What a great time at #TIA2023CON! Impressive speakers, insightful panels, a vibrant exhibit hall, and fantastic networking. In this blog, we will recap some of the key takeaways and highlights from the conference, and explore the insights and perspectives shared by the industry leaders who spoke at the event.
Moderator: Peter Rentschler, CEO, Metafora
Panelists:
This panel dove into the M&A conversation that is still thriving despite the current market conditions. It has radically shifted from a seller’s market to a buyer’s market. We’re seeing a slow down on acquisitions by PE firms. Strategic buyers however are not necessarily slowing down.
Strategic buyers bring different value than a PE firm. Strategic buyers have a roadmap and a strategy. They are not just looking for a deal. They are looking for something that will complement and help scale their business. If you are acquired by a strategic buyer, you then get the benefits of a bigger team behind you.
If you are working to build your business for an exit, there are three things you should be focusing on:
Skoglund talked about the silver lining of a downturn. She pointed out that downturns are beneficial for companies because it's an opportunity for conversation. This is when, more than ever, companies need to take time to ask what people need. This applies to their customers, their employees, and themselves. A downturn is a time to listen more, and people tend to be paying better attention than in an upturn.
When it comes to cutting costs, Skoglund also advised to not cost cut the bubble. Yes you have to be nimble, but people often turn to the largest areas to cut but that might not be the right choice.
Rentschler chimed in with a recommendation for an intentional 3-tier planning process: Make time to map out a Plan A, B and C. Having these plans in place, tailored to multiple scenarios for your business, allows you to avoid scrambling and having to make emotional decisions if that time comes.
Pansuria shared a key indicator of how well you are running your business. He explained, “If you can walk away from your business for a few days, and you come back and your business is running just as well, if not better than when you left… That’s where you want your business.”
Rentschler agreed and added, “If that’s not the case, you're not a business owner, you just have a really stressful job.”
Moderator: Ryan Schreiber, Chief Growth Officer, Metafora
Panelists:
In this panel we discussed the volatility of the logistics industry. Businesses need to adapt quickly to changing market conditions. Here are some key takeaways:
The Glass Chatter VIP Networking Event, hosted by Metafora and Lean Solutions Group, exceeded expectations! Special thanks to all our sponsors: Sync Logistics Training, TextLocate and Bridgepoint for making this event memorable.
Glass Chatter was a quality time for:
It’s fascinating and inspiring to see how the freight tech conversation has evolved in our industry. While TMS is still incredibly important in the freight tech convo, we are excited to hear so much more convo about finding and building tech to help our people, make better use of data, better understand cost-to-serve, and making sure tech is an integrated part of a company’s overarching business strategy. Key freight tech takeaways:
“The market slowdown has cooled the 'buy tech without thinking' harmful trend and helped companies take an intentional look at what software they need and how it will impact their business.” - Ryan Schreiber, CGO
“At Metafora, we pride ourselves in keeping a pulse on the 3PL industry. TIA is a great part of our ability to do this. It’s a valuable experience catching up with everyone here. I love hearing about the new tech coming out, the goals of growing brokerages, and right now, seeing the optimism in the market despite the current conditions. I was especially pleased to have so many people have questions for us about how to optimize in these times, how to maintain focus on a long-term tech strategy, and how to develop software that will differentiate them in our rapidly evolving market. ” - Peter Rentschler, CEO
“For me, this year’s TIACON was all about immersing myself in the 3PL world. While I’ve been in business consulting for 12 years, I’m fairly new to the transportation and logistics space. It’s a fascinating world and I’m thrilled to see all the opportunities out there for businesses here to optimize and grow. I’m passionate about problem solving, and in chatting with so many freight brokerage leaders, I can see so many challenges that I can’t wait to tackle.” Alex Philo, VP Consulting
“The Glass Chatter VIP Event was a great setting to catch up with new and existing contacts to discuss thoughts on the conference, challenges around growth in the current market, what is the right tech to explore/ implement and broader business strategy.” - Adam Perlmutter, Director of Industry Consulting
“I found it interesting to chat with so many people who admitted that they weren’t making the most of their APIs. While I’m not glad that that is the case, I am glad that people are taking the first step by realizing the miss and are ready to make improvements. We understand the complexity that comes with so many integration opportunities, and that’s why we created Socket. My goal at TIA this year was to learn about broker’s current state of integrations and explain to them how Socket can help.” Joe Laskey, Sr. Product Manager
“While meeting people at TIA, I was eager to learn what their goals were for the week. I was thrilled to discover that many people were looking for new software, plenty were also just trying to learn how to optimize and scale their brokerage, and of course, just about everyone was working to make connections in the industry.” Teresa Ronquillo, Director of Marketing
All in all, the 2023 TIA Capital Ideas Conference was a fantastic event and we are honored to have been a part of it. We’re already looking forward to TIACON 2024 in Phoenix, AZ!
Set up time with one of our experts by clicking on the image below: