BrillDog is a company that provides real-time, cloud-based supply chain analysis, management, and actionable insights specifically for small- to medium-sized businesses. The official launch of BrillDog was on May 1, 2023. And to learn more about the company, Pulse 2.0 interviewed Sam Polakoff, CEO and founder of BrillDog.
Sam Polakoff’s Background
Polakoff has been at the forefront of logistics and supply chain innovation for nearly fifty years. And Polakoff is a third-generation owner of America’s oldest privately held non-asset-based 3PL. Nexterus – which was founded in Baltimore by Polakoff’s grandfather in 1946 – has many industry firsts such as the first outsourced domestic logistics department for small and mid-sized customers, the first to offer a similar service for international ocean/air/customs clearance, and the one of the first to develop a TMS.
“I have been at the helm for most of that activity, actively participating in the concept creation and process engineering,” said Polakoff.
Idea Behind BrillDog
How did the idea behind BrillDog come together? Polakoff noted that nearly 20 years ago, he started searching for a technology partner that could assist smaller companies with global product sourcing.
“They were few and far between. The few I found and began discussions with were acquired by larger entities and folded into flagship products. Couple that with the commoditization of the TMS, geopolitical conflict, tariffs, the pandemic, and natural disasters, along with port congestion and driver and chassis shortages. And I began to wonder how the small company could possibly manage the supply chain without going insane. It was then that I decided that something new and different was needed to make the supply chain easy and affordable for smaller companies that cannot fathom products like SAP or Oracle,” Polakoff explained.
Entrepreneurship In The Polakoff Family
Entrepreneurship has been a central focus for the Polakoff family. Sam’s son Ryan also leads Nexterus as the president of the company.
“The calling of our family has always been to study what the largest companies in the world are doing with supply chain process and tech, and then figure out how to bring it to the little guy in an easy-to-use, affordable manner,” Polakoff pointed out.
BrillDog’s Core Products
BrillDog will start with a TMS-lite freemium model and then will advance to two paid levels: a full TMS and a complete supply chain suite. After fully deployed, BrillDog customers will be able to
– Confidently find new global sources of supply
– Perform side-by-side comparisons
– Issue purchase orders
– Maintain complete visibility of fulfillment
– Have the system seamlessly hand off to a TMS where a bill of lading is created, and dispatch occurs electronically
– See shipment status from origin to destination
– Pay for materials and freight with the convenience of BrillDog Pay
More importantly, BrillDog solves the Big Data problem for small and midsize businesses (SMBs). And with all supply chain data in one central repository, BrillDog’s e-Trainer BI (ML/AI) toolset will teach SMBs how to continuously save money in the network, inventory, and transportation expenses. The more BrillDog is used, the smarter it becomes.
Financials
The company is actively looking into funding and it is projecting revenue of $40 million by 2027.
Total Addressable Market
What is the total addressable market (TAM) size that BrillDog is pursuing? Despite the recent economic downturn, the demand for supply chain technology is still extremely strong.
Polakoff cited a Yahoo Finance report about the market for this type of software currently being around $15.9 billion and it is projected to grow to $37 billion by 2027. This projection is likely aimed at large companies and does not encompass the vast potential of the SMB market, dwarfing the aforementioned figure.
Differentiation From The Competition
What differentiates BrillDog from its competition?
“Large companies protect themselves by using multimillion-dollar ERP systems (SAP, Oracle, et al) and supplement specific functions with other products as needed. In the SME market, most employ a Tier II or III industry-specific ERP which is often obsolete or over-customized making updates less feasible. Many of these systems are supplemented by a TMS on a freemium plan offered by freight brokers. As one might imagine, these plans are limited in overall functionality, and most are restricted to the contract carriers of the broker leaving the SME unable to deal directly with a freight carrier,” Polakoff answered. “In short, large companies are using Tier I ERP systems such as SAP and Oracle while the next level down takes advantage of products offered by Descartes, E2Open, Infor, and Epicor. On the opposite spectrum, small companies do not pay for any supply chain software, tending instead to use free products from freight brokers like C.H. Robinson. The upper end of the SME market will purchase a cloud-based TMS system such as those offered by My Carrier or Shipwell. None of these programs offer the capabilities of BrillDog without the use of third-party integration companies and a great deal of time and money to get started.”
Future Company Goals
What are some of BrillDog’s future company goals?
“To earn a reputation for honesty, integrity, and ethical product offerings that affordably aid the small and mid-sized company to manage supply chain in a manner that levels the playing field with their largest competitors,” Polakoff concluded.
