Ryan Petersen

In their words

At Flexport, we believe that a world that does business together is a better one. Freight forwarding is the $1 trillion industry that functions as the circulatory system of global trade — without freight forwarding, global trade simply wouldn’t exist. The problem is, the freight forwarding industry is antiquated, not customer focused, and definitely not tech savvy. We’re changing all that.

2Ryan Petersen on LinkedInLinkedIn

Experience

Flexport2013 – now

1. CEO2023 – now

   Returned as CEO in September 2023 after Dave Clark left, to focus on growth in the core freight business.6Flexport Founder Ryan Petersen to Return as CEOTransport Topics (Bloomberg News)

2. Executive Chairman2023

   Moved to executive chairman on March 1, 2023.4Flexport founder Ryan Petersen joins venture firm Founders Fund as a partnerTechCrunch

3. Co-CEO2022 – 2023

   Shared the CEO role with Dave Clark for six months after Clark joined on September 1, 2022.5Dave Clark to Join Flexport as Chief Executive OfficerFlexport via PR Newswire

4. Founder and CEO2013 – 2022

   Started Flexport in April 2013 as a licensed customs broker and freight forwarder built around its own software.2Ryan Petersen on LinkedInLinkedIn

Founders Fund2023

1. PartnerJoined July 2023

   Joined to invest as a generalist across stages and industries, based in San Francisco.4Flexport founder Ryan Petersen joins venture firm Founders Fund as a partnerTechCrunch

ImportGenius2006 – 2013

1. Co-founder2006 – 2013

   Co-founded with his brother David and Michael Kanko; the company scanned paper shipping manifests and sold the data to importers and exporters.3How freight master Flexport's Ryan Petersen learned to CEOTechCrunch

Education

Columbia Business School2007 – 2008

MBA; Beta Gamma Sigma, Dean's List and Top Scholar Award2Ryan Petersen on LinkedInLinkedIn

University of California, Berkeley1998 – 2002

BA; studied abroad at universities in Chile and Brazil2Ryan Petersen on LinkedInLinkedIn

Milestones

1. 2005Moved to China to be closer to supply chains3How freight master Flexport's Ryan Petersen learned to CEOTechCrunch
2. 2006Co-founded ImportGenius with David Petersen and Michael Kanko3How freight master Flexport's Ryan Petersen learned to CEOTechCrunch
3. 2008Came up with the idea for Flexport with his brother while running ImportGenius4Flexport founder Ryan Petersen joins venture firm Founders Fund as a partnerTechCrunch
4. Apr 2013Founded Flexport2Ryan Petersen on LinkedInLinkedIn
5. 2014Flexport went through Y Combinator's Winter 2014 batch1FlexportY Combinator
6. 2019SoftBank's Vision Fund invested $1 billion in Flexport at a $3.2 billion post-money valuation3How freight master Flexport's Ryan Petersen learned to CEOTechCrunch
7. Feb 2022Flexport raised a $935 million Series E led by Andreessen Horowitz and MSD Partners, at a post-money valuation of over $8 billion5Dave Clark to Join Flexport as Chief Executive OfficerFlexport via PR Newswire
8. Jun 2022Flexport named Dave Clark, then CEO of Amazon's Worldwide Consumer business, as its next CEO5Dave Clark to Join Flexport as Chief Executive OfficerFlexport via PR Newswire
9. Mar 2023Became Flexport's executive chairman4Flexport founder Ryan Petersen joins venture firm Founders Fund as a partnerTechCrunch
10. May 2023Flexport agreed to buy Shopify's logistics unit in exchange for a 13% stake in Flexport6Flexport Founder Ryan Petersen to Return as CEOTransport Topics (Bloomberg News)
11. Jul 2023Joined Founders Fund as a partner4Flexport founder Ryan Petersen joins venture firm Founders Fund as a partnerTechCrunch
12. Sep 2023Returned as Flexport's CEO as Dave Clark left after about a year6Flexport Founder Ryan Petersen to Return as CEOTransport Topics (Bloomberg News)

Skills

• Entrepreneurship
• Start-ups
• Market Research
• Business Strategy
• Strategic Planning
• Business Development
• Public Relations
• Marketing
• Online Advertising
• Sales
• CRM
• Lean Startup
• SEO
• Business Planning