Fredrik Edeland has 10 years of experience in running his own businesses. Driven by innovation and the challenge to simplify logistics, he is the founder of Express Delivery Sweden and Sendify.
Sendify is efficiently streamlining the logistics industry through a cloud based platform. It provides a cloud based platform that small and medium enterprises can use to book transportation of goods. Sendify provides instant quotes, improved decision making by showing carrier lead times and direct access to transparent tracking.
In an exclusive interview with AsiaTechDaily, Fredrik says:
Having a digital presence, being where our customers are, and communicating to their needs, is our way of creating value for our customers.
Your team is everything. Make sure you find well-balanced people on the scale of result/relation. Even though result-oriented individuals are key, potential long term success drastically increases if you have people in your team who have a tendency to also see other people. Research: Gut feeling might work early on, but it is impossible to build a successful business if you don’t understand your customer. Just do it. Motivation: Define a strong purpose of the company and make sure it is part of your culture. The rest will follow.
Read on to know more about Fredrik Edeland and his journey.
Please tell me about your personal background, and what are you working on currently?
Fredrik Edeland: I have 10 years of experience running my own businesses. Driven by innovation and the challenge to simplify logistics, I am the founder of Express Delivery Sweden and Sendify. I got into the transportation industry by chance, soon realizing that there was market potential yet to be filled. While studying at the Chalmers University of Technology in Gothenburg, Sweden, I launched my first company, Express Delivery Sweden, today, one of the fastest-growing logistics companies in Sweden. By continuously bridging the gap between digitalization and logistics, I developed my second company Sendify in 2015 – a digital platform for comparing, booking, and tracking of goods.
What motivated you to get started with your company?
Fredrik Edeland: I’m a huge people-person that has spent my entire professional career building companies, and I love it! There is nothing greater than finding opportunities for smart people to do awesome things, and it’s a fantastic process that I feel lucky to participate in.
What is your current main product, and (If there is any) can you share any product pivot story from founding to the current product?
Fredrik Edeland: Sendify enables global trade by simplifying logistics for small shippers. By bridging the gap between digitalization and logistics, the complexity of global shipping is reduced by actual price and lead-time comparisons, dynamic delivery options, and instant booking through one single platform. By providing freight solutions from market-leading carriers in one system, we can, through large volumes, offer our customers better prices and transparency.
By instant comparison, customers can decide whether the price or lead time should determine the choice of a freight solution. Sendify also offers negotiated freight agreements ,suitable for small businesses, who struggle with negotiating directly with the carriers. Simply, we democratize logistics by arming small shippers with the tools needed to turn shipping into a competitive advantage.
How much money (funding) have you raised in total so far? When was the recent funding round?
Fredrik Edeland: I have invested a fairly good amount myself over the years, but our only external round was 1.7M EUR in December 2019.
How have you attracted users and grown your company from the start? And Which were your marketing strategies to grow your business?
Fredrik Edeland: We use a combination of paid and organic marketing, as well as outbound sales. What I have learned, however, is that offering a product that people love is the best way to attract users as you get positive word-of-mouth. Transferring virality into network effects is a big priority of ours.
Which is the best marketing tool for the growth of your startup, and why?
Fredrik Edeland: Having a digital presence, being where our customers are, and communicating to their needs, is our way of creating value for our customers.
What do most startups get wrong about marketing in general?
Fredrik Edeland: The common mistake is not doing enough research. You have to know your customers to be able to communicate the brand in the best possible way.
What were the internal decision processes in determining when to begin fund-raising, and what were the logistics for this? And how many investors have you met so far, and how did you meet these investors and which channels worked best for you?
Fredrik Edeland: Simply put, early PMF and wanted to explore the opportunities of scaling up the business with external capital. We have humility rejected earlier contacts from investors, so when the process was initiated, we had a fairly extensive pool to fish from. Inbound is king, but if you decide to go for outbound, always go through intros.
What are the biggest challenges you’ve faced and obstacles in the process of fund-raising? If you had to start over, what would you do differently? (Your insight or advice on this would be very helpful for startups)
Fredrik Edeland: Make sure to know which phase you are in as a company. Based on VCs’ fund structures, they simply can’t invest in all phases. Moreover, be very explicit about your expectations with VSs early on and don’t waste your (or their) time with vagueness.
What are your milestones for the next round? And what are your goals for the future?
Fredrik Edeland: We are currently scaling up, and the next round will be a catalyst to nurture our growth in order to serve the huge forgotten B2B MSME segment globally.
How do you plan to expand globally?
Fredrik Edeland: As for today, businesses can send from and to Sweden, from anywhere in the world. Our next step is to take our solution into a new market where there is a need for a shipping solution that is easy, affordable, and modern.
What are the most common mistakes founders make when they start a company? (or What should all first-time startup founders know before they start their business?)
Fredrik Edeland:
Team: Your team is everything. Make sure you find well-balanced people on the scale of result/relation. Even though result-oriented individuals are key, potential long term success drastically increases if you have people in your team who have a tendency to also see other people.
Research: Gut feeling might work early on, but it is impossible to build a successful business if you don’t understand your customer. Just do it.
Motivation: Define a strong purpose of the company and make sure it is part of your culture. The rest will follow.
What’s the best advice you’ve ever received? And What advice do you have for someone who is interested in doing similar things like yours or in a similar direction?
Fredrik Edeland: Hire people that are better than yourself but don’t compromise on culture. On the other side, evaluate new hires and set clear expectations of their first 100 days. Be honest with each other if you are a match for each other after this period of time. If not, move on.
What are the one or two things that you would do differently to improve your life (or what kind of personal habits would you improved?) if you could go back to 10 years ago?
Fredrik Edeland: I would love to have a stronger technical toolkit in my backpack. This is now compensated by truly brilliant individuals instead!
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