# Prospect Dossier - Dylan Dickman, CEO of Known

**Built for:** Adrian Smith, Ripple Technologies
**Prospect:** Dylan Dickman, Chief Executive Officer, Known (gowithknown.com), Dallas TX
**Compiled:** 29 July 2026 from public sources
**Live page:** https://rippletechnologies.dopaminedigital.io/pipeline/dylan-dickman.html
**The scan he opened:** https://rippletech.co/known/

---

## TL;DR

Known is a customs brokerage selling classification as purely human expert work, running on a single
licensed broker who is also the company's Controller, serving Fortune 500 energy clients on a steel and
oilfield hardware commodity mix that sits squarely under Section 232 and Section 301, led by a CEO who has
personally paid a tariff bill of more than $70,000 and is actively chasing duty refunds right now.

They hold their **own CBP filer code, NAX**. They file entries themselves. That makes them a third-party
classifier, not an importer, which changes the entire frame of the conversation.

**Three things not to say:** their headcount (sources range 11-50 to ~148), their revenue (no estimate
exists anywhere), or their entry volume (not public, and the shipment counts you can find measure only
their own imports).

**The one framing rule:** classification is what Known SELLS. Never pitch time-saving. Pitch pass-through,
capacity, and white-label.

---

## Prospect Rationale

Dylan Dickman is the CEO of Known, a Dallas-based global sourcing and supply chain services company founded in 2021 and headquartered in the Continental Gin Building in Deep Ellum. Known sells five service lines (Source, Inspect, Ship, Plan and Customs) plus a supply chain financing product called Known Capital, and its client logos are oil and gas majors including ConocoPhillips, ExxonMobil, Phillips 66, EOG Resources, Pioneer Natural Resources, Diamondback Energy and Ovintiv. Dylan was previously the co-founder and COO before moving into the CEO seat, and his own calendar is the conversion point for the entire website. When we offered to send him an AI HTS exposure scan on his business, he replied "please do!" within days, and he opened the finished report on 27 July.

Ripple is talking to Known because classification is not a side task for this business, it is a line item they invoice. Their customs page sells "Customs Entry, HTS Classification, ISF & AMS Filing", and they hold their own CBP filer code, NAX, which means they file entries under their own licence rather than white-labelling another broker. That is a meaningfully different conversation from the one Ripple has with an importer. Known is a third-party classifier, so an AI HTS classifier is not a cost line for them, it is either a margin lever on work their clients already pay for or a product they can put inside the Known Platform and sell.

The honest one-sentence picture: Known is a customs brokerage selling classification as purely human expert work, running on a single licensed broker who is also the company's Controller, serving Fortune 500 energy clients on a steel and oilfield-hardware commodity mix that sits squarely under Section 232 and Section 301, led by a CEO who has personally paid a tariff bill of more than $70,000 and is actively chasing duty refunds.

## How we contacted them and the conversation so far

Channel was LinkedIn, sent from Jonny's account, starting 23 June 2026. The opener was direct: "Dylan, I ran an AI HTS exposure scan on Known, it flags the misclass risk and where money's leaking. Can I send it over?"

On 1 July he replied in two words: **"please do!"**

On 2 July we sent the scan at rippletech.co/known/, explaining that it breaks down where the classification cost sits, how it stacks with 301 and 232 tariffs on his clients' commodity mix, and what half of it looks like when an AI agent takes over. We offered to run one of his real invoices through the agent live on a call.

We nudged once on LinkedIn on 6 July and made four outbound call attempts through mid July.

On 27 July, tracking confirmed Dylan opened the scan report. The call with Adrian was booked off the back of that open.

## Pain Signals and Gaps

### 1. The entire customs licence rests on one person, and she is also the Controller

- CBP's official Permitted Customs Brokers listing (published December 2025, 2,483 rows) carries exactly one Known-affiliated entry: Gabrielle Petrucelli, filer code NAX, Dallas TX, gabrielle@known.dev.
- The same person is described as overseeing Known's financial operations as Controller, so the individual legally accountable for every HTS code Known assigns is splitting her week with running the company's finances.
- Her career background is accounting and tax (Senior Tax Associate at PwC, accountant at a property investment firm), not trade compliance.
- No Head of Trade Compliance, Director of Customs or Classification Manager appears anywhere at Known, not on the website, not on LinkedIn, and not in any third-party data source.

**An AI HTS classifier here would take first-pass classification off a single licensed broker and turn her role into review and sign-off, so entry volume stops being capped by one person's calendar and the brokerage can grow the customs line without waiting on another licence.**

### 2. Classification is sold as human expertise with no automation behind it

- The customs page says, in full: "Let our experts help you classify your products appropriately according to CBP regulation." There is no AI, automation, accuracy or software claim anywhere on that page.
- Known's own LinkedIn About section states: "Service is our specialty, the technology is just an added plus."
- The Known Platform and Known Portal do claim technology, but only visibility technology: live shipment tracking, SKU-level updates, arrival dates and milestones. Nothing they publish claims classification, duty calculation or compliance automation.
- Their own blog post on navigating US tariffs and origin requirements tells readers to engage "specialized trade software and data analysis tools", so they have already endorsed the category in print.

**An AI HTS classifier here would give Known the one thing their customs page currently cannot claim, a classification service with speed and a documented rationale behind every code, which is a stronger thing to sell than "our experts will help you".**

### 3. The CEO has personally absorbed a 47% effective duty rate and is chasing refunds right now

- Dylan posted publicly that he imported roughly $150,000 of product and received a tariff bill of over $70,000 on top of it, adding that these are not inflated numbers. That is close to a 47% effective rate on his own goods.
- He posted the moment CBP's CAPE tool went live: "CBP just confirmed the CAPE tool goes live Monday 4/20. If you paid IEEPA tariffs this past year, you can finally start getting your money back."
- CAPE lets importers or their licensed customs brokers bulk-submit entry numbers for IEEPA refunds. Known holds the licence, so refund recovery for their entire client book has to run through Gabrielle.
- He has also engaged publicly with content on Section 338 of the Tariff Act of 1930 and China supply chain disruption policy.

**An AI HTS classifier here would let Known re-run historic entries across their whole client book at machine speed to find recoverable duty, turning a refund window Dylan is already watching into a billable recovery service rather than a manual scramble against a deadline.**

### 4. The commodity mix sits directly in the tariff blast radius

- Known's own import record is carbon and stainless steel flanges, forged flanges, hammer unions and pipe nipples out of Indian forges (Seal Tech, Munish Forge, Jai Auto) into Houston, with HS chapters 73, 84, 87 and 94 in play and HTS 8431.43 cited on at least one shipment.
- Steel articles in chapter 73 sit under Section 232. Where China origin applies anywhere across their client book, Section 301 stacks on top of that.
- Their client base is oil and gas majors, where a single misclassified line on a repeat SKU replicates across every subsequent entry for that part.
- They published their own guidance article on navigating US tariffs and origin requirements, so the exposure is understood internally, it just has no tooling attached to it.

**An AI HTS classifier here would catch origin and chapter 73 misclassification at the point of entry rather than at audit, on exactly the commodity mix where a stacked 232 and 301 error is most expensive to unwind.**

### 5. They finance the goods they classify

- Known Capital funds manufacturer deposits and final payments, repaid in three equal instalments at 30, 60 and 90 days, with funding approved within 24 hours of order upload and offers processed in three business days or less.
- It is operated by Known Group Inc. itself and no partner lender is named anywhere, which points to balance-sheet exposure rather than a pure referral arrangement.
- That means a misclassification does not just create a duty bill for a client, it creates a duty bill for a client whose purchase order Known has underwritten.
- They monetise sourcing, inspection, freight, customs entry and financing on the same shipment, so a classification error threatens the whole bundle, not one line of it.

**An AI HTS classifier here would put a documented, reviewable classification rationale behind every entry on financed goods, which protects the credit decision as much as it protects the entry.**

### 6. Capacity is capped at exactly the point where the revenue is

- Known runs its own filer code and files entries itself, which is the harder and more valuable model, and it is also the one that cannot be scaled by hiring generalists.
- The company operates across six countries (Dallas, Glasgow, Kuala Lumpur, Delhi, Guangzhou and Kolkata) with a large operational footprint, yet the licensed classification function has one name on it.
- Every conversion path on the site, across all five service lines, terminates at "Book a call with an expert" pointing at the CEO's own calendar, so new customs volume arrives through Dylan personally.
- There is no careers page and no discoverable open roles, so there is no visible hiring answer to the capacity question either.

**An AI HTS classifier here would let Known say yes to entry volume they currently have to pace, because the constraint moves from how many classifications one broker can make to how many she can review.**

## Where the classifier adds value

**Pass-through on the customs line.** Classification is already a billable item on Known's customs page, so the client is already paying for it. Running the classifier underneath that line means the cost sits inside work that is invoiced, and the brokerage carries no net expense while the client gets the code back faster with a rationale attached. Nothing changes in how Known charges, only in what the client receives for it.

**More entry volume without another licensed broker.** The practical ceiling on Known's customs practice is one person's capacity to make and stand behind classification calls. With the classifier producing the first pass and Gabrielle reviewing and signing, the same licence supports materially more entries, which turns customs from a line they have to pace into a line they can actively sell against the oil and gas client base they already hold.

**White-label inside the Known Platform.** Known already sells a platform, but it currently only does visibility, tracking and PO management. Embedding the classifier gives them a compliance capability inside a product they own and control the client relationship for, which upgrades "the technology is just an added plus" into an actual product claim. This is the version of the deal that is worth more to Known than the service version, and it is worth exploring on the call.

**Duty recovery as a billable service.** CAPE is live and Dylan is already tracking it, but bulk IEEPA refund submissions require someone to go back through historic entries and confirm what was classified and what was owed. Re-running a client's entry history through the classifier turns that from a manual review nobody has time for into a recovery service Known can price, on a window that is open right now.

**Reasonable care, documented.** CBP's standard is reasonable care, and the defence is the record of how a code was reached. A classifier that outputs the reasoning behind every code gives Known a consistent audit trail across every entry they file, which matters more than usual for a broker filing under its own code for Fortune 500 clients while also financing the goods.

## Questions for the call

### Arc one: the tariff bill and the refund window

**1. You posted about bringing in around $150,000 of product and getting a tariff bill north of $70,000 on top of it. What was the product, and when you went back through it afterwards, did the classification hold up?**
Why this matters: it opens on his own story rather than a pitch, and it tells Adrian immediately whether Dylan's pain is a duty-rate problem or a classification problem, which are different sales.

**2. You flagged CAPE going live the day CBP confirmed it. How much of your client book have you actually been able to put through for IEEPA refunds so far, and what is the thing stopping you doing more?**
Why this matters: it sizes an immediate, time-limited revenue opportunity and surfaces whether the bottleneck is entry data, review capacity or client appetite.

### Arc two: how classification actually runs today

**3. Walk me through what happens from a client's commercial invoice landing to a filed HTS code. Who touches it, and where does Gabrielle sit in that chain?**
Why this matters: this is the whole opportunity in one answer, and it establishes the real workflow rather than the one the website implies.

**4. Your customs page sells HTS classification as an expert service. How is that priced to the client today, per entry, per SKU, or inside a bundle?**
Why this matters: pricing structure decides whether the pass-through frame or the white-label frame is the right one to pursue, and it has to come from Dylan because nothing is published.

**5. If one of your energy clients came to you next month with three times the SKU count, what breaks first?**
Why this matters: it gets Dylan to name the constraint himself instead of Adrian naming it for him, which is the difference between a diagnosis and an accusation.

### Arc three: product, platform and exposure

**6. The Known Platform does tracking and SKU-level visibility today. If classification came back same day with a defensible rationale attached to every code, would you sell that as an upgraded service, or would you want it inside the platform as your product?**
Why this matters: this is the fork between a service deal and a white-label deal, and the white-label version is the larger one for both sides.

**7. Known Capital underwrites purchase orders on goods you also classify and clear. How do you think about that exposure when a duty bill lands on a customer you have financed?**
Why this matters: it connects classification accuracy to balance-sheet risk, which reframes the classifier from an operations tool into a credit control, and it is a risk only Dylan can size.

## Watch-outs for Adrian

**Never pitch this as saving Known's team time.** Classification is what Known sells. It is a named, billable item on their customs page. Any framing that sounds like "this replaces what your experts do" reads as "we automate away your product" and ends the conversation. The frames that work are pass-through (their client pays, Known carries no net cost), capacity (more entry volume on the same licence) and white-label (Known sells it as theirs). The same applies to how the single-broker point is raised. Gabrielle is a real person doing two demanding jobs well enough that Known files under its own code, so the point is that the licence is a growth constraint, never that she is a weak link.

**Do not quote a headcount at him.** The public sources disagree badly, from 11 to 50 at one end to around 148 at the other. Both are plausible for different reasons, since a large share of the workforce is likely overseas inspection and back-office staff. Naming a number that turns out to be wrong costs credibility for no gain. Ask instead.

**Do not anchor a revenue figure.** No revenue estimate for Known exists on ZoomInfo, Growjo, Owler, Datanyze, Dun & Bradstreet, Crunchbase or in any press. There is nothing to cite and nothing defensible to infer, partly because forwarder revenue includes pass-through freight and duty and says almost nothing about the underlying business. Any number Adrian uses will be invented, and Dylan will know it.

**Phantom Shipping LLC and Flatland Holding LLC are unconfirmed.** Both names appear alongside Known on bills of lading, Phantom as a notify party and Flatland on a shared importer record, and both are more active importers than Known's own name right now. No public document states any relationship, and the addresses do not cleanly match. Treat these as a question worth asking if entity structure comes up naturally, never as a fact to assert. The same caution applies to the shipment counts in the public trade databases, which range from 28 to 125 depending on the source and which measure only Known's own imports, not the entries they file for clients. That number is not public and must not be estimated.

---

# Full research notes

The two sections below are the raw, unedited output of the research pass. They contain every source URL,
every figure with its confidence rating, and everything that could NOT be found.

---

# Researcher: company, people, entity, licensing, trade data

---

## Person

**Dylan Dickman - CEO, Known. Dallas, Texas.**

| Fact | Detail | Source |
|---|---|---|
| Current title | Chief Executive Officer at Known | [ZoomInfo](https://www.zoominfo.com/p/Dylan-Dickman/5995770999) |
| Prior title at Known | Co-founder & Chief Operating Officer - he moved up into the CEO seat | [ZoomInfo](https://www.zoominfo.com/p/Dylan-Dickman/5995770999) |
| Self-description | "I run Known, a global sourcing and supply chain services company built for companies that…" (truncated on profile) | [LinkedIn](https://www.linkedin.com/in/dylandickman/) |
| Prior employers | Leon Capital Group, Titus Industrial, Merrill, UPS | [ZoomInfo](https://www.zoominfo.com/p/Dylan-Dickman/5995770999) |
| Education | Southern Methodist University - Cox School of Business; also listed as Biology & Spanish at SMU; McKinney Boyd High School | [LinkedIn](https://www.linkedin.com/in/dylandickman/), [ZoomInfo](https://www.zoominfo.com/p/Dylan-Dickman/5995770999) |
| Licences | FINRA Series 7 (Aug 2017), Series 66 (Oct 2017) | [LinkedIn](https://www.linkedin.com/in/dylandickman/) |
| LinkedIn following | ~1,000 followers - small, not a content-led founder | [LinkedIn](https://www.linkedin.com/in/dylandickman/) |
| Booking link | `meetings.hubspot.com/dylan-dickman` - the CEO's own calendar is the site-wide CTA | [gowithknown.com](https://www.gowithknown.com/) |
| Instagram | @dylied (personal, no business signal found) | [Instagram](https://www.instagram.com/dylied/) |
| X / Twitter | **Not found** - no account surfaced in any search | - |

### Dylan's trade-relevant activity (highest-value signals)

1. **He has personally eaten a punitive tariff bill and posted the numbers.** He wrote about importing roughly **$150,000 worth of product and receiving a tariff bill of over $70,000 on top of it**, adding that these are not inflated numbers. That is a ~47% effective duty rate on his own goods. Source: his LinkedIn profile, surfaced via [search](https://www.linkedin.com/in/dylandickman/).
2. **He tracks CBP duty-recovery mechanics in real time.** He posted: *"CBP just confirmed the CAPE tool goes live Monday 4/20. If you paid IEEPA tariffs this past year, you can finally start getting your money back…"* Source: [LinkedIn](https://www.linkedin.com/in/dylandickman/). CAPE = CBP's Consolidated Administration and Processing of Entries tool, deployed 20 Apr 2026 in the ACE portal so importers or **their licensed customs brokers** can bulk-submit entry numbers for IEEPA refunds ([Holland & Knight](https://www.hklaw.com/en/insights/publications/2026/04/cape-has-arrived-navigating-the-next-phase-of-ieepa-duty-refunds), [Steptoe](https://www.steptoe.com/en/news-publications/global-trade-and-investment-law-blog/cbp-cape-mechanism-begins-processing-ieepa-tariff-refunds.html)).
3. He has engaged with content on **Section 338 of the Tariff Act of 1930** and China supply-chain disruption policy. Source: [LinkedIn](https://www.linkedin.com/in/dylandickman/).

**Read:** classification and duty exposure is not an abstract topic he sells - it is a cost he has personally absorbed and a refund process he is actively working. He is problem-aware and solution-aware, not unaware.

---

## Company

| Fact | Detail | Source |
|---|---|---|
| Trading name | Known | [gowithknown.com](https://www.gowithknown.com/) |
| Legal entity on site | Known Group Inc. | [Contact page](https://www.gowithknown.com/contact), [Capital page](https://www.gowithknown.com/capital) |
| Primary domain | gowithknown.com | - |
| Second domain | **known.dev - 301-redirects to gowithknown.com**, and is the staff email domain (`@known.dev`) | Verified by fetch; CBP list shows `gabrielle@known.dev` |
| Product subdomains | portal.gowithknown.com, platform.known.dev, portal.known.dev | [gowithknown.com](https://www.gowithknown.com/) |
| Company LinkedIn | linkedin.com/company/knowndev2 - **148 employees**, 51-200 band, founded **2021**, Dallas, "International Trade and Development" | [LinkedIn](https://www.linkedin.com/company/knowndev2/) |
| HQ | 3309 Elm St, Suite 330, Dallas TX 75226 (Continental Gin Building, Deep Ellum) | [TX Comptroller](https://data.texas.gov/resource/9cir-efmm.json), [ZoomInfo](https://www.zoominfo.com/pic/known/556449892) |
| Customs-records address | 3309 Elm St #100-102, Dallas TX 75226 | [ImportGenius](https://www.importgenius.com/importers/known-group-llc) |
| LinkedIn tagline | "Turn-key supply chain solutions via tech-enabled services and expert global teams." | [LinkedIn](https://www.linkedin.com/company/knowndev2/) |
| Site taglines | "Global Supply Chain Simplified" · "Illuminate every step" · "Empowering global trade solutions one service at a time" | [gowithknown.com](https://www.gowithknown.com/), [customs page](https://www.gowithknown.com/services/customs) |

### The single most important positioning line

On their own LinkedIn About: *"Service is our specialty - **the technology is just an added plus**."* - [LinkedIn](https://www.linkedin.com/company/knowndev2/)

They explicitly rank people above software. A 148-person services business that treats technology as a bonus layer is structurally exposed to a tool that automates the most labour-intensive judgement task in their stack.

### Named team (every person found, with title and background)

| Name | Title | Background | Source |
|---|---|---|---|
| Dylan Dickman | CEO (prev. Co-founder & COO) | Leon Capital Group, Titus Industrial, Merrill, UPS; SMU Cox | [ZoomInfo](https://www.zoominfo.com/p/Dylan-Dickman/5995770999) |
| **Gabrielle Petrucelli** | **Licensed Customs Broker - and Controller** | Senior Tax Associate at PwC; Accountant at Bancroft Property Investments; Master's + Bachelor's, SMU Cox | [ZoomInfo](https://www.zoominfo.com/p/Gabrielle-Petrucelli/2733990765), [CBP list](https://www.cbp.gov/sites/default/files/2026-02/TA-015%20Broker%20Permit%20Contact%20List%20Final%2012.2025_0.csv) |
| Nick Tutt | Head of Sales | - | [ZoomInfo](https://www.zoominfo.com/p/Nick-Tutt/3146957065), [LinkedIn](https://www.linkedin.com/in/nick-tutt-92564b135/) |
| Zachary Greenbauer | Principal Engineer | - | [ZoomInfo](https://www.zoominfo.com/p/Zachary-Greenbauer/8082721680), [RocketReach](https://rocketreach.co/zachary-greenbauer-email_114230069) |
| Maple Kuang | Head of Production (China) | Titus Industrial, HSBC, Guangdong Dragonrise, Guangdong Import & Export Group | [ZoomInfo](https://www.zoominfo.com/p/Maple-Kuang/7052840045) |
| Farooq Ahmed | Manager, Logistics | - | [ZoomInfo](https://www.zoominfo.com/pic/known/556449892) |

**Head of trade / trade compliance: does not exist.** No VP, Director or Head of Trade Compliance, Customs, or Classification was found anywhere - not on the site, not on LinkedIn, not in any data aggregator. The entire classification function appears to sit with one person who is simultaneously the company's Controller. Maple Kuang's move from Titus Industrial mirrors Dylan's, suggesting Known was staffed out of his prior employer.

---

## What they offer and sell

Five service lines, each a nav item ([services page](https://www.gowithknown.com/services)):

| Line | What they sell |
|---|---|
| **Source** | Strategic sourcing, performance management, category management |
| **Inspect** | Pre-shipment inspections, factory audits, material testing |
| **Ship** | Ocean, air & land freight; live tracking; customs clearance |
| **Plan** | Inventory management, supply planning, demand planning |
| **Customs** | **Customs Entry, HTS Classification, ISF & AMS Filing** |

Plus a sixth, financial line:

**Known Capital** - supply-chain financing for manufacturer deposits and final payments. Repaid in 3 equal instalments at 30/60/90 days; funding approval within 24 hours of order upload; offers typically processed within three business days; soft credit pull only; credit limit rises after each repayment. "Transparent pricing and fees, no prepayment penalties" but no rate is published. Operated by Known Group Inc.; **no partner lender is named**. Source: [Capital page](https://www.gowithknown.com/capital).

### The customs line, verbatim

From [the customs page](https://www.gowithknown.com/services/customs):
- Customs Entry - "Import goods into the US before they arrive to their port of destination"
- HTS Classification - **"Let our experts help you classify your products appropriately according to CBP regulation"**
- ISF & AMS Filing - "File your ISF & AMS before your product ships from the port of origin"

The HTS claim is staffed entirely on human expertise. **There is no AI, automation, or software claim anywhere on the customs page.** Confirmed by direct fetch.

### Technology they actually claim

- **Known Platform** and **Known Portal** are named ([homepage](https://www.gowithknown.com/)), living at platform.known.dev / portal.known.dev / portal.gowithknown.com.
- Claimed capabilities: "live tracking through our portal", "real-time updates at the SKU level", "real-time visibility on your shipment locations with live updates on arrival dates and other shipping milestones" ([ship page](https://www.gowithknown.com/services/ship)).
- LinkedIn specialties: shipping and logistics, purchase order management, customs brokerage, pre-shipment inspections, factory audits, real-time supply chain visibility, SKU-level tracking, quality inspections ([LinkedIn](https://www.linkedin.com/company/knowndev2/)).

**The platform is a visibility and PO-management layer. Nothing they publish claims any classification, duty-calculation, or compliance automation.** That is the whole gap.

### Who they sell to

Client logos on the homepage are overwhelmingly **oil & gas / energy majors**: ConocoPhillips, ExxonMobil, Phillips 66, EOG Resources, Pioneer Natural Resources, Diamondback Energy, Ovintiv, plus 10+ others ([homepage](https://www.gowithknown.com/)). This is consistent with their own import record (oilfield hardware, below).

### Pricing

**Not published anywhere.** No rate card, no tiers, no per-entry fee, on any page fetched (home, services, all five service pages, customs, capital, contact). Every path terminates in "Get started", "Get a quote", or "Book a call with an expert" → Dylan's HubSpot calendar.

---

## Business model signals

- **Services-led, quote-gated, founder-sold.** No self-serve, no pricing, and the CEO's own calendar is the conversion event across the entire site. At 148 people that is a notable bottleneck.
- **They monetise the whole chain, not one leg** - sourcing fees, inspection fees, freight margin, customs entry fees, and financing spread on the same shipment. Customs is one revenue line inside a bundle, which means classification errors threaten the bundle, not just the entry.
- **They carry balance-sheet risk via Known Capital.** They finance the goods they classify. A misclassification that triggers a duty bill hits a customer whose purchase order they also underwrote.
- **Their content operation is unowned.** At least two blog posts - ["How to Navigate U.S. Tariffs and Origin Requirements in 2025"](https://www.gowithknown.com/blog/how-to-navigate-u-s-tariffs-and-origin-requirements-in-2025) (19 Feb 2025) and ["Top Strategies for Finding New Suppliers Outside of China"](https://www.gowithknown.com/blog/finding-new-source-outside-of-china) (10 Feb 2025) - are bylined **"Lana Steiner, Engineering Manager at Layers"**, which is the stock placeholder author from the Webflow template. Nobody edited it. Their tariff thought-leadership is unowned template content while their CEO posts real numbers on LinkedIn.
- **The tariff blog recommends buying software.** Their own article advises engaging "specialized trade software and data analysis tools" - they already tell readers the tooling category is legitimate ([post](https://www.gowithknown.com/blog/how-to-navigate-u-s-tariffs-and-origin-requirements-in-2025)).

### Full blog inventory
| Post | URL |
|---|---|
| How to Navigate U.S. Tariffs and Origin Requirements in 2025 (19 Feb 2025) | `/blog/how-to-navigate-u-s-tariffs-and-origin-requirements-in-2025` |
| Top Strategies for Finding New Suppliers Outside of China (10 Feb 2025) | `/blog/finding-new-source-outside-of-china` |
| New U.S. Port Fees Could Sink Shipping & Raise Costs | `/blog/new-u-s-port-fees-could-sink-shipping-raise-costs` |
| U.S. Port Fee Updates | `/blog/us-port-fee-updates` |
| Why Knowing When Your Shipments Arrive Matters More Than Ever | `/blog/why-knowing-where-your-shipments-arrive-matters-more-than-ever` |
| 7 Key Benefits of Pre-Shipment Inspections for Businesses | `/blog/7-key-benefits-of-pre-shipment-inspections-for-businesses` |

---

## Entity and licensing

### Corporate record - resolved from the primary source

Queried the Texas Comptroller's active franchise tax permit-holder dataset directly (Socrata API, `data.texas.gov/resource/9cir-efmm.json`):

**KNOWN GROUP INC.**
| Field | Value |
|---|---|
| Texas taxpayer number | 32101… → `32077561986` |
| SOS / COA file number | `0804471134` |
| Address | 3309 ELM ST # 330, DALLAS, TX 75226 |
| Organisational type | **CF - foreign for-profit corporation** (incorporated outside Texas, registered to transact business in Texas) |
| Franchise tax responsibility began | **25 Jan 2021** |
| Texas charter/registration date | 11 Mar 2022 |
| SOS status date | 25 Mar 2026 |
| Right to transact business in Texas | **A (active)** |

Source: [Texas Comptroller open data](https://data.texas.gov/resource/9cir-efmm.json).

**"KNOWN GROUP LLC" does not exist in the Texas active franchise tax file.** A wildcard query on `%KNOWN GROUP%` returns exactly one row: Known Group Inc.

### Are "Known Group LLC" and "Known Group Inc" the same business?

**Yes - high confidence.** Four independent pieces of evidence:

1. **Identical address.** Customs records for Known Group LLC show 3309 Elm St, Dallas TX 75226 - the same building and ZIP as Known Group Inc.'s registered address ([ImportGenius](https://www.importgenius.com/importers/known-group-llc)).
2. **The customs data itself links them.** ImportGenius lists **"Known Group Inc." as an alternate importer name on the same shipment records** filed under Known Group LLC ([ImportGenius](https://www.importgenius.com/importers/known-group-llc)).
3. **The trademark ties the LLC to this exact business.** US trademark **"KNOWN"**, serial **97195511**, filed **29 Dec 2021 by Known Group LLC**, covering "business management services, namely, managing logistics, reverse logistics, supply chain services, supply chain visibility and synchronization, supply and demand forecasting and product distribution processes for others", **first use 15 March 2021** ([Justia](https://trademark.justia.com/owners/known-group-llc-5061347)). That first-use date matches Known Group Inc.'s franchise-tax start (Jan 2021) and LinkedIn's founded year (2021).
4. **No competing entity exists.** There is no separate active Known Group LLC in Texas.

**Most likely mechanism:** the business was formed as an LLC in 2021, then converted or reorganised into a corporation - the standard pre-fundraise C-corp flip - with the "Inc" registering in Texas as a foreign corporation in March 2022. CBP's importer record still carries the legacy LLC name because nobody updated it. That is itself a small compliance-hygiene tell.

**Trademark status caveat:** Justia shows the mark stalled at *"630 - New Application - Record Initialized Not Assigned To Examiner"*. Current live status could not be verified - USPTO's TSDR API now requires a registered API key (returns HTTP 401 without one).

### Is Known a licensed US customs broker? - YES, and this is the sharpest finding

Downloaded and searched CBP's official **Permitted Customs Brokers listing** (2,483 rows, published Dec 2025 / posted Feb 2026):

```
Filer Code: NAX
Permitted Broker Name: Gabrielle Petrucelli
City/State: DALLAS, TX
Phone: 512-657-7250
Email: gabrielle@known.dev
```
Source: [CBP Permitted Customs Brokers Listing (CSV)](https://www.cbp.gov/sites/default/files/2026-02/TA-015%20Broker%20Permit%20Contact%20List%20Final%2012.2025_0.csv)

Three things this establishes:

1. **Known operates its own customs brokerage under its own CBP filer code (NAX).** They are not white-labelling someone else's broker. They file entries themselves.
2. **That entire licence rests on one named individual** - Gabrielle Petrucelli is the *only* Known-affiliated entry in the whole 2,483-row national list. Searches for "Known", "Phantom", "3309 Elm" and "Dickman" returned nothing else.
3. **That individual is also the Controller.** Per [ZoomInfo](https://www.zoominfo.com/p/Gabrielle-Petrucelli/2733990765), at Known she "oversees financial operations as Controller" in addition to being the Licensed Customs Broker, and her career history is accounting and tax (PwC, property investment), not trade compliance. So the person legally accountable for every HTS code Known assigns is splitting her time with running the company's finances, for a 148-person business serving oil & gas majors.

**NCBFAA membership: not found.** No Known listing surfaced in the [NCBFAA member directory](https://members.ncbfaa.org/directory/Member/index.html) or the [North Texas CBFFA members list](https://ntcbffa.org/members.asp) via search. Neither directory is fully crawlable, so treat as unconfirmed rather than negative.

**FMC OTI / NVOCC licence: not found for Known Group.** No FMC ocean transportation intermediary licence surfaced for Known Group Inc or LLC, despite the site selling ocean freight.

### The Phantom Shipping LLC thread

Known's bills of lading name **Phantom Shipping LLC, Suite 340, 3309 Elm St, Dallas TX 75226** as notify party ([Panjiva](https://panjiva.com/Known-Group-Llc/148325190), [ImportGenius](https://www.importgenius.com/importers/known-group-llc)) - the same building as Known, one floor up from Known's Suite 330.

Verified independently:
- **Texas entity:** PHANTOM SHIPPING LLC, taxpayer `32092826091`, SOS file `0805334676`, formed **11 Dec 2023**, registered address 1501 S Mopac Expy Ste 220, Austin TX 78746 (a registered-agent address), right to transact business **A (active)** ([TX Comptroller](https://data.texas.gov/resource/9cir-efmm.json)).
- **FMCSA:** active freight broker authority, **MC1595373 / USDOT 04154330**, listed at 2700 Commerce St Suite 1000, Dallas TX 75226; bond on file, cargo insurance not on file; FMCSA record flags "undeliverable mail" ([Reesor & Associates](https://transportationrecovery.com/freight-brokers/phantom-shipping-llc/)).

**Confidence: moderate, not high.** The shared Deep Ellum address on the BOLs makes an affiliation likely - plausibly Known's domestic-trucking arm - but no public document states a relationship, the FMCSA address differs from the BOL address, and "Phantom Shipping" is not a distinctive enough name to assume identity. **Do not assert this link to the client as fact.**

---

## US trade data

Known's own importing, as a consignee:

| Source | Shipment count | Date range | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|
| [Panjiva](https://panjiva.com/Known-Group-Llc/148325190) | **59** US customs records | recent shipments May 2025 | - |
| ImportYeti (via search snippet) | **58** US shipments | since 2007 | Page itself returns HTTP 403 to all fetchers, incl. browser UA |
| [ImportGenius](https://www.importgenius.com/importers/known-group-llc) | **28** shipments | 1 Nov 2006 - 6 Feb 2026 | Counts differ by methodology (container vs BOL vs line item) |

The 2006/2007 start dates are database artifacts - the business first used its name in March 2021 and began Texas franchise tax responsibility in Jan 2021. Real activity is 2021-onward.

**Suppliers (all India):**
| Supplier | Volume | Source |
|---|---|---|
| Seal Tech / Sealtech International, Plot No. 140 Sector-06, Faridabad 121004, India | 24 containers, 462,891 kg | [ImportGenius](https://www.importgenius.com/importers/known-group-llc) |
| Munish Forge Private Limited, India | 6 containers, 108,071 kg | [ImportGenius](https://www.importgenius.com/importers/known-group-llc) |
| Jai Auto Private Ltd, India | 1 container, 18,206 kg | [ImportGenius](https://www.importgenius.com/importers/known-group-llc) |

**Commodities:** hammer unions, pipe nipples, unions, carbon steel flanges, stainless steel flanges, forged flanges - iron/steel oilfield hardware for boring and sinking machinery ([ImportGenius](https://www.importgenius.com/importers/known-group-llc), [Panjiva](https://panjiva.com/Known-Group-Llc/148325190)).

**HS/HTS chapters seen:** 73 (iron/steel articles), 84 (machinery), 87 (vehicles and parts), 94 (furniture/lighting/prefab). Specific code cited on one shipment: **HTS 8431.43** (parts for boring/sinking machinery) ([Panjiva](https://panjiva.com/Known-Group-Llc/148325190)).

**Routes:** origin ports Mundra, Pipavav, Mumbai (India) and Salalah (Oman transhipment) → **Houston, Texas**. Carrier MSC Mediterranean Shipping Company; sample vessel MSC NERISSA. Most recent recorded arrival 19 May 2025 ([Panjiva](https://panjiva.com/Known-Group-Llc/148325190), [ImportGenius](https://www.importgenius.com/importers/known-group-llc)).

**Notify party / forwarding agent:** Phantom Shipping LLC on the records reviewed (see thread above). Known was **not** found appearing as notify party or forwarding agent on other companies' bills of lading - searches on Volza and further ImportYeti/Panjiva angles returned nothing additional.

**Interpretation to hand the analyst:** the ~28-59 shipments visible are Known's *own* imports as importer of record - a narrow India→Houston oilfield-steel book. This does **not** measure the volume they classify and file for clients, which flows under each client's own IOR number and is invisible in consignee-name search. Their filer code NAX is the only proxy for that, and entry volume by filer code is not public. **Do not present the shipment count as the size of their brokerage practice.**

---

## News, press, podcasts

**Nothing found. This is a genuinely dark company.**

Searched and came back empty on:
- Funding, seed round, investors, Crunchbase profile - **not found**
- Dallas Innovates coverage - **not found**
- Dallas Business Journal coverage - **not found**
- D CEO / Dallas Innovates Innovation Awards, Dallas 500, Inc. 5000 - **not found**
- Podcast appearances by Dylan Dickman - **not found** (searched Supply Chain Now, SupplyChainBrain, Inbound Logistics, Let's Talk Supply Chain, Apple/Spotify)
- Founder interviews or founding-story features - **not found**
- Press releases of any kind - **not found**
- Glassdoor, G2, Trustpilot reviews - **not found**

For a company claiming 148 employees and Fortune-500 energy clients, the total absence of press, funding coverage and review-site presence is itself the finding: they grow by relationship and referral, not marketing. The only public voice is Dylan's ~1,000-follower LinkedIn.

---

## Headcount cross-check

| Source | Figure | Source link |
|---|---|---|
| LinkedIn company page | **148 employees** (51-200 band) | [LinkedIn](https://www.linkedin.com/company/knowndev2/) |
| ZoomInfo | **11-50 employees** | [ZoomInfo](https://www.zoominfo.com/pic/known/556449892) |
| RocketReach | Page returns HTTP 403 - **not retrievable** | [RocketReach](https://rocketreach.co/known-profile_b78060b9c2561a80) |
| Datanyze | **Not found** - no profile surfaced | - |
| Company website | **No headcount claim anywhere** - no team page, no about page, no careers page found | [gowithknown.com](https://www.gowithknown.com/) |

**Discrepancy is large - roughly 3x to 13x - and I am not issuing a point estimate.**

Most plausible explanation, offered as a hypothesis not a fact: LinkedIn's 148 counts self-reported profiles including overseas operational staff, while ZoomInfo counts verified US business contacts. Known has a **Head of Production (China)** ([Maple Kuang](https://www.zoominfo.com/p/Maple-Kuang/7052840045)) and sells pre-shipment inspections and factory audits, which are inherently in-country headcount. LinkedIn's own copy says "expert global teams". So a large offshore inspection/production workforce plus a small Dallas commercial core would reconcile both numbers.

**What this means for Ripple regardless of which number is right:** either way, exactly **one** person holds the customs broker licence, and she is also the Controller.

---

## Competitors

**Known names no competitor anywhere.** Direct fetches of the homepage, services index, ship, inspect, and customs pages returned zero competitive comparisons, no "vs" content, no alternatives page.

**Known does not appear in any third-party competitive set either.** Searched the major Flexport-alternatives roundups (G2, Research.com, SoftwareWorld, SoftwareSuggest, Slashdot, Krowdbase) - Known is absent from all of them. The named alternatives in that category are ShipBob, Shippeo, Zencargo, GoBolt, Easyship, Magaya, Shipsy, Logi-Sys, MightyFly, Tookan.

**Nothing found linking Known to Altana, Zonos, Avalara Cross-Border or ClearanceHub** in either direction.

**The honest read:** Known is not competing as a software product and is not indexed as one. They compete as a **tech-enabled service bureau** against traditional forwarder-brokers and against the Flexport model - while explicitly telling the market the technology is "just an added plus". They have no stated position on classification software, which means Ripple is entering an unclaimed frame rather than displacing an incumbent tool.

---

## Gaps (what could not be found)

| Gap | Why |
|---|---|
| Delaware (or other home-state) incorporation record for Known Group Inc | Texas data confirms it is a **foreign** corporation (type CF) but does not name the home state. Delaware's search portal is not machine-fetchable and does not publish officers. |
| Registered agent and officers of Known Group Inc | Texas Comptroller dataset carries no agent/officer fields; OpenCorporates returned a HAProxy CAPTCHA; Bizapedia entity pages are paywalled. |
| Live status of trademark serial 97195511 | USPTO TSDR API now requires a registered API key (HTTP 401). Justia's cached status is "630 - New Application", which may be stale. |
| ImportYeti raw page | HTTP 403 to WebFetch and to curl with a full browser user-agent. Its shipment count (58) captured via search snippet only. |
| Entry volume filed under filer code NAX | CBP does not publish entry counts by filer code. Not obtainable from open sources. |
| NCBFAA / NTCBFFA membership confirmation | Both directories require in-page search; not crawlable. Treat as unconfirmed, not as a negative finding. |
| FMC OTI licence for Known Group | Not found in searches; FMC's licence database is not directly queryable via search. Absence here is weak evidence, not proof. |
| Nature of the Known ↔ Phantom Shipping relationship | No public document states it. Shared BOL address only. Flagged moderate confidence. |
| Dylan Dickman on X/Twitter | No account found. Instagram @dylied exists but carries no business signal. |
| Exact dates on Dylan's tariff posts | LinkedIn post permalinks and timestamps are not exposed to unauthenticated fetching; post content captured via search index. |
| Known's pricing, at any level | Not published anywhere on the site. Quote-gated by design. |
| A team page, about page, or careers page | None found on gowithknown.com. Team assembled entirely from third-party aggregators and the CBP list. |

---

## Sources

**Primary / authoritative**
- CBP Permitted Customs Brokers Listing (CSV, Dec 2025) - https://www.cbp.gov/sites/default/files/2026-02/TA-015%20Broker%20Permit%20Contact%20List%20Final%2012.2025_0.csv
- Texas Comptroller, Active Franchise Tax Permit Holders (Socrata API) - https://data.texas.gov/resource/9cir-efmm.json
- CBP Customs Brokers programme page - https://www.cbp.gov/trade/programs-administration/customs-brokers

**Company-owned**
- https://www.gowithknown.com/
- https://www.gowithknown.com/services
- https://www.gowithknown.com/services/customs
- https://www.gowithknown.com/services/ship
- https://www.gowithknown.com/services/inspect
- https://www.gowithknown.com/capital
- https://www.gowithknown.com/contact
- https://www.gowithknown.com/blog
- https://www.gowithknown.com/blog/how-to-navigate-u-s-tariffs-and-origin-requirements-in-2025
- https://www.gowithknown.com/blog/finding-new-source-outside-of-china
- https://www.linkedin.com/company/knowndev2/
- https://www.linkedin.com/in/dylandickman/
- known.dev (301 → gowithknown.com)

**Trade data**
- https://www.importgenius.com/importers/known-group-llc
- https://panjiva.com/Known-Group-Llc/148325190
- https://www.importyeti.com/company/known-group (403; snippet only)

**Corporate / IP**
- https://trademark.justia.com/owners/known-group-llc-5061347
- https://trademarks.justia.com/971/95/known-97195511.html (403; snippet only)

**People data**
- https://www.zoominfo.com/p/Dylan-Dickman/5995770999
- https://www.zoominfo.com/p/Gabrielle-Petrucelli/2733990765
- https://www.zoominfo.com/p/Nick-Tutt/3146957065
- https://www.zoominfo.com/p/Zachary-Greenbauer/8082721680
- https://www.zoominfo.com/p/Maple-Kuang/7052840045
- https://www.zoominfo.com/pic/known/556449892
- https://rocketreach.co/dylan-dickman-email_238482932
- https://www.linkedin.com/in/nick-tutt-92564b135/
- https://www.instagram.com/dylied/

**Context on CAPE / IEEPA refunds (for the CEO's post)**
- https://www.hklaw.com/en/insights/publications/2026/04/cape-has-arrived-navigating-the-next-phase-of-ieepa-duty-refunds
- https://www.steptoe.com/en/news-publications/global-trade-and-investment-law-blog/cbp-cape-mechanism-begins-processing-ieepa-tariff-refunds.html
- https://www.troutman.com/insights/cbp-issues-guidance-on-ieepa-duty-refunds-via-new-cape-process-what-importers-must-do-before-april-20/

**Phantom Shipping**
- https://transportationrecovery.com/freight-brokers/phantom-shipping-llc/

**Directories checked, nothing found**
- https://members.ncbfaa.org/directory/Member/index.html
- https://ntcbffa.org/members.asp

---

# Analyst: financials, funding, scale, trade volume

---

## Revenue

**No revenue estimate was found on any platform.** This is a genuine negative result, not an incomplete search.

| Source | Revenue figure | Confidence | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|
| ZoomInfo (`zoominfo.com/c/known-dev/556449892`) | **None published** in accessible profile data | n/a | Profile exists and carries address + employee band, but no revenue value surfaced |
| Growjo | **No profile exists** | n/a | Growjo tracks companies with 15-1,000 employees. Absence suggests it has not picked Known up, not that revenue is zero |
| Owler | **No profile found** | n/a | Searched directly; only unrelated "Known"-named entities returned |
| Datanyze | **No profile found** | n/a | Same |
| Dun & Bradstreet | **No profile found** | n/a | D&B returned Flatland Holdings (a related importer, see Trade volume) but no Known Group record |
| Crunchbase (`crunchbase.com/organization/known-16f8`) | **No revenue shown** | n/a | Page is paywalled/403 to direct fetch; search snippets carried no revenue |
| Press / trade media | **Nothing** | n/a | No revenue disclosure in any article, release, or interview found |

### Why you should not manufacture one anyway

Even if an estimate surfaces later, treat it as LOW confidence for reasons specific to this company:

1. **Freight forwarding revenue is gross, not net.** A forwarder's "revenue" includes pass-through ocean freight, duty, and carrier cost. A $20M gross-revenue forwarder can be a $3M gross-profit business. Third-party estimators almost never distinguish the two, so any figure is ambiguous before it is even inaccurate.
2. **Employee-count models are the usual basis, and the employee count itself is in dispute here** (11-50 vs 51-200 vs ~148 - see Inferred operating scale). A revenue-per-employee model built on the wrong headcount is wrong by a multiple, not a margin.
3. **Revenue-per-employee benchmarks break on this staffing model.** Known's headcount sits mostly in India, China and Malaysia. US-benchmarked revenue-per-employee ratios would overstate revenue badly.
4. **Entity fragmentation.** Activity is spread across at least three names (Known Group Inc., Known Group LLC, and an affiliated cluster). Any single-entity estimate captures a fraction of the whole.

**Recommended handling in the dossier:** state that revenue is not publicly disclosed and is not reliably estimable, and lead with headcount and footprint instead.

---

## Funding and investors

| Item | Finding | Confidence | Basis |
|---|---|---|---|
| SEC EDGAR Form D | **Zero filings.** Full-text search returned 0 hits for "Known Dev"; hits for "Known Group", "Known Group Inc" and "Known Group LLC" were all false positives (the ordinary English phrase "known group" inside unrelated filings by Hilb Rogal & Hobbs, Prudential, Allstate, etc.) | **HIGH** | Direct query against `efts.sec.gov` full-text search plus EDGAR company browse. No Texas or Dallas "Known" registrant appears |
| Crunchbase | Lists a **Pre-Seed round**, no amount disclosed; founder named as **"Jordan Miller"**; sectors IT / Logistics / Procurement / Supply Chain Management; Dallas | **LOW** | Search-snippet only; direct fetch 403s. See discrepancy note below |
| PitchBook | No accessible snippet | n/a | Paywalled |
| Dallas Innovates | **No coverage of Known found**, including in its "Follow the Money" funding section | **MEDIUM** | Searched the outlet by company name and founder name |
| Press releases / newswire | **None found** | **MEDIUM** | No PR Newswire or Business Wire item for Known's funding |

### Two things to flag rather than resolve

- **Founder-name discrepancy.** Crunchbase attributes the company to "Jordan Miller"; LinkedIn and ZoomInfo both put **Dylan Dickman** as CEO, previously **Co-founder & COO**. Either the Crunchbase record belongs to a different "Known", or Miller is a co-founder Crunchbase listed first. Dickman being ex-COO now CEO does imply at least one other co-founder existed. **Do not assert either founder story as fact.**
- **Absence of a Form D is not proof of no funding.** A pre-seed raised on SAFEs under Rule 506(b) to a small number of accredited investors still normally triggers a Form D, but plenty of small rounds are filed late or not at all. The honest read: **no verifiable institutional round.** Treat Known as effectively bootstrapped or lightly pre-seeded until proven otherwise.

---

## Growth signals

| Signal | Detail | Confidence | Basis |
|---|---|---|---|
| **Six-country office footprint** | Dallas (US HQ), **Glasgow (GB), Kuala Lumpur (MY), Delhi (IN), Guangzhou (CN), Kolkata (IN)** | **HIGH** | Listed as locations on the company's own LinkedIn page |
| Founded | **2021** | **HIGH** | LinkedIn; corroborated by Texas franchise tax responsibility date of 2021-01-25 and first bill of lading 2021-10-12 |
| Headcount trajectory | 0 → 51-200 band in roughly five years | **MEDIUM** | LinkedIn band; exact figure disputed |
| Service-line breadth | Five distinct lines live on the site: **Source, Inspect/QC, Ship, Plan (inventory), Customs**, plus a separate **Capital** (supply chain financing) product | **HIGH** | Company website, one landing page per service |
| Supply chain financing launch | `/capital` page is live with a defined product: purchase orders split into installments | **HIGH** | Company website. Launching a credit product is a meaningful step up in operating sophistication and balance-sheet exposure |
| Careers page | **Does not exist** - `gowithknown.com/careers` returns 404 | **HIGH** | Direct fetch |
| Open roles (LinkedIn Jobs / Indeed) | **None found** under Known / gowithknown / known.dev in Dallas | **MEDIUM** | Searched both boards; negative results from job-board search are weak evidence, roles may be posted under a name the search did not match |
| Partnership / product announcements | **None found** for 2025 or 2026 | **MEDIUM** | Newswire and general search |
| LinkedIn followers | **1,243** | **HIGH** | Company page. Low for a 148-person company - implies little marketing investment and a sales motion that is relationship-led, not inbound |

**Read on hiring:** no careers page and no discoverable open roles alongside a 51-200 headcount is a real signal. It points to hiring done through overseas agents and referral rather than an open funnel. It does **not** support a claim that they are in a hiring surge, and it does not prove they are frozen either.

---

## Registry financials

### KNOWN GROUP INC. - confirmed, active right to transact business

Texas Comptroller, Active Franchise Taxpayers dataset (`data.texas.gov`, resource `9cir-efmm`):

| Field | Value |
|---|---|
| Taxpayer name | KNOWN GROUP INC. |
| Taxpayer number | 32077561986 |
| SOS file number | 0804471134 |
| Address | 3309 ELM ST # 330, DALLAS, TX 75226 |
| Organizational type | **CF** - foreign (out-of-state) for-profit corporation |
| Franchise tax responsibility began | **2021-01-25** |
| SOS charter / registration date | **2022-03-11** |
| SOS status date | 2026-03-25 |
| SOS status code | **R** |
| Right to transact business | **A - active** |

**Confidence: HIGH** (pulled directly from the state's own open-data API, not a reseller).

Reading of this record:

- **"CF" means the company is incorporated outside Texas** and is registered as a foreign entity doing business there. Delaware is the overwhelmingly likely domicile for a 2021 venture-styled startup, but **this is not confirmed** - Delaware's entity search is captcha-gated and OpenCorporates blocked the request. Mark the domicile as unverified.
- **The company is in good standing.** `right_to_transact_business_code = A` is the field that matters commercially: no franchise tax forfeiture, they can legally contract in Texas.
- **The "R" status code is not decoded.** The Comptroller publishes no data dictionary for it in an accessible place, and code "R" appears across 337,419 records spanning both Texas-domestic and foreign entity types, so it is not simply a foreign-registration marker. **Do not translate "R" into plain English in the dossier.** The good-standing statement above is the sourced, safe claim.
- **Two dates, two meanings.** Franchise tax responsibility starts 2021-01-25 but the SOS registration is 2022-03-11. That gap is normal: they began operating/became taxable in Texas in early 2021 and formalised the foreign registration about fourteen months later.

### KNOWN GROUP LLC - no matching Texas registration

**"Known Group LLC" does not appear anywhere in the Texas Active Franchise Taxpayers dataset.** A wildcard search on `taxpayer_name like '%KNOWN GROUP%'` returned exactly one record - Known Group Inc. - and nothing else.

**Confidence: HIGH** that it is absent from that dataset. **What that means is genuinely ambiguous**, and the honest options are:

1. The LLC is registered in another state and imports into Houston without a Texas franchise tax registration.
2. The LLC was terminated or merged into Known Group Inc. and so has dropped out of an *active*-only dataset.
3. "Known Group LLC" is a name that appears on customs paperwork without being the precise registered legal name - a common and unremarkable customs-filing artifact.

Do not assert any one of these. The defensible line is: *the entity name on their import records has no matching active Texas registration; the operating company of record in Texas is Known Group Inc.*

### Other registry notes

- **3309 Elm St is a shared/multi-tenant address.** Forty distinct entities file franchise tax from it, dominated by the Catamount Capital and Royal Wolf fund families. Known Group Inc. is at **suite 330**; the customs records use **suite 100-102**. Different suites at a shared building. Treat any inference drawn from address co-location as weak.
- Notably, Known's CEO previously worked at **Leon Capital Group**, and 3309 Elm hosts a dense cluster of Dallas investment vehicles. Suggestive of the network he came from, **not** evidence of an investor relationship.

---

## Inferred operating scale

**Everything in this section is INFERRED. None of it is a sourced figure. Do not present any number here as a fact about Known.**

### First problem: the headcount itself is contested

| Source | Headcount | Confidence |
|---|---|---|
| LinkedIn company page (band) | **51-200** | HIGH that this is what the page says |
| LinkedIn (brief-supplied precise figure) | **~148** | MEDIUM - LinkedIn's employee count counts self-tagged profiles, which inflates for companies using overseas agents and contractors, and deflates for staff who never tag an employer |
| ZoomInfo | **11-50** | LOW |

That is a **3x spread**. ZoomInfo's 11-50 is probably stale or counting only the US corporate entity; the LinkedIn figure probably includes overseas inspection and back-office staff. **Both can be "right" about different things.** Use ~148 as the working figure but state the band.

### Payroll arithmetic at ~148 people

The critical modifier: **four of six offices are in low-cost labour markets** (Delhi, Kolkata, Guangzhou, Kuala Lumpur). Applying US salary assumptions to the whole headcount would overstate payroll by roughly 3x.

Assumed geographic split - **this is an assumption, not a finding**: 20-30% US/UK, 70-80% Asia.

Fully-loaded annual cost per head (salary + employer taxes + benefits), conservative market ranges:

| Location | Role type | Fully-loaded cost/head |
|---|---|---|
| Dallas (US) | Ops, sales, brokerage, engineering | $85,000 - $130,000 |
| Glasgow (UK) | Ops, account management | $60,000 - $90,000 |
| Delhi / Kolkata (IN) | Back office, documentation, classification | $8,000 - $18,000 |
| Guangzhou (CN) | Inspection, QC, sourcing | $15,000 - $30,000 |
| Kuala Lumpur (MY) | Ops, coordination | $12,000 - $25,000 |

**Low case:** 30 US/UK × $85,000 = $2.55M · 118 Asia × $10,000 = $1.18M → **≈ $3.7M**
**Mid case:** 35 US/UK × $100,000 = $3.50M · 113 Asia × $15,000 = $1.70M → **≈ $5.2M**
**High case:** 45 US/UK × $120,000 = $5.40M · 103 Asia × $25,000 = $2.58M → **≈ $8.0M**

**Inferred annual payroll at ~148 heads: roughly $3.7M - $8.0M, most likely near $5M.**

If ZoomInfo's 11-50 is the true figure instead, payroll would be roughly **$0.5M - $2.5M**. The two scenarios describe completely different companies, which is exactly why the revenue question cannot be back-solved.

### What payroll does NOT tell you here

**You cannot derive revenue from payroll for a freight forwarder.** Reported revenue includes pass-through ocean freight, duty and carrier cost, which can be several multiples of the company's own gross profit. Payroll compares to *net* revenue (gross profit), not to reported revenue, and we have neither. Any chain of reasoning from $5M payroll to a revenue figure would be invented. **Do not build one.**

The one directionally safe inference: **a business carrying roughly $5M of annual payroll across six countries is a real operating company with meaningful fixed cost, not a two-person brokerage.** That, plus the fact they are running a financing product, is the scale story worth telling.

---

## Trade volume and what it does and does not tell us

### The own-name numbers, and why the sources disagree

| Source | Shipment count | Date range | Suppliers | Other |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| **importinfo.com** | **125 bills of lading** | **Oct 12, 2021 - Jul 18, 2026** | - | 1 in past 30 days, 3 in past 90 days; Houston 124 of 125 |
| Panjiva | **59 US shipments** | Records shown from May 2025 | **3** | One sample BOL at 18,962 kg |
| ImportYeti | **58** | - | - | Address 3309 Elm St #100-102 |
| ImportGenius | **28 shipments** | "2006-11-01 - 2026-02-25" | **3** - Seal Tech International, Munish Forge Private Ltd, Jai Auto Private Ltd | **589,168 kg total, 31 containers** |

**Confidence on any single count: LOW. Confidence on the range and the date span: MEDIUM-HIGH.**

Why the spread from 28 to 125 is not a contradiction:

- Platforms count different objects. A "shipment" may be one bill of lading, one container, or one consolidated customs entry covering several containers. 125 BOLs across 31 containers is internally consistent with 28-59 "shipments" under a container- or entry-based definition.
- ImportGenius's "2006-11-01" start date is a **database artifact, not a company fact** - 2006 is when its US dataset begins. Known was founded in 2021. **The real first-shipment date is October 2021** (importinfo), which matches the founding year and is the figure to use.

**Best defensible statement of own-name trade activity:** *US customs records show Known Group LLC on roughly 125 bills of lading between October 2021 and July 2026 - about 31 containers and roughly 589,000 kg where weight is disclosed - almost entirely Mundra and Pipavav (India) and Pusan (South Korea) into Houston, carrying carbon and stainless steel pipe fittings, flanges, pipe nipples and hammer unions for oilfield machinery.*

### The essential caveat - this is NOT their customs workload

**Known is primarily a service provider that files customs entries on behalf of other companies. Those entries appear under the CLIENT's name as importer of record, not Known's.** Their own-name shipments are the goods they import for their own account, which is a different and much smaller activity than the entries they file for customers.

**The 58, the 125, and every other figure above therefore understate their classification and brokerage workload, and by an unknown multiple.** There is no public dataset that attributes customs entries to the filing broker, so the true figure is not discoverable from outside. **Never present these numbers as Known's customs volume.** If the dossier uses them at all, use them only as proof that Known physically moves freight and touches HTS-classified goods.

### A second caveat, and it cuts deeper

The own-name imports are **oilfield pipe fittings and hammer unions from Indian forges** - a narrow, specific commodity trade. That does not resemble the broad "source, inspect, ship, plan, clear" service business the website sells. The likeliest reading is that Known's own-name imports are a **distinct trading or sourcing-for-account line serving oilfield customers**, not a sample of their service book. So the customs record is unrepresentative in *kind* as well as understated in *volume*.

### The affiliated cluster - larger, and worth understanding

The same suppliers and products recur across a group of linked names:

| Entity | Bills of lading | Date range | Address |
|---|---|---|---|
| **Known Group LLC** | 125 | Oct 12, 2021 - Jul 18, 2026 | 3309 Elm St 100-102, Dallas TX |
| **Phantom Shipping LLC** | **164** | Apr 6, 2024 - Jul 24, 2026 | 2700 Commerce St Suite 1000, Dallas TX |
| **Flatland Holding LLC** | 114 | May 7, 2021 - Jul 18, 2026 | 11400 W County Rd 30, Midland TX |

Shared counterparties across all three: **Sealtech International (182 records), Shakti Forge Industries Pvt Ltd (237), Aqua Casting Inc. (520), Victory Valve Co Ltd (510)**. Nearly all inbound through Houston from Mundra, Pipavav, Pusan.

Documented links, with confidence:

- **Phantom Shipping LLC appears as notify party on Known Group LLC bills of lading**, and importinfo lists Known Group LLC as one of Phantom's top associated companies at 125 records. **Confidence: HIGH** that they transact together routinely. Phantom is an FMCSA-authorised freight broker, USDOT 4154330 / MC 1595373, registered 2023-11-07.
- **ImportGenius maintains an importer page titled "Known (Flatland Holdings)"**, and one bill of lading carries the consignee string **"KNOWN FLATLAND HOLDING LLC"**. **Confidence: MEDIUM** that Known and Flatland are operationally linked. This is exactly the pattern you would expect from Known acting as consignee/agent for a client - which would be evidence *for* the service-provider model, not against it.
- **Correction to an earlier lead:** one broker-alert aggregator listed Phantom Shipping at 3309 Elm St Suite 330 - the same suite as Known Group Inc. **importinfo shows a different address (2700 Commerce St), so the suite match is unverified and should not be used.**

**Phantom Shipping is the more active importer of the three and is accelerating** - 24 bills of lading in the past 30 days and 54 in the past 90, versus Known Group LLC's 1 and 3. If these entities are related, Known's own-name activity is winding down while the affiliated freight-broker entity ramps up. **Confidence: MEDIUM.** Worth a question on the call rather than a claim in the dossier.

### Not obtained

- **Volza:** no accessible data.
- **TEU:** not published by any source. Container counts (31 for Known Group LLC) are available but TEU is not, since 20ft/40ft split is not disclosed. The one BOL that shows a size marks "40 X", implying 40ft equipment, but a single record does not support extrapolation.
- **Aggregate weight beyond ImportGenius's 589,168 kg**, which covers its own 28-shipment view rather than the full 125-BOL set.

---

## Published pricing

**No prices, rates, fees or percentages are published anywhere on the site.** Confirmed by direct fetch of the homepage, `/services`, `/services/customs` and `/capital`.

What *is* published, all from `gowithknown.com/capital`:

| Term | Exact wording |
|---|---|
| Repayment structure | "Repay your financing in 3 equal installments: 30 days, 60 days, and 90 days." |
| Offer processing | "Offers are normally processed in three business days or less" |
| Funding approval | "Known reviews and approves funding within 24 hours." |
| Pricing claim (no figures) | "Transparent pricing and fees, no prepayment penalties, and fast decisions" |

**Confidence: HIGH.** Note the tension worth flagging: the site claims "transparent pricing" while publishing no price. That is standard for quote-based freight and trade finance, and it means **any pricing discussion has to come from the prospect, not from research.**

On the customs page, the only classification-relevant line is: **"Let our experts help you classify your products appropriately according to CBP regulation."** No volume, entry count, accuracy claim, or price attached.

---

## What we could NOT find

| Item | Status |
|---|---|
| Any revenue figure, from any source | **Not found.** No estimate exists on ZoomInfo, Growjo, Owler, Datanyze, D&B, Crunchbase or in press |
| Funding amounts, round sizes, valuations | **Not found.** Crunchbase shows an undisclosed pre-seed only |
| Named investors | **Not found** |
| SEC Form D | **Confirmed absent** - zero filings for any Known entity name |
| State of incorporation for Known Group Inc. | **Not confirmed.** Texas record proves it is out-of-state ("CF") but not which state. Delaware search is captcha-gated; OpenCorporates blocked |
| Officers/directors of record | **Not found.** Texas franchise data does not carry officers; SOSDirect is paywalled |
| Known Group LLC registration | **No matching active Texas registration exists** |
| Employee count, precisely | **Contested** - 11-50 (ZoomInfo) vs 51-200 (LinkedIn) vs ~148 |
| Open roles / careers page | Careers page **404s**; no open roles found on LinkedIn Jobs or Indeed |
| Grants, incentives, economic development awards | **Not found** |
| Any pricing, rate card or fee schedule | **Not found** |
| TEU, aggregate container throughput beyond own-name records | **Not found** |
| Warehouse or new-facility announcements | **Not found** |
| Customer names or case studies with figures | **Not found** |
| Volza data | **Not accessible** |
| Meaning of Texas SOS status code "R" | **Not decoded.** No published data dictionary located |

---

## Sources

**Government / primary**
- Texas Comptroller of Public Accounts, Active Franchise Taxpayers open dataset - `https://data.texas.gov/resource/9cir-efmm.json` (queried directly by name and address)
- SEC EDGAR full-text search - `https://efts.sec.gov/LATEST/search-index` (queried for "Known Group", "Known Group Inc", "Known Group LLC", "Known Dev")
- SEC EDGAR company browse - `https://www.sec.gov/cgi-bin/browse-edgar`
- FMCSA / SAFER - Phantom Shipping LLC, USDOT 4154330 (details via secondary aggregators; SAFER direct query returned 403)

**Company-controlled**
- https://www.gowithknown.com/
- https://www.gowithknown.com/capital
- https://www.gowithknown.com/services/customs
- https://www.gowithknown.com/careers (404)
- https://www.linkedin.com/company/knowndev2

**Trade data**
- https://www.importinfo.com/known-group-llc
- https://www.importinfo.com/phantom-shipping-llc
- https://www.importinfo.com/flatland-holding-llc
- https://www.importgenius.com/importers/known-group-llc
- https://www.importgenius.com/importers/known-flatland-holdings
- https://panjiva.com/Known-Group-Llc/148325190
- https://www.importyeti.com/company/known-group (403 on direct fetch; figures via search index)

**Third-party company data**
- https://www.zoominfo.com/c/known-dev/556449892 (403 on direct fetch; figures via search index)
- https://www.crunchbase.com/organization/known-16f8 (403 on direct fetch; figures via search index)
- https://rocketreach.co/known-profile_b78060b9c2561a80 (403)
- https://rocketreach.co/dylan-dickman-email_238482932
- https://www.linkedin.com/in/dylandickman/

**Note on 403s:** ZoomInfo, Crunchbase, RocketReach, ImportYeti and OpenCorporates all block automated fetching. Figures attributed to them here come from search-engine indexes of those pages and are marked LOW confidence accordingly. A human opening those pages directly may see revenue or funding fields that were not visible here - worth thirty seconds of manual checking before the dossier ships.

---

## How to use this file with Claude

Drop this whole file into a Claude session and try:

- "Roleplay Dylan Dickman. I am Adrian from Ripple. Push back on me the way a CEO who already sells
  classification would."
- "Given the pass-through and white-label frames, draft my opening two minutes for this call."
- "What is the strongest objection Dylan can make, and what is the honest answer to it?"
- "Turn the seven discovery questions into a one page call sheet I can keep on screen."
- "Based on the gaps, what would a first 90 days with Known actually look like?"

Do not let it invent numbers. Everything unverified in this file is marked as such, and the watch-outs
section lists the three figures that must never be quoted at him.