Mads Porsborg

The key question is not just which company offers more features, but which part of a customer’s existing setup is hardest to replace. They leave the winner open, noting that customers may continue using products from several competitors.

Porsborg compares Veson Nautical’s Veson Platform with Sedna’s “Trade OS” positioning and Marcura’s “One Marcura” language.

• They say IMOS plus Sedna is a common setup, then ask whether a Sedna customer is more likely to change vessel management system or an IMOS customer to change email.
• DA-Desk, they suggest, may remain in use either way.

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Smaller suppliers may value the exposure, while established suppliers may prefer direct customer relationships and see a platform as competition.

• The priority, they say, is helping operators make good decisions without favoring suppliers or imposing unnecessary work on them.
• Price matters, but it is not necessarily the deciding factor; mistakes should be acknowledged and addressed.

In a post about CleanQuote’s marketplace for hold-cleaning supplies, shore gangs, and underwater services, Porsborg sets out three principles: help the operator, show no preference among suppliers, and recognize that the platform is one of many demands on a supplier. They also recount a supplier pointing out a mistake.

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They credit the customer’s culture and working relationship, rather than software alone, for adoption.

Porsborg says meetings with Pangaea Logistics Solutions produce about ten ideas, of which eight are set aside—“Just because we can do it doesn't mean we should”—and two are put into action. Examples include new procurement practices for hold-cleaning supplies, automated inventory management, and collecting hold photos into Sedna.

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They portray dry bulk and tanker shipping as a close-knit community, where curiosity, time, and meeting people help newcomers become part of the industry.

A customer tells Porsborg that “Container shipping is closer to bus transportation than to dry bulk.” They say it took roughly 12 to 18 months to feel part of the industry, and recall joining a long-running Thursday football tradition and meeting industry contacts socially.

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They illustrate the point with a trip.

During two days in Copenhagen meeting CleanQuote users, Porsborg describes running into industry contacts and finally meeting face to face someone they had known from many video calls. They close by referring to a partnership with Vessel Performance Solutions.

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Newcomers should start here for a compact map of platform competition and buyer overlap.

Mads Porsborg argues that consolidation is the big theme in shipping software.

• The post points to Veson Nautical's Veson Platform pulling together IMOS, CoCaptain AI, and Mail, formerly Shipfix; Sedna's "Trade OS" positioning around email, VMS, and AI; and Marcura's "One Marcura" language after years of M&A.
• It also names Complexio as a smaller example aiming to connect everything in one place.
• Porsborg compares this with an earlier wave in logistics technology and highlights a practical wrinkle: Veson and Sedna are rivals, but many customers use IMOS with Sedna.
• The open question is whether a Sedna customer changes their VMS, or an IMOS customer changes their email system.
• Porsborg notes that either way, customers likely still use DA-Desk, so Marcura may be well placed.

For brands planning a campaign

For a maritime technology firm assessing Porsborg on shipping software market dynamics, this post is the strongest starting point.

• It names recognizable players, sets out a clear consolidation thesis and raises a buyer-overlap question that can anchor a campaign about suite consolidation, point solutions or switching costs.
• If you need independent market evidence, ask for supporting research.

Newcomers should start here for the supplier-side view of maritime marketplaces.

Porsborg describes CleanQuote as a procurement tool with a marketplace for hold cleaning supplies, shore gangs and underwater services.

• The recurring challenge is keeping suppliers happy.
• Small suppliers tend to value the exposure a marketplace provides; big established players often prefer direct customer relationships and may feel the platform erodes their business.
• They set out three principles: help the operator do their job effectively, show no preference among suppliers and respect that the platform is only one of many tasks a supplier has.
• Price matters, but it is not the only or even the top parameter.
• Mistakes still happen; the response is to own up and improve.

For brands planning a campaign

Useful for marketplace operators, procurement technology firms and supplier-facing campaigns. It offers a concrete framework for trust and adoption on a multi-sided platform, and can support a campaign about supplier resistance, marketplace neutrality or operator decision-making.

Newcomers should start here for the industry's social and cultural texture.

Porsborg describes starting with CleanQuote from a supply chain and logistics technology background, assuming the transition to shipping would be easy.

• A customer corrected that assumption with a line they still use: "Container shipping is closer to bus transportation than to dry bulk."
• The post explains that the bulk and tanker shipping community is tight-knit, with people who studied or trained together.
• They say it took roughly 12 to 18 months to feel part of the industry, through time, curiosity and meeting people.
• The signs of belonging are specific: joining a more than 35-year-old indoor football tradition in Svanemøllehallen on a Thursday morning, then meeting Peter Schau for wine at Nebbiolo with Oscar Sand Lyhne.

For brands planning a campaign

Best used for founder-profile, employer-brand or community-led campaigns. It shows a credible outsider-to-insider narrative and the relationship-building that underpins access in shipping.

Newcomers should start here for a concrete adoption story rather than a general claim.

Porsborg calls Pangaea Logistics Solutions one of their favourite customers and names Jesper Hjorth, Heidi Kørner, Sara Tangemann and the wider team as collaborators over the past year.

• The team is described as full of ideas, urgent about improvement and pragmatic: meetings generate ten ideas, eight get shot down with the line "Just because we can do it doesn't mean we should," and the remaining two are brought to life soon after.
• The post says Pangaea adopted new ways to procure hold cleaning supplies, automated inventory management and collected hold photos into Sedna, despite operating across multiple offices in a change-cautious industry.

For brands planning a campaign

A strong case-study seed for CleanQuote, Sedna or maritime procurement campaigns that need proof of adoption and customer collaboration.

• It can support messaging about pragmatism, implementation speed and cross-office rollout.
• Before using it as a neutral reference, ask for independent validation.

Newcomers should start here for the density of relationships behind the industry.

Porsborg describes two days in Copenhagen meeting CleanQuote users.

• The post recounts chance encounters: coffee with Christian Nicolas Treu, who had bumped into Sasja Ihn Christensen at an event; later, near a meeting with Pangaea Logistics Solutions in Hellerup, Adeline appeared unexpectedly.
• They had met Adeline dozens of times on screen but never face to face, and end by cheering a partnership with Vessel Performance Solutions.

For brands planning a campaign

Useful for event, community, and relationship-led marketing.

• It shows how informal encounters and existing networks shape business in shipping.
• It is not a detailed product or market post, so it works best as supporting color rather than a primary campaign proof point.

One post follows Veson Nautical's launch of the Veson Platform, which brings IMOS, CoCaptain AI and Mail (formerly Shipfix) closer together, and reads it as a strategic response to Sedna's "Trade OS" pitch built on the same pillars of email, vessel management and AI.

• Marcura, after years of buying companies, is cited for repositioning as "One Marcura" rather than a collection of point solutions, with Complexio named as a smaller example of the same pattern.
• The sharpest observation is customer overlap: the configuration Porsborg sees most often is IMOS plus Sedna, so the medium-term question is whether a Sedna customer changes vessel management system or an IMOS customer changes email system.
• Either way, DA-Desk likely stays in the stack, which is why Marcura may be well placed.

For brands planning a campaign

A strong fit for briefs on competitive positioning in maritime software. Porsborg can frame a launch or message around platform consolidation, overlapping customer bases and switching costs rather than feature-by-feature comparisons.

Examples: Source 1

Smaller suppliers value the exposure a marketplace gives them; large, established suppliers prefer direct customer relationships and may see the platform as eroding their business.

• CleanQuote's principles are to help the operator do the job, show no preference among suppliers and respect that the platform is only one of a supplier's many tasks.
• Price is one factor in a decision, not automatically the top one, though some suppliers assume otherwise.
• Porsborg acknowledges that the team still makes mistakes, as one supplier pointed out, and says they respond by owning up and improving.

Sets out a handful of operating principles, then shows how each plays out amid competing supplier interests, including a recent failure.

For brands planning a campaign

Useful for campaigns addressing supplier-side objections to a marketplace or procurement platform, or explaining how supply and demand are balanced. The stated principles give vendors a concrete way to discuss neutrality and operator focus.

Examples: Source 1

It wasn't.

• A customer's line, quoted with evident affection, sets the tone: "Container shipping is closer to bus transportation than to dry bulk."
• Bulk and tanker shipping is a tight-knit community where people studied or trained together, making entry from outside a matter of time, curiosity and meeting as many people as possible.
• Porsborg puts the adjustment at roughly 12 to 18 months and describes belonging through small signals, such as a longstanding Thursday football game and informal drinks with industry peers.

The 12-to-18-month figure and the sense of belonging are Porsborg's own account of one person's experience, not a measured industry norm.

For brands planning a campaign

Gives vendors a credible voice on why outside-in software pitches can misfire in bulk and tanker shipping, and what it takes to be accepted. Suits content about entering the industry, building trust and navigating long sales cycles.

Examples: Source 1

Meetings generate around ten ideas, eight of which are rejected with the reasoning, "just because we can do it doesn't mean we should," leaving two to implement quickly.

• Porsborg credits the team with adopting a new way to procure hold cleaning supplies, automating inventory management and collecting hold photos into Sedna.
• The changes came in a traditionally change-cautious industry, and the pace is attributed to the customer's culture rather than the software alone.

Generates a broad set of candidate improvements with the customer, discards most and implements the few that remain right away.

For brands planning a campaign

A ready reference for change-management and pilot-to-adoption stories. It shows a repeatable way to prioritise what a customer actually needs and grounds adoption claims in a named account.

Examples: Source 1

The post frames shipping as a small world where informal, unplanned contact carries weight, and links those encounters to an ongoing partnership with Vessel Performance Solutions. The tone is personal rather than promotional, and specific people are named and thanked.

For brands planning a campaign

Suggests that influence in this sector runs through relationships and in-person presence. Community, event and partner-led formats are likely to work better than purely product-led messaging.

Examples: Source 1

Their posts describe product principles, customer adoption and supplier relationships, but do not state their formal role at the business.

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The post does not specify the partnership’s terms.

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That approach is close to Porsborg’s, which draws on named customers and specific platform decisions rather than abstract positioning.

Stola focuses on ecommerce and Shopify Plus agency work, including a test store built largely by prompting Claude and ChatGPT.

• Porsborg focuses on maritime shipping software and procurement.
• Stola makes the commercial case through agency proof and brand experience; Porsborg through platform consolidation, switching costs and supplier relationships.

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Both write argument-led posts that draw a distinction and explain why it matters.

Hill’s work centres on construction procurement, supplier intelligence and training for procurement teams.

• Porsborg’s centres on maritime procurement software and marketplace dynamics between suppliers and buyers.
• Hill teaches through strategic framing of roles and decisions; Porsborg through customer and supplier stories from shipping.

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Both treat relationships, timing and physical constraints as central to the market.

Afzal covers LPG cargo trading and storage in Pakistan, making the case through price spreads, CP, freight and vessel discharges. Porsborg covers software and procurement technology for bulk and tanker shipping, focusing on platform competition and customer adoption.

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The posts offer two usable arguments.

• First, client conversations have shaped a positioning claim: buyers choose an agency for the brands it has served, not its services, because migrations, builds and conversion work are repeatable and hard to differentiate by value proposition.
• Second, a first-person build experiment follows an AI assistant, working through a store connector, as it named, designed and rebuilt a storefront, with the author’s role reduced to moving files between tools.
• A vendor selling adoption tools to merchants, or a firm debating how AI changes delivery work, gets a concrete walkthrough that a maritime platform brief cannot supply.

Nothing in Mads Porsborg’s posts addresses shipping, vessel management, procurement platforms or vendor consolidation.

• Their audience is direct-to-consumer brands and agency clients, so a maritime software campaign would need translating into commerce terms and would lose the operator-side credibility they bring as a platform user.
• The AI build is not presented as top-tier work, so it supports a discussion of capability, not a quality benchmark.

Examples: Source 1 · Source 2

The two posts form a connected argument: estimating, procurement and commercial teams sit at the boundary between contractor and supply chain, where they see market shifts first.

• But without an established place to record those observations, the signal dies in someone’s memory or a chat message.
• AI now makes it feasible to join those scattered qualitative observations.
• The second post distinguishes AI for procurement—tools that execute existing tasks—from procurement for the AI era, when the buying decision itself changes to choices such as buying technology, outsourcing a capability or procuring an outcome.
• A vendor selling into contractor supply chains, or a training provider, gets a closer domain match and a ready-made distinction to build on.

The posts concern construction procurement, not shipping.

• They offer no named software-vendor landscape, platform-consolidation analysis or switching-cost material, so the overlap with a maritime software campaign is in the argument, not the subject matter.
• Treat the parallel as an angle to adapt, not as evidence about shipowners or operators.

Examples: Source 1 · Source 2

The two posts offer a 25-year first-person frame, a named market and a clear thesis.

• The market detail is specific: a butane-heavy Pakistan market, a propane-to-butane spread of minus $35, receiving capacity around 13,000 metric tonnes against demand over a million tonnes a year.
• The thesis: price risk in LPG is really timing risk, and paper hedges fail without somewhere to put the cargo.
• Physical storage is the dependable hedge, turning volatility into a buying window.
• A logistics or infrastructure vendor speaking to cargo owners about risk and capacity would find the actual buying logic described here.

The posts offer no software-market or vendor-landscape commentary, or discussion of platforms, integration or migration. Their argument concerns physical assets and trading posture, so a campaign about platform consolidation or switching costs needs a different contributor or a much narrower infrastructure angle.

Examples: Source 1 · Source 2