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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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How I built developer tools after leaving Google: 18 months in

Founder Storydeveloper tools

7 min read·ex-Google

How I built developer tools after leaving Google: 18 months in

Eighteen months out of Google, Ravi has $312k ARR, one cofounder, and a deeply unfashionable thesis: developers will pay for tools that respect their time.

Ravi SubramanianPelt

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The real storiesbehind the build.

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

Every story, unfiltered.

How I built developer tools after leaving Google: 18 months in

Built something worth telling?

The real stories
behind the build.