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About Me

I’m a founder, operator and investor based in the Bay Area. I’m a dad of three and husband to Kim.

I’m currently the founder and CEO of Waystation AI, building the intelligence layer for CPG procurement. Before that, I co-founded CircleUp in 2011 and served as CEO until transitioning to Chairman in 2020. I started my career in CPG as a growth investor.

I’m passionate about having an impact on the people, organizations and world around me. I care a lot about who I spend my time with and on what projects. I don’t believe in the airplane test. I choose to work with people who know their values and live by them – particularly those who demonstrate integrity, work ethic, horsepower, teamwork, and pride. I’m drawn to people who are open to new ideas and hungry to grow and learn. I gravitate toward those who are intellectually honest and thirst for data when making decisions. Trust is the most important component for me in any relationship. I define trust as: Trust = (Reliability x Credibility x Authenticity) / Self-Interest.

I believe in thinking in public. Putting out content forces me – and hopefully others – to embrace new perspectives that drive clarity of thought.

I believe Inputs matter – They are the process by which we achieve results. Improving the process of decision-making intrigues me. Identifying what we can control and what is left to chance inspires me.

I grew up in Vermont and moved to California in 2003 for graduate school at Stanford. I enjoy spending time with my family, reading and playing basketball (that bend in my nose is from an errant elbow.) I devour cheddar cheese, Vermont maple syrup and buffalo wings. I’m fascinated by the MCU and Star Wars (except Solo).

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About Waystation AI

Sourcing the right ingredients — at the right price, from the right suppliers, with the documentation to prove it — is not a back-office function. It is the product. Direct materials account for roughly 50% of revenue. They define what the consumer tastes, what regulators approve, and what the brand can actually deliver. And yet the work of managing it still runs on email, PDFs, and spreadsheets.

Every major industry has an intelligence layer. Equities have Bloomberg. Real estate has Zillow. CPG never got one — and the reason is specific: the data was always there, trapped in supplier email threads that no system could read. Over the last 25 years, many companies have tried to fix this by forcing suppliers into portals. Suppliers stayed in email. The platforms died at the cold-start wall.

LLMs changed what’s possible. For the first time, the technology actually matches the reality of the workflow.

Waystation AI helps food and beverage companies finally see what’s happening in their supply chain — starting where all that work actually happens: supplier email. Our mission is to empower visionary CPG teams by simplifying how they bring exceptional products to our lives. We sit on existing email, structure every quote, spec, certificate, and supplier interaction automatically, and give procurement, QA, and R&D teams the visibility and leverage they’ve never had. No portals. No behavior change required from suppliers. Real savings in the first 30 days.

This isn’t theoretical. Customers are averaging 10x ROI and see payback in the first 45 days. They’re already saving six figures — and they expand without us pushing because the savings show up immediately.

Waystation is backed by world-class early-stage investors, built by a team with deep roots in CPG and AI, and based in Redwood City, CA.

About CircleUp