There is only so much you can change in November and December. Your inventory, systems, partners, and team structure are already shaping the outcome. But you can still: • compare sales with plan every day • confirm real shipping deadlines • decide when faster shipping is worth the cost • catch invoice increases above 10% • use January to fix what limited peak I put the entire operating system into a public Google Sheet. Just enter your work email to open it. Copy it, add your data, and give the relevant tabs directly to your AI.

would love if each individual ship ran a livestream

5 rules for development with AI #1 - Subtract and consolidate more than you add. #2 - Share a design mockup before coding. #3 - Use API keys for backend development. #4 - Don't overuse slow in-app browser checks. #5 - Don't code from scratch. Use open source.

I think I went overboard with API keys and agents. The maintenance cost is too high. I believe I'll be better off in the long run by deleting all the slop and working slower & more intentionally. My moat will be having a digital footprint that is actually thoughtful, clean and logical for when AI is actually intelligent.

I imagine this is for FedEx or UPS?

I'm shocked by the amount of financially successful business out there that are literally just sales front end engines who outsource, white-label, or rely on other vendors for work.

Should brands have one 3PL node or two? I'm running an analysis for a brand with an average parcel weight of 40.93 lbs Their one node zone average is 5.51. By using two nodes, their zone average is 4.29. For lightweight parcel, the difference between zone 4 and zone 5 rates are minimal. But for heavier weight parcels, I've noticed the difference can be more dramatic. This brand saves 17% on shipping just by lowering their average zone by 1.22. Every brand is different.

One price fulfillment also makes it harder for a customer to ever know if they're overpaying or not

I did work I was proud of tonight. I took a new customers September shipping export and told them exactly what they would be paying with a prospective new shipping account. They gave me a file with ship dates, origin zips, destination zips, weight and dimensions. I took a carrier cost matrix table, which shows the base rate for every zone/weight pair. That's column 1. Then, since this customer ships 100% DTC, I applied a residential surcharge as a second column. Then, additional columns for applying additional handling surcharges, large package surcharges, DAS/EDAS/AK_DAS, and fuel, retroactively calculated based on the actual historical fuel surcharges. This is an analysis I am 100% confident in, and I feel good presenting it to my client. Why do it this way? 1) This type of work could be done with AI, but if I did it with AI, I'd have to check it's work anyways, which often takes longer than just doing it myself. 2) You could probably build software for this, but each analysis is so different, that I actually think excel/google sheets is the best tool for the job. 3) It was fun. I love deep work. It was the only thing on my mind the past 20 minutes. 4) When I discuss it with my client, I will explain it more clearly and confidently because I actually did the work. If I used AI, even if 100% right, I wouldn't know how to explain the process. I love to educate my customers. THANK YOU FOR YOUR ATTENTION TO THIS MATTER.

Thanks for submitting your ticket yesterday! I spoke with the warehouse manager, and he asked if you could clarify your request. No, you can't talk to him directly.

It's crazy

Constraints are the key to inventory planning. Start by determining the maximum PO that cash flow will allow. That's your upper constraint. Then your worst case sales projections, that's your lower constraint. That parts math. Then, pinpointing a value in between is more nuanced. One tip on that, your storage costs are usually lower than you think. If you are confident that your product will sell through, placing a bigger PO and getting the unit costs down, not to mention the upside of selling through quickly, is worth the extra couple of months sitting on inventory.

Being punctual is a lost art. Stop cramming so much into your day. It feels great to be early, prepared, and intentional.

I want to hire a contract-based recruiting researcher/sourcer for a senior US-based role. Who are the most talented people you know in the recruiting space?

Thanks Timur. That's a good point on 2 reps. My thought process is that my first major hire should be a head of sales. I am good at sales, not great at it. Ops is my strength. I'd still be a sparring partner for this person, but they would be responsible for hitting revenue targets, building systems, and building a sales team.

It definitely helps! Hope all is well with you too bro

Hiring is the #1 thing on my mind. Right now, I estimate that I'm at about 35% utilization. My service is relatively procedural. There is some customization, but every time I add a client, I refine my process and get more efficient with my service. But even if I could, reaching 80% or more personal utilization wouldn't be the best use of my time. The best use of my time is to attract A+ talent. The two functions I need to scale are sales and ops. Sales people will be brought on board to hit revenue targets. Ops people to create customer satisfaction and retention. This feels like phase 2 from the business where I go from doing everything myself to building a real business where each individual contributes at their highest level.

DM'd!

Bro is cool