Founder Stories

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Five-act journeys from founders worth listening to. Problem, journey, struggles, breakthrough, lessons — editor-curated, never pay-to-post.

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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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We sold edtech to school districts and lived to tell about it

Founder Storyedtech

7 min read·K-12

We sold edtech to school districts and lived to tell about it

Most K-12 edtech founders bail. We didn't. The story of three years, $2.6M ARR, and the procurement playbook that finally worked.

Marcus WhitfieldRoster

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Editor-curated, never pay-to-post. We work with you to shape the real arc — five acts, no fluff. You hold final approval.

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The real storiesbehind the build.

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

Every story, unfiltered.

We sold edtech to school districts and lived to tell about it

Built something worth telling?

The real stories
behind the build.