Real lessons for venture capitalists in multimodal logistics systems : where does profitability come from?

Abstract

In this thesis we review three case studies in multimodal logistics and transportation systems and analyze the reasons that lead to failure or success. We present the business idea and model of each case study and study the factors that determine revenues and costs, as well as the expectations of the case regarding the evolution of these factors in the future. We observe the ex post behavior of the project and explain which module of the business (revenues, costs, management) performed better or worse than expected. This analysis will help managers, investors and primarily the venture capital industry understand the main reasons of failure or success behind a business story and reveal some hidden factors, which may crucially determine the outcome of the business. We will perform our analysis qualitatively, identifying which part of the model (revenues, costs) had the biggest impact on the divergence between expected profits and what actually happened.