#StartupsEverywhere: Jason Brown, Founder & CEO, Deliveri
This profile is part of #StartupsEverywhere, an ongoing series highlighting startup leaders in ecosystems across the country. This interview has been edited for length, content, and clarity.
Delivering in Disrupted Markets
Deliveri is a logistics platform that helps customers lower costs and manage their shipping needs. Founded by Jason Brown and based in Cary, North Carolina, the company offers a multi-carrier shipping solution for e-commerce businesses in the U.S., with plans to expand this service into Latin America. We sat down with Jason to discuss his business, how recent changes to trade policies are impacting small businesses, the importance of the Qualified Small Business Stock (QSBS) exemption, and his future goals for Deliveri.
What led you to found Deleveri?
The idea for Deliveri was born from my previous startup in Colombia. We focused on shipping products globally, primarily to the U.S. Recently, a rule that allowed duty-free imports of products valued under $800 was amended, shaking up the global shipping space. That rule had provided the financial foundation for numerous direct-to-consumer businesses and artisans operating throughout Latin America. I see an opportunity to help save the disrupted markets through Deliveri if we can expand to international markets.
Moreover, most tools for e-commerce shipping have been built for the enterprise customer, oftentimes neglecting the vast majority that makes up e-commerce, which are small and medium-sized businesses. Advanced shipping tools exist today, but they are extremely complex and expensive, and out of reach for those businesses. Our goal is to refashion these tools and capabilities for small businesses to boost their chances at e-commerce success in an already difficult industry.
Can you tell us what Deliveri does?
Deliveri is an e-commerce shipping platform that helps small businesses by providing discounted shipping labels from major couriers like USPS, DHL, UPS, and FedEx. We help businesses ship both domestic and international, track their packages, connect their webstores, and even insure their shipments. We’re also rolling out tools like branded tracking pages and customer notifications to help small businesses build better customer experiences.
We have just launched, with a current focus on U.S. domestic shipments as our initial foothold. While we plan to expand internationally—our specialty is global logistics—we are currently leveraging our expertise to provide seamless domestic shipping. Given the current complexity of trade and tariffs, we also prepare our clients for future international expansion by highlighting our core function: the ability to manage "landed costs,” which is paying for any costs to cross a global border before an item is shipped. When a shipper can’t manage landed costs in advance, they run the risk that the shipment will get to the customer who will be surprised with a massive bill and reject the shipment. Then you, as the shipper, have a product stuck in another country and dissatisfied customers.
How important is it to the startup ecosystem that data flows over the internet across global borders?
Access to the Internet is a fundamental driver of modern commerce. In the last five years alone, over one billion people have gained access to the Internet. The companies that succeeded after COVID-19 used better Internet connectivity and economic stability to expand their customer base worldwide. But that depends on data being able to flow across global borders. Internationally, countries like Indonesia have already added tariff codes to their tariff schedules for electronic transmissions, with global corporations such as Netflix struggling to navigate these issues. As a former photonic network engineer who spent over 10 years building networks worldwide, I know that digital tariffs and getting rid of the e-commerce moratorium would never work. You can't put a tax on data. People will use various means to circumvent it.
There's a lot of turmoil in the trade space right now. How do you see the impact of uncertainty and recent trade policy changes on U.S. small businesses and startups?
The current trade environment is chaotic, with profound effects on small businesses, especially on the supply chain side. I have a friend whose startup raised a few million dollars. They were building an American factory and ordered specialized, high-end machine parts from China. When the parts arrived, they were hit with a 125 percent tariff. Because they couldn't pay it immediately, they were charged demurrage fees, which are daily fines for failing to offload cargo in the allotted time. This American company was left in a state of chaos, unable to get its product and facing financial difficulty—all because of these tariffs.
The repeal of the de minimis rule in August was particularly damaging. Previously, it was estimated that over 90 percent of e-commerce shipments to the U.S. were valued under $800 and therefore exempt from duties. Now, every single item is taxed, which has led many countries to halt all postal shipments to the U.S. altogether. It's a logistical disaster that the government is not prepared to handle.
Are there other startup issues that are important to the ecosystem you want policymakers to know about?
Tariffs uniquely burden U.S. small businesses on the supply side because they import small volumes, such as an 80-pound box from China, rather than a costly cargo shipment that they don’t have the demand or need to fill. Tariffs can penalize domestic companies for sourcing necessary, sometimes custom-made goods, such as specific machine parts that are only manufactured in China, contradicting the common perception that all Chinese imports are "cheap stuff."
Beyond trade, policymakers must protect the QSBS (shares of a qualified small business that are subject to special capital gain taxes and rules) exemption. This is a critical incentive for startup investors and early-stage employees. The current $10 million cap on this exemption needs to remain in place as lowering it would be a massive blow to the startup investment space.
What are the future goals for Deliveri?
Our immediate goals are centered on customer acquisition and product build following our recent beta launch. With the holiday season approaching, our busiest time of year, the focus is on both continuing to develop existing features and acquiring a strong base of viable customers.
My future objective is to expand my focus beyond the U.S. market to serve the rest of the world. The primary goal is to target Latin America, where current trade policies have started to force some sellers to shift their business to other wealthy markets, such as the EU and Asia. Deliveri plans to be the key enabler by providing the ability to pay landed costs upfront, lower these shipping costs, enable better shipping experiences for ecommerce businesses, and helping our customers navigate the current policy uncertainty.
All of the information in this profile was accurate at the date and time of publication.
Engine works to ensure that policymakers look for insight from the startup ecosystem when they are considering programs and legislation that affect entrepreneurs. Together, our voice is louder and more effective. Many of our lawmakers do not have first-hand experience with the country's thriving startup ecosystem, so it’s our job to amplify that perspective. To nominate a person, company, or organization to be featured in our #StartupsEverywhere series, email advocacy@engine.is.
