Our content supported SaaS business hit $20m in SaaS ARR in 4 years
…while also hitting $40m in revenue
Founder500, Sept 2022
Craig Fuller
CEO, Founder of FreightWaves
How FreightWaves became the leader in supply chain intelligence and data
Over the next 20 minutes, you’ll see how we
used “Media Moat” to drive SaaS Revenues
65%
Market-share of supply chain media content
3M
Daily visitors across all channels
85k
Unique visitors that watch FreightWavesTV content per day
40
Analysts and data scientists
200
Employees
50
Market reporters and commentators
BEHIND THE SCENES
Market data business are highly valued across the commodity markets, but none (until now) exist across all aspects of the Global Supply Chain.
DATA DRIVES VALUE
Our SaaS platform offers high-frequency market data covering global supply chains
We sell annual subscriptions to our “SONAR” platform
Actionable Outcomes
Benchmark, analyze, monitor, and forecast global supply chain market intelligence and information
Insights into Supply and Demand
SONAR offers time series data points across hundreds of billions worth of transactions every single day.
High-Frequency Supply Chain Market Data
Machine learning + data = actionable items & real-time management decisions
Fuel
GPS & Asset Tracking
Weather
OEM Pricing
Safety &
Compliance
Rates
Clearing &
Payments
Capacity
Fundamental Data
Electronic Tenders & Bookings
Pricing
Assets
Investment
Economic
Risk
FreightWaves’ has a
“Content Supported”
business model.
We have two businesses: SaaS & Media
Our media business includes 50 full-time journalists and TV reporters, publishing
40+ original articles and
3 hours of live streaming television per day
Media generates 50% margins, but also creates “top of funnel” for our 85% margin SONAR SaaS business.
Enabling FreightWaves to enjoy “Negative CAC”
Media & events helped seed the initial FreightWaves community.
Data businesses have slow beginnings
Growth accelerates over time
Data businesses are super sticky
FreightWaves is a platform business with multi-faceted business lines, each with B+ TAMs
Business Line | Category | Revenue Type | Domestic U.S. | Global |
SONAR | SaaS | Recurring | $3.7B | $8.6B |
Media | Transactional | Reoccurring | $0.4B | $1.7B |
Carbon Intelligence | SaaS and Transactional | Recurring and Reoccurring | $1.8B | $7B |
Total | | | $5.8B | $17.3B |
Our data and analysis help clients answer many critical questions. Representative questions: | |||||
Vertical | Benchmark | Analyze | Monitoring | Forecasting | Carbon Intelligence |
Shippers | How does my budget stack up to industry competitors? | What are the domestic and global factors that impact capacity? | What markets are being impacted by a geopolitical event? | What will be the going contract rate on a lane over the next year? | How can I mitigate my Scope 3 carbon emissions? |
3PLs | How competitive are my rates compared to my competitors? | What drove my margin expansion this past quarter? | What are the market fundamentals driving lower spot ates? | How can I maintain gross margins through the freight cycle? | What’s the carbon footprint on a specific load? |
Carriers | I have a new RFP, what are the average rates for this new segment? | How do I maximize my trucking utilization? | What’s the short and medium-term outlook for diesel fuel prices? | Should I adjust my contracted freight agreements? | What is the cost of implementing an EV on a lane? |
International freight forwarders | Which ports are being used by which shippers? | How much weekly TEU capacity is available on a given lane? | Are container lines blanking sailings or rolling shipments? | How will freight rates rise or fall over the next year? | What's the carbon footprint between different modes? |
Financial Institutions | How is this industry performing versus peers? | What are the leading indicators for imports, industrial production, and retail sales? | How much inventory is being moved through a specific company’s supply chain? | Which companies are likely to face supply chain disruptions? | How carbon efficient is an industry’s supply-chain? |
Government agencies | What carrier types have the least percent of accidents? | Is transportation capacity available to relieve a natural disaster? | What are the issues that are impacting capacity to respond to a disaster? | Can current infrastructure support the free movement of freight? | Where are commercial vehicles contributing the most to air pollution? |
GLOBAL LOGISTICS COSTS
(BY MODE OR FUNCTION)
SOURCE: 2018 ARMSTRONG & ASSOCIATES, INC. GLOBAL 3PL MARKET ANALYSIS
WATER & MISC. (7.4%)
$714B
LOGISTICS ADMIN. (8%)
$772B
TRUCKING (42.9%)
FORWARDING (2.3%)
$223B
$4,132B
INVENTORY CARRYING (22%)
$2,116B
WAREHOUSING (11%)
$1,056B
RAIL (3%)
$297B
AIR. (3.1%)
$301B
$9.6T
TOTAL GLOBAL LOGISTICS SIZE: