Oren Zaslansky – Founder and CEO of Flock Freight

Oren is the founder and CEO of Flock Freight, a company bringing game-changing software to the freight industry. Flock Freight provides better prices to shippers, fuller loads and better profits for freight carriers, all while reducing carbon emissions for the planet. Oren is an incredible leader and blue-flame thinker tackling tough problems and making the world a better place. You will love the way he thinks and his approach to life.

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• Oren is a graduate of California State University at Long Beach & Harvard Business School
  • Young President’s Organization (YPO) member
• Marc Andreessen “Software is eating the world!”
• Flock Freight – “We are building an enormous tech stack and incredible cutting-edge technology business while building a best-in-class freight block – algorithmic ride-sharing of freight.” https://www.flockfreight.com/about-us/
• 50% of the semi-trailers on the road are only 50% full. This is wasteful of space and increases carbon emissions to move cargo.
• Terminal-free or hubless shipping to move cargo across the country.
• Key performance indicators in the freight industry.
  • On-time pick up
  • On-time delivery
  • Damage
  • Transit time
  • Loss/theft
• (9:45) HBS Professor Francis Frei – Three Wedges of Business
  • Customer Delight
  • Supplier Surplus
  • Profits for the Firm
• Flock Freight is the only Certified B-Corporation in the freight industry!
• It is important to be environmentally AND financially sustainable
• (18:00) Is deflation coming to the freight industry?
• Transportation as an industry is $7 Trillion globally and $1 Trillion in the US
• (20:50) How does Oren pivot and tackle the challenges of entrepreneurship while dealing with the stress of the job?
• “It is better to expect that you will have to chew glass daily!”
• “Because it is hard it is worth doing! Don’t expect hard things to be easy.”
• (27:00) Why is it important to have close friends, confidants, mentors, and coaches around you on your journey to help you?
• (29:00) “Business is like middle school.”
• (33:00) What is it like to navigate an 18-month near-death experience for his business?
• (39:00) What is it like to have big outside investors like Softbank, Google Ventures, GLP, and Signal Fire as investors in your company?
• (49:00) Why is it important to wear your values on your sleeve as a leader and CEO?
• (50:40) Why does Oren invest so much in continuing education?
  •  Why I started vs. Why I stayed.
  • “I loved it because I felt safe.”
• (1:04:00) How can society come together to communicate better and see different points of view?
  • Be conscious about the world around us
  • Be thoughtful about others’ viewpoints and perspectives
  • “99% of the world is the same…we all want to live in peace and raise our families in peace and prosperity.”
  • As you move up Maslow’s Hierarchy of needs, you are able to have different types of conversations.
• (1:11:45) What is coming down the pike with technology advancements, AV (autonomous vehicles) and how will this impact the economy?
  • Upwards of 2.5m truck drivers could lose their jobs over time
  • Creative destruction in all industries are changing jobs and careers across many sectors…causing “career migration or career immigrants”
• (1:22:00) We love our truck drivers!
• “It’s hard…Let’s do it!”
• “The benefit of being a for-profit is we are sustainable! You can do well by doing good.”
• Book Recommendations
  • Mornings on Horse Back – David McCullough
  • War and Peace – Leo Tolstoy
  • Washington – Ron Chernow
  • Hamilton – Rob Chernow
• (1:25:00) Why Oren is reading historical biographies of leaders
• “They were people who worked on big things with a lot of purpose behind what they did and many times were reluctant but they felt called and felt compelled into service.”
• “I’ve been filling up my tank on people doing hard things!”
• Final Question: If you had the ability to give a state of the union address to the American people what would you say?