I stumbled upon ShipChain while doing some of the research...

I stumbled upon ShipChain while doing some of the research around YJE's potential competitors. ShipChain does a good job of talking through the various inefficiencies associated with the current state of the supply chain/logistics industry. Other than that, I am not sure what if anything they stand to gain by 1) disclosing their product's road-map and 2) assembling a cohort of 16 advisors... I think there are bigger whales out there for YOJ to worry about (e.g., IBM, Accenture etc). The problem with the big outfits like the ones I just mentioned is that they lack focus...they want to be everything to everybody.

What I particularly like about YJE's decision to initially target SE Asia and South&Central America is the following (I am speculating here):
1) they get many opportunities to experiment with the platform to make it as versatile as it can be. When you contrast those regions of the world to the developed countries, something that comes up is the former are still in the early process of developing their transportation and communication infrastructures. YOJ's first deals are in Indonesia/Cambodgia/Peru of all places. If their platform can excel in those countries, it will excel almost anywhere.
2) they earn a first mover advantage in the regions of the world that will be joining the ranks of the world middle class by the millions in the years and decades to come. The center of Global Trade is steadily migrating from the West to the East or from the Northern Hemisphere to the Southern Hemisphere (depending on who you talk to).

Happy New Year to All. Looking forward to a healthy and prosperous 2018 and beyond.