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Ryan Petersen: Flexport, Founder Mode, and the Return of the Founder-CEO

Ryan Petersen founded Flexport in 2013. He stepped back in 2022. He returned in 2023 to steer the company through the freight downturn. Along the way, Paul Graham's Founder Mode essay used his story as the anchor.

Ryan Petersen

Flexport

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Building hardware in Detroit: how we shipped 4,000 industrial sensors

Fast Trackhardware

7 min read·manufacturing

Building hardware in Detroit: how we shipped 4,000 industrial sensors

We started building sensors in a garage in Hamtramck. Three years and one painful contract-manufacturing pivot later, we've shipped 4,000 units to 38 industrial customers.

Yusra KarimHalide Sensors

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The real storiesbehind the build.

Ryan Petersen: Flexport, Founder Mode, and the Return of the Founder-CEO

Every story, unfiltered.

Building hardware in Detroit: how we shipped 4,000 industrial sensors

Built something worth telling?

The real stories
behind the build.