Construct Mode is again with a vacation bonus episode. This week, Startup Battlefield editor Isabelle Johannessen is joined by the winner of this yr’s competitors, Kevin Damoa, the CEO and founding father of Glīd, a logistics infrastructure firm that goals to streamline the advanced container cargo course of.
Damoa first found the challenges of transport bigger cargo as a brand new enlistee within the U.S. Military, the place he labored on a crew loading tanks and Bradley preventing automobiles onto the railroad. He realized firsthand that whereas railways don’t have the identical congestion as roads, they arrive with their very own set of issues. The largest one ended up being the advanced multistep means of shifting cargo from the roads to the rails.
Reduce to 2025, and Damoa is standing on the TechCrunch Disrupt stage holding the large examine, having simply crushed 200 different corporations to win the Startup Battlefield competitors. On this week’s episode of Construct Mode, TechCrunch’s new postcast for builders and entrepreneurs, Damoa breaks down how he discovered the {hardware} and software program answer to the logistics points he’d seen firsthand. And he does a deep dive into how the crew got here collectively to make sure these three merchandise (launched practically concurrently) have been prepared for a dwell demo on the Disrupt stage.
“Oh that was loopy, ensuring the software program works,” Damoa mentioned. “And anyone that is aware of software program is aware of that it takes a military of individuals,” which was one thing that Glīd at this stage doesn’t have. However that strain, and really public deadline, gave the crew a spotlight and drive to get their home so as extra swiftly than ever.
On this interview, Damoa is recent off this large win and keen to make use of the momentum and prize cash to speed up Glīd into their subsequent section. They’re already launching a pilot with Nice Plains Industrial Park, and their subsequent product Glīder is about to hit the market. And the crew is hiring for roles in practically each facet of the enterprise. Their course of is extra on the informal finish of the spectrum, with Damoa calling it “an natural course of” the place an preliminary vibe examine and résumé assessment can flip into a brand new crew member.
Damoa says that course of has attracted people who find themselves mission pushed, laser-focused, all whereas training mindfulness. That is sensible when the CEO is the form of chief who responds to the information that they’ve made the highest 5 in Startup Battlefield by saying: “I’m going to meditate.”
Utilizing this human-centric method, the Glīd crew has attracted people who find themselves mission pushed and laser-focused, all whereas training mindfulness. That is sensible when the CEO is the form of chief who responds to the information that they’ve made the highest 5 in Startup Battlefield by saying: “I’m going to meditate.”
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October 13-15, 2026
For the complete episode and plenty of extra suggestions from Damoa on how different corporations can place themselves to win Startup Battlefield, take a look at the video under, or pay attention and subscribe to Construct Mode wherever you want getting your favourite podcasts. And for those who’re liking what we’re doing, give us a assessment — or when you have suggestions in regards to the present, attain out to us at podcasts@techcrunch.com.
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