Rivian, Flexport, Convoy, Uber, and many others. If $30 billion was poured into supply chain technology in the 2010s, we believe another $60 billion will be deployed in the 2020s. Fifth, we see a shift toward winner-take-all markets. A handful of winners will generate the majority of the growth and will command the majority of the dollars invested. For example, in the maritime technology arena, 2019 was a record year for capital invested. Venture funding increased from $190 million to $1.144 billion. Yet over 90% of that capital was deployed in the $1 billion Softbank investment in Flexport. If you exclude that deal, total funding actually declined 24%, to $144 million. Similarly, we expect the 2020s to be a decade when capital shifts from early-stage innovation bets to later-stage scale plays. Conclusion: A Bright 2020Thus, the supply chain market may be exceptionally competitive, but it also contains more opportunities than ever before. In closing, while we see clouds on the horizon, we also see a bright future for logistics. If you are an optimist, you have good company. 60% of the CEOs surveyed at the BGSA Conference anticipate growing more than 10% this year. While 2020 may be a year full of uncertainty, it remains full of opportunity for many of the firms in our sector. We look forward to a bright year!
Ben Gordon, BGSA Conference CEOs Optimistic about 2020
The majority of transportation and logistics executives expect their businesses to grow by more than 10% in 2020 and say they are “very likely” to consider a merger, acquisition, investment or other transaction in 2020, according to survey data gathered at BGSA’s annual conference.
Last week at The Breakers in West Palm Beach, Florida, BGSA mergers and acquisitions advisor and Cambridge Capital venture capitalist Benjamin Gordon hosted supply chain leaders at his advisory firm’s annual conference.
BGSA’s conference is closed to the press to foster a more frank atmosphere among the 250 guests, the vast majority of whom were CEOs and presidents, but Gordon spoke to FreightWaves by phone about what he learned.
One of the highlights of the event was undoubtedly XPO Logistics (NYSE: XPO) CEO Brad Jacobs’ town-hall discussion when he fielded unscreened questions from the audience about a wide variety of topics, including the potential sale of multiple XPO business units.
“Brad was very candid in an unscripted Q&A session with the audience,” Gordon said. “He offered very powerful personal stories about his leadership journey and what he’s learned and what he’s looked for and discussed his rationale for pursuing the divestitures. The insight was more about understanding his thought process on the carve-outs and his outlook for what he expects will happen.”
Jacobs had spoken previously in public about XPO’s “conglomerate discount” — the idea that shares of XPO are not correctly priced by the market in part because investors have a hard time judging the value of all of its complex moving parts, which include international freight forwarding, freight brokerage, intermodal, final mile, warehousing, and less-than-truckload operations.
“His job is to maximize value for shareholders, but the market is giving him a multiple around 9x, so sum-of-the-parts analysis implies just a 5x multiple for the non-LTL businesses where they should trade for more than double that,” Gordon explained. “Brad gave, fundamentally, unsentimental description of the business he had built and how to maximize the value.”
One of the most valuable parts of the conference for Gordon is the ability it gives him to test his base case assumptions about the macroeconomic backdrop and industry growth against quantifiable feedback from hundreds of top executives.
As noted above, the majority of executives said they were optimistic about growth and ready to execute deals. Fewer than 10% expected the supply chain industry to experience negative growth in 2020, after growth of under 5% in 2019.
Gordon said that despite worries about an industrial recession globally and in the United States, conversations with companies that had exposure to the industrial economy were positive.
“We saw companies like Maersk, FedEx, Werner, all with exposure and insight to the industrial side, and nothing I heard indicated fear of an industrial contraction,” Gordon said. He pointed out that in addition to widespread expectations for industry growth, there are favorable financial factors like low-interest rates for corporate debt that will encourage companies to expand.
Gordon was particularly bullish on what he called “e-commerce ripple effects,” including micro-warehouse facilities, fulfillment, last mile, reverse logistics and the maturation of technology.
The future of growth equity in supply chain businesses will look more like private equity than venture capital, Gordon predicted.
“It will be more about scaling up something that works rather than making a string of bets on unknowns,” he said. “I expect we will see more capital pouring into companies with favorable unit economics and real customer traction that are solving real problems.”
Amazon was also a major topic of discussion at the conference; the trillion-dollar e-commerce retailer’s aggressive expansion into supply chain logistics has made it a ubiquitous talking point. Because Amazon is one of the world’s most innovative companies, other supply chain participants are forced to monitor it, forecast its moves and reckon with the effects.
Gordon said Guy Bloch, CEO of delivery logistics platform Bringg, articulated a uniquely constructive view of Amazon, and how to respond to it, at the conference.
“Bloch said it was like Android versus iPhone,” Gordon recalled. “There’s no one company that can take on Amazon, but if you take an open ecosystem approach, collectively the market could form a competitive alternative. This time next year will be interesting to compare. If that alliance of open systems partners come together, then who knows? Maybe next year we’ll be looking at a very different supply chain market instead of a fear of Amazon disrupting everything — maybe a shifting competitive landscape that produces more opportunities for those companies who become part of the open ecosystem.”
Logistics Technology Investments with Ben Gordon
Listen to Podcast Here Hello and welcome back to another episode of “The Freight Project Podcast!” In today’s episode, we welcome Benjamin Gordon of Cambridge Capital, a capital investment firm with a focus on logistics & logistics technology. Ben is a long time veteran of the logistics industry, having first worked for a company that developed a TMS for 3PLs. We hope you enjoy this “The Freight Project Podcast.” You can subscribe and find this podcast on Apple iTunes, Google Play, Stitcher for Podcasts, Spotify, Soundcloud, YouTube, and iHeartRadio! The Rise of Logistics Technology Investments
In the episode, Ben will share his thoughts on the state of logistics technology investments and the market in general that he has gleaned in investments made by his firm and in his conversations with logistics technology leaders, especially at his recent conference held on January 22nd to January 24th of 2020. Now, at the time of this recording, this conference had not yet occurred but has now completed. Look out for the BGSA supply chain conference in 2021!
On the episode, you’ll hear Ben discuss the following:
We hope you enjoy this episode of The Freight project podcast!
BGSA Supply Chain Conference 2020: Interview with Ben Gordon, in Logistics Management
This week, the 14th annual BG Strategic Advisors annual conference, BGSA Supply Chain Conference 2020, kicked off at The Breakers in Palm Beach, Fla. This event positions itself as the “only CEO-level event focused on all segments of the supply chain” and takes a deep dive into myriad facets of the industry, including technology innovation, global growth, the state of logistics, the state of trucking, and dealmaking spotlights, among others. Logistics Management Group News Editor Jeff Berman recently caught up with Ben Gordon, Managing Partner of Cambridge Capital, an investor in niche supply chain leaders and also Managing Partner of BGSA Holdings, a leading mergers, and acquisitions advisory firm focused on the transportation, logistics, and supply chain technology sector, about this week’s conference and the current state of supply chain and logistics M&A activity. A transcript of the conversation follows below. Logistics Management (LM): What are the big focus areas of this week’s BGSA Supply Chain conference? Ben Gordon: The big topics, of course, are capital markets and technology. There are lots of M&A and investment topics to discuss and on the technology side I think every logistics company is worried about how to make sure they use technology to stay competitive, and every technology company wants to make sure that they can win logistics companies as customers and allies. It is a very interesting story on both sides. LM: A few years back, you talked about the concept of “service convergence,” in which one company acquires another to get something it needs as a service offering for its customers. Does it still serve as a good working theme or has the script shifted in different ways for various reasons? Gordon: Convergence, which was a huge driver of so much of the M&A over the last decade, probably reached its crescendo with XPO Logistics. LM: In what ways? Gordon: The premise of XPO was to buy and combine great services in different areas of logistics so whether that is a truck brokerage, intermodal, warehousing, value-added services like brokerage as well as managed transportation. Those are all key elements, and I think XPO’s premise was to buy, integrate, cross-sell and achieve convergence. I think they did a good job of it. If you look at the actual data and look at how many customers they were able to achieve cross-selling benefits with after acquisition, I actually think they did pretty well. The fact that [XPO Chairman and CEO] Brad Jacobs is exploring breaking it up suggests it was not as integrated as we thought….but it is all speculative as at this point it is just an announcement. It may be that years from now we will look back on the history of U.S. logistics, and we find that 2020 was the peak of convergence…and that the XPO divestiture if it indeed does occur, could mark the transition point. LM: How would it mark the transition point? Gordon: It is not just because of XPO. I think it is also that it has been harder than many people expected to achieve cross-selling. One classic example was when Wilpak was sold to Jacobson in May 2006, it marked a combination of contract packaging with contract warehousing. That seemed like a classic fit for a convergence play because you had two sets of services—in packaging and warehousing—and you could go to the same customer and in some cases, you could go to different locations and simply be eliminating shuttling costs by co-locating those services. That kind of convergence seemed like a natural fit. Similarly, it felt like a natural fit to combine truck brokerage and intermodal, as was the case when XPO acquired Pacer, which was easy. LM: What are some other examples? Gordon: A combination of warehousing plus freight forwarding or Customs brokerage. When Ozburn-Hessey bought Barthco in July 2006, it was an example of a convergence effort that, in the end, was not as successful of some of the other examples we talked about. It was not because of the people, it was because those services are harder to bundle. The convergence that has driven so much of the M&A over the last ten-to-15 years was real, but I think some of it proved to be a bridge too far. LM: Looking at the logistics and freight transportation markets now, there are a lot of new players that have made significant entrances and inroads that were not in existence even a decade ago or less. While these companies are quickly becoming established, they are not making M&A deals, it seems. Will that change over time and can a smaller emerging company do, for example, what XPO has done on the path to growth? Gordon: Absolutely. In fact, some of the most successful companies that I know are taking pages from the XPO playbook. I look at GlobalTranz. GlobalTranz has bought 11 companies over the last 2.5 years. The success of that will be measured probably a year or two from now. Fundamentally, they have been doing acquisition-like growth. And, like XPO, it has been very aggressive and systematic. At our conference last year, I did an interview with Bob Farrell, GlobalTranz chairman, about how he did it with a very systematic approach. On the other hand, its approach is narrower than XPO, because it is really only buying brokerage and managed transportation and is not doing the broader plays XPO did with international- or tracking-based deals. I would say GlobalTranz borrowed from the XPO playbook, in terms of an aggressive, repeatable, systematic acquisition plan, but it was narrower in the scope of what it did. It is too soon to declare total victory on that, but historically it has been very successful with that strategy. LM: Looking at the nature of different deals, many large companies made tuck-in acquisitions to fill a specific need or niche. What is the current state of these types of deals? Gordon: I think there has been a steady diet of tuck-ins, but they have been quieter and have generally involved private companies as opposed to public companies. I have not seen larger companies like C.H. Robinson or Echo Global Logistics or some of the others pursue tuck-ins lately. But GlobalTranz is an example having just acquired Cerasis, and Transplace is another with its recent acquisition of LaneHub. Sale numbers were not disclosed for either deal, but I can tell you they were both well below ten percent the size of the acquirer. So, if you are Transplace buying Lanehub, you are adding a great collaboration network of about 150 shippers, 150 carriers, and $23 billion in truckload spend. They are getting network reach, but it is a relatively small and successful acquisition. It does not have to go raise financing or worry about the risk of making a gigantic acquisition. It is a classic tuck-in acquisition, as is the GlobalTranz-Cerasis deal. With the Global Tranz-Cerasis deal, most of that deal fit the [tuck-in] profile, in terms of being below ten percent the size of the acquirer, easy to integrate, and being consistent with the overall strategy of the business and therefore relatively simple and consistent with the rest of the service footprint. LM: What is a good example of a larger company making a tuck-in acquisition? Gordon: When Echo bought Command a while back, that was viewed as transformative and big. And you could argue in hindsight that Echo, which has bought close to 20 companies, has had great success with small tuck-ins. Command was a harder deal because of the magnitude, the purchase price, and the integration requirements. It can be successful either way, but I think we have seen more tuck-ins than transformative acquisitions over the last year and that is probably a good thing for the likelihood of success. Hub Group acquired CaseStack in December 2018 for $252 million, MODE in August 2018 for $258 million, which were bigger than your average small tuck-in, but Hub Group’s total enterprise value today is $2 billion and has gone up a little bit since the time of those deals. These deals were in the 10%-to-20% of the enterprise value range….but not so big or different that they were totally transformational. Hub’s acquisition of Estenson Logistics was in 2017 and that was a $306 million deal in dedicated freight. That one surprised me a little bit because Hub is an intermodal marketing company and asset-light, and Estenson is dedicated freight. Hub has made three acquisitions in the last 2.5 years, totaling more roughly $800 million in M&A. That is actually a lot. I would not say Hub has been as acquisitive as XPO but quietly it has become pretty aggressive for a company that historically has bought very little. LM: What is your take on Amazon getting into this space on the M&A front? Gordon: I think Amazon will continue to invest very aggressively to build out its logistics position. But the best analogy I see for Amazon is what it did with Amazon Web Services (AWS), which really came into existence less than 15 years ago. In the beginning, AWS was a service for its existing customers, and it expanded to become a full-service, arm’s length standalone business unit. This was done through aggressive investment, but it was not done through acquisition. If AWS holds true as an analogy, then you could see Amazon continuing to pour tremendous resources in the form of hiring people and spending money on technology, building out services and building its own network like it is doing in last-mile right now. It is not as likely to be an acquirer, but Jeff Bezos is really the only one that knows that. The evidence I see seems to suggest it will follow the AWS path. Benjamin Gordon is the Founder of Cambridge Capital and BGSA. He is a leading investor in logistics, technology, and supply chain. For more on the BGSA Supply Chain Conference, visit here. Original Source: https://benjamingordon.me/introducing-supply-chains/
Supply Chain Experts Take on Amazon: Benjamin Gordon in Palm Beach Post
Executives pondered options this week during the BG Strategic Advisors Supply Chain Conference at the Breakers in Palm Beach. Full Link Here The rapid growth of Amazon’s delivery business model was a hot topic among concerned logistics and transportation executives at the BG Strategic Advisors Supply Chain Conference at the Breakers this week. The issue is how to deal with Amazon’s spiraling growth in the logistics business – the term used to describe the online purchasing process, including “last mile” delivery to the consumer. The issue is how to deal with Amazon’s spiraling growth in the logistics business – the term used to describe the online purchasing process, including “last mile” delivery to the consumer. Amazon took another big step forward with the development of its own network of delivery vehicles in June 2018 through a program called Delivery Service Partners. By December 2019, the company was employing more than 90,000 “logistics associates” and was on track to deliver 3.5 billion packages worldwide by the end of the year, according to company reports. Amazon’s dark gray “Prime” vans are now ubiquitous in South Florida, and other markets across the country. Companies that had counted on Amazon accounts – including big names like UPS, FedEx and the U.S. Postal Service – are worried about taking a hit. “Amazon’s move into logistics has created massive ripple effects,” says Ben Gordon, founder and managing director of BGSA Holdings in Palm Beach and organizer of the BGSA Supply Chain Conference, which is in its 14th year. The annual event is billed as a gathering of the world’s leading CEOs in transportation and logistics. Gene Tyndall, chief strategy officer for Tompkins, a fulfillment services company in Raleigh, North Carolina, and a conference attendee, says Amazon not only cuts into business volume for the smaller players but often lures away their employees. Smaller e-retailers also lose valuable data when customers buy from Amazon rather than from the company’s own website because a direct purchase leaves names and purchase information with the retailer, while in a purchase through Amazon that information stays with Amazon. In addition, other logistics companies that might have delivered for the retailer lose out. “All these ripples add up to a lot to business people,” Tyndall said in an interview. “They’re a lot more worried about it than they were before.” Major companies are looking over their shoulders as well. Gordon, who is also a managing partner of Cambridge Capital in West Palm Beach, said FedEx stock took a 13 percent hit recently after an Amazon contract was dropped. He quoted FedEx CEO Fred Smith as saying: “We basically compete in an ecosphere that’s got five entities in it. There’s UPS, there’s DHL, there’s the U.S. Postal Service, and now, increasingly, there’s Amazon.” Amazon has about 38 percent of e-commerce business, according to Bloomberg. Tyndall thinks that if they hit 51 percent Amazon could start attracting government attention for antitrust issues. In fact, Bloomberg reported in September that Federal Trade Commission investigators had begun interviewing small businesses that sell products on Amazon to find out whether Amazon was using “its market power” to hurt competitors. The company didn’t respond to a request for a comment on the FTC probe, but spokespersons did vigorously defend their Delivery Service Partners program. Amazon is helping entrepreneurs develop their own business in which they earn up to $300,000 while hiring “tens of thousands of delivery drivers across the U.S.,” according to the spokespersons and company news releases. The company “provides technology and operational support to individuals with little or no logistics experience” and offers them the opportunity to run their own delivery businesses, Amazon says. The startups need as little as $10,000 to launch. Tyndall says Amazon has done “a great job” getting products to consumers, and one reason is that the company can afford to put warehouses – called fulfillment centers – in 110 strategic locations around the country. “The closer they are to you, the less they pay to deliver it to you,” he said. “Nobody has the capital to put 110 facilities up around the country. Most of the logistics companies have five, six or seven here and there.” He advises small vendors to sell their products “everywhere,” including on Amazon, but look for cheaper delivery methods. “You can’t do the same day, but most people don’t need the same day,” he said. Guy Bloch, CEO at Bringg, a Chicago- and Israel-based company that calls itself “a delivery orchestration platform,” is urging smaller logistics companies to work together in a coalition in order to compete with Amazon. He also envisions networks of “flexible warehousing” similar to an Airbnb model to keep goods closer to consumers. “Amazon is a powerhouse in logistics – no one even comes close,” Bloch, who was also a conference attendee, said in an interview. “No single player can stand up to Amazon, it’s impossible. However, if the entire market comes together – very similar to what Android did to iPhone – the combined power of the market can create an alternative to Amazon. We’re building it.” While businesses are wary about the future of e-commerce, they admire Amazon’s approach and record of success. “It’s pretty impressive what they’ve done and as a logistic expert, I think they’ve done a great job,” said Tyndall. “We all wish we had that much capital to match it.” For the complete Supply Chain Experts article in the Palm Beach Post, click here.
Strategic Advice for Logistics Companies with Benjamin Gordon of Cambridge Capital
In the latest Future of Supply Chain podcast episode, Benjamin Gordon of Cambridge Capital joined Santosh to talk about Ben’s entry into the supply chain industry, current private equity trends, and the areas of the supply chain that are thriving despite the current recession.
Ben is an advisor, investor, entrepreneur in logistics, supply chain, and transportation companies. He’s a graduate of Harvard Business School and Yale College and is the CEO of West Palm Beach, Florida-based Cambridge Capital, and BG Strategic Advisors.
Cambridge Capital is an investor in the transportation, distribution, logistics, and technology segments of the supply chain.
According to Ben, when it comes to investing, Cambridge looks for “companies with a big problem, compelling solution, the right team, and a deal that makes sense.”
How Ben Got His Start in Supply Chain
Ben is both a banker and an active private equity investor. For him, the supply chain was something of a family business.
“My grandfather had a truck leasing company, and he had expanded it over time into dedicated contract carriage, logistics, and other areas,” he says.
Ben got his start as a strategy consultant at CDI, a generalist firm, then attended business school. He observed CDI’s truck leasing and contract carriage operations—“trucks going out full and coming back empty,” he says and decided there must be a way to automate the backhaul using the internet.
He wrote a business plan detailing his ideas for automation, but CDI was quickly sold to Ford Motor Credit instead. Ben mulled over the plan he’d written out and decided to build out and implement it himself.
“I thought, well, I've gone to this effort to lay out a plan,” he says. “If I believed in my plan, I had to have the courage of my convictions. So I decided to go for it.”
In 1999, Ben launched his first company, 3PLex, as one of the first internet logistics companies (which would now be considered SaaS).
Next, Ben became involved in other companies. He sold 3PLex to Maersk, which was later sold to IBM.
Logistics companies took an interest in their software, and logistics CEOs began to seek Ben out to ask his thoughts about where the industry was headed. But more than that, they began to ask his advice on mergers, acquisitions, and deals in the logistics arena. Thus, BG Strategic Advisors, an investment banking firm for the supply chain industry, was born.
Some of BGSA’s most successful investments include companies like XPO Logistics and Grand Junction. BGSA acts as the advisory side of Ben’s business, while Cambridge Capital is centered around principal investing.
Current Private Equity Trends
Private equity has evolved tremendously over the last decade, according to Ben.
“A decade ago, you sold platform investments in areas like truck brokerage, warehousing, freight forwarding,” he says. “It was all about finding great platforms in proven areas.”
Now, he says, the market emphasis has shifted to contract logistics and brokerage businesses. Both were successful.
“Today, I think there's more interest in and recognition of the power of technology in the supply chain,” Ben says. “So you see more private equity interest in tech businesses that, maybe 10 years ago, would have been viewed as too risky or too early-stage.”
To date, more than $2 billion has been invested in venture and growth capital in the supply chain. According to Ben, “The themes we see in private equity now are—more interest in technology, more interest overall, and more dollars.”
What Supply Chain Services is Poised to Win?
Currently, the supply chain is experiencing a recession, with a record number of bankruptcies for companies in that arena. Investors are looking to recession-resistant areas like asset-light logistics, tech-enabled supply chain services. Some truck brokerage areas, like C.H. Robinson, are also holding strong.
On a global scale, Israel is leading the pack in logistics technology, while China is winning the battle for warehouse robotics.
“I don't think it means tech companies are immune to the cycles,” Ben says, “but it simply means that, if you have a company that's tracking trace in an area that's 90% under-penetrated, the biggest factor for them is whether they can take penetration from 10% to 50%.
“At some market-clearing price, I think these deals will still get done. So for asset-light and tech-enabled, I think there’s a very bright future.”
Ben has also observed explosive growth in e-commerce fulfillment, which he expects to continue to grow rapidly over the next few years. Food delivery and last-mile delivery are also strong opportunities for companies and investors alike.
Listen to our full interview with Ben Gordon here.
Original Source: https://dynamo.substack.com/p/strategic-advice-for-logistics-companies
Know More About Benjamin Gordon CEO Of Cambridge Capital
Benjamin Gordon (businessman)
Benjamin Gordon (born 11 September 1973) is an American entrepreneur who founds, advises, and invests in supply chain companies. He serves as CEO and Managing Partner of BG Strategic Advisors and Cambridge Capital, companies he founded. He lives in Palm Beach, Florida.
Early Life and Education
Gordon was born in Ann Arbor, Michigan, and grew up in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. He earned a Bachelor of Arts degree from Yale College and an MBA degree from Harvard Business School. Transport and logistics ran in Gordon's family. In 1904, his great-grandfather started a New York-based horse-and-buggy business, and his grandfather founded a truck-leasing business in New England where he had worked summers.
In 1999, while at HBS, he and classmate Tania Yannas founded 3Plex, recognized as one the early internet logistics companies, with The New York Times crediting Gordon for imagining "a business-to-business Web site that would allow shipping agents to communicate better with both truckers and shippers." Business Week cited Gordon among early entrepreneurs using the web to "streamline the consolidation and outsourcing of freight trucking", noting that the 26-year-old's fledgling business had attracted $15 million in venture financing. In 2000, their company was a finalist in the HBS New Venture Competition
Career
Gordon served as CEO of 3PLex from its inception, leading the company through three rounds of fundraising totaling $28 million from investors which included Morgan Stanley, Goldman Sachs, BancBoston Ventures, CNF, and Ionian. The company was acquired by Maersk in 2002.
In 2002, Gordon founded BG Strategic Advisors (BGSA), an investment banking firm focused on mergers and acquisitions in the transportation, logistics, and supply chain sectors. BGSA hosts an annual conference of supply chain and logistics executives in West Palm Beach, Florida.
In 2009, Gordon founded Cambridge Capital, which focuses on investments in logistics and supply chain companies. The company's noteworthy investments include XPO Logistics, Grand Junction (an e-commerce and last-mile logistics technology company sold to Target), and Bringg (e-commerce and last-mile logistics technology company.
Also in 2009, Gordon founded EcoSquid, an e-commerce marketplace enabling consumers to resell or recycle their used electronics. In 2012, the company was sold to uSell.
Recognition by Business Media
Gordon has appeared frequently as a commentator and analyst on CNBC. He has been quoted as an expert on supply chain management, logistics, technology, and investment issues in the Wall Street Journal, The New York Times, Bloomberg, Forbes, Fox Business, and Authority. He has authored articles published in Fortune, CNBC, and various supply chain industry publications, such as Supply Chain Management Review and Freightwaves. He has also been interviewed as an authority on corporate governance by CorpGov in the wake of the failed WeWork IPO, published in Yahoo! Finance.
Social Entrepreneurship and Philanthropy
In 1997, Gordon founded GesherCity, a non-profit that connects young adults to Jewish communities through online and in-person experiences. One of the first social networks that allowed people to create online communities based on self-selected categories, by 2007 the project scaled up to 20 cities and 100,000 members before merging into the Jewish Community Center Association, as recognized repeatedly in the JCCA's annual report for that year and Jewish community media.
References
View More: https://ift.tt/2vhgNrN
Supply Chain Company Advisor Benjamin Gordon Brings Unprecedented Growth for Clients
Located in beautiful West Palm Beach, Florida, Cambridge Capital is a private equity firm specializing in investments in supply chain technology, logistics, and transportation companies. Expertise and a Track Record of Demonstrable Results
West Palm Beach, United States - January 9, 2020, / Cambridge Capital LLC /
Since its inception in 2010, Cambridge Capital, founded and headed by industry expert Benjamin Gordon, has aided its clients in achieving unprecedented year over year growth and success.
Dedicated to the logistics transportation and supply chain technology sector, Gordon and his team bring a level of experience and innovation that is unsurpassed by competitors.
Expertise and a Track Record of Demonstrable Results
Over the years, Benjamin Gordon of Cambridge Capital has advised on over $1 billion of logistics and transportation transactions, providing him with a depth of knowledge and experience that he leverages to help new and existing clients alike. This deep knowledge is one of the many reasons why he and his firm are so well-trusted for their innovative approaches, industry insights, and exceptional results.
Over the years, Gordon has had the honor and privilege of consulting for industry behemoths and leaders such as DHL, UPS, Nations Express, GENCO, and others, developing strategic growth initiatives and spearheading acquisition strategies aimed at positioning these and other companies for long term growth and success.
3-Pronged Approach to Helping Portfolio Companies Thrive
One of the primary reasons that clients seek out Cambridge Capital is their expertise in technology, strategy, and acquisitions. Not only does the firm have extensive experience in these categories, but also a demonstrable track record of developing initiatives and implementation plans that meet or exceed organizational objectives.
Their multi-faceted and diverse team of industry leaders, led by none other than Gordon himself, represents a coveted and priceless resource for transportation and logistics companies seeking solutions to complex problems.
Cambridge Capital is also adept at bringing the right companies together in order to achieve objectives in the most optimal way possible. Their portfolio of companies is an invaluable asset, comprised of the best of the best in their respective fields. Cambridge’s unique position allows them to clearly seek out and identify synergies that can be leveraged to further the gains of each enterprise.
About Benjamin Gordon
Benjamin Gordon earned a Bachelor of Arts Degree from Yale before going on to earn a Masters in Business Administration from Harvard Business School.
Gordon is the founder and Managing Partner of private equity company Cambridge Capital. Gordon is also a current Managing Partner of the investment banking firm BG Strategic Advisors (BGSA).
Over the years Gordon has worked with firms including the likes of DHL, NFI Logistics, UPS and others. Prior to opening Cambridge Capital, Gordon founded a web-based transportation management system (TMS) called 3Plex, developed specifically for the logistics sector. Prior to that, Gordon led a number of strategic projects in technology and transportation for Mercer Management Consulting, a role where he spearheaded the first e-marketplace strategies for a logistics company.
As a thought leader in his profession, Gordon has been interviewed and published in a number of leading publications including Fortune, CNBC, Supply Chain 24/7, Forbes, BusinessWeek, The Wall Street Journal, ABC, Freightwaves, Supply Chain Management Review, and others.
About Cambridge Capital
Located in beautiful West Palm Beach, Florida, Cambridge Capital is a private equity firm specializing in investments in supply chain technology, logistics, and transportation companies.
Benjamin Gordon Founder and Managing Director of BG Strategic Advisors
Benjamin Gordonis Founder andManaging Director of BG Strategic Advisors (BGSA), an investment banking firm for the supplychain sector. Benjamin consults with CEOs in the transportation, warehousing, and logistics industries and helps them maximize their companies’ valuethrough M&As, capital-raising, merchant banking, as well as other strategic initiatives. Some of his clients include Fortune 500 leaders, logistics leaders, and private equity/venture capital firms.
Benjamin Gordon is also the Managing Partner at Cambridge Capital, a leading advisor, investor, and partnerfor companies in the supplychain and technology sectors. They help provide private equity to finance the expansion, recapitalization, or acquisition of growth companies, using theirknowledge and expertise to help theirportfolio companies achieve outstanding value.
Prior to BG Strategic Advisors and Cambridge Capital, Benjamin Gordonfounded 3PLex, an online transportation management system enabling automation for third-party logistics companies. Benjaminraised $28 millionthrough blue-chip investors such as GoldmanSachs,
Morgan Stanley, and Con-Way and was featuredin the New York Times and Business Week. 3PLex was eventually acquired by Maersk.
A recognized expert on the supplychain sector,Benjamin Gordon has been quotedby national media including CNBC, The NewYork Times, Supply ChainManagement Quarterly, and Business Week. He hasalso been a featured speaker, moderator, andchairman at the 3PL Summit, SupplyChain Management Professionals (CSCMP), NASSTRAC, andthe International Warehousing and Logistics Association (IWLA), amongothers. In addition, Benjamin leads the annual BGSA SupplyChain conference, the largest annualconference for CEOsfrom all segments of the globalsupply chain.
Benjamin Gordon is also an active civic leader who is committed to giving back to the community. As Founder and Chairman of GesherCity, a Jewish community and philanthropy group for young adults,he has boostedyoung adult volunteerism, expanding the organization to over 100,000 membersin twenty locations. He has alsoserved on severalnon-profit boards, including PalmBeach United Way,the JCCA, andthe Middle EastForum.
Benjamin receiveda Masters in Business Administration from Harvard Business School and a Bachelor of Arts degreefrom Yale College.
Where did the idea for BG Strategic Advisors come from?
As I was buildingmy first company,3PLex, I got called on by a lot of investment bankers, venture capital firms,and private equityfirms. I was struck by the factthat most of them didn’t really seem to understand logistics and supplychain. So I thought, “Whynot start a merchant bank focused on logistics?” In 2002, I started BG Strategic Advisors. In the beginning, I ran it frommy apartment in Cambridge. Sincewe didn’t havean office yet,we held meetings in the Charles Hotel.It was a scrappy startup, just like 3PLex,but this timeI self-funded it and we wereprofitable from year one!
Over the course of time, we had theprivilege of workingwith a lotof terrific companies, including NFI, GENCO,UPS, Kuehne &Nagel, New Breed,and others. We worked on over 50 deals. Then, I eventually decidedthat I wanted to get back intobuilding companies, as opposed to just advising them.I realized thatI could be a founder, or I couldinvest in businesses that others had founded. The latter was more scalable. So I startedinvesting in logistics, supply chain, and technology companies. To do so, I established Cambridge Capital. I started by putting my money wheremy mouth is, and investing my own capitalfirst. Over timewe’ve brought in partners.
Over thelast decade, I’vehad the goodfortune to investin more terrificcompanies. XPO was founded by Brad Jacobs. Its first platform, Express-1, was a small companythat Brad built through organic growthand acquisitions. It’s nowa publicly-traded companywith an enterprise value of more than$10 billion. GrandJunction was a startup foundedby Rob Howard. He had
the idea of buildinga technology platformto help retailers give their customers a better last- mile solution. Target endedup buying thecompany. These arejust two examples.
Our goal is to help companies by bringing morethan money. We work hardto bring expertise to our companies where we can, leveraging our industry knowledge, technology experience, networks of talentedexecutives, access to potential customers, and more.
What does your typical day look like and how do you make it productive?
On most days, I wake up at 6am.I meditate for5 minutes to clear my mind thenspend 10 minutes scanning my inbox andresponding to themost urgent/important issues.I work outfor 30-60 minutes,typically either swimming/biking/running. And I startwork with our daily huddle at 8:45am, inspired by Verne Harnish’s “Rockefeller Habits” model.
Over the course of the day,I schedule as much as possible. That makes it easier to focus visually on what I have to do. Also,it allows me to controlmy time allocations to match my priorities.
I also rely heavilyon email. SinceI can read and writefaster than I can talk,it’s more efficient. I tryto follow the“Getting Things Done”strategy. Touchemails once (reply,forward, or delete, with a clearaction). Make the subject linesclear. Process ruthlessly!
When allocating my time, I try to focus on three questions:
Is it important?
Does it require my involvement, or can someoneelse handle it? Does it need actionnow, or can it wait?
How do you bring ideas to life?
I read a lot.I try to read a book a week. Thelast book I read was“Red Notice” by Bill Browder. It tells the storyof how a young strategy consultant discovered thebrave new worldof Eastern European privatizations in the 1990sand ended up building the biggest investment firm in Russia. It was inspiring to see how Browder wentto Poland firstand Russia second,with an open mindand a readiness to applywhat he learnedin the U.S.in a new market wherethe rules were different. It was also depressing to see how the Russian oligarchs and a corrupt bureaucracy foughthim, ultimately drivinghim out of the countryand murdering his lawyer.But it was uplifting to see Browderpivot into the next chapterof his life,as a human rights activist who championed the Magnitsky Act and continues to fight for justice today.
“Red Notice”helped me generate ideas for lookingin emerging marketsfor hidden jewelsin the logistics world.I’m working on one rightnow!
What’s one trend that excites you?
I am very excitedabout the intersection of transportation and technology. That’s been a major theme throughout my career. One big driveris ACES: Autonomous, Connected, Electric, and Sharing economy. We are seeinglots of fantastic businesses emerging outof these technologies. Forinstance, Grand Junction succeeded by connecting drivers with retailers through a technology platformand a sharing economy model.Bringg and DeliveryCircle have similar advantages, albeitin different but complementary areas.
I believe electric vehicles will come to dominate not just passenger cars, but alsotrucking. Over thenext decade, we will see a massiveshift.
What is one habitof yours thatmakes you moreproductive as an entrepreneur?
I try to abideby the one-touch rule. WhenI get an email, I try to respond in a way that gets to closure. You can lose a lot of time withemail back-and-forth chains.If possible, I try to give a clear and quickanswer: yes, no, or dependson X. If you can reduce yourtouches, you can spend your time more productively!
What advice would you give your younger self?
Invest in the thingsthat make you better.Reading has a multiplier effect.So does exercise, because it makes you better in other dimensions. And so doessurrounding yourself withA+ people, in all areasof life. Theycan challenge you and makeyou better!
Tell us something that’s true that almost nobody agrees with you on.
Self-driving truckswill dominate the industry withina decade. Everyonetalks about self-driving cars, but it’s already happening in trucks. Komatsucan run trucksin the minesof Australia without drivers. Driverless forklifts are already appearing in warehouses. Peopleare petrified about the idea of a runawaytruck driven by a machinethat misses an important action.But this isn’t the Windows “Blue Screen of Death.” Computer-powered trucks are going through extremely rigorous testing, and willsoon be readyfor the road.
Also, whileit’s true that self-driving trucks aren’t perfect,it is important to note that neitherare humans. Tragically, 50,000people a year die fromcar and truckaccidents. Almost all of those fatalities are caused by human error. If machines cancut that by 90%, we might stillhave 5,000 fatalities a year. That wouldbe terrible, but far betterthan the statusquo.
Self-driving truckscan be implemented more effectively thanself-driving cars, becausethey can be managed by companies. In sum, the driverless futurewill come to trucks first.
As an entrepreneur, what is the one thingyou do overand over and recommend everyone else do?
Follow through.People value you when theyknow they can count on you. Alwaysdo what you say, so peopleknow your wordis meaningful. I can’t stress thatenough.
When I started BG Strategic Advisors, our first clientwas a company called Air-RoadExpress. The CEO asked us to selltheir company. We put togethera plan and timetable. It called for getting the deal done in 4 months. In hindsight, this was a mistake. Your average M&A assignment often takes6-9 months fromstart to finish.But we made a commitment, and we had to figure out how to deliver on it. Therewere a lot of latenights, early mornings, interrupted family dinners, and last-minute trips.But it all worked out.In the end, we not only got it donein 4 months,but we also exceeded the CEO’s value expectations.
That CEO, in turn, becamea vital reference for our littlecompany as we started to grow. It all revolved around demonstrating that we didwhat we said,and earning trust.
What is one strategy that has helped you grow your business?
My strategy has been to be narrowly focused.In our first decade, we were strictlyfocused on transportation, logistics, and supply chaintechnology. We couldhave taken on many more clients, but we decided thatbeing known in our field would pay dividends down the road.
HBS Professor Michael Porterliked to say that strategy is about sayingno. If you don’tsay no often enough,then you spreadyourself too thin.We try to maintain that dictum. Over time, as we’ve expanded our firm, our scopehas expanded a little. But we stilltry to keep our focus tight.
What is one failure you had as an entrepreneur, and how did you overcome it?
I’ve had lots of failures! But the failures are what makeyou better, assuming you learn from them.
When I started 3PLex,we had a great idea.But we tried to do too much too quickly.We started with the idea of building a TMS to automate logistics. Then we addeda combinatoric engineto enable companies to bid on bundles of lanes. And we also added a drayage management system. Three products was too much for one startup. We burned througha lot of money before we figured thatout. I wish we had figured it out muchsooner.
In the end, ironically, the product thatwe spent theleast time andmoney on, in drayage, was the one that Maersk wanted.
The lesson was to listen to your customers, and ruthlessly simplify to focus on what matters.
What is one business idea that you’re willing to give away to our readers?
Think about how you can combine new technologies to augment classic business models.
For instance, every retailer in the worldis trying to improve theirlast-mile solution to compete with Amazon. If they fail in this one area,they could fail outright. Thereis a fortune awaiting the company that figures out how best to do this.
Can you use drones,or warehouse automation, or other technology, to deliver a solution that is equal or better than AmazonPrime? If you can figurethat out, you have a tremendous opportunity.
How Amazon Disrupts Logistics: Chapter 4 in the Benjamin Gordon Cambridge Capital Series: View Here https://issuu.com/benjamin.gordon/docs/how_amazon_disrupts_logistics__chapter_4_in_the_be
What is the best $100 you recently spent? What and why?
I bought a Fitbitfor my kids on Tuesday.They are wonderful children, but theyalso love reading (or acting, singing, and watching) more than exercising. For the lastthree days, they have been running through the house and in the backyard, countingtheir steps!
The old saying is true: What gets measured gets done!
What is one piece of software or a web service that helps you be productive?
We all use email.But one thingI’ve found particularly helpful was a typing classI took when I was in middle school.Being able to type fastmight have seemedlike a job for a secretary at
one point. Today, it’s a competitive advantage for anyone who is in business.
What is the onebook that you recommend ourcommunity should readand why?
“Lend Me Your Ears” by William Safire.It is a collection of the mostinspirational speeches in world history.
Start withthe uplifting wordsfrom Shakespeare’s Marc Antonythat inspired Safire’s title, “Friends, Romans, countrymen, lend me yourears; I come to bury Caesar,not to praise him.” You can think of this speechas great literature, which it is. You can alsothink of it as enjoyable to read, which it also is. But as an entrepreneur, you can considerthese words the foundation for a persuasive call to action.
Any great leader,whether in politics, business, or elsewhere, should have thesepowerful communication tools at his or her disposal.
What is your favorite quote?
In the “Sayings of the Fathers,” alsoknown as the “Pirkei Avot,” Hillelsaid this: “Whena man is needed and thereis no man, strive to be thatman.” Putting gender neutrality aside, this quote captures the essenceof leadership to me.
What Hillel is saying is this: whenyou find yourselfin a situation that callsfor action, and you see nobody else stepping up to take on thatresponsibility, then the choice lieswith you. Will you take the reins,or will you let the opportunity pass?
I believe greatleaders, great business people, and greathuman beings all find waysto live in accordance withthis moral precept. Think about Gandhi,Martin Luther King,Sharansky, and others in activism. And think aboutJobs, Gates, Musk,and others in entrepreneurship. In all cases, great leaderssaw a need and realizedthat it was up to them to address it. Isn’t that what it’s all about?
|
|