Ben Smith

AG1 - COO, CSCO & Advisor

Super Mentor

5.0

50+ sessions

Sam G

“Ben is an incredible operator and it's easy to see in just the short conversation we had. No matter where your business is at, you will be well served to connect with Ben. Whether that be marketing, supply chain, or recruiting, Ben not only has the track record but can help articulate what it takes to build a $1B brand. Couldn't recommend him more highly!”

About

PLEASE NOTE: I do not advise any companies with a nutritional supplement products. Leading innovative operations strategies to facilitate hyper-growth and global scalability is the hallmark of my 16-year career. I have experience living in the US, UK, Australia and China, managing teams of over 500, overseeing >$200M budgets, and optimizing operations for >$750M P&L. I am passionate about forging strategic partnerships and relationships to drive growth, reduce costs, improve operational processes, and drive incredible customer experiences. I am committed to establishing a culture of performance and data-driven decision-making to create a collaborative culture among globally dispersed teams. I joined AG1 as their COO where I oversaw the end-to-end supply chain, customer service, quality assurance, HR/people, strategic projects, product safety and product development thought incredible amounts of growth. I presently serve on the Advisory Board.

Experience

Advisor - AG1

Continued advisory to AG1 team

COO & CSCO

Partner with the CEO on the strategic vision to oversee our end-to-end supply chain, customer service, people, HR and culture, product safety, product development, and IT functions. Athletic Greens is a hyper-growth business with direct-to-consumer operations in the USA, UK, Europe, China, and Australia.  Enabled hyper-growth in 3 years, at a >$1.2b valuation by creating strategies focused on improving and scaling functions across supply chain, customer service, talent & HR, technology and product innovation that enable growth.  Generated millions in annual savings by re-negotiating our contract manufacturing agreement which also protected our intellectual property, increased our volume buying power and ensure this key supplier had robust business continuity and disaster recovery process in place.  Scaled manufacturing and fulfillment with zero downtime to achieve hyper-growth in 2 years. Built the operations senior leadership team to enable growth and implemented a geopolitical risk mitigation strategy  Achieved carbon-neutral certification within 12 months by creating an internal sustainability function and driving a culture of accountability across the organization.

COO @ Sugarfina

Oversaw operations for three company-owned production and fulfillment facilities in the US, Mexico and Canada, employing over 500 people producing over 30M units per annum. Oversaw Supply Chain, Technology, Customer Service and Product Development Departments  Created the supply chain, operations, and technology strategies to enable growth from $24M to over $64M in 2 years.  Delivered ~$6.4M in COGS reduction through labor and tax structure incentives by relocating a large manufacturing and fulfillment operation with over 200 people to a Maquiladora in Mexico.  Achieved less than 2% attrition while closing a production and fulfillment center employing >200 people.  Designed and created a quality control app with real-time dashboard for metrics, taking the quality control rate from ~75% to >98% on average.

COO @ Fame & Partners

Served as a business partner to the CEO on the organization’s financial, budgeting, and administrative processes— with an eye to continuously developing and improving systems. Manage all global operations in US, Australia and China.  Setup company supply chain in Suzhou, China, including product development and production teams.  Enabled 300% revenue growth by designing and executing the supply chain and logistics scale strategy.  Reduced average on-demand garment production time from 9 days to 5 days.  Improved customer satisfaction by setting up the US and Australian returns center operations (3PL) and fully automating returns from request to refund without associate intervention.  Designed an on-demand manufacturing and quality control system to enable rapid scale and material improvements in quality.

General Manager, Australia - Williams-Sonoma

Lead Operations for Williams-Sonoma's expansion into the Australian market from start-up to $100m in annual revenue in less than 3 years. Oversaw a DC Budget and P&L management of $22M per annum to manage national transport hubs in Melbourne, Brisbane, Adelaide, Perth, and Singapore. Led full operations management of over 2M units outbound and 600 FEU’s inbound per annum and overall inventory management of circa 14K+ SKUs and 800K units across multiple locations.  Reduced Australian supply chain costs >$10M by negotiating activity-based cost model with 3PL.  Achieved a 30% increase in demand by cost modeling current eCommerce shipping charges and presenting a more profitable and appealing charge structure.  Delivered a 25% reduction in receiving labor by designing an automated carton receiving and label printing system for the retail stores.  Created and executed strategy to support Australian country growth from zero to $100M in 3 years, including establishing a 360K ft2 main distribution center and regionalized transport hubs in each capital city of Australia.

5.0

Thomas

Engaging with Ben for a strategy session was an extraordinary experience, far surpassing my expectations. In our 30-minute call, Ben demonstrated a remarkable depth of knowledge in DTC ecommerce, offering insights that were both profound and immediately actionable. His methodical approach to problem-solving, combined with his ability to distill complex ideas into clear, manageable steps, was invaluable. He not only addressed my immediate concerns but also provided a strategic vision for scaling my business. Ben’s experience as a COO shone through in his detailed understanding of operational challenges and growth strategies. His advice on organizational dynamics and international commerce was particularly enlightening, giving me a new perspective on how to navigate the intricacies of my business. What set Ben apart was his genuine commitment to understanding my specific situation and tailoring his guidance accordingly, best value for money, highly recommended!

Tom S

An absolute pleasure & honor to talk with Ben - thoroughly enjoyed our time together. Ben listened well - he asked AMAZING questions in the lead-up to the call which meant a much more effective & impactful discussion. Ben Listened, brought relevant ideas & concepts for us to consider - he challenged our current way of doing things & also provided multiple tangible & useful tools that can be/will be/have been implemented immediately...along with some longer term thoughts & thinking models & suggestions He also validated many of the things & approaches we are taking with the business - which in itself was excellent as we are often so in the weeds it's hard to know if the path & 'million decisions' taken per day are actually right or not... MASSIVE thank you to Ben & also Mentor pass for making this call happen We look froward to more discussions Tom

Austin G

Based on his background, I knew Ben would be insightful but I had no idea of how much his knowledge extended in both depth and width of various subjects! My business is nowhere near the size of some of the brands he's helped build yet he was still able to provide advice, insights and strategy that was applicable in both our current size and strategies for future growth. Moving forward, I will be scheduling calls with Ben consistently because I want him in our corner to help us grow our brand to the next level. Thanks Ben.

Travis H

The first of many calls with Ben for me, I think! It was just a 30min session but I’ll be dissecting it for a week. Ben was super methodical in all his responses and clearly prepared well. Because of this, he delivered so much clarity and value in such a short space of time. He used his knowledge and experience to offer specific insights/ advice and even offered a few extra minutes to finish answering all my questions. Gonna book 60mins next time! 10/10 would recommend.

Sam G

Ben is an incredible operator and it's easy to see in just the short conversation we had. No matter where your business is at, you will be well served to connect with Ben. Whether that be marketing, supply chain, or recruiting, Ben not only has the track record but can help articulate what it takes to build a $1B brand. Couldn't recommend him more highly!