Traveling in over 80 countries while building three remarkably successful businesses, author Ron Cruse had more than his share of thrilling adventures. Operating worldwide in almost every headline grabbing hot spot of the last thirty years, Cruse realized an understanding of local culture is essential to success
Through the lens of telling the fascinating stories of his unusual, sometimes funny, always intriguing and often dangerous adventures around the globe, Cruse developed simple yet profound lessons that were vital to his accomplishments.
Garnering invaluable insights from his dealings with a unique cast of characters—a gentle Sudanese, a Harvard educated Saudi, a Masai guide, a Russian babushka, an Iraqi driver, a Chinese daoyuo, and many more—Cruse shares how he learned the lessons and applied them.
From the unusual array of characters Cruse came to appreciate how culture affects perceptions, actions, thinking, communications, laws, and even danger: creating cultural chasms often turning the most ordinary events bizarre.
As the reader will learn, the guidance of the uncomplicated yet astute lessons Cruse formed was critical to overcoming the extraordinary, steady barrage of actual and perceived lies, bribes and peril that are the real challenges to success in the global arena—regardless of the endeavor.
About Ron Cruse
Ron Cruse was born and raised in Oklahoma. His mother, British by birth, filled him with stories of the world at an early age and his father, an educational psychologist, instilled in him a ‘do it right’ ethical compass. Exhibiting the classic earmarks of an entrepreneur, Cruse spent a good part of his early school years challenging authority. He attended Villanova University and after graduation made his way to New York City, eventually landing a job in the international shipping industry.
On a meteoric career path in his late twenties he found himself traveling the world learning the entrepreneurial skills that would build three remarkably successful multi-million dollar international companies. The course of the next thirty-plus years would have Cruse conducting business in over 80 countries while traveling over two million miles worldwide.
In 1986 he founded his own company, Matrix. Cruse was soon traveling to every hotspot around the globe, countries like Pakistan, Somalia, Nigeria, Burma, and Egypt to name just a few, growing his business. The dazzling growth of his company was first recognized in 1991 by INC Magazine where it was listed #81 of INC’s 500 Fastest Growing Private Companies in the United States.
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In 1992 Cruse entered Russia, just months after the collapse of the Former Soviet Union, organizing one of the very first US-Russian Joint Venture Companies. There his company became immersed in every major U.S. Government activity in the New Republics; from nuclear weapons dismantlement to Chernobyl-type nuclear reactor modernization to the largest humanitarian effort since WWII. Cruse’s life became a swirl of KGB, CIA, and underworld intrigue while dealing with practically every top-secret installation of the Former Soviet Union.
The high profile business foothold in the new republics, by then the largest privately held freight forwarding operation in the NIS, and the lucrative profits garnered there led to acquisition. In late 1996 Matrix, by then approaching annual revenues of 100 million dollars, was bought by an investment group led by the former Secretary of the Treasury, William Simon.
In 2001 Cruse founded his third entrepreneurial venture, Logenix International, Inc. Also achieving meteoric growth, Logenix has assisted in the rebuilding of Afghanistan, the reconstruction of Iraq, and is an integral facilitator supporting health and humanitarian assistance efforts across Africa and Asia. As example of his company’s global impact, Logenix manages tens of billions of doses of medicines each year to and throughout the developing world—more than any competitor in the industry. Profiled in a wide variety of media outlets such as Forbes Magazine, The Washington Post and Logistics Today, Cruse and his new company continue to be involved in world headline making events.
Cruse’s career journey, along with the realization that the down-in-the-trenches, practical training necessary to navigate the real world of international commerce was not to be found in any college curriculum, is the inspiration for the book, LIES, BRIBES, & PERIL.
The book has received wide acclaim and has been used in dozens of U.S. universities for graduate and undergraduate studies.
Blogs
10 February, 2023
Newsweek Expert Forum, “To Achieve Herd Immunity, We Must Address Fragile Supply Chains in the Developing World”
It’s a full-court press to get the COVID-19 vaccine delivered and administered around the world. But there seems to be something wrong with the playbook. At the time of publication, the U.S. had successfully vaccinated over 50% of the population. But dozens of countries and...
01 July, 2021
Newsweek Expert Forum, “Lessons in Leverage: What International Merchants Taught Me About Business Negotiations”
For over thirty-five years, I’ve been traveling the globe, striking up negotiations and sealing deals, from Russia to Zimbabwe and Indonesia to Bosnia. Nothing in my education or prior business experience equaled what I learned first-hand from my travels. Today’s global business environm
01 June, 2021
David Lawler, Axios Interview with Ron Cruse, “Vaccinating Africa: Countries struggle to deliver the few shots they’ve got”
The first shipment of long-awaited coronavirus vaccines finally arrived in the Democratic Republic of the Congo on March 3. One month later, they’re still sitting in a warehouse in the capital, Kinshasa. Why it matters: Africa is at the back of the global line for...
01 April, 2021
WOF EXPO Interview with Ron Cruse
Mr. Ron Cruse, Founder and CEO of Logenix International, has had a front-row seat for every major world crisis over the past thirty years, traveling over 2 million miles throughout 85 countries. In 1986 Mr. Cruse founded Matrix International, pioneering evolutionary logistics capabilities across Afr
01 February, 2021
iHeartMedia’s ‘CEO’s You Should Know’
Ron Cruse, Founder and CEO of Logenix International, has had a front row seat for every major world crisis over the past thirty years, traveling over 2 million miles throughout 85 countries. Founded in 2001, Logenix was an integral cog in the post-conflict infrastructure development...
01 February, 2021
Morning Consult, “Distributing the COVID Vaccine Will Be the 21st Century’s Greatest Challenge”
The race is on to develop an effective COVID-19 vaccine. We’re nearing the finish line with encouraging results from three leading candidates so far: Pfizer, Moderna and AstraZeneca. But our most difficult challenges still lie ahead. Getting a vaccine through research and development isn’t even...
01 November, 2020
Inc. 5000, “Supporting Critical Supply Chains in the Developing World”
To move cargo in the developing world, you need to be flexible. Rules and regulations in Afghanistan or Pakistan are different than, say, Rwanda or Sierra Leone and can change without warning. Anticipating changes is integral to Logenix International’s success. The business provides logistics ser
01 August, 2020
