¶ Logistics Entrepreneurship and Cultural Impact
Well , hello everybody and welcome to the first ever live episode of the Bootstrappers Guide to Logistics , live from Chattanooga at the Freight Waves F3 event . Thank you all for being here . I'm your host , nate Schuth .
This is the show that we highlight founders building companies in the supply chain space the toughest industry in the world and we're doing it to highlight the ones who build companies the way that doesn't get a lot of attention Bootstrapped .
So I am super excited today to get to introduce our guest and my friend , roberto Icaza , who's the president and co-founder of RapidO Solutions Group in Mexico .
Roberto , good afternoon . It's good to see you again . Thanks , nate , it feels great to be here . I'm part of the first live show . It's exciting .
So let's start with a little bit of your background on . How did you begin to learn logistics in the first place ?
Yeah , I think like a lot of people , Nate , I would say probably most people here at this conference probably fell into it by accident and in my case , looking back to college , I was looking for a summer internship and one of my fraternity brothers told me hey , my dad's a logistics company in Chicago . It's fast growing .
They're looking for summer interns You're interested in applying .
At that time I didn't know anything about tracking logistics or anything like that .
That person was Andrew Silver in that company in the society of logistics . So at that time I think , talking about 2010 or so and at that time it was still a little bit of the underdog . They weren't the brand that everyone knows now and they had just landed a high-end game account .
And one week into my internship I got a crack order for logistics and I got thrown into what was the most high-profile account and it was really a great learning experience . I think .
if you all know Chris Pickett .
He's now the CCO of Flock , or he's the one that was really responsible for bringing that in and Nate .
I remember it like yesterday I mean we're talking about 13 years ago , during my internship , he pulled me into a room and he's like I want to give you an explanation of how we sold this to the customer and in many ways it seemed like he was giving me what now considered the Pickett curve , six years before it happened .
And that's really when I think I became barely enamored in the industry and really fell in love with it , and I was just so right for disruption and a lot of my peers at that time were going into consulting and different things like that where I really saw an opportunity to do something differently and fast forward .
After my internship , went back there for a full-time job and got exposed to right away the Mexico side of the logistics operation . So for me I was bilingual . It kind of was the natural fit . There weren't many bilingual people at that time , so jumped right into that and for me it was so interesting to even see that .
I'd be working with load planners in Tijuana and in 20 miles over the border of San Diego , and it was such a different way of doing business and communicating and the way that you would develop relationships .
So I was just learning so much about the inner working with the supply chain , working more on the transportation and management side , and not so much that the true brokerage I was more interested in learning a little bit more about how we could optimize the supply chain .
How we could work with these different kinds of emergency and help them become more efficient , much more than just the typical , not been wrong with it . But the pick up , deliver invoice next . I really wanted to understand better the full kind of side of the supply chain .
So , yeah , that was really kind of what got me into it , Nate , and then like I said I was exposed to so much of the Mexico operation .
Eventually there was a need to build out a Mexico business unit , so I helped open Coyote's first office in Guadalajara and I was traveling back and forth and eventually they asked me to relocate as an expat .
So I moved down there to help expand our operation , open another small office in Monterey , and it was continuing to learn more and more about not only logistics but international logistics , something that I really loved .
So there's a lot of folks that I talk to on a weekly basis that reach out and they tell versions of the same story .
I've got a full-time job .
I've been working in the industry for a long time , but I have an idea that I really want to pursue that it's totally novel and never been done , or I see a problem that's out there and I think I could do it better or differently than others that are tackling that same problem .
So is there a moment where you knew what you wanted to work on was going to be the pension for the next five , ten , fifteen years of your life , or that Switch just flip for you into I want to be an entrepreneur .
It's funny when .
I when .
I moved down actually to help open this office in Mexico . I had plans to do a side hustle of actually starting at the Keele brand ?
Okay , that was something different show .
Let's go there . Very different , where I thought you know what you know , I know the logistics side of it , something I like . The thing with the Keele enthusiast and I really thought there was an Opportunity there was at the time when it was growing quickly realized about a celebrity master is probably a little bit challenging .
But again , I had moved down there and what I was seeing really early on I was fully immersed in living . There is that are people in Guadalajara . We're doing the same exact thing , if not better , than the people I had in Chicago and and funny , I think you interviewed him last year- actually my business partner , danny Frisco .
This original idea of Robbido was kind of what he thought of . We didn't really know each other . A lot of people think we were good friends before this and we didn't know each other at all .
We briefly kind of had quanes at Coyote , but his wife actually made the connection he calls me one day out of the blue is like hey , I'm thinking about this idea .
I want to do it in Mexico .
I know you're living there . How about you help me ?
consult me see if we can do something that fast forward .
We , he flew down and again , I barely know Danny this time and I said you know what ?
Let's do a quick lunch . I'm gonna have some plans later that evening and what started off as initially this is gonna be a quick lunch turned into , you know , four or five hour dinner .
Our lunch is to say and we really started talking about what the vision could be , what the type of a culture we wanted to be with that true north star , always being people first , and I remember we're at that launch , the way they're just bringing napkins .
We're writing different ideas down and in my head it's like you know he's really trying to sell me to do this with him . He wanted someone I could do it on the Mexico side of him staying the US and it was at that moment Now that you asked me that right and you . After that will start out to be a one-hour lunch turned into a 12-hour day .
Definitely some liquid inspiration , the waves to kill the thing with that nature , but you know again .
I just remember that I woke up the next day and you know what .
This could be a really good partnership , and this is something that you know . I don't take a chance now and there's nothing wrong with that . But you know . I just want to keep doing that date I knew what it was gonna be the killer brand or a staffing company ?
I didn't know what it was me , but I knew that there was something that I wanted to do and at the time I'm just fortunate in a sense that I Could take a little bit more risk . I didn't have a family or anything like that , so you know , that's where I really knew and took that leap of faith into the entrepreneurial journey .
Well , you might be able to not , you're afraid , famous . We might be able to get a tequila brand started . So we're gonna look for an answer from the audience , if we're if we can draw big enough crowd . Maybe you can have that dream too . I Know that Latin American business culture is something that you're extremely passionate about and , as the son of .
First-generation immigrants to America . Those two story lines are connected for you . Can you unpack for me what is it that you're trying to do this beyond the staffing and beyond the industry ? What impact are you trying to have and how did you get to that place in your own personal story to care about it so much ?
Yeah , it's a great question and I've thought a lot of interest passion about this , because just to give you a little bit about that story Both my parents immigrated to the US from Nicaragua , small country in Central America , and they left the US because there was a revolution going on in civil war .
¶ Building a Company, Giving Back
My mom was in jeopardy of being drafted into the army . My grandfather was a target of the government . My dad had a small arcade texture business at the time and they completely just took it over .
So of all places that they were able to get out , and landed in our Michigan , so I grew up in the Midwest but always had that connection to Nicaragua , was going back and forth and something that they always had a plan to move back and I think it didn't took me a while for me to really realize that they made that ultimate sacrifice to not move back , go
back to the comfort of seeing family and it was really starting over in the US to give my siblings , myself a lot of my aunts and uncles to the same my cousins , to give us that opportunity and that , that cliche American dream .
But you know , fast forward throughout my childhood and something that I always saw Nate was , despite living in the US and establishing roots there , they were always very set on giving back and they got very involved in actually doing medical mission trips to Nicaragua and Actually helps set up a free child's clinic in Nicaragua , and I was actually really fortunate to
actually be able to go on one of those trips while I was in high school .
Much different when I went to those trip to Nicaragua . Usually was to go to the beaches the family .
So it was a really life-changing and almost perspective changing parapermenates .
And I remember I went there to serve as the translator for the doctors and I was sneak away to go play with the kids and and there was this one girl in that date and her name's Kendra , and I remember I mean it's 17 years ago , I still remember this where we would sit it down , we would do math problems and she would come back the next day and show me
everything that we had taught . And she was so You're a little more and it always kind of stuck with me , left that lasting impression that you , if you give these type of people this opportunity that they don't have , it's an amazing to see that a dedication and a pattern that they have .
And after that trip I think something triggered me where I knew I always wanted to not only give back to the people , but give back to the community in Latin America . For me is something that I'm so passionate about . Not only gives me my roots , it's like a culture full of life . Passion is something that I always knew I was .
My dream was to do something at the intersection of the US and Latin America and use my understanding of both cultures and that passion to want to give back .
And it's crazy to hear I am on stage with you now talking about a company I built and my parents made that sacrifice to give me that American dream , that American dream full circle .
let me the opening of a company in Latin America and creating jobs for people in Mexico , having a social impact and giving opportunities to a group of people that know the fourth-year reality , not only in Mexico and Latin America . They a lot of countries that face political unrest , security issues , very toxic work cultures .
So I really thought it was an awesome opportunity now to give back to people , but also give them an opportunity to give them a work culture where we could have radically changed the way that people think about what a people first culture looks like in Latin America .
So , yeah , when you're asking like that . It's kind of crazy to see the full circle .
But it's been a dream come true .
I also know that the journey of entrepreneurship is anything but a straight line . It's a roller coaster . There's tons of ups and downs , and you're in year four , five yeah so in February four years .
So when you ?
think five years down the road or 10 years down the road , do you have a vision in your mind of what do you hope to accomplish in the industry alongside with what do you hope to accomplish in Latin America culture , and how do you be patient to let that happen ?
You know , it's interesting to think about it today because I think , like a lot of entrepreneurs , there is sometimes that imposter syndrome and I think next year we're planning to be over a thousand plus people and a lot of people ask you know what's next , you know exactly how you're going to do it with , and then the honest answer , and something I've come to
terms with and I'm okay with is I don't know exactly that answer , but I think that's okay , and when we're thinking ahead for what's ? for the next five , 10 years .
I'm thinking more about the next one year , three years and we each day and having that mentality where I want to surround myself with the best of the best and make sure that we're going to get there .
But it's going to be a marathon , it's not going to be a sprint , and a lot of that does lead to having a good plan , making sure that our sales team and everything is there because we can have this whole business plan . That looks great business systems .
But the only way to justify that is having sales to prove that .
So I think it's . You know there's not that direct path where we know we want in five , 10 years , but I think for me it's really been able to understand what I do know . It's fine surrounding myself with a great team and making sure that we are fanatically consistent and disciplined in what we know .
You know , I like to call it our hedgehog concept , that idea of all right . There's kind of three different pillars to that . It's what your economic engine understanding , what that is , what are you passionate about and what do you best ? Better than the best of the world ?
And where those ?
three pillars kind of clash in that inner circle if you stay fanatically consistent and disciplined in there , I think , whatever you have planned for the next couple of years . We're going to achieve it and I have no doubt about it . So you have to adapt constantly as well as an entrepreneur , versus having a day job .
What advice would you give to those who are listening , who want to make the leap and maybe either don't ? Have the resources or are just afraid ? What would you say to them , knowing what you know now ?
No . I would say don't do it alone , and what I mean that not necessarily is . For me , it's great having a co-founder and a partner . It can't be lonely at the top . But what I mean by saying not doing it alone is , even if you're a sole co-founder or have co-founders like .
I just talked about .
I think I talked to a lot of entrepreneurs , whether it's in logistics or other industries , and this idea of an imposter defender is real . But there's such a eagerness of other entrepreneurs or people that know some things that maybe don't know that want to help .
So really bringing in that network , hiring the best of the best I can't say that enough to have the right people in the right seats how important that is and really making sure that there's communities out there I know there's the ballast group , for example .
For me that's been very , very helpful where I'm able to meet once a month with other like-minded entrepreneurs in this industry and a lot of times we are just having open conversations about .
Hey , I've had this problem , as anyone dealt with this . More often than not , there's two or three people that raised their hand , and so there's things like that where you can get a view and invest in your own learning . There's also executive coaching , that's something that I think , Danny , my partner and myself started way too late .
I wish we would have done that much earlier . So my advice to anyone would be really invest in your learning and don't do it alone , because you're going to be able to do so much more if you can find people within your network and other people that have done it before , that really guide you and get you to where you want to be .
A lot of the stories that I hear about the deepest learnings that entrepreneurs have had have come from the biggest mistakes . If not , I have a brilliant strategy . We just executed it very well . It is I thought something or I made an assumption , and I turned out to be dead wrong .
So without putting too much out of the spot .
Are there any things that you would do differently if you could do it again , or that you feel like you just plain won't get wrong ?
Honestly , there's not many things I would do differently .
I'm a good opponent of the idea of failing fast , failing early , failing often , and I talked about it a little bit but I think we've had a fairly exponential growth trajectory and I think there's one thing that maybe I would do differently Now that I think about it is the team that we have and we have a couple hundred people looks drastically different than the
team I have now , and I tell this to our people all the time , and it might sound a little direct , but we always think of the future of the org and if we want to be a couple thousand people in the next few years and in a couple different countries and other cities , things like that , it's very likely that the team you have then that got you there might
not be the same team that gets you there , and it's something that we call the future of the org .
¶ Balancing Growth and Caring in Business
It's something that I think there are times where we probably held on to the people longer than we should have . Sure because , hey , they were there with me and the trenches love sweat and tear and help build it , and that's not to say that they shouldn't be able to continue to develop .
But there's sometimes where we outpace that growth and need to bring someone in that's a little bit further along with the experience that we needed , and there are probably times where I waited too long to let go of some of those people .
And it sounds tough .
It's a little tough to let go of some people and it's hard , but I think for us we have this one track mind of really doing something different , something special , and to do that you have to have the right people on the bus and the right seats .
So I think , just thinking of that future of the org and it's something that you know , the concept of almost firing fast , higher , slow and it might sound harsh , but it's something that I've learned along the way , and especially our executive code that I've said that team you have now probably will not be the same executive team you have in three years .
Which may be a difficult thing for some people to receive , especially in an industry like ours , where there's a lot of focus on technology . Yet we're seeing now that the market has changed and relationships are back in vogue , and software doesn't solve all of those issues . So on the other side of that you're saying I have a .
You have a big focus on the relationships with your team , with your customers , and you're becoming more and more a global company . And some of those relationships aren't going to last . So how do you balance that paradox of caring and supporting for the people that you have today while also knowing you have to level up ?
If you want to be a 2000 person organization , you're going to have to grow otherwise you might be that person that , hey , I don't know if you're the right guy .
So how do you make peace with that , as a business owner , that the choices that you make impact families all over the place ?
Yeah , for us when we say people first culture , I think for me , it's always going to be that north star of our company , but at the same time again , we have a very , very high expectation for where we're going to go , and something that we've always thought was really important is building a culture where I like the college everyone has to wear the board of
advisor hats and embrace the idea of challenging each other Kind of the idea of radical candor where sure for this to really work . I don't care what my title or what scene I'm in .
If I'm saying something or I have an idea and you guys don't agree with it , I want that in a respectful way but I want that healthy conflict , I want that challenge and we are going to build that culture where we are having that radical candor and those challenges amongst each other where we can really get the best out of every single person .
Make sure that everyone understands . Hey , no hard feelings , but we're going to need to get everyone to get comfortable and make sure that we're achieving what we need to achieve .
So I think for us it's building that , but also on the flip side is having a culture where we genuinely care for each other .
And I say that all the time . I don't say it sounds cheap , but we are a family . There is that genuine love and care , especially when I talk about Atlanta . America it's a much more close-knit community so we do have to make some of these changes . It really hits our people hard and it's tough to balance it .
But I think it is finding that balance of all right . There's genuine care for our people within our company .
But we're also going to embrace the culture where we're going to be able to challenge each other . Have respect for each other no hard feelings , so that's going to be what really gets the best out of everyone . What I like particularly about getting the spend source with founders is the learnings that they have from their own journeys .
They can pass on to others . The other goal is to help grow awareness and support bootstrap founders who don't have massive budgets to go out and buy PR and sponsor headline events everywhere . So , without putting too much on the spot , what should other companies know about Rapido that makes you different ? What is the chance for you to say ?
Here's what makes Rapido session . It's 100% our people .
And in this having that culture where I know there's a lot of different options , a lot of different countries and things like that I think Mexico has been great for us . We are thinking about expanding into other cities in Mexico and other countries , but for us to be able to have that people first culture and have that what ?
I call that best if I treat our people so well , they're going to take care of our customers , and that's really that mentality , but also to make sure that we're just not providing a staffing solution . You don't really view this as just a staffing play .
We really want to make sure that we're bringing in the best of the best talents and that we're providing comprehensive training , having a coaching model to develop that makes sure that there's going to be continuous improvements , and then we're not just putting money in seats , that we're really developing people and giving them opportunities to grow personally and
professionally . And I think what we've seen is , when our people get those type of opportunities and I kind of touched on that earlier it's really amazing to see what they can accomplish and you're connecting with some of the best companies logistics companies in the world , and it really is a win-win for everyone involved .
So for me , I think it's having that mindset is really what have been able to be our differentiation and will continue to separate us In a relationship industry like this , at an industry conference like this . I'm sure there are people that are here that have mentored you and taught you and guided you along the way .
So who would you give a shout out to as being those who help lift you up , to get to this place and support you when you need it ? Now Feel free to name names .
Yeah , no , I mean it's been interesting because you know beginning my career you know I probably had a few throughout my career at Coyote .
Someone might know of Cameron Ramsey . That's why I first worked with .
I learned a ton from someone like Cameron , who's now done very well for himself as CEO of his own company , and then also someone like Scott Sharra , someone who I got very closer towards the end of my career and he was the person that I had to talk to when I decided to take this leap of faith and I'll never forget I was a little nervous about it .
I'm not sure how he's going to react . I'm living in Mexico as an expat . I'm supposed to stay there to help open another office in Monterey , and the first thing is I'm proud of you , I am so happy for you and .
I told him all about the idea and he got me , even jokingly said , hey , I'll invest in a greater opportunity and things like that .
Those are the two people that I've been instrumental , that I've stayed in contact with and been awesome mentors for me and since we moved on .
I just talked about it , but for me , my now mentor is my executive coach and someone that's been there , done it , has run his own companies and it's always been available , not just to talk about ideas for growth and profitability and some of the business stuff but also .
I just need to talk to someone .
He's always been open to that . And someone that I can always call from wherever I need , so it's been kind of an evolution . There's like one person in particular , but it's been definitely a collective group of people that have been able to help inspire me , against me where I am today .
And last then , what would your parents say now ? Are they proud of you ? I think so . I know when I first did it .
I told them I was going to make this kind of leap of faith . My mom just didn't get it . She's like you got a comfortable job , you're living in Latin America . We're so proud of you . Like why are you going to take this chance now ? And , funny enough , they were visiting a couple of months ago and we were opening some new spaces .
They came down , they were super proud of it . You know we're driving in the car and she asked me , like do you regret the decision ? And I was like looking around , like what do you think , mom ? And she kind of laughed .
So I think they're definitely proud and it's been really cool for them to see how I've lived in Latin America and really making that so cool impact .
now Well , it's great to see a story that starts so small and humble .
¶ Impactful Entrepreneur's Journey and Advice
In a small country in Central America , a family moves to another country . Now you've moved on to another country yourself .
You're impacting lives , you're having a positive effect in the industry itself and I would love it if a younger entrepreneur or a first time entrepreneur who is seeking that inspiration or that guidance themselves would reach out to you and be able to ask you some of those questions and learn from your experiences so far , so if somebody wanted to reach out to you .
What's the best way to do it ?
Yeah , absolutely . I want to help out as many people as possible , especially first time entrepreneurs . While I'm on LinkedIn I don't have it off the top of my head you can go to gorobilocom and put in any request there , and then my emails are in casa at gorobilocom , so you can find me on LinkedIn email . I'm very responsive Well .
I appreciate you taking the chance to share your story live . This is a first for us . So thank you for trusting me and taking a chance on this . As I say every time , we're all rooting for you , I appreciate it and it's awesome to see your full circle and all we talked about this a year ago .
And here you are on stage at Freightway , so proud to see how far you've come also , and I'm happy to be part of this . Thank you my friend .