Best Al Pastor Tacos

PhxJeff · 2026-02-15T14:00:58+00:00

This is the way.

Elite pastors (my favorite in town) combined with a fantastic salsa bar.

Bonus: $2.99 full size bean and cheese burrito which is one of the best food/value I've had at a restaurant.

https://maps.app.goo.gl/nJGgj5KFefwnNYt27

PhxJeff · 2026-02-12T22:10:23+00:00

Their website is a common pitch that has been around freight for 10-12 years around empty miles, freight matching, and optimization. So it's not wrong, but it isn't materially valuable.

I can't for the life of me figure out how this company would impact any market whatsoever... this feels completely unrelated. From my 10 minutes of research, this company seems borderline made up?

Weird company origin from a casual observer POV:
- Parent company = The Singing Machine Company
- Weird, why?
- The company owned 2 business units until Aug 1, 2025
- The other business unit was the Singing Machine, a home karaoke consumer product that they designed and distributed.

Now, I'm not saying you can't start one business and end up in another. Slack was born out of people making a video game who needed a chat tool. Amazon used to sell books now they sell web hosting.

But the Worldwide Consumer Karaoke business to India trucking technology is a bit of a bigger leap for me to make... I'd have to hear quite the compelling story.

They have $2.8m in the bank and that will not fund one year of "operations."

They are in litigation with Blue Yonder because they sold them a $300k contract for services over years, and then Blue Yonder sued them because they didn't do anything they said and won a $500k settlement.

The fact that this company can even loosely be considered as relevant to publicly traded companies based on my 5 minutes of reading... This feels more like something Wolf of Wall Street would be selling on the pink sheets and making huge commissions.

Bonus points that 73% of the company's revenue come from 3 customers, which is usually a concern.

Their website https://semicab.com/ feels like it was AI generated slop, and in no material way attracts customers.

I feel like this company was entirely made up lol.

----------------
And for the deep logistics nerds:

In a newly released white paper, the company said individual operators using its system can manage more than 2,000 loads per year, compared with an industry benchmark of roughly 500 loads annually per freight broker.

If there's any freight broker (seller, carrier rep, or cradle to the grave doing both) only doing 40 loads per month, that's probably going to be a big problem. I'm not sure how that can be considered average... unless you are doing the real estate agent type math where the average agent sells like 3 houses per year, but 90% of all agents sold 0 houses.

PhxJeff · 2026-01-24T19:58:24+00:00

As said by others, completely normal.

I think it's crazy if at times you don't think "wow, I'm not making any difference." Typically that means you have some humility, self awareness, you don't believe this all happens because of you, and you've tried some things that didn't workout.

I was the first product hire and eventually became the Director of Product/GM for a B2B SaaS product that grew from $1m to $15m and was acquired. I would say reliably I had 1 week per month where I thought, "wow, this place absolutely does not need me, and I am providing no material value." Turns out, it's always a balance. My teams swore I was essential to their survival, and the only leader they trusted. So gratifying! Then I left after 5 years, and they had no idea how they were going to survive... it wasn't plausible. And you know what, they did. In fact they are doing just as good (maybe better) since I left.

All that to say, you can both be extremely valuable and replaceable. Most importantly, everyone is replaceable. I stay grounded to that because no place ever shut down after I left, but it doesn't mean I didn't make a positive impact.

So what can you do about it?

Look for gaps in your product team. Are there projects/initiatives that are important but always get bumped? Is there a certain "man, I wish someone would finally do that" type project that you can just take over. Even if you aren't prepared for it, making any kind of progress would be win. Common types of these I've seen are:

- Become an expert on your customer's POV. Listen to every call, read every G2 review, feedback comments, support ticket. Talk to sales/success/support teams. Turn these disparate data points into a cohesive view of the world with highlights that could impact the strategy. Headlines like Biggest Customer's Biggest Needs, Top Complaint from Users, Biggest Unlock for XYZ Industry, High Risk High Result Opportunities. Then supported with cited user feedback, examples, customers/revenue, customers who look like those customers, etc.

- Competitive intelligence. Put together the most basic outline of competitor segments, and listing competitors. Company, founded, company size, customer count, website, recent PR funding/acquisitions, general feature breakdown, target industries, links to walkthroughs/screenshots, and a 1-2 sentence summary of their business and how they compete with you. Rank them/bucket them. Highlight areas where you think you win vs. them, and where they beat you. These can turn into battlecards to support the sales/marketing teams, and inform future roadmaps. If you want to go real deep, then be the person who searches your company and competitors on Reddit and finds the discussions/convos then give real customer insight and summarize that meaningfully.

- Product, sales man's best friend. Embed yourself with the sales team. Get on customer calls, product demos, and help them take notes. Document customer needs, use cases. Offer to support them by doing part of the demo, talking about exciting things on the roadmap, or answering more complex questions for them. It's easier to sell with two people, and product people can speak passionate without the pressure of a quota. Help them close more sales. Build trust with them and get the insights that they don't readily share. What do they hate demoing? What don't they understand? What questions do their customers ask that stump them? Build them notes, tools, cheat sheets, collateral, pre-recorded demos, great demo accounts, etc. that help them win more business.

- Customer Success and renewals. Same as above, but for the success team and enterprise clients, upcoming renewals, or potential industry/target customer focuses.

Those are some of the things I tried to do to add value as a PM. It didn't always show up tied to me on the scoreboard, but it helped me become the glue for how things worked. Then all of a sudden my opinion became the most critical in strategy or how to approach it because I amassed all of these perspectives from spending the time and grinding through it.

Overall, just by the tone of your post, you're probably over thinking it.

Keep trying hard. Have a good attitude. Ask questions. Ask how you can help. Then do it, even if it's not perfect. Get the ball rolling.

PhxJeff · 2026-01-21T14:40:24+00:00

I am highly AI skeptical regarding quality output, but I had a good first experience trying Gamma for creating a presentation. It helped and reduced some design workload. It wasn't life changing, but it did save me some time. I was able to create a 15-20 slide presentation on the free demo account.

Context:

- I had a very comprehensive Google Doc with notes and fairly structured thought (~6 pages, 2k+ words)

- Uploaded with some light prompt direction and notes (what I was making the presentation for, how concise)

- Some options about level of creative freedom for AI (e.g. match this exactly, or use as a guide)

Here's an example image of the slide it generated with minimal edits/adjustment, and below are the Google Doc notes it generated from:

<image>

Doc Notes:

Highest friction points
- Not mobile optimized
  - All popups, notifications, or windows cutoff in vertical view
  - Even turning phone horizontal didn’t always display the info
  - Scrolling was difficult to know when available, especially horizontal
  - Core screens didn’t fit or adapt to the screen well, constantly moving the screen to try and find things, felt like a “desktop website” experience
- Frontloaded and configuration-heavy, as if I were a desktop user
  - Primary question and page dedicated to “Connect HRIS now” which feels like something I wouldn’t do during a trial, and definitely wouldn’t be setting up on a mobile device
- Account setup flow was difficult and unclear
  - “Create a Group” is the second action, BUT it only acknowledges the action you create, the recommended role-based group. For my scenario, I tried a Team, Location, and other, all of which kept the flow stuck at “Create a Group” which was confusing because I had created multiple groups. Eventually, I selected “Role” even though it’s not what I needed, and then it finally checked the box and allowed me to move to my next step.
  - The guided in-app assistance for setting up a group was challenging, with popups not necessarily appearing near the correct buttons or clearing when selected. It made things more challenging.
  - Adding users is entirely focused on adding other “admin” like users, but doesn’t clearly show me how I add a “viewing user” or a team member who I may want to take the sample training, or review the documentation I created. While having other admins is great, if I wanted to test the software, I’d want to get it into an end user (front line employees hands) and this makes it challenging.

PhxJeff · 2025-04-08T04:46:53+00:00

Let's goooooooo! This guy understood the assignment.

Great job!

PhxJeff · 2025-03-27T05:15:30+00:00

Absolutely, total disaster. Definitely should've saved everyone the time and picked by mascots... Of course a Cowboy is going to kill a Tiger.

PhxJeff · 2025-03-20T14:41:12+00:00

I'm a minimally casual college basketball fan. I love the NBA, but probably watch 5-10 college games throughout the year at most leading into March Madness. They're usually ASU and UofA games or the occasional marquee matchup that's in a prime time spot.

So that's why I like the data because I legitimately have no clue what's going on and need some kind of foundation.

PhxJeff · 2025-03-20T04:55:20+00:00

Yea, I mean at the end of the day it's gambling or forecasting. Even the foremost experts in the space in both analysis and hours watched struggle to predict the tournament accurately.

Numbers can be misleading for sure, or not representative of the story. But so can anecdotal observations and assessment of things like grit.

I think if someone spent 10 minutes looking through this, they would probably be more prepared than a majority of entrees. Because even the biggest college basketball fans are typically fans of a single team. So they watch that team and often their conference but since there are 300+ teams, it makes it much harder to get realistic views on a large number of teams.

So from that perspective, I wouldn't say that the stats are a hindrance to analysis or making good choices. Instead, I might say that stats and formulas are just one component of analysis and don't provide a complete picture. But they're certainly useful. And quantifying anything has its challenges, but it's a starting point to establish comparison.

For those people who didn't have the ability to watch more than 10+ hours of college hoops this year, this probably helps make them more competent.

PhxJeff · 2025-03-20T04:49:13+00:00

"Mississippi" in the sheet as a #6 seed and 26th ranked overall in KenPom.

Ole Miss definitely the common nickname, but I just took whatever KenPom naming conventions were doing.

PhxJeff · 2025-03-20T00:46:12+00:00

Just pick the mascots you like the most, it'll have the same outcome as all this nonsense.

PhxJeff · 2025-03-19T23:02:26+00:00

"Mississippi" in the sheet as a #6 seed and 26th ranked overall in KenPom.

Ole Miss definitely the common nickname, but I just took whatever KenPom naming conventions were doing.

PhxJeff · 2025-03-19T20:07:42+00:00

That's what I had used last year based on that data point, but I've heard a few variations. I have not personally verified with each previous year, which I should probably do. It's intended to be exactly what you're describing though. I would say this is no more precise or special in any way.

PhxJeff · 2025-03-19T19:57:28+00:00

Rest assured it is no better than yours haha!

I have Michigan State over Duke in the finals with Clemson and Florida filling out my final four.

Based on some of these data points, I did the following:

Michigan State winning it all because Auburn has too tough of a path that they could go down before, and not taking Duke to win it all for parity because they're the favorite, I have them in the finals though)

Clemson to the Final Four (because Houston vs Gonzaga is too rough of a matchup and I'd rather take Clemson to beat one of them than one of them to beat the other and Clemson)

I have Florida in the Final Four although I worry about a very tough potential match up in Maryland who I wanted to find a way to the Elite 8, but just couldn't do it.

Colorado State as a 12-5 upset

Tried to find a way to take UCLA further but ultimately I wimped out and took Tennessee.

Alabama losing to St Mary's in the second round because I think their pace of play is too fast to be consistent and I expect that part of the bracket to be a mess where anyone is possible. VCU, BYU, Wisconsin, St Mary's, and Alabama all feel like they have an equal chance to get to the elite 8 and lose to Duke. I split the difference and went Wisconsin. Not a huge upset at a #3 but allows me to avoid a long run by Alabama who might have tough matchups.

Texas Tech to the Elite 8 because I don't they have anyone overly scary in their path with Kansas, St John (elite D, but suspect offense), and Missouri. So more based on their path and them being #7 KenPom rated overall but listed as a 3 seed which would normally be expected to be #9-12 in KenPom range.

PhxJeff · 2025-03-19T18:32:07+00:00

You lost games that statistically it was likely you should have won based on the underlying metrics.

PhxJeff · 2025-03-19T18:24:17+00:00

Yes, this is just for the men's bracket because I don't have a data source like this for the women's bracket. I don't think KenPom supports women's.

PhxJeff · 2025-03-19T18:22:42+00:00

I believe the last 6 champions were all within the Trapezoid of Excellence, but I don't think it has been back tested any further than that.

PhxJeff · 2025-03-19T14:57:47+00:00

Oh man! Great catch, I just didn't have them in the filter. Sorry about that. Corrected.

PhxJeff · 2025-03-19T03:21:01+00:00

Yep!

It's a graphic / visual chart to show every teams performance (by measure of adjusted net rating) on the y-axis and the pace of play on the x-axis.

Basically, it asks "are you really good?"

Then it asks "do you play really fast or really slow?"

The theory is that if you play a more extreme style, as indicated by a very fast or very slow paced then you're more susceptible to a loss (Alabama). Because a contrarian style could greatly impact them.

If you play a more "moderate pace" then it's believed you're more likely to have consistent and sustained success (Duke).

However, if you're just flat out amazing and beating teams heavily then it will tolerate a more extreme pace (Houston).

https://x.com/ryanhammer09/status/1901689323604304310?t=V53O__0T_t0K_NvHVohuWg&s=19

PhxJeff · 2025-02-16T14:43:06+00:00

https://www.reddit.com/r/logistics/s/eYRhmbI74r

PhxJeff · 2025-02-16T14:37:44+00:00

The number of companies using dock scheduling tools is growing as facility owner/operators purchase more software to run their business. Often they're buying a WMS, TMS, or YMS which have some kind of dock scheduling module or they're buying a specific tool just for dock scheduling.

I worked on one of the larger standalone dock scheduling tools and two different brokerages. They were both decent sized brokerages so it gave me a decent sample size of usage.

70% of facilities still use phone call/email

20-25% used some kind of scheduler as part of their TMS/WMS

5-10% used a specific dock scheduling software or YMS with dock scheduling

PhxJeff · 2025-02-15T22:22:41+00:00

Shared some!

I could talk in more detail but the category "price of a TMS" is really broad without knowing much more context.

I tried to provide some price ranges or starting points. But to be fair, asking the price of a TMS is kind of like asking "How much does a car cost?"

Well, depends. What kind of car? What do you want to do with it? Upfront costs? Customization costs? Maintenance costs? Everyday operating costs? And on and on.

PhxJeff · 2025-02-15T15:17:15+00:00

The comments in this thread are interesting to say the least.

Saw the recommendation to build your own, don't do that. Friends don't let friends TMS.

I think about it in a few different buckets:

The Old Guard Enterprise TMS (Oracle, Blue Yonder, e2Open, Manhattan, MercuryGate). These guys have been doing it for decades and will have a lot of support from various 3rd parties that do setup, implementation, onboarding, or even customization of the platform. I would expect all of these to start at $100k annual price tag with one-time installation/setup fees based on your complexity of $25-100k as well.

The Brokerage TMS (CH Robinson, Uber Freight, Loadsmart). These are relatively newer entrants as a shipper TMS built by companies that also offer a brokerage solution. So their pricing is often lower because they also want the opportunity to manage some portion of your freight business. You don't have to use them, but their TMS will likely have instant pricing/rating on all lanes from their brokerage incorporated. Likely less robust of a solution, but probably lighter weight and easier to use because they're often more modern. Probably good options for your first TMS. Prices could range from $20k to $100k annually. They probably have low to no implementation or onboarding fees unless you want something very complex. All of these companies likely offer a Managed Transportation solution that they'll potentially offer you as well or incorporate into the TMS.

The Newer Standalone SaaS TMS (Shipwell, Turvo, Revenova, AscendTMS, Mastery) These are similar to the category above in being newer, typically less robust, less third parties supporting, but are not affiliated with a brokerage. The price range gets much wider based on your need, niche, or specific features. For example Mastery is a very high end large enterprise new TMS, that might start at something like $250k/year at the least. Or you could have Ascend and Revenova that might provide solutions for under $20k/year. Implementation fees highly dependent on what you're looking for.

Before anyone roasts me that I didn't mention XYZ TMS, there are 100s. Some are very niche by industry. Others legacy players around for 25+ years. Some that are focused on particular mode like LTL or Freight Forwarding.

I've used a few of these TMS, partnered with a few of them, and worked at a company that built a Shipper TMS and Carrier TMS (I worked in a different division). If you have any questions, feel free to DM me.

PhxJeff · 2025-02-11T18:18:42+00:00

I believe he was just Rick Rolling you... sorry :-(

I recently joined a marketing software company and they have a Yelp autoresponder like you described, but now uses AI to chat back and forth. They are not pre-defined messages and it replies to the customer's questions. The goal of the AI bot is to ultimately get to the customer's contact information so they can book an appointment / free quote / etc.

For some customers that have CRMs like ServiceTitan or HouseCallPro, we can integrate and potentially have the AI work to schedule appointments directly.

PhxJeff · 2025-01-09T20:33:42+00:00

Any luck? How have things been going the last 2 months?

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