Colton Kaplan

Headline

Venture Scout

Stealth

Founder

Founder Social Club

Coyax

COO and Advisor

Walmart

• Selected by senior leadership to provide network strategy, improving process prioritization through 5s warehouse layout yielding $539k cost savings and decrease in safety incidents by 30%
• Created inventory tracker for 1P and 3P freight to be systematically visible in receiving process improving on-time delivery by 10%, increasing efficiency, and exceeding customer expectations
• Utilized domain expertise identifying bottlenecks, internal stakeholders implementing process increasing 3rd party vendor service level agreement compliance, saving $500k in rework labor across network
• Mentored and coached 20+ associates fostering professional growth by conducting interviews, hiring, and training associates resulting in 90% reduction in problem pallets and best department across supply chain 
• Partnered with 5 product teams suggesting feature enhancements and bug fixes for 6 different software platforms through JIRA dashboards resulting in reduced waste, optimized efficiency, and 50k in savings

Next-Gen Inbound Manager

MastersCV

• Developed UI/UX interface and integrated software automating and optimizing efficiency for the customer
• Created process flow and built product roadmap launching 5 products in six months increasing revenue by 50%
• Identified pain points of target market, conducted market research and launched MVP going from 0 to 1
• Implemented agile and scrum methodologies executing sprints resulting in 30% response rate for outreach
• Prioritizing tasks of managing CRM, sales cycle, product marketing, and product and business development
• Executed data-driven analysis of competitor landscape resulting in iterating pricing models and monetization strategies

Founder and Product Manager

Net Impact Purdue

President

• Learned SQL, VBA, Teradata, and macros creating tools identifying item setup issues improving vendor compliance, and reducing net loss for an estimated savings of 2.5 million dollars network-wide
• Identified root causes working with software, QA, product, continuous improvement managers, inbound department leaders, and senior leadership increasing quality for customers reducing DPM in inbound freight
• Created feedback loop developing supply chain visibility for 95 departments in Fortune 1 company to merchandising teams identifying item set up issues for vendors and specific UPC information decreasing shrink
• Implemented feature requests for cycle count, general adjustments, and gross inventory adjustment reasons resulting in aided visibility regarding associates adjusting out inventory improving quality metrics

Supply Chain MBA Intern

Reef Kitchens

•	Monitored daily, weekly, and monthly inventories accurately forecasting supplies needed for upcoming shifts based on sales from previous days
•	Trained line cooks, assistant managers, and general managers on all policies, procedures, and brands executed resulting in personal and professional career growth
•	Scheduled staff to optimize peak times and reduce labor during slow periods; delegated responsibilities to hold each other accountable creating a team-oriented environment

General Manager

•	Developed par sheets to maximize profitability, reduce waste, and minimize excess ordering of products; available for all employee use, increased morale
•	Recruited more business by distributing marketing materials to local establishments resulting in more sales

Assistant Manager

Host of Change with Colton🎙 Podcast | Operations | Strategy | Lean Six Sigma | Supply Chain | Eliminating loneliness on the founder journey | Growing Founder Social Club Community

I am an accomplished supply chain professional and entrepreneur with a passion for growth and improvement.

Host the “Change with Colton” podcast, where my mission is to inspire founders to overcome adversity, gain confidence, and reach their unlimited potential.

Recently launched KindLabz which is the all-in-one supply chain for creators. We help build social impact brands that are sustainable. We are taking on all 17 sustainable development goals and giving back to the communities in need.

I helped Walmart eCommerce successfully launch the first two next-gen automated fulfillment centers. I am SME in inbound operations. I mentor leaders to help them grow in their careers professionally.

I focus on Supply Chain Management, Product Development, Data Analysis, Business Analysis, Engineering, Product Marketing, Software Development, Cross-functional Team Leadership, Sales Management, Customer Relationship Management (CRM), E-Commerce, Finance, Digital Marketing, Agile Methodologies, and Scrum.

With a goal-oriented mindset and a knack for problem-solving, I implement lean strategies to increase efficiency and reduce waste. 

I have a strong track record of working with cross-functional teams and leveraging data analytics to drive insightful decisions. I positively impact the world through entrepreneurship and product management.

In my free time, I enjoy reading, listening to podcasts, spending time with my wife, and playing with my Shih Tzu Mila.

Welcome to another Founder Social Minute.

Today we are joined by Sneh Dhruv, Founder and CEO of Trillboards.

TrillBoards helps people turn idle screens into a new source of income.

Through Founder Social Minute, I share stories of founders in the community who are collaborating, creating value, and helping each other move forward.

Excited to continue featuring more founders who are shaping the future of entrepreneurship.

Founder Social Club

#FSC #community #FounderSocialMinute #Trillboards

Podcast Host 🎙️| Founder Social Club | Eliminating loneliness for founders

Today I released the first episode of the Founder Social Club Podcast.

I started this to create a space where founders can learn from each other. Real stories, real challenges, and the decisions that shape the journey. 

Conversations about product, growth, hiring, fundraising, failures, and what it actually takes to build something meaningful.

Episode 1 is with Saurabh Misra, the founder of Codeflash. We talk about the future of coding, building from zero, founder market fit, and how AI is changing engineering.

This is day one. More conversations are coming soon.

You can listen here:

🎧 Spotify: https://lnkd.in/gN-jrNDX

 ▶️ YouTube: https://lnkd.in/gnn-Ycdc

Thank you for being part of this community.

#FounderSocialClub #Podcast

Welcome to another Founder Social Minute.

Today we are joined by Maureen Lepatan, Founder & CEO of Strathwell Inc

Strathwell Inc turns untapped spaces & services into unforgettable events.

Founder Social Club

#FSC #community #FounderSocialMinute #events

Hosted the second edition of the AI Startup Job Fair a few weeks ago with manny duenas!

It was a strong turnout with many talented people in the room.

Meet Daniel Elfving

Daniel has experience in customer success and a strong passion for blockchain, crypto, AI, and cybersecurity. He is now looking for his next role in these industries and is exploring where he can make the strongest impact.

We recorded a short Founder Social Club Spotlight to highlight his background and his experience at the event.

Sharing it here. If your team is hiring in these fields and would like an introduction, please feel free to reach out to Daniel or to me.

📸 Video Credit: Emanuel Francis

#FounderSocialSpotlight #FSC #startups #jobs

"In the early days of a startup, hiring slow and strategically is key. 

Focus on understanding your product and market first, then bring in specialized talent when it's time to scale." - Aquibur Rahman, Founder Mailmodo

Aquibur Rahman dropped a lot of knowledge on this one. 

Founder Social Club podcast.  👀 

#StartupGrowth #HiringStrategy #Entrepreneurship #FSC #podcast

Jon Spiesman

One Percent Better Leader

Just like other skills, leadership is something that improves through willingness and consistent practice.  No one becomes a true leader overnight, but working at it consistently and targeting small improvements over time leads to great results!  Are you willing to put the effort in to get 1% better today?  OPBL is dedicated to helping leaders achieve their goals 1% at a time.

Founder and CEO

Tala Peak Leadership, LLC

"Culture eats strategy for breakfast" - Peter Drucker.  I help leaders intentionally build the culture of their organizations and exceed their goals.  Tala Peak Leadership works with leaders to analyze their situation and create a specific plan to shift the culture of the organization and create measurable results.

Managing Owner

Center for Executive Coaching

Certified Executive Coach 

Bayer

Business lead for Integration of Bayer and Monsanto entities, business processes, and ERP systems.  Set up enterprise project governance and project management systems for $200M integration effort.  Identified and recruited talented leadership team.  Drove collaborative teamwork across teams of Monsanto and Bayer experts, senior executive stakeholders, and complex business teams.  Maintained highly engaged teams throughout grueling and intense 2 year project schedule through visible and authentic leadership, fun and engaging team activities, and regular newsletters and town hall style communications.  Project stakeholder management and communications was considered best-in-class internally and was implemented on other enterprise critical projects.  Creatively addressed the challenges that COVID placed on a global project team to achieve an on-time implementation with fully remote teams.

VP, Business Lead US/CA Integration Project

Continuation of Monsanto role through transition to Bayer ownership.  Responsible for customer support and account management, logistics and delivery, and business process support for $8B revenue business.  Lead team of ~500 with $50M direct budget managing ~$200M of Logistics spend.  Leader of cross functional team, each leader with diverse and independent functions and sometimes diverging interests.  This role required a CEO mindset to elevate vision of team success and foster collaborative teamwork.  Consistently maintained highest levels of engagement scores within function/division/region by prioritizing communication, clear goals, employee trust, and celebrating wins.  Success required effective team building, stakeholder management, authentic leadership presence, and high personal accountability and credibility.
Notable Accomplishments in Team Performance and Innovation Leadership:
•	Defined and implemented new business model pilot for outcome-based pricing and direct to farm delivery
•	Implemented Monsanto’s first Digital Transformation of customer experience encompassing B2B strategy, customer portal strategy, digital finance tools, and market funding tools.
•	Implemented TMS system for transportation optimization and shipment visibility – project won global recognition from JDA for customer value creation, completed on-time, and achieved savings goals.
•	Implemented perfect order metric to drive improved customer experience and streamline processes
•	First implementation of Robotic Process Automation – automating ~10,000 process steps in first year.
•	Implemented hub support model across select support functions to enable standardization and efficiency gains of 20% in cost and resourcing

Director, North America Customer Care

Monsanto Company

Responsible for customer support and account management, logistics and delivery, and business process support for $8B revenue business.  Lead team of ~500 with $50M direct budget managing $200M of Logistics spend.  Responsible for customer support and account management, logistics and delivery, and business process support for $8B revenue business.  Lead team of ~500 with $50M direct budget managing ~$200M of Logistics spend.  Leader of cross functional team, each leader with diverse and independent functions and sometimes diverging interests.  This role required a CEO mindset to elevate vision of team success and foster collaborative teamwork.  Consistently maintained highest levels of engagement scores within function/division/region by prioritizing communication, clear goals, employee trust, and celebrating wins.  Success required effective team building, stakeholder management, authentic leadership presence, and high personal accountability and credibility.
Notable Accomplishments in Team Performance and Innovation Leadership:
•	Defined and implemented new business model pilot for outcome-based pricing and direct to farm delivery
•	Implemented Monsanto’s first Digital Transformation of customer experience encompassing B2B strategy, customer portal strategy, digital finance tools, and market funding tools.
•	Implemented TMS system for transportation optimization and shipment visibility – project won global recognition from JDA for customer value creation, completed on-time, and achieved savings goals.
•	Implemented perfect order metric to drive improved customer experience and streamline processes
•	First implementation of Robotic Process Automation – automating ~10,000 process steps in first year.
•	Implemented hub support model across select support functions to enable standardization and efficiency gains of 20% in cost and resourcing

Promoted to Lead cross functional team including Customer support and account management, logistics, demand and distribution planning, and business process support for $6.5B revenue business.  Success in this role required strong partnering and negotiation with sales and marketing functions and functional global leadership.
Notable Accomplishment Areas in Operational Excellence and Innovation Leadership:
•	Led first Monsanto implementation of SFDC – over 1M cases, 36% increased NPS, 49% reduction in resolution time, and 32% improvement in customer effort score.
•	Implemented Monsanto first mobile track and trace and delivery feedback process, enabling real-time feedback on 19,000 deliveries with a satisfaction rating of 99%.
•	Implemented new OTC system to enable movement of $800M brand to agency model.
•	Established dashboards, metrics, and governance processes to drive consistent operational excellence across business lines.  The improved target setting and harmonization between functions delivered $10M in logistics savings, improved OTD, and a 90% variance reduction against quarterly targets.

Director, US Supply Chain

Notable Accomplishments
•	Influenced key decisions makers to change the strategic plan for the 5 year soy crop LRP through creation of a model to help bring visibility to hidden costs and risk associated with the ramping up of new product volumes.
•	Created and implemented novel contingency plans to replace 20% of total supply plan impacted by historic 2012 drought conditions.

Director, North America Soybean Seed Mfg

Notable Accomplishments:
•	Led first Monsanto implementation of new SC model integrating Procurement, Planning, Logistics, and Customer operations into one organization.  
•	Post-centralization of Customer Service function led a full re-evaluation of the function and the OTC processes which led to several impactful initiatives including:  Implementation of a new distribution model in Italy reducing product returns by 50% with an increase in sales, implementation of a front/back office split in Customer Service enabling 50% improvement in efficiency and labor arbitrage of $2.5M USD to East Europe.
•	Designed and implemented a new Procurement model for EMEA, increasing staff H/C from 1 to 45 but reaching breakeven savings 7 months into first year and 2X committed financial contribution over 3 years ($70M USD).
•	Led definition and implementation of first measure of NPS and OTD in EMEA and drove a 10% improvement against baseline in the first year.
•	Oversight of hosted site shutdown and demolition in Antwerp, Belgium including negotiated settlement with asset owners, labor unions, and works councils.

EMEA Supply Chain Director

Manufacturing Business Unit Leader

Monsanto

Production Planning

Area Leader

Site Manager

Freeing Execs to work ON their business instead of IN their business.

You finally have time set for that romantic dinner date with your spouse.  Her favorite location, the smell of butter, garlic, and wine wafting from the kitchen as you imagine a plate of Veal Parmigiano.  The maitre’d seats you and you open the menu as you feel a familiar buzz from your jacket pocket….
Your phone ringing.  It's work…again.

You missed another of your son’s soccer games.  His dejected gaze at his shoes when you explain, it carves at your soul.  That look from your wife….all too familiar.  

You can see that your strategy is outdated, opportunities laying lonely on the table like those magazines articles you keep meaning to read.  

You just need time…you need to get ahead of a few things.  You need freedom to work on your business, not stuck feeling trapped in your business.

You sacrificed much to build your business.  You deserve success….you also deserve to live your life and enjoy what you have built, not be a slave to it.  You can regain your treasured personal time, you can pursue those business opportunities and catalyze the next level of growth.

If you recognize yourself here….there is hope.  You grew your business career one block at a time…the way out of this situation is the same….to grow out of it. 

I use proven coaching frameworks to target measurable improvement areas for your leadership.  True organizational change starts through courageous change with senior leaders like you.  I’m so confident in this process that I offer a results guarantee.  You will see measurable improvement or you don't pay.  What do you have to lose?

Want a leadership master-class? The Johari window is a pretty good candidate.

Leadership is relationship…when relationships and trust are strong, you have a good chance as a leader.

The Johari window is a framework to expand trust and achieve potential.

The “arena” is where you can openly lead….leveraging your strengths and those of others to achieve results.

In the arena - you build trust through competence and leading with humility.

You also build trust through vulnerability - sharing some of the hidden things in the ‘facade’.

What are the things that you lose sleep over? What are you working on to be a better leader?

Vulnerability requires a lot of courage but it brings humanity into the leadership equation.

When you have gained enough trust, you may start to learn about “blindspots”.

In my last post, we talked about blindspots….negative or positive, they represent opportunity.

A workplace with trusted relationships allows for exploration into the “unknown”.

When you are consistently expanding the arena by shrinking the other three quadrants….I would wager your results will be strong.

It may seem oversimplified to think about this with a 2x2 matrix.

But if you really think about it….does leadership need to be more complicated than this?

What is missing for you?

Have you seen or used the Johari window before?

💡Leadership Tips that make you think
🔔 Follow me or connect if you are cheeky

Best sketchnote by Tanmay Vora ✍️ — make sure to give him a follow!

#EncouragingLeaders #JohariWindow #Leadership #Trust #GreatPlaceToWork #LeadershipDevelopment

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