When Flexport founder Ryan Petersen and Amazon’s consumer chief tapped Dave Clark to lead the shipping and logistics startup, he pointed out that they needed an “entrepreneur” and builder, not another CEO.
The couple seemed to have different visions of what that meant. Now, with Clark abruptly exiting after only a year on the job and Petersen back as CEO, it’s getting personal.
Two days after Clark’s abrupt departure as CEO, Petersen said the company would rescind dozens of hiring offers and look to lease corporate office space as it looks to control costs and “get its house in order,” according to a post on social media site X. , formerly known as Twitter.
Petersen wrote:
Flexport is canceling a batch of signed offer letters for people who started work on Monday. I am deeply sorry to those people who were expecting to join our company and will not be able to at this time. she banged. But there’s no way around it, we’ve stopped hiring for months, and I have no idea why over 75 people have signed on. Or why we had over 200 open roles on our website. All of these tasks have been eliminated except for a few roles directly related to our most important initiatives (such as improving the timeliness of our shipping services). A Flexport team member will reach out to each of you personally as soon as possible to explain this step. I hope you will forgive us one day and even consider coming to work here again once we have our house in order. But now would not be the time to add more people and expenses to the company.
In a separate post, he noted that Flexport has “first-class” office space for sublease in San Francisco, Los Angeles, New York City and other locations around the world.
“We have quite a lot for our size – we rented space to a team twice as big!!” he wrote. “Flexport’s new official real estate policy is that we do not acquire new office space until there is always a line at the bathroom in the existing office space.”
Petersen The main complaints about Clark’s leadership – at least in terms of public comments he has made – seem to center around costs, specifically hiring and expanding too quickly.
but, Clark’s appointment and his big “entrepreneurial” vision for Flexport were no secret. Clark was actually co-CEO alongside Petersen for his first six months on the job, at least According to Petersen’s own comments In September 2022. Petersen then took over as CEO.
Just four months ago, Flexport acquired Shopify’s logistics unit, marking a major expansion for the company that provides shipping and brokerage services across ocean, air, truck and rail. Shopify acquired shares representing approximately 13% of Flexport’s stock as part of the agreement.
Petersen So repeat Friday He and the board were fully aware of what Clark was doing, saying “we were just trusting the growth plan that wasn’t being implemented.”
Captured by Clark’s growth strategy, Flexport’s board and Petersen ran out of patience and reversed course. Now, spending reduction and profitability – not growth at all costs – appears to be the new strategy. Clark and some of his key employees Now out.
The lingering question is what will happen to Shopify’s logistics unit acquired earlier this year?