Build Mode is back with a holiday bonus episode. This week, Startup Battlefield editor Isabel Johannessen is joined by Kevin Damoa, CEO and founder of Glid, a logistics infrastructure company that aims to streamline the complex container shipping process, and the winner of this year’s competition.
Damore first discovered the challenges of transporting larger cargo as a recruit in the U.S. Army. There he worked on a team loading tanks and Bradley fighting vehicles onto the railroad. He learned firsthand that while trains don’t have the same congestion as roads, they have their own problems. The biggest problem was the complex, multi-step process of finally moving the cargo from road to rail.
Cut to 2025, and Damoa has just won the Startup Battlefield competition over 200 other companies and is on stage at TechCrunch Disrupt with a giant check. On this week’s episode of Build Mode, TechCrunch’s new postcast for builders and entrepreneurs, Damore details how he found hardware and software solutions to the logistics problems he saw firsthand. And we detail how the team came together to make sure these three products (launching around the same time) were ready for live demos on the Disrupt stage.
“Oh, it was crazy making sure the software worked,” Damore said. “And anyone who knows software knows that it takes a lot of people.” This was something Glid didn’t have at this stage. But that pressure and a very public deadline kept the team focused and motivated to get house in order faster than ever before.
In this interview, Damore is fresh off this big win and hopes to use the momentum and prize money to accelerate Greedo to the next level. The company has already begun pilot operations with the Great Plains Industrial Park, and its next product, Glīder, is about to be launched on the market. And the team is hiring for roles in nearly every aspect of the business. Their process is more on the casual side, with Damore calling it an “organic process,” where an initial vibe check and resume review can turn into a new team member.
D’Amore says this process attracts people who practice mindfulness and are laser-focused on their mission. If you’re the kind of leader who responds to the news that your CEO is in the top five on Startup Battlefield by saying, “I’m going to meditate,” that’s no surprise.
Using this human-centered approach, the Glid team has attracted mission-driven, laser-focused people while practicing mindfulness. If you’re the kind of leader who responds to the news that your CEO is in the top five on Startup Battlefield by saying, “I’m going to meditate,” that’s no surprise.
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For the full episode and more tips from Damoa on how other companies can position themselves to win in the Startup Battlefield, check out the video below, or listen and subscribe to Build Mode wherever you get your favorite podcasts. If you like what we do, please leave us a review. If you have feedback about the show, please contact us at podcasts@techcrunch.com.
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