Who We Are

A bit of context on what Portcast does and why it matters — so the rest of your onboarding clicks into place.

The short version

Global supply chains are huge, messy, and still surprisingly reactive. Goods move across oceans in containers for weeks, and when a shipment is late it means idle factories, missed commitments, and expensive port fees. Carriers publish ETAs based on planned schedules — but weather, congestion, and breakdowns make those wrong all the time.

Portcast uses real-time satellite (AIS) data, carrier feeds, weather signals, and machine-learning models to predict where shipments actually are and when they'll really arrive — and tells customers what to do when something's about to go wrong. We're on a journey from data → insights → recommendations → actionability, helping supply-chain teams go from reacting to disruptions to deciding ahead of time.

New to logistics? Don't worry — the Industry Primer and Glossary break it all down in plain language.

What we're aiming for

How we operate

We're a lean, remote-first team spread across the globe — Singapore, India, Hong Kong, Vietnam, Indonesia, Malaysia, the Philippines, Europe and more. We're small and move fast, which means real ownership and real impact from day one.

Org Chart & Team

A lean team of ~35 across ~10 countries. Here's how it's shaped and where you fit. (Need to know who handles what? That's the Who to Ask tab.)

How the team is shaped

Nidhi (CEO & Founder) sits at the top, with G on People/Talent and Aditya on Finance close by. Reporting into Nidhi are the function leads:

• Tech / Engineering — Stephen (Engineering Manager), Andrew/Andrei (Sr. ML Engineer), Kapil (Analytics Manager)
• Product — Simao (Sr. PM), with Manish on design
• Customer Success — Lily (CS Director)
• Sales — Maxime (Sales Director)
• Marketing — Devansh (Marketing Director)
• Solutions — Emma (Enterprise Solutions Director)
• Finance — Aditya, with Enrico on accounting

CORE Values & Culture

These aren't posters on a wall. They're how we make decisions, give each other feedback, and hire — and how we show up every day. The acronym is CORE.

Living it day to day

Because we're remote, we're deliberate about staying connected — All-Hands, Friday Hangouts, Random Coffee Chats, Lunch & Learns, and the Well-Done bot that turns shoutouts into points (and gift cards). It all lives in Meetings & Rituals.

One more thing you'll hear a lot: everyone is a salesperson. Not in a "close deals" way — but we all help build trust in our brand by sharing our journey. (More on that, plus your LinkedIn welcome post, in Policies & Resources.)

Setup Checklist & Action Items

Your day-one to-do list. Tick things off as you go — progress saves automatically on this device. Mandatory = required; Role-based = depends on your team; Day 1 = do early. Every login link & who to ask is on the Tools & Access tab.

Tools & Access

Unless noted, log in with your Portcast Google account. Some apps sit behind Cognito — one Cognito account unlocks all Cognito-secured apps (request it from the Engineering / Data Science team).

Everyone

Also used across the team: Miro & Figma (whiteboarding/design — request access from the team).

🛠️ Engineering — for Kunal

Ping Stephen (Eng Manager) or the Engineering team to get set up. The full guide, project list & KT recordings live on the Engineering Onboarding page ↗.

Local setup: VS Code, GitLab SSH, pyenv (Python), nvm (Node), Docker / OrbStack, AWS CLI. Read the Software Development Manifesto, Architecture overview & RFC Docs (linked in the eng onboarding page). Core projects: P-ETA (main app) and the DI-* data-ingestion microservices (Containers, Ports, Schedules, Terminals, Vessels).

By function — other tools

Ways of Working

We're remote-first and we never track hours. What we care about is outputs, progress, and responsiveness — work that moves and doesn't leave others blocked. Remote flexibility is a privilege we protect by being visible and responsive. These are non-negotiables for a distributed team.

⏰ Core collaboration hours

Be reachable during the shared window for your region — that's when quick back-and-forth happens:

During this window: be online in Slack, present in Cosmos, keep your status accurate, and make sure PTO shows in Google Calendar (which syncs to Slack). Outside the window, work stays async unless it's urgent.

📈 How we track progress

Every team runs on Quarterly OKRs → broken into weekly outputs. We focus on outcomes (did it move the needle?) rather than a list of tasks worked on. Each team shares a simple weekly update so progress stays visible, and you'll review it in your weekly 1:1 with your manager.

Two things that have their own tabs: where things live (Slack vs Cosmos vs Notion vs Drive) and growth & reviews (check-ins, feedback, performance).

HR Policy — the essentials

The friendly digest. The full HR Policy covers more, but here's what matters most in your first weeks. (Leaves, L&D, expenses & performance each have their own tabs.)

Where Things Live

Four tools, four jobs. Knowing which to reach for keeps the team fast and stops things getting lost. Here's the simple mental model.

Slack Channel Guide

Where to post what. Search to filter — there are a lot of channels, but you'll get the hang of it fast.

Meetings & Rituals

Because we're remote and spread across time zones, we're intentional about making time to connect, learn, and have fun. All meetings happen in our Cosmos virtual office.

Your regular rhythm

Quarterly & annual

Leaves

Rest matters. Leave is pro-rated to your start date, and the leave calendar runs January–December.

Types of leave

How to request

Learning & Development

We raise the bar through continuous learning, growth, and well-being. You get up to SGD 1,200 per calendar year to invest in yourself.

What you can spend it on

How it works

Expenses

How to get money back for work stuff. Everything runs through Xero — submit between the 1st–30th and it's cleared in your next paycheck on the 5th. When in doubt, check with Aditya or G before spending.

✈️ Annual Company Offsite

Once a year the whole team gathers in person for a few days — strategy sessions, workshops, the Port Calls Awards, and plenty of fun. Travel & stay for the offsite are organised and covered by the company. Past trips have been Bali and Bangkok; this year it's Kuala Lumpur.

🏢 Co-working space — if you're outside Singapore

Prefer not to work from home? We reimburse a hotdesk membership (most affordable option) for team members based outside SG. If 2+ of you are in the same city, coordinate and use the same space. Chat with your manager & G, get the monthly budget confirmed, then submit receipts monthly via Xero under the Rent line.

Rough budgets: Asia ~100 SGD + VAT/mo · EU ~125–200 EUR + VAT/mo · hotdesk only · one space per city.

🧳 Work travel — mainly Sales & CS

Most relevant if your role takes you to conferences, events, or customer/partner meetings (typically the Sales & CS teams). Approved by your functional head first — only work-related costs are covered, personal add-ons are on you.

📍 Local team meetups

If 3+ teammates share a city, grab dinner or do an activity together (3rd or last Thursday of the month) — reimbursed via Xero. Budgets: SG & HK S$40, Bangalore/Delhi S$30, Manila S$25 per person. Don't forget to share snaps in #team-culture!

Growth & Reviews

How we support your growth — from your first 90 days through ongoing feedback and reviews, all tied to our CORE values and your team's KPIs.

🌱 Your first 90 days

Your first 3 months are a probation period. During it, G and your manager run 30 / 60 / 90-day check-ins to make sure you've got what you need, clarify expectations, and surface support early. Expect honest, two-way feedback — and ask questions freely.

🔄 Quarterly feedback

In the 1st week of each quarter, your manager recaps the past quarter and aligns on KPIs for the next. You can also give anonymous upward feedback on your manager via a form HR shares, plus quarterly peer feedback on how well our ways of working are landing.

📅 Annual performance review

Runs once a year (the 2025 cycle kicks off Feb 2026), reflecting on the full calendar year against your KPIs and CORE values, in four stages:

🛟 If expectations aren't being met

We address gaps early and openly. If a pattern persists (missed weekly outputs, repeated delays, low responsiveness, becoming a blocker), it moves to a structured Performance Improvement Plan (PIP) — a ~30-day plan with clear goals, a midpoint check-in, and support — before any further decision. The goal is always to help you succeed. Full detail in the HR Policy ↗.

Who to Ask

Stuck or curious? Here's who owns what. Genuinely — set up a 1:1 with any of these folks to understand how your role connects to theirs. Asking questions is the job in week one.

Industry Primer — Domain 101

New to logistics? Start here. Already in the industry? Use it as a quick reference.

🔍 What Portcast does

A container ship carries thousands of metal boxes across oceans — from a factory in Shanghai to a warehouse in Rotterdam, often through multiple ports, over weeks. When a shipment is late, it means empty factory floors, missed commitments, expensive port fees (demurrage), and cascading failures.

Carriers (Maersk, MSC…) publish ETAs based on planned schedules — but weather, congestion, and breakdowns make those regularly wrong. Portcast uses real-time satellite (AIS) data, carrier updates, weather signals, and ML models to generate more accurate, continuously-updating predictions (pETA) — and tells customers what action to take when something goes wrong.

🌊 The basics

Ocean freight moves ~90% of global trade — if a product crossed an ocean, it almost certainly travelled in a container. The core unit is the container: a standardised metal box, 20 or 40 feet long, that stacks on vessels, moves by truck or rail, and gets returned empty. The system is built for predictability at scale — but it rarely delivers it, and that gap is exactly where Portcast adds value.

👥 Who's involved in a shipment

Shorthand you'll also hear: BCO (Beneficial Cargo Owner) = the shipper/importer who owns the cargo; 3PL/4PL = logistics providers; LogTech = tech platforms that embed our data.

📦 The product suite

🗺️ What actually happens to a container

⚠️ Where things go wrong

This is what your customers deal with every day — lead with their problem, not our product.

💵 How freight forwarders make (and lose) money

A forwarder's margin is the spread between what they charge customers and what they pay carriers. Knowing how they win and lose it makes every conversation sharper:

🌐 Trade lanes that matter

🎧 What you'll hear on calls

Customers talk about problems, not features. Your job is to connect what they say to what Portcast does:

Glossary

The shipping, Portcast & engineering terms you'll hear in your first weeks. Search to find one fast.

No terms match — try another word.

Recordings Hub

One place for recorded sessions across Cosmos, Loom & Google Drive. Most Cosmos replay links need no login.

📦 Product Walkthroughs (self-serve Loom, no login)

🍽️ Lunch & Learn highlights

🛠️ Engineering KT — for Kunal

🎉 Team & culture

Policies & Resources

The authoritative pages, plus how to share that you've joined. Bookmark what's relevant to you.

📋 Policies

📣 Share that you've joined!

At Portcast, everyone is a salesperson — not in a closing-deals way, but we all help build trust in our brand by sharing our journey. Two easy ways:

🌐 Follow our channels