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1510: From Soldier to SpaceX to Solving a 100-Year-Old Problem w/ Kevin Damoa

Wantrepreneur to Entrepreneur · 2026-07-09 · 32 min

0:00--:--

Key moments - from our scoring

Substance score

58 / 100

Five dimensions, 20 points each

Insight Density12 / 20
Originality11 / 20
Guest Caliber16 / 20
Specificity & Evidence10 / 20
Conversational Craft9 / 20

Glide Technologies addresses a fundamental inefficiency in freight logistics: the broken handoff between road and rail infrastructure that has persisted for over a century. Kevin Damoa combines his 25-year logistics background - spanning military railhead operations, SpaceX flight logistics, and clean mobility ventures - with a first-principles approach to create an integrated hardware-software solution. The company builds autonomous dual-mode vehicles (Raiden and Glider M) paired with Ezra 16, an AI orchestration platform that treats static infrastructure and dynamic variables as a unified digital twin. This solves multiple problems simultaneously: 73% of U.S. freight currently shares passenger lanes (causing 5,000+ deaths annually), rail operates below 40% utilization due to inefficient modal transfers, and marginalized communities lose economic viability when trucking replaces rail. Damoa also created a new certified operator role called "sentinels" - hybrid CDL-railroad engineer credentials - to operate the integrated system. The company is a service-disabled veteran-owned small business that won TechCrunch Disrupt 2025 Startup Battlefield. For B2B logistics operators, supply chain managers, and defense procurement, this represents a fundamental reimagining of freight movement integrating hardware, software, and human expertise.

Key takeaways

  • →The road-rail problem isn't a choice between modalities but requires synchronized orchestration of both hardware and software working in tandem, similar to how Apple integrates components versus fragmented Android approaches.
  • →Glide spent three years bootstrapping before securing funding in 2025, demonstrating the importance of customer validation and accelerator programs like Antler to identify founder blind spots and remove obstacles to fundraising.
  • →Executive time requires daily focus on three core areas: financial health and payroll, plan accuracy against evolving geopolitical and climate conditions, and operational refinement of dual-use technology serving both commercial and defense applications.
  • →Building a company around an innovative product requires inventing new workforce categories - the "sentinel" role combines CDL driver and railroad engineer certifications - not just the hardware and software.
  • →The military philosophy of 'celebrate every launch and every blowup' creates a lessons-driven culture where losses embed victories; SpaceX embeds this in operational DNA.

Guests

Kevin Damoa

Topics in this episode

Glide TechnologiesAutonomous dual-mode vehiclesRaiden (vehicle)Glider M (vehicle)Ezra 16 (AI orchestration software)Road-to-rail freight transferSentinel operator certificationSpaceX logisticsNorthrop Grumman F-35 logisticsAntler accelerator

Questions this episode answers

What is the core problem that Glide Technologies is solving in freight logistics?

Glide solves the inefficient handoff between road and rail freight movement that has existed for a century. Currently 73% of U.S. freight travels on highways with passenger traffic (causing 5,000+ annual deaths), while rail operates below 40% utilization because freight transfer is too slow and cumbersome, involving cranes, trucks, and forklifts.

How does Glide combine hardware and software to solve the road-rail problem?

Glide builds autonomous dual-mode vehicles (Raiden and Glider M) paired with Ezra 16, an AI orchestration software that treats roads, rails, vehicle speeds, telemetry, weather, and congestion as a unified digital twin environment, synchronizing the two transport modes rather than treating them as competing alternatives.

What is a 'sentinel' and why did Glide create this new role?

A sentinel is a newly certified operator combining CDL driver and railroad engineer credentials, created because Glide's integrated road-rail system requires operators who understand both modalities - either driving Glider M vehicles or remote-operating and supervising them.

Why did it take Glide three years to secure funding despite having a working prototype?

Kevin bootstrapped for three years while speaking to investors and customers without gaining traction, until joining the Antler accelerator which identified blind spots in his CEO skills and business model, then connecting with Veterans Fund - removal of these gaps and network effects enabled funding in 2025.

What geopolitical and infrastructure benefits does Glide address beyond commercial logistics?

Glide ensures warfighter supply chain efficiency and enables re-industrialization of marginalized communities that decayed when road infrastructure replaced rail as the primary commerce transport method.

What our scoring noted

Our reviewer’s read on each dimension, with quotes from the episode.

Insight Density

12 / 20

The episode contains moderately useful business insights, particularly around first-principles problem-solving in logistics and the deliberate choice to build both hardware and software simultaneously. However, much of the content is motivational throat-clearing and high-level philosophy rather than concrete, actionable insights. The guest repeats general founder advice (trust yourself, don't wait for perfection, serve the community) without novel specificity.

the problem was still the same. You know, it's going, uh, into these, these legacy operators and being told like, hey, we have to do this because this is the way we've always done it
I stayed in that thought for about 18 months. You know, that same loop. You know, how do I perfect its design? How do I make this thing autonomous? How do I focus on making the hardware the best thing ever? And that's it. That was just focusing on that area solution.

Originality

11 / 20

While the dual-mode autonomous vehicle concept itself is novel, the strategic and philosophical framing is largely conventional startup thinking: first-principles problem-solving, hardware-software integration (already well-known from Apple/Tesla analogies the host explicitly makes), bootstrapping through adversity, and mission-driven purpose. The guest borrows heavily from existing frameworks without introducing genuinely fresh perspectives on organizational or business model innovation.

Whereas, yes, I'm going to be that guy that throws a little bit of shade at the Android ecosystem right now is that you've got all of these software developers and an OS that is trying to fit, I don't know, 500 different potential models
it's not hardware versus software and is a synchronization of both software and hardware coming together to do orchestration

Guest Caliber

16 / 20

Kevin Damoa is a genuinely credible operator with 25 years of logistics experience across military (12 years enlisted and National Guard), SpaceX (flight module logistics manager), Northrop Grumman (F-35 program), and now founding Glide. He has shipped hardware (Raiden vehicles), won TechCrunch Disrupt, and holds a granted patent. This is a practitioner with real scale experience, not a career podcast guest, though he was not a C-suite executive at any prior organization.

I spent my entire life um, around this, this great uh, and beautiful problem. You know, uh, from serving in the military to you know, supporting SpaceX and their endeavor endeavors
We built Raiden, um, at my home here in Shaver Lake and then uh, drove that vehicle out to re industrialize and show the world that we can actually build.

Specificity & Evidence

10 / 20

The episode lacks concrete numbers, specific customer examples, and measurable outcomes. Kevin cites macro statistics (73% of freight on roads, 5,000 deaths annually, rail below 40% utilization) and mentions winning TechCrunch Disrupt, but provides almost no details on Glide's actual traction, customer logos, revenue, vehicle specifications, or deployment timelines. The $250K funding detail is mentioned but not the current funding amount or runway.

we have 73% of all of our freight, uh, sharing um, passenger lanes with us on the freeway. And because of that we have over 5,000 deaths every single year.
while you have rail, you know, that sits, you know, below a 40% utilization

Conversational Craft

9 / 20

The host asks softball questions and rarely challenges the guest. Most questions are invitations for the guest to elaborate on his vision ("talk to us about...", "introduce listeners to...") rather than probing disagreements, contradictions, or testing assumptions. The host spends significant time building rapport and validating the guest's background rather than interrogating business model risks, competitive dynamics, or technical viability. No genuine pushback or difficult follow-ups occur.

Kevin, on an entrepreneurial and founder level, you could have taken the easier path. You could have just said, let's solve the software side of it or let's solve the hardware side of it. What did that decision look like?
Talk to us about some of those struggles and speed bumps along the way.

Conversation analysis

Computed from the transcript - who did the talking, and the words that came up most.

Share of words spoken

  • Speaker B55%
  • Speaker A45%

Most-used words

kevin30today20glide19problem19first18world18folks13build13solve12rail12software12episode11entrepreneur11logistics11road10community10

Episode notes

In this powerful episode, we sit down with Kevin Damoa, a true force of entrepreneurial energy and innovation. Drawing from over two decades in high-stakes logistics - from combat tours in Iraq to managing flight modules at SpaceX - Kevin is now tackling one of the biggest challenges in modern freight. He founded Glīd Technologies to solve the century-old, broken handoff between road and rail, building an entire ecosystem of autonomous vehicles and AI software from the ground up. This episode is a masterclass in founder mentality, showing you how to identify and solve massive societal problems, integrate complex systems, and maintain unwavering focus on your mission. Tune in to learn how to think like an innovator, embrace failure as fuel, and build a business that truly moves humanity forward. What You'll Take Away For YOUR Business How to identify and tackle a century-old problem with a first-principles approach, even when others say, "that's how it's always been done." The power of integrating hardware, software, AND people to create a complete ecosystem solution that competitors can't touch.

Full transcript

32 min

Transcribed and scored by The B2B Podcast Index.

Speaker A: Hey, what is up? Welcome to this episode of the wantrepreneur to Entrepreneur podcast. As always, I'm, um, your host, Brian Lo Fomento. And if it sounds like I've got a big smile on my face kicking off today's episode, then it is because I absolutely do. Because we are all in for a real treat today with an incredible fellow entrepreneur that I love this guy's backstory, I love the business that he's built, and most of all, I love the entrepreneurial energy that he brings to the table. So we're all gonna learn a lot. We're gonna have a great time doing it. This is because today's guest has spent over two decades moving what matters from rockets and aircraft to electric vehicles. And now the future of freight. Our guest today is Kevin Damoa. Kevin, um, enlisted in the US army at the age of 17, completing two combat tours in Iraq serving railhead logistics, and went on to serve 12 years across the army and Air National Guard. He then joined SpaceX as flight module logistics manager, but built logistics Systems for the F35 program at Northrop Grumman and held executive roles as some of the most ambitious clean mobility companies of the last decade. In 2022, he founded Glide Technologies to solve a problem that the freight industry has carried for a century. The broken handoff between road and rail. Glide builds us made autonomous dual mode vehicles and the AI software that directs them, connecting the nation's roads and rails into a single logistics network. Does that sound like a small or a massive problem that Kevin and his team are solving? The company holds a granted dual mode patent, is a certified service disabled veteran owned small business, and won the 2025 TechCrunch Disrupt Startup Battlefield. We are in for such a treat today, so let's glide right into my interview with the very brilliant Kevin Demoa. All right, Kevin, I am so very excited that you're here with us today. First things. Welcome to the show, Brian.

Speaker B: Thank you so much for having me, man. I am pumped and excited to glide into this show with you, brother.

Speaker A: Heck yes, Kevin. I will tell you this, that kind of my trademark here on the show in more than 1500 episodes is I always say, let's dive right into today's episode. But you got me with the Glide right before we hit record, so I'm carrying that through.

Speaker B: Uh, I'm grateful. Thank you.

Speaker A: Heck, yeah. Well, Kevin, I'm gonna put the spotlight and the mic right on you to kick things off. Cause you've gotta take us beyond the bio. Who's Kevin, how did you start doing all these cool things?

Speaker B: Yeah, absolutely. So Kevin is, is a lover of all things logistics. Um, I spent my entire life um, around this, this great uh, and beautiful problem. You know, uh, from serving in the military to you know, supporting SpaceX and their endeavor endeavors to be um, you know, interplanetary, uh, species, uh, to you know, delivering you know, next gen innovation across uh, E mobility and micro mobility at, at that um, I just wanted to, to, to like leave my part uh on Earth, you know, I have a, a saying and you know now as a company saying the pay rent, um, and it's from a Muhammad Ali quote and uh, Muhammad Ali said pay rent um, for your, your work here on Earth to support your community by the works of your hands. And that's exactly what I do. You know, I, I, I do it by the work of my hands in order to move uh, logistically. So thank you for having me.

Speaker A: Yeah, I love that overview and really I feel like it reveals so much of your founder spirit, your founder energy and obviously you are the culmination of all of the experiences that got you here. And that's why when I look at businesses Kevin, I don't just see the business as it is today, I see the founder journey that led to the business being what it is. So for listeners who aren't yet familiar, I feel like I teased, I think I oversimplified the vast massive societal problems that you guys are busy solving. But in your words, obviously you are the best one to introduce listeners to what is Glide? How did it come about? Introduce them to that.

Speaker B: Yeah, absolutely. So, so Glide is the world's first uh, road to rail, uh solution utilizing uh, autonomous next gen and electrified uh products. So the problem that we're looking to solve um, is mostly within the first mile. If um, you look at the way that goods are moved, uh, from, from ship at port, uh to on the land, uh, utilizing cranes and intermediary trucks and forklifts to the time that it gets to the train, um, it's very slow, it's very cumbersome and involves a bunch of different pieces of equipment. Um, and then that is at a point where the folks can actually afford to actually do the process. You have points, uh, places within the United States and throughout the world where um, folks can't afford even that process. So things are either stuck on the road, we have 73% of all of our freight, uh, sharing um, passenger lanes with us on the freeway. And because of that we have over 5,000 deaths every single year. Because of that, um, and while you have rail, you know, that sits, you know, below a 40% utilization, uh, because you can't get freight, um, over to it either effectively enough or efficiently enough. So folks use, um, the, the latter route. On top of it. There's a lot of, um, you know, rail within the United States that has, um, you know, that borders these great towns, these marginalized towns, uh, that were at one, uh, point in time really bust, uh, because they had commerce coming out of the towns and the railroad was the main, uh, way that they transport it. Well, when they built roads, those towns started to decay. So now you have, um, you know, an opportunity to actually, you know, employ a whole community, a new workforce as we go to re, industrialize, you know, America for the, the new age of things. And then finally the war fighter, you know, as we look to tackle, uh, a lot of the geopolitical tensions around the world, you know, how do you ensure that the warfighter gets goods, uh, to their battlefields or to their training segments or to their families, um, because they service folks on the base, um, effectively and efficiently utilizing best methods. And we created a best method. So what we do at Glide is we combine hardware, our notorious now, uh, gliders, Raiden and Glider M, uh, with our software Ezra 16, which is our AI orchestration tool, um, that essentially takes static infrastructure, roads and rails, and pairs it with dynamic nodes, um, such as vehicle speeds, telemetry, weather patterns, uh, road congestion, rail allocation into a digital twin environment where we can operate from. So we've built a logistical platform, uh, to service the world, the Glideway.

Speaker A: Gosh, it is so incredible all the things that you and your team have built, Kevin. And I'm going to ask you. It's a bit of a cheating question. It's a bit of a leading question here because we're very much preaching to the choir on the Entrepreneur to Entrepreneur podcast. Obviously this is a very entrepreneurial audience in over 150 countries around the globe. But the reason why I bring up entrepreneurship is because I remember as a kid thinking and maybe hearing how much I thought that government and municipalities were the vehicles of change. And when I was a kid, as a millennial, I remember hearing so frequently the talk was all about electric cars. You know, gas guzzling cars are not good environment. We always talked about our goal to create electric cars. And it took an entrepreneur. I'll, uh, shout out to Elon Musk. As a Tesla owner myself, I definitely drink the Tesla Kool Aid. And so when it took a private entrepreneur to come along and say, this is a real societal problem. We're going to build a real societal solution and we're going to do it not through government, we're going to do it through private enterprise. Because that allows us to move quickly, it allows us to innovate, it allows us to experiment, it allows us to do so many powerful things. And Kevin, when I look at your business, gosh, if the child in me saw what Glide is doing, I would have thought to myself, holy cow, that technology is amazing. Which we're definitely gonna talk about that. But secondly, I would have thought to myself, wow, Kevin didn't wait for a solution. Kevin. And I always steal the quote from Michael Jackson. Kevin looked at the man in the mirror and said, I'm gonna be the change that I wanna see in the world. Talk to us about that. Because to me, your story is one that exemplifies the powers, the great good that entrepreneurship can do in the world.

Speaker B: Yeah, I appreciate that, Brian. Yeah. So with me, logistics started like a very, very, very young age. You know, being Panamanian. Uh, you know, I guess logistics is in my blood. And then, you know, in the army is when I first was exposed to this problem, right at the age of 17, I was doing railhead operations where we moved our tanks and Bradleys from road to rail. And I saw how like, cumbersome and hard, you know, that process was. And then you fast forward over the course of my career, I've been doing logistics for 25 years. Um, the problem was still the same. You know, it's going, uh, into these, these legacy operators and being told like, hey, we have to do this because this is the way we've always done it, um, you know, even though we have folks that are hurt, or the fact that we can't afford containerization, you know, at several, several ports, uh, to actually move the goods from ships to land, um, you know, it was, it was tough to hear, um, it was tougher to hear that no one was solving the problem. You've. I saw, I witnessed folks on all three sides of the problem. The software problem, the road problem, the rail problem solving, uh, for those ecosystems, uh, without looking at it from a first principles, uh, global optimal perspective, uh, uh, where you're looking to solve the problem end to end for everybody, um, to actually move humanity forward, leaping forward instead of, you know, incrementally, uh, going, going forward by solving for one modality at a time, um, without bridging that gap. So that's what Glide does. Glide bridges the road and rail, um, conflict and Shows it as, as is not a conflict between the two. Um, it is, is a synchronization dance that needs to happen in order to streamline the way that we move things. It is in a hardware versus software and is a synchronization of both software and hardware coming together to do orchestration, um, so that uh, uh, those movements can be smooth and um, have some predictability, um, inside of it as well, to protect the infrastructure, the people around it and to reduce costs all at the same time. Uh, and I feel that is the thought process that went into actually building this product out and then pulling back on, uh, some of my, um, my experience in the military, the military has said, hey, you know, if there's a problem, you go at it, you know, head first but make sure you have a plan when you do it. Which is, which is more logistics. You know, most folks remember generals, not um, warriors on the battlefield. And the reason why you remember generals, um, is because generals planned out, you know, that contingency, um, you know, with logistically, you know, um, you know, for the most part.

Speaker A: So yeah, Kevin, I'll call this out because hearing the way that you talk about business and especially the way that you've strategized and intentionally built your business, it sounds very intuitive when you talk about, no, it's not hardware versus software, it's the two working in unison. It sounds so simple, yet beneath the surface, it's rare to find that combination. And so that's why Apple is the company that it is today. Uh, definitely. I'm an Apple fanboy as well. I'm just checking all the boxes here. Apple fanboy, Tesla fanboy. But the reason is, is because I actually think both of those companies, not just Apple, I think that both those companies are an example of what it looks like when you have the two working in tandem. Whereas, yes, I'm going to be that guy that throws a little bit of shade at the Android ecosystem right now is that you've got all of these software developers and an OS that is trying to fit, I don't know, 500 different potential models and skews and screen ratios and all of these other problems to solve. Now Kevin, on an entrepreneurial and founder level, you could have taken the easier path. You could have just said, let's solve the software side of it or let's solve the hardware side of it. What did that decision look like? And was it a simultaneous decision where you said, no, if we're going to solve this end to end, we're doing the whole thing what did that look like?

Speaker B: Yeah, you know, so, so I made the mistake like most folks do. It's like, you know what? I am smart enough and I have the skills enough to build a really dop, dope product. I can build a vehicle that is going to wow the world uh, and makes folks like dream. The first um, products ever released, the early Radens where we had two vehicles picking up a trailer, which we will do eventually, uh, was the focus like hey, you know what, get this orchestration thing down literally mode shift, uh, truck, uh, trailers from road to rail and partner with the software person to help me figure it out. Uh, you know, I stayed in that thought for about 18 months. You know, that same loop. You know, how do I perfect its design? How do I make this thing autonomous? How do I focus on making the hardware the best thing ever? And that's it. That was just focusing on that area solution. And then the more and more I spoke to our customers and our partners in the industry at hand, um, it was hey, we're still on legacy systems or hey we're still doing Excel or hey we're still printing out these documents and you're utilizing this uh, logistical tool that uh, we brought out in the 80s, uh, to still do all of our coordination and it's almost impossible for us to talk to this transformer robot uh, that you're going to bring to us. So it was like okay, you know what, I need to pull away the cool factor uh, from the vehicle and focus on the intentional factor to solve this problem and start focusing on, you know, soft skills software and making sure my vehicle fits within the same thing to solve at the, at the first layer first and then start to evolve up to the moonshot once we have a good basis down. But lay the foundation first, um, is what I took from it. Um, and other. The third item that I don't talk much about was the per the people. So we invented a new kind of person as well. Since we are road and rail, we needed to combine a CDL driver with a G core railroad engineer into a certified body. Uh, so we've done that. Um, that person is called a sentinel. So we had to cover software expertise and enterprise systems, um, and combine that with next gen hardware that can um, withstand the test of time, um, and then throw the person into the mix to actually operate said system, um, um, either inside of a glider m or outside of a vehicle being a tele operator or supervisor. So those three things had to create that eco system to actually solve um, this revolving Problem? Yeah.

Speaker A: Gosh, Kevin, there's so many different directions I want to take this. I wish we had all day to hang out, because to me, what's. What's really showcasing is that innovator mindset. And we use the word innovation so much in the world of business. But I think that it's rare that we innovate in a way that we fill in gaps, that you actually called it out earlier in one of your answers where you said, yeah, so many people just tap into that mindset of this is the way that it's always been, and it's easy to fall into that trap. Whereas you viewed. And I'm very excited for listeners to go to your website, which we're obviously gonna drop at the end of today's episode, because to see it with your own eyes, it is completely reimagined. And I love the fact somewhere I read you described as an imagineer. And I think to myself, it's so accurate in that regard to you. And so the question that I wanna ask you, and actually to bring up another business quote that I once heard, is that you can always identify the pioneers and the innovators because they're the ones with the arrows in their back. And it's not easy to be the innovator. It's not easy to be the pioneer, because there is a shock and awe factor. There is resistance, Resistance to change, resistance to new ideas. It has not always been smooth sailing for you as an. As an entrepreneur and as a founder. It never is. Talk to us about some of those struggles and speed bumps along the way.

Speaker B: Yeah, of course. You know, um, so glide. You know, we brought it out of stealth in 2022, and, uh, we got our first, you know, funding in 2025. So that was three years of bootstrapping. Um, and it wasn't. It wasn't because, uh, we didn't go out and talk to a bunch of people. I mean, we're on the street, you know, a lot, speaking to investors and customers and strategics as well. Um, but couldn't land anything home. Um, we actually ended up, um, going into an accelerator, um, through Antler, in order to identify where some of our blind spots were. Um, you know, I. I love the fact, Brian, you talk about, you know, my background and my experiences, but no one teaches you how to be a CEO. They teach you how to be an operator and an engineer and to solve problems on the fly. But to be a founder and a CEO, to run a company that is supposed to, you know, bring about a new Legacy and bolster a business, um, you know, that is revenue generating and cash positive, um, is not something they even teach you in business school. I have an mba. Um, it's something that is learned through accelerators experience and then community utilizing network effects. Um, and it's something that I had to learn the hard way. We went from you know, having a layoff staff and onboard staff to not getting product out, um, at the time that we wanted for the first several iterations through those three years of, I call it drought, um, while burning, you know, a lot of cash flow that came from, you know, me, the founder, uh, went into this um, accelerator, um, through Antler and then met the veterans fund and it changed everything, it removed all the blind spots, filled in all the gaps. Um, and then you know, we started to get funding in. Well now you have money. The new problem is what product do you build? And um, you know, how do you get into the customer's hands and recruit the team to actually build the product, um, is where some of the next challenges, you know, where do we find these folks, uh, to build this product that I just invented out of my mind. Um, you know, who's going to build the product if it's not me? Uh, you know, how much is this going to cost and do I have enough money to build it? And a lot of those questions were, hey, you know, you can probably hire two, three more people with the amount of money that you brought in. At that time we brought in about a quarter million and you're more than likely going to build this vehicle yourself. Which we did. We built Raiden, um, at my home here in Shaver Lake and then uh, drove that vehicle out to re industrialize and show the world that we can actually build. Um, and then after we showed the world it's like, okay, now we have to, you know, build a company around this and hire more people and have go to market and systems and processes that goes along with it. Um, so it's uh, you know, learning on the fly, borrowing from the past and still like every single day living through the pain of it all failing fast. Um, learning from your mistakes, ensuring that you, you know, document said mistakes so that you, they're not repeating. Um, and, and just you know, readjust and fire and going forward and you know, we stumble every single day, you know, and it's, it's just a part of building. I think the biggest companies still fumble and stumble um, in order to learn. I remember at SpaceX we used to celebrate every, every uh, every launch and every Blow up. Because there's, there's victories, uh, in losses and that are, that are, uh, embedded in the lessons that, that are taught through those losses is my philosophy through that. So, yeah.

Speaker A: And to steal from the chess world, chess grandmasters have a phrase of you either win or you learn. And I love that because losses aren't even a factor in the chess world. And it's really cool. You're actually not the first SpaceX employee that I've heard say, say that genuinely. It sounds, the first few times I thought they were like, just philosophically saying that, oh, we celebrate the blow ups. But sounds to me like that's a real tangible part of the culture because those are where the lessons come from. So, Kevin, it's really cool getting those insights, but you're also dropping some entrepreneurial truths here that I don't think are aired often enough and not talked about. At the core of it is, I'm so grateful that you called it out, is that nobody teaches you how to be a CEO, nobody teaches you how to be a founder. And you're, uh. Both of us went to business school and I'll never forget, it was sophomore year, I was such a terrible student because the professor was talking about business and starting a business. And I raised my hand, Kevin, and I was just like, can you share a little bit about the businesses that you started? And no academic entrepreneurship is so different from real life entrepreneurship. And so, Kevin, you are very intentional and strategic and disciplined. I'm going to add that into the mix because that is something I truly admire about your approach. And so thinking about those traits that you bring to the table, you have to carve out intentional executive time because you ask the right questions, you ask big questions, and that's how you're able to find big answers. What does that executive time look like? Is this something you carve out every single week or every single day or every single month or quarter? What are those questions that you ask yourself? What do you pay attention to in a business as innovative and fast moving as yours? I'd love to tap into that executive time of yours. Yeah.

Speaker B: Let you into the secret sauce that we usually charge folks for. No, I'm joking. No. Um, so executive time is spent daily, um, you know, to identify where the rocks are, um, and to see if, uh, their pebbles are boulders, um, is how we examine them on a daily basis. And some of the things we look at, you know, is financial health first and foremost. How do we pay for, uh, the staff and the toys and that we're Looking to deploy out to run the systems that we need to serve other folks. M. The next one is um, you know, are we staying on track, you know with said plan, um and in this set plan still you know um, accurate to what is happening in the world. You know. As many know we face many things all at one time as a society. We have multiple geopolitical tensions going around the world. We have a change in climate, um we have a change in how we route things. You're seeing mergers um of rail, um lines come uh together. You're seeing a rise in logistical calls from uh trucking folks. And then you're seeing a downturn um uh in logistics jobs all converging all at once. So is your plan still on track? Is your plan evolving, um to stay in front of these things uh is. Is what we're predicting ah so relevant uh today um and that's what we go through every single day um as a business, uh, when we pull back to the technology side, uh we're always looking at operational refinement. You know, given we're a dual use company. We service some of the hardest, you know jobs on the commercial side uh to some of the easiest side, uh jobs on the commercial side. Think shipping toilet paper to moving you know large boulders aggregate utilized to break down to service the concrete, um and cement business ah to the warfighter, um and all the flavors that they come in from the army to the Marine to the Air Force, uh to the Navy, um and the needs that they have all serviced on one vehicle that crosses both planes is something that we have to think about uh from the vehicle standpoint as well as a software standpoint, um in a lot of our daily discoveries um through the executive time. A part of that executive time um, as most know me involves a bit of meditation as well. Um because you can't do things without a clear um a clear mind. So when the thoughts become a lot and the data um starts to merge and squiggle together, I think meditation really supports me and helping uh to re. Re. Um re. Attune into myself um so I can get through that. That executive session. Um and that's. That's the day in life of Kevin Demoa Heck.

Speaker A: Yeah. So I'm so grateful for you taking us there and I want to go a little bit more into mindset because Kevin it's not every day that I interview a who is subject to macroeconomic m. Conditions the way that you are while also just talking very plainly and very simply about said macroeconomic conditions and something That I really admire is there's this quote that I heard of, ships don't sink because of the water around them. Ships sink because of the water that gets in them. And I think that it's really easy for us as founders to convince ourselves. I'll never forget, actually, because I've been an entrepreneur since I was 19, so dating all the way back to 2008, gosh, when I first started, I heard all the things like, email is dead, SEO is dead, all these things. And here we are in 2026. I'm still getting told the exact same things almost 20 years later. And even at various points through my entrepreneurial life, you know, when elections come up, everybody freaks out. And it was one election where pick any election where people feel, you know, strongly one way or the other. And I just thought to myself, the only thing that I can do is I can wake up and I can serve my people. That's all I can directly control. And so that's what I've continued to focus on. It sounds to me a lot of people, especially if you and I were having this conversation a few months ago, would be pointing at tariffs, would be pointing at the geopolitical turmoil, and they'd say, kevin, maybe now's not the best time for you to be in this industry. It seems to me like you always find a way to weather those storms. Talk to us about the mindset that allows you to do that.

Speaker B: Yeah, I believe it comes in focus and purpose, those two items, you know, in tandem, always and all the time. Um, it's knowing what the mission is and, and. And carrying out the mission, you know, accordingly. Uh, when you, when you look at the mission, there's several aspects to it. You know, you have, you know, your little micro aspects that, you know, tend to change, uh, with, with what happens in the world. Um, but the mission still stays, Stays on path. Um, and that's what we focus on. You know, how do we make this transition solid so the world, starting within America, can, uh, reap the benefits of the philosophy associated with gliding, uh, from road to rail. And no matter what happens, um, along that line, whether it's tariffs of a rise in cost or labor shortages or whatever it may be, our core thesis should have been strong enough, um, once we revamped past the dark days, uh, to withstand the test of time, um, because it was predicted five, ten, uh, years out, um, that took in account, um, all of these, uh, micro, uh, headwinds, uh, that were coming in, um, for us, we see it all as actually tailwinds the world is starting to see the logistics is a problem. As we go to, uh, uh, commercialize and consume and, uh, prepare for, uh, multiple conflicts around the world, uh, we see that the only way to get things anywhere is logistically, um, so we feel that's one of our core advantages.

Speaker A: Yes, I love that. Kevin, you are such an incredible thinker in all of these ways and, um, I'm so grateful for you sharing all of these things with us. Unfortunately, I knew that time would fly by today, but I need to put you on the spot one final time, and it's a super broad question, so you can take it any direction you want. It's the one question I ask at the end of every episode, and that is what's your best piece of advice for listeners? Knowing that we're being listened to by both wantrepreneurs and entrepreneurs at all different stages of their own growth journeys, and knowing that you are one of us, you're a fellow entrepreneur. What's that one thing you want to leave them with today?

Speaker B: Yeah, I would say, uh, you know, stop waiting, uh, for perfection to come and smack you in the head and say, hey, I'm here. Um, you know, it'll never come, uh, if you wait till everything looks perfect. Or it may be this brief window that comes when you're asleep, um, or, or having fun on vacation. You know, it's, uh, you know, trust that, uh, the vision and the mission that you've set out to do, now is the time to actually do it, uh, and, and, and trust in, in yourself. Make the call, um, you know, take the risk that is needed in order to accomplish, uh, said thing. You know, for me, I trust in God, um, and, and what he's, uh, you know, puts in me and guides me every single day and, you know, believing your foundation and your belief and let that carry you towards. And you know, the last one is build, uh, something for the community. You know, the community is going to serve you. You serve the community. Your business will be nothing without, uh, the community that you serve. So make sure that, you know, whatever you build out there, um, that the community is the first thing and the last thing, uh, in mind. Uh, with you included, you're a part of the community as well. So. Yeah. Let's glide.

Speaker A: Oh, Kevin. It's not every episode in more than 1500 that I get goosebumps. But I absolutely am today from your insights. I'm so grateful for that. It's going to live. Uh, I think the cool kids these days, I think they Use that expression of it's going to live rent free in my head from here about the fact that you talked about that we need to pay our rent on this planet. We are all in this together. And that community focus. And that's why I'm so excited. I don't complain about many things actually, Kevin, but I am going to complain about one thing together here at the end of this episode, is that I sometimes wish that podcasting was a more visual platform. Because as cool as it is to hear about all these things from you, I wish that listeners could instantly see Glides technology in action. So with that said, listeners, you absolutely have some homework from today's episode, because Kevin's going to drop the Glide links in just a second. But hearing about this stuff is one thing. Seeing it is completely different. This is incredible innovation that impacts all of our lives. And that's why I called out a few times in our conversation today. You didn't pick off a small problem to solve, Kevin. You are picking up societal, global problems. So for listeners who want to see Glide and all the cool stuff that you guys are building, drop those links on us. Where should listeners go from here?

Speaker B: Yeah, absolutely. You can find us at our website, Glide. It's spelled G L I D, Tech, T E C H, us. Again, it's Glid Tech Glide. Or you can find us on LinkedIn, uh, either my, my personal page or on our. On our page itself. Um, and I believe we have an X channel now as well. I don't know that one. Um, off the top of my head, I think is new. Uh, but the first two, uh, you know, definitely work. Um, but no, thank you all and God bless you.

Speaker A: Heck yes. And listeners, you already know the drill. We are dropping all of those links down below in the show notes, no matter where it is that you're tuning into today's episode so you don't have to go hunting for anything. You can glide right into those links down below in the show notes. If you're on the code, you don't have to remember the spelling or anything. You can click right on through. So, Kevin, on behalf of myself and all the listeners worldwide, thanks so much for coming on the show today.

Speaker B: Brian, thanks so much for having me. Let's Glide.

Speaker A: Hey, it's Brian here, and thanks for tuning in to yet another episode of the Wantrepreneur to Entrepreneur podcast. If you haven't checked us out online, there's so much good stuff there, check out the show's website and all the show notes that we talked about in today's episode@ah, thewantrepreneurshow.com and I just want to give a shout out to our amazing guests. There's a reason why we are ad free and have produced so many incredible episodes five days a week for you and it's because our guests step up to the plate. These are not sponsored episodes. These are not infomercials. Our guests help us cover the costs of our productions. They so deeply believe in the power of getting their message out in front of you awesome wantrepreneurs and entrepreneurs that they contribute to help us make these productions possible. So thank you to not only today's guest, but all of our guests in general. And I just want to invite you check out our website because you can send us a voicemail there. We also have live chat. If you want to interact directly with me, go to thewantrepreneurshow.com, initiate a live chat. It's for real me and I'm excited because I'll see you as always every Monday, Wednesday, Friday, Saturday and Sunday here on the wantrepreneur to Entrepreneur podcast.

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