Did hubris help kill the unicorn? Hide the bottom line, add hot air at the top

© Robot100

The youthful death of a freight ’unicorn’ has as ever divided the market: those who believe VC cash simply disguises unsustainable businesses; and those who believe that tech disruption in supply chain management will ultimately succeed at the expense of ‘traditional’ – AKA profitable – operators.

It is, of course, more nuanced than that. But let’s take Convoy, the tech-enabled freight brokerage that shuttered its doors last week.

It had received more than $1bn in funding, from investors including Jeff Bezos and ...