Andrew welcomes Krenar Komoni, CEO and founder of Tive, to The Freight Pod. Krenar left Kosovo at 17 years old to pursue his education in the U.S., but the aspiring entrepreneur knew he’d be back one day to create jobs in his home country. 

Krenar went on to earn degrees in computer engineering, math, and electrical engineering and discovered a passion for radio frequencies and wireless communication systems. But it was his father-in-law's trucking company and the constant tracking calls — where’s the truck? Will it be on time? — that led Krenar to build him a GPS tracker. And that's how Tive started in 2015. Today, Tive supports more than 900 customers from its offices in Norway, Mexico, South Africa, Boston — and Kosovo.

In this episode, Krenar also shares:

• The early days of Tive: bootstrapping, landing the first customer, and building Tive’s innovative trackers.
• Tive's near-collapse in 2019 and the moment that turned things around.
• Building a global, remote team and culture across Tive’s offices.
• The biggest mistakes a CEO or founder can make, Krenar’s advice for founders and entrepreneurs, the journey to product-market fit, and how Tive has built a moat around its tracking capabilities.
• Krenar’s vision for the future of visibility and AI, and what’s next for Tive.

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*** This episode is brought to you by Rapido Solutions Group. I had the pleasure of working with Danny Frisco and Roberto Icaza at Coyote, as well as being a client of theirs more recently at MoLo. Their team does a great job supplying nearshore talent to brokers, carriers, and technology providers to handle any role necessary, be it customer or carrier support, back office, or tech services. Visit gorapido.com to learn more.

A special thanks to our additional sponsors:

• Cargado – Cargado is the first platform that connects logistics companies and trucking companies that move freight into and out of Mexico. Visit cargado.com to learn more.
• Greenscreens.ai – Greenscreens.ai is the AI-powered pricing and market intelligence tool transforming how freight brokers price freight. Visit greenscreens.ai/freightpod today!
• Metafora – Metafora is a technology consulting firm that has delivered value for over a decade to brokers, shippers, carriers, private equity firms, and freight tech companies. Check them out at metafora.net. ***