Amari Ruff, 34, had a challenging upbringing. He juggled employment and school as a teen while moving between homeless shelters to support his mother. However, he now has a multimillion-dollar trucking business called Sudu that links small business owners with enormous corporations like Walmart and UPS.
Modest beginnings
Ultimately, he got a job with a company and started negotiating significant business contracts. He assisted in the company’s expansion to $4.5 million in annual revenue but was demoted from the better position he had been promised. He claimed he wasn’t expecting it, and it was a depressing time, but this inspired him to succeed as an entrepreneur.
Beginning at the base
His military father abandoned his mother to raise him and his two brothers when he was 16. They resided in shelters for people experiencing homelessness, and Amari once had to travel more than four hours each way to continue attending high school and working.
In 2010, Amari decided to launch a communications business with just $300 and a 1990 Ford Ranger. However, he soon expanded it to five U.S. locations and approximately 200 trucks. While doing so, he also saw wider chances to establish a tech business linking underrepresented businesspeople (minorities, women, and veterans) with larger corporations. He subsequently created his own company to fill the need.
He founded Sudu 2015, an online marketplace that uses technology to link major shipping businesses with small and medium-sized trucking companies, which account for 90% of the transportation sector. Because of the speed and efficiency they offer the business with their technology, referred to as “Uber” for truckers, he claims he chose Sudu, a Chinese word that signifies speed and tempo.
Finally, there was Acknowledgement.
Amari’s brilliance made him a sought-after speaker at worldwide tech and business conferences. He was asked to speak at the Build Your Brand conference and retreat and the Nelson Mandela Fellows Panel.
He also began to receive significant honors, like the 2016 NMTA Minority Business of the Year, the 2017 Georgia Trend Magazine Trendsetter, and the 2018 Atlanta Business Chronicle InnoVenture Award. Even the Venture Atlanta Top 10 Startups to Watch list featured him.
In just three years, his Atlanta, Georgia-based company, Sudu, expanded to include more than 300,000 trucking firms in its network, focusing on minority, female, and veteran-owned firms. He has also negotiated with significant businesses like Walmart, P&G, Delta Airlines, Anheuser-Busch, Georgia Pacific, and UPS.
