Here are some of my favorite business problems I’ve solved.

Business Context

• In 2013, Cargomatic, a Los Angeles start-up, was founded as the first mover in the logistics industry that sought to solve the inefficiencies of middle-mile shipping via technology.

• Cargomatic created an “Uber-like” on-demand marketplace that connected shippers and drivers, to maximize how full trailers were i.e. help drivers move from LTL (less than truckload) to FTL (full truckload) deliveries.

• As a newly funded Series-A venture when I joined in 2015, Cargomatic needed to generate consistent revenue streams that satisfied the revenue requirements set forth by VC.

Key Highlights & Challenges

• Cargomatic was a growing brand that depended heavily on word of mouth and trust/goodwill to recruit new suppliers (i.e. truckers) and new customers (i.e. shippers).

• Cargomatic’s trucker and client helpline was talking 12+ hours (1.5 business days) to resolve open tickets via phone and in Salesforce.

aCTIONS & SOLUTION

• I analyzed the current process flow in Salesforce and conducted user interviews with internal stakeholders and determined that the current process was inefficient.

• I proposed and assisted in the implementation of a revamp of our entire customer service model, which included:

  • Redesigning business process and client touchpoints, where I mapped out swim lanes of all of the necessary activities for each stakeholder/participant.

  • Restructuring the process flow for customer tickets within Salesforce, which included a distinct process to resolve Tier 1, Tier 2, and Tier 3 issue (e.g. phone trees, Salesforce queues by team, etc.)

Results Delivered

• My process redesign netted in a 93% reduction in the time-to-resolve customer services issues, meaning that issues were responded to and resolved in less than 1 hour, down from the previous baseline of about 12 hours.

• Cargomatic was able to scale the business, making it possible for the operating model/marketplace to support significantly more daily shipments and serve larger enterprise customers.

Business Context

• In 2016, Israel Castro (a barbering industry veteran who has worked at several high-end shops around Beverly Hills and has provided services to Hollywood movie stars) struck out on his own to establish a gentlemen’s barbershop on the Westside, called Master Barbers Los Angeles.

Key Highlights & Challenges

• As a brand-new shop in a heavily saturated, competitive Los Angeles landscape, Master Barbers LA needed to quickly generate revenue, build a consistent book of business, and create a lasting brand.

• The owner and his barbers had existing lists of clients from previous barbershops they had worked at around Los Angeles, but they needed these customers to switch and “follow” them to MBLA, which might entail them driving far distances through Los Angeles traffic to get a haircut or shave services. As such, the value proposition needed to be compelling.

aCTIONS & SOLUTION

• I worked with the shop owner over the course of several months to shape their long-term goals relating to building the brand; creating a unique, luxurious customer experience; and growing the business as quickly as possible.

• After evaluating the business model, I determined that the two biggest priorities for the business were:

  • The need to create a website to give the business a “face”, so that we could showcase the storefront, the shop’s story, and the individual biographies of the barbers.

  • The need to technologically enable the customer service/customer intake process, getting MBLA to move beyond pen and paper and instead use Squire (an online booking service) to operate more efficiently.

Results Delivered

• My consulting relating to building a brand and creating a formal customer service model/intake process has helped MBLA to grow substantially in record time: they have already opened up a second location (Monocle Barbers), have been promoted by local LA media and famous YouTube influencers, and are now listed as a 5-star business on Yelp with 127 reviews.

• The website I built for MBLA has recorded 34,000 pageviews and over 21,000 unique visitors (so far), with a 135% Year-Over-Year growth rate.

BUSINESS CONTEXT

• A truck probe is a sophisticated capital asset that is essentially a 20-foot crane that takes samples of crops from truck trailers to assess product quality. Quality is based on several factors, including moisture content and other key criteria.

• For example, a farmer who would like to sell corn would load corn into an open trailer towed by a truck. He would then drive to a Cargill facility and pull the trailer onto a weighing scale.

• During the weighing process, the probe inserts a pneumatic tube laden with sensors into the center of a load, sending the sample to an analysis unit. Based on the product quality and weight of crops being sold, Cargill pays out the farmer.

Key Highlights & Challenges

• Across several hundred facilities, Cargill had no standardized approach for purchasing truck probes. They had no existing contracts, since it was such an infrequent purchase for a plant.

• Cargill had to change the cultural mindset of plant managers to cease one-off purchases that might have helped their local sales rep, to an approach that benefited the enterprise.

• My goal was to find a way to centralize the process of purchasing the equipment from a preferred vendor(s), instead of a smattering of manufacturers across the world.

ACtions & SOLUTIONS

• I developed an in-depth understanding of the spend profile for the truck probe category. This included conducting spend analysis to understand what BUs would be affected, and what the historical purchasing patterns were. I also worked with international BU leadership to understand anticipated future demand and equipment spec requirements.

• I scoured the external marketplace to understand the offerings and interviewed regional engineering leadership to understand common points-of-failure, preferred vendors, etc.

• I collaborated with CEOs at a shortlist of high-end equipment manufacturers to develop a preferential pricing agreement.

RESULTS DELIVERED

• I negotiated a contract with a top industry vendor that yielded an 11% Year-over-Year savings for the category.

• The pricing agreement I created led to the extension of the warranty from a 12-month period to 18 months, and improved payment terms from Net 30 to Net 60. It also made it so Cargill - who had prior never received a discount - received a 10% discount on all probes and a 12% discount on all accessories.

• Cargill was able to purchase truck probes more efficiently, coming away with stellar contractual terms and a long-standing relationship with a top provider in the United States.