Jeffrey Dong

playing the long game @ Dockware

[Matt MacInnis @stanine]

I found the SpaceX IPO surprisingly emotional today. It reminded me of why I came to the US as an 18-year-old. Even then, I knew that I wanted to build stuff, and that the place to do it was America. There was no second option in the world.

The concept of American exceptionalism is nothing new, but I have come to appreciate the culture that justifies it. SpaceX is yet another case in point. America’s risk-taking culture celebrates wild successes while embracing the legitimacy of hard-earned failure. American culture doesn’t celebrate inherited wealth, nor does it frown upon inherited poverty. It doesn’t seek to create equal outcomes, but rather equal opportunity.

It is not immediately obvious that this is unique in the world. Truly unique. I’m Canadian, and I love many aspects of Canadian culture, but Canadian culture does not offer people the same environment in which to take risks.

I write this because I was dismayed to see US politicians complaining of the extreme wealth created by the SpaceX IPO. Say what you will about wealth inequality, or a single man’s politics, but don’t tell me that immense wealth creation in America is bad. Do not tell me you’d rather SpaceX not exist, exactly as it does. That you’d rather this company exist in some other country or culture.

Thankfully, despite today’s politics, SpaceX could not have been a Chinese company, or a Canadian one, or a French one. It could only ever have been an American one.

If nationalism is pride in your birthplace, then it’s merely tribalism, which serves to divide us. But if it’s pride in your culture, a culture that lets people achieve incredible things like this, then under those terms I am a nationalist. I want to protect and enhance our culture of risk-taking, of celebrating wins, and of celebrating failures along the way.

I think it is amazing that America created a trillionaire out of a risk-taking immigrant. It is absolutely fucking absurd, of course, but isn’t that the point? SpaceX is not a reason to be pissed off; it’s a reason for every person in the world who wants to build stuff to see themselves as American, no matter where in the world they live.

p.s. — this is entirely from my brain, with AI used only for fixing typos and grammar. :^)

[Jeffrey Dong @jreydon]

Tl;dr an "N of 1" company in supply chain won't be defined by features. It sits at a non-negotiable point of value flow, compounds with trust and data, embeds into workflows, and rewires the economics of its customers. That’s how moats are built here.

[Jeffrey Dong @jreydon]

What defines an “N of 1” company in industries like supply chain & logistics where state-of-the-art tech has long been an afterthought?

After spending time with hundreds of founders, a pattern emerges around the types of value propositions that endure:

🧵

[Jeffrey Dong @jreydon]

4. Economics that reframe

True moats bend the cost–benefit equation. When a solution turns a pain point into measurable financial gain, pricing power follows.

E.g. turning leakage into recovered revenue or AR automation into cash flow isn't "software". It's building financial infrastructure from within.

Pricing tied to recovered value or usage deepens stickiness.

[Kim Brunhuber @kimbrunhuber]

Cheap goods are about to get more expensive in the US, as the Trump admin ends a tariff waiver. Emil Stefanutti says it's like a highway you take every day "and all of a sudden you had 26 times the number of cars and a couple of new toll booths"

[Jeffrey Dong @jreydon]

@Rick_Zullo Couldn’t agree more. As we see more AI-powered companies go to market, it’s never been more critical to have a prepared mind — discerning the utility vs. novelty of these applications amid the noise.

[Jeffrey Dong @jreydon]

There’s nothing more dangerous in venture than groupthink. Goes both ways on either side of the cap table.

[Jeffrey Dong @jreydon]

RIP big consulting.

For the longest time, the industry stopped selling innovation, just expensive inefficiency.

Now, sectors from gov to manufacturing are waking up. Why wait months for a consultant’s supply chain “insights” when AI can analyze ops, find bottlenecks, and optimize in real time?

Their deadweight is a billion-dollar AI opp for industries.

[Jeffrey Dong @jreydon]

With access to digital/AI tools, it's never been easy to find immediate gratification. Whether it’s getting instant results (e.g. copy-pasting an essay from ChatGPT) or the quick dopamine hit from social media.

The recent Microsoft study on how AI can make human cognition atrophy isn't shocking. We forget that real progress comes from doing hard things.

[Jeffrey Dong @jreydon]

@businessbarista Business is learned by doing, not reading

[Jeffrey Dong @jreydon]

https://t.co/OLJmbZFXvs

[Jeffrey Dong @jreydon]

Trade compliance isn’t just a box to check—it’s a strategic advantage.

With rising costs and shifting tariffs, companies are spending more time and money on regulations than ever. This leads to higher prices, slower (less resilient) supply chains, and more uncertainty.

That’s why I'm proud to announce our investment in Gaia Dynamics alongside AI Fund. Their platform automates compliance, classifying goods in 30 seconds with 92% accuracy—work that usually takes humans 15+ minutes. It also predicts rule changes and cuts customs review from 10 hours to 2.

This is the future of trade compliance—faster, smarter, and built for a complex global economy. Excited to support this team as they redefine how businesses navigate cross-border trade.

[Jeffrey Dong @jreydon]

@KTmBoyle When you’re “inexperienced”, you question things out of first principles.

We’ve become numb to the status quo, trying to justify for why things are rather than what’s possible

[Jeffrey Dong @jreydon]

@VCBrags Investors in American Dynamism have their agenda straight

[Jeffrey Dong @jreydon]

@AndrewYang Agreed if it's actually implemented. He just showed Colombia (and possibly other LATAM countries) that tariffs are an "effective" negotiating tactic to get what he wants.

[Jeffrey Dong @jreydon]

Speed to execute—especially in distribution—always mattered. It did 10 years ago, and it does today.

As AI reshapes industries, only the relentless will survive and thrive.

Entrepreneurship has never been for the faint of heart.