Latest / Exit Algorithms / Combat Veteran to Freight Broker: AI, Trust & Scaling Smart | Ted Fyock (#47)
Transcript
- speaker-0: Welcome to exit algorithms, the podcast where we decode what it really takes to unlock growth, streamline operations, and prepare your business for a high value exit. I'm your host Pete Vera. And today I'm excited to bring on Ted Fajok as my guest. He's a combat veteran turned Deloitte consultant turned founder and CEO of a tech enabled freight brokerage, Carolina expressways. Ted so excited to have you, man. Welcome to the show. speaker-1: Yeah, no, I really appreciate you having me on. I'm looking forward to the conversation. speaker-0: Yeah, absolutely. Yeah, do you mind starting off and share your background and your career journey and what led you to Carolina Expressways? speaker-1: mean, I think ⁓ start, it was a very circuitous way to get to ⁓ and freight. right out of college, I commissioned as a second lieutenant in the army as an armor officer. So for folks that don't know, that's tanks and mechanized ⁓ reconnaissance. And specifically what I did. And while I was in the military, ⁓ just because ⁓ are a resource intensive ⁓ piece of equipment and just takes a lot to them. Kind of dual-hatted as a logistics officer. So both stateside and then overseas had a lot of experience with moving large freight and which got to a decision point. My wife and I had kind of geographically separated while You know, I was training in the field all the time and then deployed. Uh, we finally met back up in the Washington DC area and decided to get out and went directly to Deloitte consulting where I had a 12 year career, uh, before I left recently to, start Carolina expressways. But, uh, my time at Deloitte was, I would say a very educational. you know, ⁓ experience one coming directly from the military. think that a lot of veterans deal with acclimation to society, if you will. ⁓ ⁓ you know, what are they? I call I call Deloitte like my first real job. And, you know, ⁓ those I'll take with me for the rest of my life. And I think really, you know, position me well for starting, you ⁓ a logistics business. In particular, we're brokering free commercially and ⁓ the process of standing up our ⁓ federal contracting business. speaker-0: Yeah, no, that's awesome. Were there any, you know, skills you learned during the military that have kind of carried forward throughout your career so far? speaker-1: Yeah, that's a great question. Army really provided a real ⁓ foundation for a lot of things. And I think in particular, what comes to mind and ⁓ would to dive into is leadership being of first and foremost is kind of like a hallmark skill. Like it doesn't matter ⁓ what rank position you hold. Like everybody's a leader. or is expected to be a leader in the Army. At least ⁓ my experience. second is problem solving. I think that being able to think critically and solve problems when a lot of different variables are changing at a moment's notice ⁓ is a important skill, especially in the business world. And I think the ⁓ Army did a great job at least molding me into a leader that was able to kind of think, think on my feet, but maybe not necessarily have the full operating picture, but still be able to make a decision ⁓ execute and then ultimately accomplish a mission. So that, I think those are the core elements that really, I took forward with me and kind of continue to hone and refine during my time at Deloitte. speaker-0: Definitely. Yeah, it makes a lot of sense. Making decisions under pressure, cool. Yeah, ⁓ leadership piece, especially as you're building your company, ⁓ speaker-1: Yeah, I mean, there's no sense in getting, I mean, I think a lot of people would characterize my persona as calm, easygoing kind of ⁓ I think thrive kind high environments. It just ⁓ seems to be kind of I excel at. I am not the kind of person that could sit in a cubicle and kind of do monotonous work for eight hours a day. That's just not my cup of tea, but ⁓ like fast-paced, dynamic environments. I think everything that I've done thus far has really exhibited speaker-0: Definitely. Yeah, I feel you there. Not destined for a desk job. Despite many hours I spend in front of it. ⁓ speaker-1: Yeah, but it's a different kind of desk work. I think like the mental challenges and just being able to ⁓ problems day in, day out, I think really what keeps me coming back to it. speaker-0: sure. Yeah, let's talk Carolina Express ways. So you're based in DC. How did you come up with that name? speaker-1: the interesting, you know, story of how we came up with Carolina Expressway. So my wife and I, ⁓ lived in the same neighborhood and the Piedmont region of North Carolina. our folks are still, in, in Winston Salem and Pinehurst, North Carolina respectively. And while we were raised there, for most of our lives and my wife was born there, and we still have very strong roots. ⁓ we wanted to bring that forward. ⁓ even though we were kind of transplants to the Northern Virginia area. we back and forth between Virginia and North Carolina. So we felt it was okay to kind of continue to call that heritage. But yeah, Expressways is kind of our roots ⁓ and where came from. So we wanted to bring that forward regardless of ⁓ where we geographically located. speaker-0: Got it. Yeah, that makes a lot of sense. got a ring to it too. ⁓ than DC Expressways or something. speaker-1: I, that wouldn't have been my first choice, but, the real answer to the question was we were sitting on the beach in North Carolina at the outer banks for a annual family vacation. And, know, after several hours of going back and forth, that's what we landed on. And we just kept it. So. speaker-0: There you go. Yeah, that's awesome. I'm sure you service freight through the Carolinas. speaker-1: We Actually, we broke quite a bit of freight moving. I would say... ⁓ across continental United States. But ⁓ ⁓ or less specialize in freight moving across the Eastern seaboard, kind of originating from North Carolina, Virginia, Georgia, South Carolina. So it's a mid-Atlantic South and then to the Midwest, all over Midwest. So we ⁓ have a expansive territory for just several months on our belt and with approximately. 20 clients currently. we are ⁓ expanding and looking to expand westward. speaker-0: Man, that's exciting. Awesome. Just, yeah, you know, several months, right? About, yeah, how has that process been for you? Is there anything, you know, harder than you might have expected? speaker-1: absolutely. it, the process of starting a business from, think ideation, mean, like ⁓ idea coming up with the idea for a business, you know, I wouldn't say it's easy. but I think ⁓ once decide on, you know, Hey, this is, this is our, our, our business case. and you more or less a hypothesis at that point until you start executing, ⁓ but you That was, it took some time, even I would say while I was still at Deloitte, we were having kind of informal conversations and as time progressed, those matured and became a little more firm. And then once we decided to execute it was kind of foot on the gas. But I think it's been a eye-opening experience, one being a founder that has been big business experience. It's a little bit different being founder at a startup and with a few employees instead of having large teams with unlimited resources. I think ⁓ that has the biggest and it's ⁓ required us to intentional about what we do, work smarter and not harder. and really just making intelligent decisions that are going to be profitable for the business and provide us with some longevity. I mean, we are. We are at the point now where we're in a phase where we want to start to aggressively scale. And I would say exponentially, but that also is an intentional scaling kind of process. But. ⁓ speaker-0: Yeah, what does that look like over the next five, ten years even? speaker-1: I so I do. It's interesting you bring that up because scaling for us is perhaps a little bit different, at least on the freight brokerage side. One, with the of AI and kind of its permeating, you know, the freight logistics industry kind of slowly, but surely I think you're you're largely going see in the future ⁓ very small brokerage that are that are supported by AI. They have the systems and the processes in place. And ⁓ it's a force multiplier. And I think our goal is we want to scale both from a revenue standpoint, but maybe not necessarily a headcount standpoint. There's a number of use cases out there currently where there's folks that ⁓ very large brokerage businesses. Either they're running them single-handedly or they have a core set of employees. So I think success for us scaling is how small can we stay without having to bring on more personnel, ⁓ employee help support operations. speaker-0: Yeah, no, I think you're 100 % right on that. Keep it lean, right? And ride the wave of AI and technology. speaker-1: Yeah, I mean, I think you're seeing a lot of that. I mean, even external to afraid logistics. mean, you can you look at any of the big four consultancies a lot of other industries. are rapidly downsizing they're being ⁓ very candid saying, know, AI is not maybe not necessarily replacing the human being, but the expectation is that. you can double output. So a single person removing that overhead just provides more profitability, which ⁓ a capitalist at heart, so I understand that. But as a small business owner, I don't think we would be where we're at today and been able to achieve what we've been able to achieve thus far without some those tools and solutions, ⁓ in AI. speaker-0: Yeah, yeah, for sure. was it? ⁓ talk AI in a second, but how it getting your your client your first clients? I imagine it did it help already kind of being, you know, ⁓ familiar with agencies and ⁓ having that status? speaker-1: Yeah, so we on our contracting side of the house, we were in the process of teaming with some existing large federal contractors in the DC area. we have a pretty pipeline, so we're aggressively pursuing a number of opportunities within the next 12 months. And so we expect to be successful there. But on the. on getting our first client on the freight broker side, it's a slog. mean, getting first, that first means the world to ⁓ it means the to both my ⁓ family because ⁓ means that ⁓ something is working we're moving in the right direction. it's like, while it's one metric, it's you start to see that the process works. or you understand what you need to do differently. And I think we quickly what do we need to do ⁓ differently start acquiring more customers. And I think that just led into more differentiation within the market and trying to penetrate it as rapidly we can. I think we've been successful there. speaker-0: Gotcha. Yeah. What does differentiation look like? speaker-1: Yeah, I mean, I think you have to kind of back up a minute to really look at freight, the freight and logistics industry. I mean, there is, you know, a fraud, organized crime epidemic where it has turned the market. I would, you know, industry players against one another. So brokers don't trust brokers. Shippers don't trust brokers. Carriers don't trust brokers and vice versa like it. Nobody trusts anybody. And so being a newcomer on the street, really, it is chips are stacked against you. Nobody wants to allow you to factor. Thankfully, we were able, a great position to where ⁓ we're partnered with great factoring company that ⁓ took us on. So can start building ⁓ business credit. It doesn't matter ⁓ my personal credit score it's I pay those carriers? And a lot of carriers don't ⁓ necessarily trust you until you've had know, several months under your belt and have some business experience behind you, at least in the industry. So it's being able to, to manage a really capital intensive business upfront. And think we have been successful in overcoming some of those hurdles, but it wasn't easy. speaker-0: Sure, yeah, I imagine. speaker-1: But I mean, I think, but to my point of like the differentiation is we wanted to differentiate ourselves. Like while we were, we call ourselves a tech enabled brokerage, we're really a people first business. I mean, I think a lot of people call, you know, we like to call our, our shippers and carriers, our clients. They, we're in the business of trying to establish long-term relationships that's mutually beneficial. And I think that is what I learned very early on as a kid whose parents had their own businesses, but specifically at Deloitte where, you know, those relationships really make or break your business. They'll help you weather through the storms. And so we're, we, we front load and we are very overt about, you know, pushing clients as the, as the kind driving force behind our business. ⁓ We are not transactional and we will say so and you know, think that there's something to be said for because we're not transactional there's really a Shipper broker fit that really needs to happen. So we want to work with people that want to work with us and our values And so I think a lot of people can get discouraged really quickly, you know Coming into this perhaps not with a lot of experience in it. I think you just have to kind of Keep your head down, put one foot in front of the other and it gets better. speaker-0: Yeah, yeah, yeah. Well said. And it's interesting, know, yeah, freight brokering, the, you know, the industry in general is very relationship driven. I've talked to a few people, I went to a TIA conference last year, and I was like, like, I was initially thinking, don't load boards potentially replace freight brokers. But as I got to know, you know, the industry a little better, it's like, No, you know, there's still got to be that human interaction at this stage anyways. speaker-1: There's a great book that was ⁓ written about Alan Lund who was a, you know, essentially started off in freight brokerage business back, you know, many, many years ago and he's since passed. But his family kind of is continuing the Alan Lund brokerage business. But would say a massive percentage of that book was focused on relationships. Relationships with your carriers, taking care of your carriers, taking care of your clients or customers. being that was, and I read quite, quite a lot and, ⁓ know, that perspective from somebody who then went on to, to found, you know, ⁓ found TIA, which has been enormously helpful for myself. and I many other new brokers, but I would say relationships, relationships, relationships. mean, you just, just know it's hands or butt. It's all about. those relationships and they're going to make or break you. speaker-0: Yeah, definitely. And serving your customers well. Yeah, how are you using technology? I saw you have a proprietary tech right called Network Forge. Can you talk a little bit about that? speaker-1: Yeah, this is kind of the evolution of our business. And while we've been talking a lot about our freight brokered business, we are kind of rapidly into a logistics firm. Network Forge was kind of a concept of ⁓ looking ⁓ other in the market, ⁓ freight waves, being one of them, great ⁓ platform, provides lot of information. Network Forge was an opportunity for us to differentiate and plug some of the gaps in terms of predictive intelligence then also being able to ⁓ a solution ⁓ some degree for a particular client ⁓ ⁓ a backbone for some, ⁓ some of our advisory consulting and manage logistics services. we are ⁓ becoming, would say not even ⁓ you know, providing a SaaS solution, but we're starting to become more of a afraid of logistics data, you know, company. And that is, ⁓ know, rapidly taking shape. you we're offering as service right now. And we're iterating on, you know, a few different permutations of that. And I think really over the next 12 months, we're, you know, we're getting good customer, you know, feedback. client feedback and we'll be continuing to refine and hone that. So we're looking forward to kind of rolling that out as perhaps more of a solution in the very near future. speaker-0: Got it. Wow, that's awesome. Yeah, are you using like AI in that or in any other part of your business? imagine it's, yeah, there's, especially with that data, it makes sense to use AI, of course, right? speaker-1: Yeah. And I, you know, of course having, you know, some of that experience coming from the consulting world, um, you know, I wasn't kind of like stepping to this blind blindly. Um, I think with the, with AI today and what, you know, what I've been able to accomplish and didn't focus on our team. I mean, we were able to put together, you know, an MVP pretty quickly. mean, rapidly prototype. ⁓ setting up data lakes. There's a vast amount of data and information out there. So have been able to make a lot of strides because of AI. ⁓ We at the point where we're ⁓ building kind of development team so that we can start to kind of ensure that we're in keeping with industry best practices. the good thing is that it's deployable now and we're ready to service. service clients as needed with that solution. speaker-0: Yeah, wow, that's exciting. So you kind of had an insider look into applying it a little bit. speaker-1: I wouldn't say, maybe an insider's view, but definitely not. I would characterize it as, I definitely knew enough to be dangerous, like jack of all trades, kind of position. But yeah, we're really looking forward to continuing to mature that and roll it out more broadly. speaker-0: Definitely. Yeah. And I always ask, guess this too. Where do you see AI shaping your industry, freight and logistics over the next few years? speaker-1: Yeah, I think that's a great question. If you ⁓ anything in the freight and logistics news sphere, you don't have to go very far before you hit an article that's talking about AI. And I think a lot of the industry associations definitely pushing broader expansion and adoption of of those technologies. And I think based on our prior conversation and just clue the audience in is being somewhat of an outsider looking in the freight and logistics industry, to say that it's archaic, but there's been slow adoption, I think, with AI ⁓ other technologies that would ⁓ be table stakes and others. And so I think there's a lot of opportunity. ⁓ it's really AI is going to be one of those things where it's just like you either have it or you're ⁓ going to be competitive. And maybe that's OK for for somebody else's business, but for ours. And I think, you know, I'm probably in like-minded and share this perspective is, you know, AI is going to be able to allow us as a business to grow, expand, service our clients in the way that they expect and perhaps in ways that they don't. And so it's over delivering for them. And the only way to do that, I think now, Like simply cannot. achieve all that I am achieving on a daily basis without AI. Not that I totally rely upon it and I get thinks for me. The inputs are just as important as those outputs. And I think AI, unless you have systems and processes in place, it can be kind of a, you don't know what you're gonna get. And I think you can run into trouble there. But I think if you put all the red guardrails and you're thinking about how it how you use it for your particular business and every business is different, even freight brokerages, one is not like the other. I think, you know, it's ⁓ And I definitely think over the next, you know, even several months, year, we're gonna see a much broader adoption. speaker-0: Yeah, definitely. I agree on every point you said. Definitely. ⁓ logistics industry is kind of notorious for being laggard in adopting new technology. AI is no exception to that. speaker-1: Yeah, I think it's also an opportunity for us to really discover and gain efficiencies. Like how do we optimize a small business, but being able to ⁓ a lot of impact? do we drive more impact and what's going to help us? And whether it's AI or not, I we are eyes wide and looking for that next tool that we can kind of put into our quiver and help. speaker-0: Definitely. Yeah, yeah, absolutely. I love what you said too. You know, it does, it takes time to learn AI. You got to have the guardrails up. can't just autopilot and you know, fire and forget. speaker-1: I wow, I think the new thing now is OpenClaw. And so the discussion like whether OpenClaw is, dangerous is it to deploy that on your computer? I think there's a lot of ⁓ great and solutions. mean, AI is kind of ubiquitous, kind of it's a big tent. So like drilling down into like specifically what you're using it for and the use case, I think is really ⁓ what matters the end of the day. ⁓ I would wholeheartedly for other small business owners if you're not using it. ⁓ Go learn. necessarily jump right in. Learn. And learn by doing and putting your hands on it and getting a feel for it and see how it can help your business. Maybe it can. ⁓ Maybe won't. So yeah, I think it's huge. ⁓ speaker-0: Definitely. Yeah, start small. takes time to learn how to use it. If you just use it as a Google search engine, you're not going to get much value out of it. But if you learn that you teach it how to respond in a way that you want, it's an iterative process. ⁓ speaker-1: I would be so bold in the next, like if I'm looking in my, you know, my crystal ball, think it's not a, like, should you use it or should you not? And I know I kind of advocated for like, maybe it's good for your business or not. I mean, those are ultimately decisions that a business owner and their team has to make. But for us, I mean, I see it as like, if there's to be an expectation just from an output standpoint ⁓ that clients customers are just going to require in the future. And the only way you're going be able to do that is leveraging some of these AI capabilities. speaker-0: Yeah, well said. Definitely agree. Well, Ted, it's been an amazing conversation. I we're coming up on time here. What's last question here? What's one practical takeaway you could give to business owners trying to tighten up their freight and logistics operations? speaker-1: Yeah, I, is a great question. ⁓ any, any business it is, this isn't even technology focused, like throw technology to the wind for this, but manage know where your is going. when you start a business there, there is so, you be inundated with ⁓ buying every ⁓ widget out there. Take your time, evaluate, don't make, you know, rush unless you have to, but manage your expenses, know where your money's going and save it ⁓ and put in the treasury for a rainy day when you need to deploy it. speaker-0: Smart. Well said. Great way to end it, Ted. Thank you so much for all the insight today. It's been an incredible conversation. listeners find you easiest. speaker-1: Yeah, listeners can find, I'm very active on LinkedIn, Ted Fiyok, T-E-D-F-Y-O-C-K, and then ⁓ www.carolinaexpressways.com. Come check us out, love to have conversation with you. speaker-0: Awesome, I'll leave that in the show notes. Thanks, Ted. speaker-1: All right, Pete, thanks so much.