The 34-year-old Amari Ruff had a very tough time growing up. He had to balance his studies as a teenager and work to make ends meet with his mother while moving between the shelters for the homeless.
But now he owns a multi-million-dollar trucking company called Sudu that connects underserved entrepreneurs to giant companies like Walmart and the UPS. At a very young age his military father left his mother to take care of and raise his two siblings and himself.
They lived in homeless shelters and at times he had to commute for four hours to go for his high school and even attend to his work.
Finally, he landed in a company where he negotiated with significant enterprise contracts. He helped the business grow to annual revenues of $4.5 million, but was let go from a higher rank that he was promised. He decided to start a telecommunications company in 2010 with just $300 and a Ford Ranger.
However, before long, he managed to grow it to 200 trucks and 5 US locations. While at it he also realized that there were higher opportunities to create a tech company to connect underserved entrepreneurs with larger corporations. He then built his own business to fill the void. He then launched an online marketplace that leverages technology to connect small and medium sized trucking companies that make 90% of the trucking market to the major corporations that ship the goods.
He chose the word Sudu as it is a Chinese word that means swift and tempo because he feels that it suits best to the speed and safety of the shipments that he ships through his company to different locations across the country. His company is also considered as the uber by his competitors and other trucking companies.
