Some ideas are legitimately terrible. But most ideas that are deemed bad are usually ideas that have a bad track record of poor execution.
FedEx, up until the point that they succeeded, was a phenomenally bad idea...one that received heaps of ridicule from academics to VCs. Now their hairbrained competitors are the ones that receive the ridicule.
Logistics is hard (I work in it), but it has a track record of crazy innovations that sweep the entire world in a matter of years. Think about it: Canals, Railroads, Containerization, The Automobile, Air Parcel Delivery. While I don't think an AirBnB for Packages would go anywhere, the idea has at least a semblance of merit: It is a new approach to sortation (probably the biggest problem facing logistics today). A completely distributed sortation system. If this company came packed with a few OpsResearch professionals and a few good lawyers, I would hold off on my ridicule.
It sounds like it could be handy for international shipments? Normally it costs an arm and a leg to ship a heavy package overseas, but if a traveler has an extra check-in slot available, they could carry an extra 50 lb package for like $25. It normally costs like $300 to ship something that big overseas.
The liability and insurance issues would be pretty annoying to deal with, though.
Only slightly. I interpreted the article as "gain some experience so you can come up with good ideas". He very plainly ridiculed the idea. All I was saying was the idea isn't stupid and that it addresses a real problem facing logistics today. I agree that execution and experience matter, but nothing the author wrote gave me the impression that he would ever think it was a good idea, even if Fredrick Smith himself was pitching it.
That its addressing a real problem doesn't make a difference. A modest proposal addresses a real problem. Who delivers the solution doesn't make it any better.
If Smith was delivering the solution, it would not be what was presented. And it would not be that idea.
Every political jurisdiction you cross is a new legal and regulatory reality...whether it is a city, state, or national boundary. And laws usually lag innovation.
FedEx, up until the point that they succeeded, was a phenomenally bad idea...one that received heaps of ridicule from academics to VCs. Now their hairbrained competitors are the ones that receive the ridicule.
Logistics is hard (I work in it), but it has a track record of crazy innovations that sweep the entire world in a matter of years. Think about it: Canals, Railroads, Containerization, The Automobile, Air Parcel Delivery. While I don't think an AirBnB for Packages would go anywhere, the idea has at least a semblance of merit: It is a new approach to sortation (probably the biggest problem facing logistics today). A completely distributed sortation system. If this company came packed with a few OpsResearch professionals and a few good lawyers, I would hold off on my ridicule.