How to Transform Supply Chain and Logistics Through Technology with William O’Donnell

Episode Description

For this episode of the eCom Logistics Podcast, we welcome William O’Donnell, Managing Director at Prologis Ventures. Today, he shares his expertise in supply chain technology and real estate and adjusting to the changes in these spaces.

William gives a few insights on the Silicon Vally Bank failure before diving deep into supply chain logistics technology. How it’s slowly becoming a C-suite priority, learning from and adjusting to adjacent industries, and what it could like for the rest of the year.

ABOUT WILLIAM

William O’Donnell is the Managing Director of Prologis Ventures, the innovation platform and venture capital arm of Prologis. With over 24 years of experience in both real estate and technology he heads this new group’s efforts to invest in cutting-edge technology for supply chain logistics and real estate. Mr. O’Donnell joined legacy AMB in 2003 and established a successful track record of building and acquiring investment platforms and companies globally.  In addition, he has private equity fund management expertise including capital raising, joint venture negotiation, asset management, work-outs, debt structuring and disposition.  Mr. O’Donnell also has acquisition and development experience throughout Asia, Europe, and North America.

Prior to joining AMB, Mr. O’Donnell was Director of Acquisition Solutions at Acxiom Impact a leading digital marketing company, and a management consultant at Cambridge Technology Partners.  Mr. O’Donnell received his Bachelors of Arts in English and Spanish from Duke University.

HIGHLIGHTS

• 01:34 The impact of the Silicon Valley Bank failure
• 09:23 Things to be excited for in the supply chain tech space 
• 17:03 Look at adjacent areas to learn from
• 23:30 Myth or Truth: Professional services revenue has a negative impact on valuation
• 29:00 What the rest of 2023 looks like from the supply chain perspective
• 34:23 Will there be a slowdown in 3PL logistics valuation?

QUOTES

10:21 Supply chain is an incredibly complex system – Will: “There’s a lot of opportunities for improvement. Innovation occurs when you remove constraints and suddenly new white space and opportunities open up. A lot of times it’s changing a business model.”

25:16 There has to be development because B2B SaaS is always challenging – Will: “It is important that if you do have integration or you’re doing development to be able to recoup the cost. The challenge you want to avoid is building bespoke products for a party of one.”

Find out more about Will in the links below:

• LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/william-o-donnell-85b25120/
• Website: https://www.prologis.com/