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Speaker 1: Hello and welcome to
the Bootstrapper's Guide to

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Logistics, the podcast
highlighting founders doing it

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the way that doesn't get a lot
of attention.

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We're here to change that by
sharing their stories and

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inspiring others to take the
leap.

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It's a roller coaster ride that
you might ultimately fail.

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That's when I kind of knew I
was on to something.

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Speaker 2: It was very hard.

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It truly is building a legacy
the more life you live the more

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wisdom you have.

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Speaker 1: Because we are where
we're supposed to be kind of

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answering the call.

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Don't shoulder entrepreneurship
on your own.

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I'm your host, nate Schutz.

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Let's build something together
from the ground up.

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Hello everybody, and welcome
back to the show.

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We are sticking on the theme of
freight brokerages this week

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and bootstrap founders, as
always, but I always love just

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like we did last week to get to
highlight the Midwest a little

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bit, and so this week we're
going to chat with Rich Kruel,

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who is the co-founder and CEO of
Hoplite Logistics.

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Rich, good afternoon.

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How are you?

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Speaker 2: Afternoon Nate Doing
good man.

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Thanks for having me on.

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Speaker 1: Thank you for being
here.

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I got a chance to see your
co-founder, brian Rakowski, a

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little over a month ago at one
of the PGA events that we get to

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have in Minnesota once a year,
so it was great to see him and a

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couple of folks from your team.

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So why don't you start with
just an introduction of yourself

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and where you're based out of
and what your business is

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yourself?

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Speaker 2: and where you're
based out of and what your

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business is.

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Yeah, ridge Cruel, based out of
Grand Rapids, michigan.

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I just recently moved back,
about eight months ago, from

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Chicago.

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I was there for 14 years, had a
couple of little detours with

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my time there in Denver during
COVID for a bit, and then the UK

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.

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I had a pretty cool opportunity
to work over there with Coyote

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for a few months, so that was
really neat.

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But Hot Plate Logistics we're a
freight brokerage.

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As you said, our niche is
cross-border Mexico.

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We have an entity down there in
Guadalajara.

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I have some teammates down
there.

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I've been hiring down there
recently, which is super

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exciting for us.

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We're kind of approaching the
22, 23 months in business now,

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so doing something right.

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We're still still plugging
along.

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But, you know, finally being
able to hire and get over some

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humps has been really fun for us
.

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But, as you mentioned, like
Brian, couldn't ask for a better

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co-founder.

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He's a man, he lives near you
in Minneapolis and that's where

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our headquarters is based out of
.

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And even though we're kind of
spread out all over the country

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and the States, you know it's
usually with people that we've

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had a previous relationship with
that Coyote branch runs along

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and so we're kind of spread out,
but everyone still feels

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connected.

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That's been pretty cool.

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Speaker 1: Well, you're one of
the few that chose to do their

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startup in the depths of a
freight recession, which

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obviously takes a ton of
conviction depths of a freight

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recession, which obviously takes
a ton of conviction.

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And I also like to tap into
founder stories at particular

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points.

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It's obviously really fun to
talk about somebody who's made

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it past $100 million and they've
got a wealth of knowledge and

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lessons that they can share with
other people.

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That's awesome.

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I also really like the very,
very early stage stories, where

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they may be only a couple of
months in and they don't even

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know up from down.

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But I also really, really have a
soft spot for the place that

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you guys are at right now.

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You're two and a half-ish years
in from when you had this

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conception of an idea to you
spent eight months planning and

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getting ready to launch, and now
you're getting close to that

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year two mark of actually being
a real business and you've

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gotten to go through two annual
cycles of budgeting and hiring

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and managing cashflow and all of
that.

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And so to me that's especially
fertile ground, because you

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still don't know what.

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You don't know a lot of the
time, but you've got enough

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bruises and scars accumulated
already that you still retain

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all of the optimism of the
startup phase, and so there's

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something special about that
that I love to get to connect

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with people like you on.

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What is that?

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How would you describe the
place that you're in?

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Speaker 2: I mean we're excited
with the growth, for sure, but I

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do laugh because there's part
of this where we're at a stage

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where I look back at this
interview or this podcast in

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like two years and be like man.

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That was a dumb thought, Because
you're right, you would

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interview me right when we
launched, I would have probably

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been saying a bunch of things
that you know.

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Looking back now, I'm like,
yeah, we, we didn't go about

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that the right way.

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But, um, I mean, for anyone
mulling like the leap, they've

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had this thought that's burrowed
in their head of like I really

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want to try that.

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The best education is just to
do it, because you're going to

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make those mistakes and it's
scary for sure.

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I mean, there's plenty of
nights where Brian and I are on

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the phone at like 11 o'clock
being like how are you going to

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get through this?

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But you figure out a way.

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If you have the will, you can
get through it.

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And I think there's something
to like karma in terms of you

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know we treat people a certain
way and you know, if you operate

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the right way and you take care
of people, then typically it

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kind of comes around your way.

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We've had a lot of people
looking out for us too, so

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that's been great.

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But you're right, the stage
we're at has been exciting

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because we're getting to a point
where we've just hired five

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people in the last two months,
and so that's awesome.

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Our team's at 14 now and we
have some more planned hires,

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probably in the next three or
four, if we can keep growing and

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hitting kind of the metrics
we're looking at.

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But yeah, the first six months,
seven months, is just a

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constant rotation of well, that
didn't work, let's try this

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round.

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Speaker 1: That's so good.

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What was the eight months of
preparation?

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Can we unpack that a little bit
?

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Some folks will say, oh my gosh
, it took eight months to launch

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a business, and I mean that's
before you actually opened the

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doors.

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What were you doing in that
eight months to help set

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yourself up for success?

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Because I know you to be a
diligent and thoughtful person.

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You're not impulsive, so there
was a plan behind everything

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that you did.

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What were you and Brian, I'm
sure, talking through in that

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pre-launch period?

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Speaker 2: Yeah, no, and I
appreciate that too.

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You know, eight months might
have been a little long, but the

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due diligence piece was
important because there was a

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lot of things we thought of
wanting to get right, because

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you can only make one first
impression.

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You really can't.

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And if we launched too early
and things looked janky, the

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website doesn't look a certain
way and we don't have like the

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most sophisticated website.

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We're redesigning it right now,
which is also exciting.

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But no, you want first
impressions to be that's

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professional and if you don't
have all that together, that's

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going to creep into the business
, like you know.

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If this was too fast or
something doesn't look right,

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well then, how do things look
under the hood?

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So it was very like let's take
our time, make sure our first

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impression is oh wait, you guys
are a startup, because you know

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the experiences we're getting is
just as you know, the Coyotes

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or RXOs or whatever.

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That's the experience we wanted
to give them.

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We wanted them to be surprised
at our small size.

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So, you know, definitely the
image was a very important thing

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.

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But I had a little bit of
experience with Mexico cross

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border, just bit at Coyote, but
not a lot.

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But if we were going to kind of
focus on that.

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I wanted a little more
information so I could at least

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have a better idea of what we
were building.

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So getting a little education
with that making sure, like the

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back office was taken care of,
because we'd never dealt with

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benefits or an HRM platform or
what the hell is a.

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Excuse me, what's a PEO?

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That was new terminology
because we've never had to set

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up that structure before.

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So that was a lot of education
of how to actually build a

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business, not just the brokerage
, but actually like the bones of

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it, of just a business.

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And then the big piece of it was
funding.

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Sure, we needed money to do it,
and that was a long, stressful,

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arduous process.

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Where you're there's one thing
being told no, um, when you're

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trying to sell, to try to go get
a customer, you hit no, you

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know, all the time.

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It's another thing when you're
hearing no about like this baby

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that you really believe in, like
this idea works, like it, you

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know, trust me, like we're gonna
work until it works.

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Um, but you know it's money.

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Like people are like, yeah,
what's well, what's the?

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It's a brokerage.

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Okay, there's a million of
those on paper.

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True, yeah, it's, it's tough to
sell that you're trying to sell

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yourself as a person, but as a
first-time business owner too,

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that's doubly as hard because I
have no track record.

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It's like this is my background
and I was successful in these

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roles, but what do you do
without a safety net?

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Um, so that was really tough to
finally get the funding.

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Um, and then, once we had the
funding, it was so close to the

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end of the year that we're like
let's make this very easy from a

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tax standpoint and our
employees that we're bringing in

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let them finish the year out so
they can enjoy that with the

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families around the holidays and
let's just make it clean Jan 1.

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And that's what we did.

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Speaker 1: QuickBooks or
whichever accounting package

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you're going to use or are using
.

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That's just going to be a great
story.

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You'll be able to do annual
reporting and there is no pro

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forma that you ever need to do
because you don't have a half of

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a year.

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How did you choose the name
Hoplite?

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Speaker 2: That was a funny one,
man, so I wanted, first of all,

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I just wanted a name that you
could say with one word.

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There's a lot of the big scale
brokerages and companies that I

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wanted to scale down from
logistics.

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I didn't want to be ABC or 123
Logistics, it kind of blends in.

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I wanted something unique that,
okay, like you know, you go on

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safer sis and you type in any
word, there's a million

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companies that have that word,
and so I started looking up

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things from like a position of
strength.

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I wanted a story to go behind
it too, and it was funny how

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quickly Hoplite popped up on my
radar.

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I'd never heard that term
before.

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Um, I don't know why a lot of
people, of people who we've

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spoken to, is like oh yeah, man,
it's like a Greek warrior,

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never heard of it before.

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Speaker 1: I did not know that.

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Please explain.

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Speaker 2: Yeah, so I think I
typed in synonyms for warrior or

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something like that and hoplite
came up and it sounded like,

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honestly, it sounds like a piece
of equipment and logistics,

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like put it on a hoplite, it
just literally sounds like a

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truck.

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And I was like, well, that's
interesting.

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And started looking into it.

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00:10:28,488 --> 00:10:30,490
And hoplites were Greek
warriors.

236
00:10:30,490 --> 00:10:32,815
They're essentially what was in
the movie 300.

237
00:10:33,174 --> 00:10:40,004
Okay, so there are smaller
armies that are more tactical,

238
00:10:40,024 --> 00:10:41,349
you know, more strategic, and
they can defeat vast armies

239
00:10:41,369 --> 00:10:43,054
because of that, that strategy
and that working for the person

240
00:10:43,115 --> 00:10:43,616
next to them.

241
00:10:43,616 --> 00:10:46,224
And you know, we look at what
we're trying to do.

242
00:10:46,224 --> 00:10:47,025
It's like we don't want to.

243
00:10:47,025 --> 00:10:49,809
We want to be able to compete
with these massive brokerages

244
00:10:49,830 --> 00:10:52,033
and companies, but we don't want
to hire in the same number of

245
00:10:52,073 --> 00:10:52,335
employees.

246
00:10:52,335 --> 00:10:56,844
We want to be smarter, want
people to be bought into the

247
00:10:56,864 --> 00:10:58,408
culture, and we want to be
smarter with our technology and

248
00:10:58,427 --> 00:10:59,009
just do more with less.

249
00:10:59,028 --> 00:11:01,642
Efficiency is like at the front
of everything and like what

250
00:11:01,722 --> 00:11:04,009
better story for that than this?

251
00:11:04,009 --> 00:11:06,984
And it just hits so quickly and
you're like, okay, from a

252
00:11:07,024 --> 00:11:09,187
branding standpoint, you can do
some pretty cool things with

253
00:11:09,207 --> 00:11:13,534
like a spear and a shield, and
so it just kind of worked out

254
00:11:13,554 --> 00:11:13,815
perfect.

255
00:11:13,815 --> 00:11:18,764
Man, we get a lot of
compliments on the branding and

256
00:11:18,784 --> 00:11:20,010
then you know not that this has
anything to do with it, but I

257
00:11:20,030 --> 00:11:20,693
had a little marketing
background.

258
00:11:20,693 --> 00:11:23,283
So, like, when it comes to like
aesthetics, I'm very OCD with

259
00:11:23,322 --> 00:11:27,230
how things look, and that plays
well with the business that you

260
00:11:27,250 --> 00:11:30,841
don't want things to be clean
and look a certain way before we

261
00:11:30,841 --> 00:11:34,831
roll it out, and those are some
of the decisions that everybody

262
00:11:34,831 --> 00:11:36,221
has to make when they start a
business.

263
00:11:36,261 --> 00:11:39,409
Speaker 1: Some folks choose not
to focus on a logo or a website

264
00:11:39,409 --> 00:11:39,409
.

265
00:11:39,409 --> 00:11:43,147
Depending on if you're hauling
or if you have a gravel pit, it

266
00:11:43,187 --> 00:11:47,102
probably doesn't matter as much,
but when you're presenting out

267
00:11:47,163 --> 00:11:49,288
in the marketplace, oftentimes
it really does.

268
00:11:49,288 --> 00:11:53,418
And that's one of the 4,000
decisions you have to make as

269
00:11:53,479 --> 00:11:56,186
you get ready to start a company
and then, after you've started

270
00:11:56,285 --> 00:12:00,442
it, for the stage that you're in
now, as you look back on your

271
00:12:00,604 --> 00:12:04,410
first couple of hires, what was
in your mind of?

272
00:12:04,410 --> 00:12:07,464
I'm sure there was a couple of
folks that you knew from your

273
00:12:07,484 --> 00:12:12,543
prior lives, but how did you
approach our first three or four

274
00:12:12,543 --> 00:12:16,091
or five hires have to be
perfect, and perfect looks like

275
00:12:16,533 --> 00:12:16,552
X.

276
00:12:18,380 --> 00:12:20,547
Speaker 2: I mean one, a trust
built in.

277
00:12:20,547 --> 00:12:22,513
We didn't go out and hire
anyone.

278
00:12:22,513 --> 00:12:26,965
We didn't have a a personal
like background with um.

279
00:12:26,965 --> 00:12:28,268
There was one.

280
00:12:28,268 --> 00:12:31,585
There's a salesperson that I
didn't know him extremely close,

281
00:12:31,585 --> 00:12:32,568
but he was he.

282
00:12:32,568 --> 00:12:35,220
He worked at coyote as well and
like we had enough people that

283
00:12:35,240 --> 00:12:36,342
could vouch for him.

284
00:12:36,363 --> 00:12:39,831
Then it was like okay, um, but
it was difficult, right, because

285
00:12:39,831 --> 00:12:43,047
as a startup, anyone who has a
large book of business as a

286
00:12:43,106 --> 00:12:46,783
seller is typically making
pretty good money and they don't

287
00:12:46,783 --> 00:12:50,201
typically have a huge uh need
to move unless you're going to

288
00:12:50,241 --> 00:12:53,470
offer them more money, and with
a startup, we couldn't offer

289
00:12:53,509 --> 00:12:53,750
that.

290
00:12:53,750 --> 00:12:55,644
I mean, there's, you know,
there's other things you can

291
00:12:55,744 --> 00:12:58,981
offer at a startup, but, um, you
know that's, that's a little

292
00:12:59,022 --> 00:13:00,046
more tricky down the line.

293
00:13:00,046 --> 00:13:03,980
So, um, so we really went after
, like our personal network and

294
00:13:04,000 --> 00:13:07,044
just said you know, if we only
have one shot at this because I

295
00:13:07,085 --> 00:13:10,990
do kind of view it that way A
lot of companies fail early and

296
00:13:11,309 --> 00:13:14,554
you don't know if you ever have
a shot at going out and raising

297
00:13:14,595 --> 00:13:17,302
money and doing it again we only
have one shot at it.

298
00:13:17,302 --> 00:13:18,687
I want to be in the bunker with
people I know are going to do

299
00:13:18,927 --> 00:13:19,909
everything to make sure.

300
00:13:20,821 --> 00:13:23,908
Speaker 1: And that goes right
back to the 300 illustration.

301
00:13:24,429 --> 00:13:27,190
Speaker 2: Yes, yep, no, like
half measures, like if we're

302
00:13:27,230 --> 00:13:30,182
going down, we're all going down
swinging, and I can trust that

303
00:13:30,202 --> 00:13:33,030
that person doesn't need to be
like micromanaged, that they're

304
00:13:33,071 --> 00:13:34,783
out doing whatever they have to
do.

305
00:13:34,783 --> 00:13:36,748
It's not a nine to five anymore
, it's a 12 to 12.

306
00:13:36,748 --> 00:13:40,144
And then you know, as we grow
it, lessons and lessons and

307
00:13:40,183 --> 00:13:43,892
lessons, and um, and we just
nailed I think I do think we

308
00:13:43,951 --> 00:13:44,273
nailed it.

309
00:13:44,273 --> 00:13:49,019
I mean, um, you know, my, our
carrier team lead, ryan Servos,

310
00:13:49,038 --> 00:13:51,505
has been a good friend of mine
for a really long time and he

311
00:13:51,547 --> 00:13:53,942
turned down multiple offers from
other companies when he was

312
00:13:54,003 --> 00:13:56,835
looking to leave Coyote, before
we even had funding.

313
00:13:56,835 --> 00:14:00,647
It's like I will wait, and I
can't tell you how much that

314
00:14:00,687 --> 00:14:03,441
meant to me personally that that
sort of trust was out there and

315
00:14:03,441 --> 00:14:04,543
he's been a rock for us.

316
00:14:04,543 --> 00:14:07,850
And um, you know, we, we have
four carrier reps and they're

317
00:14:07,909 --> 00:14:09,032
all absolute monsters.

318
00:14:09,032 --> 00:14:12,037
And um, they, they were all
from coyote, they were all

319
00:14:12,077 --> 00:14:14,923
people that I knew outside of
our Mexico booking rep, but he's

320
00:14:14,923 --> 00:14:18,732
a beast down there with cross
border and um, but then our

321
00:14:18,779 --> 00:14:22,607
first customer rep was actually
a carrier manager for me at

322
00:14:22,628 --> 00:14:26,442
traffic tech and I just was like
I've seen you on the phone with

323
00:14:26,442 --> 00:14:26,923
customers.

324
00:14:26,962 --> 00:14:30,950
Name's Rob Conard, for anyone
looking for any shippers

325
00:14:30,990 --> 00:14:33,575
listening that are looking for a
salesman who goes above and

326
00:14:33,595 --> 00:14:33,835
beyond.

327
00:14:33,835 --> 00:14:36,610
But I saw him on the phone with
some shippers.

328
00:14:36,610 --> 00:14:39,537
Sometimes I'm like you're so
eloquent, you keep people at

329
00:14:39,658 --> 00:14:39,759
ease.

330
00:14:39,759 --> 00:14:42,308
Have you ever thought about the
other side of the business?

331
00:14:42,308 --> 00:14:45,889
And he's like actually I come
from a family that is in sales

332
00:14:46,000 --> 00:14:47,224
and I have thought about that.

333
00:14:47,224 --> 00:14:50,408
I was like I think you'd be
awesome at it and I'd be willing

334
00:14:50,408 --> 00:14:51,172
to take that risk.

335
00:14:51,172 --> 00:14:53,341
It's like our first sales hire
is not even someone with the

336
00:14:53,361 --> 00:14:55,408
book of business, it's just
someone I think would be really

337
00:14:55,447 --> 00:14:59,102
good in sales and he's our top
sales rep right now.

338
00:14:59,102 --> 00:15:02,628
Like he's, he's done really
well, um, and he will continue

339
00:15:02,648 --> 00:15:07,053
to do well Cause he he really,
you know he works hard and fits

340
00:15:07,073 --> 00:15:08,095
the culture of what we're trying
to do.

341
00:15:13,620 --> 00:15:14,783
Speaker 1: Well, and if you can
see talent, that can be.

342
00:15:14,783 --> 00:15:16,307
That translates to any subject
matter doesn't have to be the

343
00:15:16,326 --> 00:15:16,567
carrier side.

344
00:15:16,567 --> 00:15:18,559
Um, and you're, you're willing
to be creative like that and

345
00:15:18,660 --> 00:15:23,010
just recognize when somebody's
got game, then yeah, they're

346
00:15:23,030 --> 00:15:24,740
going to have your back and
you're going to have theirs and

347
00:15:24,761 --> 00:15:24,981
that's a.

348
00:15:24,981 --> 00:15:27,706
That's a good place to start,
because culture in the beginning

349
00:15:27,706 --> 00:15:30,451
is the thing that holds you
together.

350
00:15:30,451 --> 00:15:31,374
It's not the business.

351
00:15:31,374 --> 00:15:32,745
The business isn't really it.

352
00:15:32,745 --> 00:15:38,847
You have to have belief in
something bigger than just AP

353
00:15:38,889 --> 00:15:39,370
and AR.

354
00:15:40,572 --> 00:15:42,125
Speaker 2: Yeah, I mean
everyone's got to feel like

355
00:15:42,159 --> 00:15:43,586
they're rowing towards something
together.

356
00:15:43,586 --> 00:15:47,188
That's really big for us and
like I can go back to Coyote.

357
00:15:47,188 --> 00:15:49,501
I didn't join right when they
launched.

358
00:15:49,501 --> 00:15:50,144
I keep going to this cause.

359
00:15:50,205 --> 00:15:51,307
It was pretty formative time.

360
00:15:51,307 --> 00:15:55,046
I was there nine years, um, and
saw that company change, like

361
00:15:55,407 --> 00:15:57,410
you know, over the years into
behemoth.

362
00:15:57,410 --> 00:16:00,065
That it was, but they were
already pretty large by the time

363
00:16:00,065 --> 00:16:00,546
I got there.

364
00:16:00,546 --> 00:16:02,620
But everyone there still felt
like they were.

365
00:16:02,620 --> 00:16:06,126
You know, no offense to any CH
Robinson people, but that was

366
00:16:06,147 --> 00:16:06,587
the enemy.

367
00:16:06,587 --> 00:16:08,211
So you're trying to take down
CH.

368
00:16:08,211 --> 00:16:11,504
Everyone felt like they had a
hand in that and at that scale.

369
00:16:11,504 --> 00:16:14,451
I mean I remember when they hit
a billion that still had that

370
00:16:14,511 --> 00:16:14,851
feeling.

371
00:16:14,851 --> 00:16:17,246
It was like man that's
accomplishing something when

372
00:16:17,268 --> 00:16:18,210
there's that sort of culture.

373
00:16:18,210 --> 00:16:21,068
Maybe everyone didn't feel that
way, but I know my teammates

374
00:16:21,109 --> 00:16:23,889
did and we were just one little
part of the org.

375
00:16:23,889 --> 00:16:27,230
So you know we can keep that
going for a while we hire the

376
00:16:27,270 --> 00:16:29,232
right people and everyone's
motivated and happy.

377
00:16:29,232 --> 00:16:33,195
I'd think that you know the
business will keep growing just

378
00:16:33,235 --> 00:16:33,796
based on that.

379
00:16:33,956 --> 00:16:35,937
Speaker 1: You got the right
people well, you know, I spent

380
00:16:35,976 --> 00:16:40,344
12 years at ch right, but I
think I was probably.

381
00:16:40,344 --> 00:16:43,107
I was probably gone by the time
you were competing against them

382
00:16:43,107 --> 00:16:43,889
um.

383
00:16:44,471 --> 00:16:45,374
Speaker 2: It wasn't personal
man.

384
00:16:45,615 --> 00:16:47,375
Speaker 1: No, it's all good,
it's just a different team.

385
00:16:47,375 --> 00:16:49,017
You got a different logo and
different colors.

386
00:16:49,017 --> 00:16:50,436
But yeah, we're playing the
same game.

387
00:16:50,436 --> 00:16:52,677
But now you're in this next
stage.

388
00:16:52,677 --> 00:16:55,777
I'm imagining you're not going
to be able to always hire from

389
00:16:55,837 --> 00:16:59,514
your known network of people and
you have to start thinking

390
00:16:59,554 --> 00:17:03,416
about scale, and that presents a
completely different set of

391
00:17:03,537 --> 00:17:06,042
challenges and opportunities.

392
00:17:06,042 --> 00:17:09,539
So when you start thinking
about how do we double in size

393
00:17:09,599 --> 00:17:11,513
from here, what do you think
you're going to have to do

394
00:17:11,673 --> 00:17:14,171
differently in the next two
years than you've done this

395
00:17:14,311 --> 00:17:14,894
first two years?

396
00:17:15,698 --> 00:17:17,344
Speaker 2: Yeah, definitely
stepping out of that comfort

397
00:17:17,364 --> 00:17:21,336
zone of hiring known quantities
per se.

398
00:17:21,336 --> 00:17:23,961
But I think being in the
industry long enough and you

399
00:17:23,981 --> 00:17:27,758
could probably speak to this too
someone with a background and

400
00:17:27,798 --> 00:17:30,633
we're focused on veteran sellers
just because there's there's a

401
00:17:30,753 --> 00:17:32,279
quicker return there for our
stage.

402
00:17:32,279 --> 00:17:35,531
But, um, they're going to know
someone who knows that person If

403
00:17:35,531 --> 00:17:36,796
they've been around a little
bit.

404
00:17:36,796 --> 00:17:40,153
The industry is huge, but it's
it's really not that big.

405
00:17:40,153 --> 00:17:41,035
It makes sense.

406
00:17:41,035 --> 00:17:43,602
Like normally, we can get
feedback directly on if

407
00:17:43,650 --> 00:17:45,815
someone's a good candidate or
not, or you can get the, you can

408
00:17:45,815 --> 00:17:46,777
get the skinny on someone.

409
00:17:46,777 --> 00:17:49,983
So how you work, how you treat
yourself, how you treat your

410
00:17:50,023 --> 00:17:52,107
teammates, all that stuff it
comes full circle.

411
00:17:52,107 --> 00:17:55,355
And if you're someone who works
really hard and people like you

412
00:17:55,355 --> 00:17:58,642
, they're not shy to say that.

413
00:17:58,642 --> 00:18:00,814
And if you're someone who
treats people bad and you're

414
00:18:00,913 --> 00:18:03,441
you're kind of a loafer who
jumped, who hops around jobs, a

415
00:18:03,480 --> 00:18:07,372
lot, people are pretty quick to
to tell that truth as well.

416
00:18:08,212 --> 00:18:10,434
Speaker 1: Your reputation
follows you, no matter whether

417
00:18:10,454 --> 00:18:12,916
or not you want to acknowledge
it, and it builds for a long

418
00:18:12,977 --> 00:18:13,237
time.

419
00:18:13,237 --> 00:18:14,137
It's not.

420
00:18:14,137 --> 00:18:17,540
I get phone calls from people
that I interacted with 10, 15

421
00:18:17,580 --> 00:18:22,545
years ago and haven't spoken to
much in between, and the things

422
00:18:22,565 --> 00:18:25,527
that they remember from when I
was in my 20s I'm embarrassed by

423
00:18:25,527 --> 00:18:25,527
.

424
00:18:25,527 --> 00:18:31,112
I was a young, cocky guy who
thought he knew everything and

425
00:18:31,132 --> 00:18:32,192
thankfully, you grow out of that
.

426
00:18:32,252 --> 00:18:34,914
Hopefully at some point I did,
At least I think I did.

427
00:18:34,914 --> 00:18:39,097
Can we talk about the
cross-border piece for a minute

428
00:18:39,157 --> 00:18:39,378
too?

429
00:18:39,378 --> 00:18:43,942
That is a obviously growing
segment, but it's also much more

430
00:18:43,942 --> 00:18:47,404
complex and there's different
kinds of risks.

431
00:18:47,404 --> 00:18:51,031
When you were doing your due
diligence and said, okay, that's

432
00:18:51,031 --> 00:18:55,695
what is going to be our core,
that we focus on, what did you

433
00:18:55,776 --> 00:18:59,773
leave out of, like we're just
not going to be a straight

434
00:18:59,835 --> 00:19:03,436
drive-in brokerage, or we're not
going to do this or we're not

435
00:19:03,457 --> 00:19:03,878
going to do that.

436
00:19:03,878 --> 00:19:06,198
This is going to be the thing
that we hang our hat on.

437
00:19:06,198 --> 00:19:10,037
How did you find conviction on
that?

438
00:19:11,950 --> 00:19:14,596
Speaker 2: Well, the easy answer
is partnering with Brian

439
00:19:14,615 --> 00:19:16,579
because he's he knows this.

440
00:19:16,579 --> 00:19:18,873
He knows this area of the
business so well.

441
00:19:18,873 --> 00:19:21,278
I mean, he was one of the first
people helping, you know,

442
00:19:21,298 --> 00:19:25,115
integrate the UPS border
solutions team, uh, with coyote

443
00:19:25,154 --> 00:19:29,722
down there and, you know, having
that long track record of

444
00:19:30,063 --> 00:19:30,845
Mexico knowledge.

445
00:19:30,845 --> 00:19:34,678
Not that, you know,
cross-border is a new thing by

446
00:19:34,738 --> 00:19:36,451
any means, but it's kind of
exploding down there near

447
00:19:36,490 --> 00:19:38,938
shoring with the China trade
tensions for a while, like

448
00:19:38,978 --> 00:19:42,394
people are moving to Mexico and
so more and more companies are

449
00:19:42,454 --> 00:19:45,603
spending time looking into it
and vetting out Mexico and

450
00:19:45,730 --> 00:19:48,144
deciding whether or not they
want to uproot their supply

451
00:19:48,183 --> 00:19:49,810
chain to move resources down
there.

452
00:19:49,810 --> 00:19:54,405
I mean, he's been doing it for
eight years, so we have a little

453
00:19:54,405 --> 00:19:57,717
leg up on connections and
relationships are so important

454
00:19:57,737 --> 00:20:01,250
down there, and so we started
talking about it and doing

455
00:20:01,490 --> 00:20:01,891
research.

456
00:20:01,891 --> 00:20:05,699
And some of this had to do with
I'm building a deck for us, a

457
00:20:05,759 --> 00:20:09,201
nice flashy deck that shows why
you should invest money in us

458
00:20:09,885 --> 00:20:12,296
and it's like, well, we need to
build out why cross-border for

459
00:20:12,336 --> 00:20:14,611
someone who's not in logistics
and doesn't know that well why

460
00:20:14,651 --> 00:20:18,661
this is such a smart decision to
invest and it's going to be a

461
00:20:18,701 --> 00:20:21,355
trillion dollar segment here
soon.

462
00:20:21,355 --> 00:20:23,378
It's just growing year over
year over year over year.

463
00:20:23,378 --> 00:20:27,335
And can you say that about a
lot of segments in society right

464
00:20:27,335 --> 00:20:27,494
now?

465
00:20:27,494 --> 00:20:30,701
Like this is a smart investment
if you know what you're doing,

466
00:20:31,422 --> 00:20:32,284
he knows what he's doing.

467
00:20:34,874 --> 00:20:36,499
I've been able to run large
departments.

468
00:20:36,499 --> 00:20:39,224
When I was at Coyote I had
230-some reps reporting

469
00:20:39,244 --> 00:20:40,150
underneath me at one point.

470
00:20:40,150 --> 00:20:43,940
That was obviously making a lot
of mistakes there throughout

471
00:20:43,960 --> 00:20:44,521
that process.

472
00:20:44,521 --> 00:20:46,814
That sort of scale.

473
00:20:46,814 --> 00:20:48,460
You have to make those mistakes
.

474
00:20:48,460 --> 00:20:49,204
Now I've done that a little bit
.

475
00:20:49,204 --> 00:20:49,660
You have to make those mistakes
.

476
00:20:49,660 --> 00:20:50,134
Now I've kind of done that a
little bit.

477
00:20:50,155 --> 00:20:51,761
And the next challenge is like
growing a company.

478
00:20:51,761 --> 00:20:55,452
But so you know the overseeing
a large team, his Mexico

479
00:20:55,492 --> 00:20:59,362
knowledge, like it married up
really well and we see eye to

480
00:20:59,442 --> 00:21:01,374
eye a lot on how we run around
the business.

481
00:21:01,374 --> 00:21:03,719
So that's been a fruitful thing
as well.

482
00:21:03,719 --> 00:21:07,555
But yeah, it just seemed like
I've mentioned this before.

483
00:21:07,555 --> 00:21:08,237
A lot of people say it.

484
00:21:08,237 --> 00:21:09,540
But there are riches and niches
, right.

485
00:21:09,540 --> 00:21:12,568
Like if you're just a run of
the mill brokerage and you're

486
00:21:12,588 --> 00:21:15,477
just focused on relationships,
that can work because you know

487
00:21:15,497 --> 00:21:16,619
people like to be taken care of.

488
00:21:16,619 --> 00:21:19,075
But if you do something that
not a lot of others do and you

489
00:21:19,095 --> 00:21:19,916
do it better than them.

490
00:21:19,916 --> 00:21:22,711
Well, it's a lot easier sell,
so we wanted to position

491
00:21:22,751 --> 00:21:23,373
ourselves that way.

492
00:21:23,753 --> 00:21:24,194
Speaker 1: I like it.

493
00:21:24,194 --> 00:21:27,160
Speaking of going to Mexico, I
know you're going to Mexico next

494
00:21:27,160 --> 00:21:28,000
week to get married.

495
00:21:28,000 --> 00:21:30,525
First of all, congratulations.

496
00:21:30,730 --> 00:21:31,955
Very very happy for you.

497
00:21:31,955 --> 00:21:39,201
Having a younger business and
your personal life doesn't stop.

498
00:21:39,201 --> 00:21:41,174
It continues, whether you.

499
00:21:41,174 --> 00:21:46,232
You just can't separate the two
sometimes, and I was just

500
00:21:46,292 --> 00:21:49,599
chatting with my good friend,
chris Brewer earlier, and he was

501
00:21:49,599 --> 00:21:53,895
sharing how his superpower is
his wife, and she is who enables

502
00:21:53,895 --> 00:21:57,775
him to be able to do what he
does as an entrepreneur, because

503
00:21:57,775 --> 00:21:58,609
it's a different lifestyle.

504
00:21:58,609 --> 00:21:59,912
It's a whole family affair.

505
00:21:59,912 --> 00:22:07,451
And you're now about to go all
in for a second time, first on

506
00:22:07,531 --> 00:22:11,852
Hoplite and now now on your
future wife, your fiancee, um

507
00:22:13,356 --> 00:22:15,002
how, and you're going to mexico,
of all places.

508
00:22:15,002 --> 00:22:16,409
So that's, that's a great
coincidence.

509
00:22:16,409 --> 00:22:17,432
I just wanted to say
congratulations.

510
00:22:17,432 --> 00:22:18,715
I don't have any questions from
there.

511
00:22:18,715 --> 00:22:21,051
I'm just really happy for you
and I want to share in your,

512
00:22:21,252 --> 00:22:23,579
your celebration no, no, thanks,
man.

513
00:22:23,740 --> 00:22:24,623
Speaker 2: It means a lot.

514
00:22:24,623 --> 00:22:28,435
Um, you know I'm approaching 40
, you know you wonder, are you

515
00:22:28,455 --> 00:22:30,492
going to find the right person,
I guess when you start getting

516
00:22:30,512 --> 00:22:31,055
towards the end.

517
00:22:31,055 --> 00:22:32,439
But she's been awesome.

518
00:22:32,439 --> 00:22:33,060
We had a long.

519
00:22:33,060 --> 00:22:36,442
We've known each other for a
long time but reconnected a few

520
00:22:36,482 --> 00:22:38,490
years ago and it couldn't be
better.

521
00:22:38,490 --> 00:22:40,698
And you talk about, you know,
being a superpower.

522
00:22:40,738 --> 00:22:44,593
She's so supportive of, like
when we were dating I was

523
00:22:44,712 --> 00:22:46,996
spending a month here in
Michigan and then going back to

524
00:22:47,057 --> 00:22:48,939
Chicago for a month because I
didn't want to keep driving back

525
00:22:48,939 --> 00:22:51,403
and forth and like living two
lives, essentially because you

526
00:22:51,423 --> 00:22:54,393
go from she's got a five year
old, so like stepdad kind of

527
00:22:54,413 --> 00:22:57,361
life, to now it's just me and
the dog for a month, to back to

528
00:22:57,381 --> 00:23:00,057
that and it kind of it's kind of
different lifestyles.

529
00:23:00,057 --> 00:23:04,634
You know it's tricky, but yeah,
it's.

530
00:23:04,634 --> 00:23:08,383
It's now that now we're kind of
moving into a more stable piece

531
00:23:08,383 --> 00:23:08,383
.

532
00:23:08,383 --> 00:23:18,113
It's now that now we're kind of
moving into a more stable piece

533
00:23:18,113 --> 00:23:19,395
and you know it's the weddings
this week but it feels like, you

534
00:23:19,395 --> 00:23:20,478
know, things are kind of
already steady in that regard.

535
00:23:20,478 --> 00:23:21,621
So it's, it's a formality, it's
a celebration, but you know

536
00:23:21,641 --> 00:23:23,525
we've we've been together, we've
been living together for almost

537
00:23:23,525 --> 00:23:26,473
a year now, on and off, so it's
it's solid.

538
00:23:26,473 --> 00:23:28,559
She's super supportive of of
Hoplite's growth.

539
00:23:28,559 --> 00:23:31,516
Um, cause, I got to travel all
the time, so you got to have

540
00:23:31,536 --> 00:23:32,378
someone who's okay with that.

541
00:23:33,351 --> 00:23:35,957
Speaker 1: Well, again, I'm very
happy for you and thank you for

542
00:23:35,957 --> 00:23:38,951
making time to do a podcast
right before you get married.

543
00:23:38,951 --> 00:23:42,740
That's commitment to the
business and I also just

544
00:23:42,779 --> 00:23:45,393
personally appreciate it,
because we were supposed to do

545
00:23:45,413 --> 00:23:47,498
this a week ago and I wasn't
feeling well and you were

546
00:23:47,518 --> 00:23:51,477
gracious enough to allow me to
reschedule, so I appreciate it.

547
00:23:51,477 --> 00:23:53,415
What advice would you have?

548
00:23:53,415 --> 00:23:56,854
Last question what advice would
you have to somebody who is

549
00:23:57,335 --> 00:24:01,482
contemplating should I take the
leap or not in this specific

550
00:24:01,522 --> 00:24:01,824
moment?

551
00:24:03,750 --> 00:24:07,377
Speaker 2: If you have that
conviction, like it is something

552
00:24:07,377 --> 00:24:10,584
that is burrowed in you and
will not go away, just do it.

553
00:24:10,584 --> 00:24:15,624
That is the advice, because I
believe strongly that a life

554
00:24:16,165 --> 00:24:18,813
lived where you're always
looking back at what if, is a

555
00:24:18,933 --> 00:24:22,321
very terrible feeling to have
and like, look, maybe this

556
00:24:22,342 --> 00:24:24,915
doesn't work out, maybe a year
from now, like things go belly

557
00:24:24,996 --> 00:24:27,971
up and I'm living in my parents'
basement and the whole family's

558
00:24:27,971 --> 00:24:31,361
down there, but I will look
back and be like I tried it.

559
00:24:31,361 --> 00:24:35,270
Now I know I would hate to have
just kept going down the road I

560
00:24:35,270 --> 00:24:38,219
was going down and which wasn't
a bad one by any means, but I

561
00:24:38,259 --> 00:24:41,394
had that pull and to always
wonder, like man, that was a

562
00:24:41,433 --> 00:24:42,557
great opportunity to do that.

563
00:24:42,557 --> 00:24:45,051
I had this idea like I wonder
what would have happened, and

564
00:24:45,071 --> 00:24:47,275
that sucks, that's, that's a bad
place to be in.

565
00:24:47,275 --> 00:24:52,201
So if you got, if you have the
uh, you have that thought, that

566
00:24:52,241 --> 00:24:55,471
pull, and you have the drive,
just know that, whatever it is,

567
00:24:55,512 --> 00:24:56,213
you can figure it out.

568
00:24:56,816 --> 00:24:57,718
Speaker 1: I love it, figure it
out.

569
00:24:58,019 --> 00:24:59,702
Speaker 2: So yeah, my advice is
just go do it.

570
00:25:00,351 --> 00:25:02,114
Speaker 1: Where can people find
you rich if they want to

571
00:25:02,173 --> 00:25:04,798
connect with you um either
online or through email?

572
00:25:05,881 --> 00:25:07,344
Speaker 2: Yeah, pretty active
on LinkedIn.

573
00:25:07,344 --> 00:25:10,351
That's huge for freight,
obviously, but our website is

574
00:25:10,611 --> 00:25:13,635
shiphoplite H-O-P-L-I-T-Ecom.

575
00:25:13,635 --> 00:25:16,401
We'll respond quickly.

576
00:25:16,401 --> 00:25:20,478
I always love meeting new
people, so that's where to find

577
00:25:20,518 --> 00:25:20,597
me.

578
00:25:21,079 --> 00:25:21,663
Speaker 1: Awesome, rich.

579
00:25:21,663 --> 00:25:24,392
Again, thank you for opening up
and sharing this part of your

580
00:25:24,432 --> 00:25:24,653
journey.

581
00:25:24,653 --> 00:25:29,241
I want to follow up in a couple
of years and before we do this

582
00:25:29,501 --> 00:25:33,655
we'll re-listen to this
conversation and see what the

583
00:25:33,736 --> 00:25:35,420
new learnings and experiences
have been.

584
00:25:35,420 --> 00:25:38,973
But again, congratulations, so
happy for you and your family,

585
00:25:39,836 --> 00:25:41,540
and we're wishing you nothing
but the best.

586
00:25:41,540 --> 00:25:42,310
We're all rooting for you.

587
00:25:42,310 --> 00:25:44,397
Thanks, nate, appreciate it,
man.

588
00:25:44,397 --> 00:25:45,260
Thanks, my friend.

589
00:25:45,260 --> 00:26:03,304
Thanks for listening to another
episode of the Bootstrapper's

590
00:26:03,344 --> 00:26:04,005
Guide to Logistics.

591
00:26:04,005 --> 00:26:04,505
Thanks, my friend.

592
00:26:04,505 --> 00:26:06,906
Entrepreneurs visit
logisticsfounderscom.

593
00:26:06,906 --> 00:26:10,713
And, of course, thank you to
all the founders who trust us to

594
00:26:10,713 --> 00:26:11,478
share their stories.