Circle Beverage

Circle Beverage's mission is to provide enriching careers for our people, to uplift our partners, and to benefit society through our products and services.  

We are a turnkey contract manufacturer that specializes in complex canned beverage products for high-potential brands and retailers. 

We employ a meticulous, full-circle method of vetting clients and products, then onboarding and integrating them into our manufacturing infrastructure which enables us to act as their integrated manufacturing department.

We have helped to launch and grow some of the industry's most innovative products & brands by adding value through manufacturing services and our adjacent expertise in R&D, product commercialization, regulatory compliance & certifications, go-to-market strategy, distribution, and fulfillment.  Circle's certifications include: SQF (GFSI-recognized), FDA-registered, TTB Distilled Spirits Producer, USDA Organic, and B-Corporation.

Co-Founder and CEO

The Leather Book Library (exited 2021)

The Leather Book Library was founded to be the premier global service for custom book binding (www.theleatherbooklibrary.com).  The company established an international supply chain of suppliers and manufacturing partners, one of which acquired the company in 2021.

Founder

Indiana University Health

As the leader of the IU Health Plans Project Management Office, key responsibilities included:

(1) Developing a world-class Project Management organization with a staff of business and IT Project Managers
(2) Overseeing the Supply Chain function for the business unit: strategy, process, and people. ~$85 M in annual supply chain spend.
(3) Serving as a Customer Experience Champion to transform the IU Health Customer Experience.
(4) Driving multiple strategic initiatives to deliver a step change in performance and capabilities.

Manager, Project Management Office

Rolls-Royce

As the Supply Chain Projects Manager of the US Defense Aerospace business, key responsibilities included leading a staff of Project Managers and Supply Chain Designers, 25-50 project team members, and project budgets of up to $5M. Core accountability resided in setting supply chain strategies for the business unit and executing major change programs. Accomplishments included:

(1) Building an organization from scratch by attracting and developing top talent from internal and external sources.
(2) Decommissioning a manufacturing facility in Bristol, UK and implementing a new facility in Indianapolis, Indiana.
(3) Executing a program to transition R-R logistics work to various third party companies, equating to $5 M in annualized cost savings.
(4) Overseeing a Vendor Managed Inventory program for the Business Unit.
(5) Leader of the 'idea generation' pipeline for the business unit. Oversight of major change programs from inception to final delivery.

Supply Chain Projects Manager

Leader in the Global Logistics function which manages logistics services (transportation, warehousing, packaging, in-factory logistics) for Rolls-Royce across 50+ sites in North and South America. Key accomplishments included:

(1) Aligning Logistics strategies across all business sectors (Civil Aerospace, Defense Aerospace, Marine, Energy).
(2) Managing project teams of up to 10 team members and capital project budgets of up to $1 M.
(3) Led an inventory improvement program on behalf of the Chief Operating Officer (COO). This program was focused on improving the business unit’s cash position.
(4) Governing Third Party Logistics (3PL) provider relationships to manage Logistics operations for the business

Global Logistics Manager

Rotational Leadership Development Program

The Coca-Cola Company

Supply Chain Associate

Beverage Manufacturing & Co-Packing | Business as a Force for Good @ Circle Beverage

I help teams to achieve unreasonable outcomes by serving and coaching them with relentless dedication.  

I am grateful for each of the world-class teams that I have had the opportunity to serve.

Manufacturing is my home. I love the daily collision of workmanship, engineering, and old-fashioned work ethic that is necessary to succeed in this industry.

My entire career has been spent in highly regulated sectors (healthcare, aerospace, food/bev manufacturing). I enjoy the chaos that these industries offer and to have the opportunity to bring clarity to that chaos.

I’m the father of 4 young children. Type 1 Diabetic since 1991. Lifelong health and wellness fanatic. Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu competitor.

LinkedIn is a place where I speak about the topics that I love. Manufacturing, leadership, and business as a force for good.  I hope you find my content of benefit.

I value hustle and integrity over any other human traits.

Matt Whiteside

Matt Matros

National Cleaning Collective (NCC)

NCC is micro private equity providing capital and support to owner/operators in the commercial cleaning & janitorial industry.

Portfolio includes:
- Cleaning Pros of America (Bradenton, FL)
- American Flooring Solutions (Sarasota, FL)
- WeClean WestCoast (Sarasota, FL)

Founder and General Partner

BrandRock

BrandRock helps consumer brand founders and executives sleep better at night by making sure their business has the insurance coverage that they think they have. We read the fine print.

Co-Founder

McKinsey & Company

External advisor to client service teams and clients in consumer-based businesses with an emphasis on innovation.

Senior Advisor

Qurate Retail Group

'Acqui-hired' by CEO to build new digital businesses for global leader in vCommerce. And according to my final review, I "achieved what many thought was impossible."

SVP and Founder, Qurate Digital Ventures

Keurig Dr Pepper Inc.

Consulting for Keurig Dr Pepper on LIMITLESS and other innovation as part of exiting LIMITLESS in January 2020.

Consulting Entrepreneur

LIMITLESS® (acquired by Keurig Dr Pepper)

I started LIMITLESS® in March 2016 and sold the business to Keurig Dr Pepper (NASDAQ: KDP) in January 2020. I work with KDP on a consultative basis on LIMITLESS and other innovation. 

The LIMITLESS signature product - Lightly Caffeinated Sparkling Water - is helping people all over the country to #ditchdietsoda once and for all. Each can has zero calories, zero sugar, zero artificial flavors and 35mg of clean caffeine.

Available nationwide at Walmart and other fine retailers.

Protein Bar and Kitchen (acquired by L Catterton)

Founder and Board Director of healthy-food quick serve chain. I sold the business to private equity firm L Catterton in winter 2013. Protein Bar & Kitchen® (PBK) focuses on helping people everywhere live the healthy lifestyle they want to live through a balanced menu of blended drinks, wholesome quinoa bowls, salads, raw juices, and our signature Protein Bar-ritos.

Founder & Board Director

Shopflix

I dreamt up Shopflix as a "modern day QVC." Ultimately 'aqui-hired' by QVC parent company, Qurate Retail Group.

Kraft Foods

Sr. Associate Brand Manager

L'Oreal USA

Marketing Intern

Founder with 3 exits in B2C now playing two hands in B2B (insurance and commercial janitorial). | I post daily lessons & learnings that are your shortcuts.

Founder with two 8-figure exits plus an ‘acqui-hire’. My lessons & learnings are your shortcut.

Currently building unsexy B2B businesses in commercial cleaning and insurance. 

My inspirations are Scott Galloway and Fareed Zakaria and The Economist. 

I’d aspire to be the “Rick Rubin for entrepreneurs.”

These opinions are purely my own and not of any of the companies I am affiliated with.

NCC is micro private equity providing capital and support to owner/operators in the commercial cleaning & janitorial industry.

Yesterday in therapy, I admitted something I’ve been hiding for 28 years.

In 1997, when I was a freshman at USC, I did what a lot of freshmen do: I pledged a fraternity.

Two months into the semester, I got “dinged” — kicked out before initiation.

For almost three decades, I’ve told a different story:

 “I left the fraternity to take an internship at a sports agency. Always kind of regretted leaving…”.

That wasn’t true.

I didn’t leave.
I was asked to leave.
I don’t think my mom even knows that.

On paper, it’s a small moment in a long life. 

But for an 18-year-old who had lost his dad at 11, who was craving belonging and male connection, it was a setback.

Worse, there was no explanation. No feedback. No “here’s why.”

Just a brief conversation on a beer-stained floor where an older brother (dude name Blair, from Solana Beach) told me I didn’t belong.

So I filled in the gaps myself:

Maybe I was too chubby
Not attractive enough
Bad at drinking
Too awkward

Whatever the reason, the conclusion I absorbed was:

“You don’t fit in. And that’s your fault.”

For 28 years, I’ve chased belonging in different forms — companies, groups, labels, titles, achievements. 

I’ve also found myself in places where, again, I just didn’t fit: big PE firms, large public media companies, YPO, certain rooms where I felt a little “off.”

Yesterday, finally saying this out loud, I arrived at a different conclusion:

It’s okay not to fit.

“Fit” is not a moral judgment. It doesn’t mean you’re broken. 

It just means that environment, that group, that culture wasn’t built for you — and maybe you weren’t built for it.

The strange irony is that, as an entrepreneur, I’ve had to make these same “fit” calls about employees, vendors, even customers (not to mention ex-girlfriends). 

I’ve told people, “This just isn’t the right fit” — without always appreciating how loaded that phrase can feel on the other side.

I’m 46 years old and just now using a LinkedIn post to say:

I got dinged.
I felt ashamed.
I lied about it for years.
And I’m finally okay with not fitting in.

If this resonates with you: you’re not alone, and you’re not broken.

Sometimes, it’s just the wrong room.

Oh - and in case you were wondering, my usual "Therapy Thursday" was yesterday because of the holiday lol 

📷 Me as a 19 or 20 year old with my closest buddies from USC. It wasn't part of a fraternity, but we def belonged in Vegas that weekend lol

Founder with 3 exits in B2C now actively buying SMBs | I post daily lessons & learnings that are your shortcuts.

One of the big myths American entrepreneurs love to repeat:

“Saudi Arabia (and the Gulf) are overflowing with capital just waiting to be invested in U.S. startups.”

Reality is almost the opposite.

The serious money in Saudi — whether it’s private investors or sovereign wealth vehicles like the PIF — is overwhelmingly focused on Saudi Arabia itself.

It’s not a giant ATM for the rest of the world. 
It’s fuel for a national transformation.

The mandate is clear:
- Build infrastructure.
- Create jobs.
- Support a young, fast-growing population.
- Enable a real middle class and family formation inside the Kingdom.

That means capital going into housing, logistics, tourism, entertainment, healthcare, education, advanced manufacturing — all the pipes and platforms a modern economy needs.

So if you’re an American founder dreaming of “Saudi money,” here’s the mindset shift:

Don’t think, “How do I get Saudi capital to fund my idea back home?”

Think, “How can my company bring capabilities into Saudi — technology, know-how, jobs, training — and help build what they’re trying to build?”

Saudi Arabia isn’t just a pool of capital. 

It’s a country in the middle of a massive buildout. When I was there it made me imagine what it was like in America in the early 1900s. 

If you stop treating it like a checkbook and start treating it like a partner, the conversation changes very quickly.

📷 My in Riyadh last year with the Saudi Ministry of Investment, which oversees the Saudi sovereign wealth fun (PIF)

#entrepreneurship #SaudiArabia #emergingmarkets #startups #mbs #vision2030

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