Founder Friday: Ben Wunderman, Co-Founder & CEO of Packsmith 📦 🚚
Founder Friday is a content series from SuperAngel.Fund that highlights companies across our portfolio and the inspiring founders behind them.
In our 46th edition we are featuring Ben Wunderman, Co-Founder & CEO of Packsmith, a modern logistics, fulfillment and distribution platform for brands.
Co-founder Ben Wunderman (above right), started Packsmith in 2021 with CTO Simon Robb. The pair draw on their deep engineering and operational experiences working at some of the fastest-growing transportation and logistics startups in the world, including, Uber, Lyft, Postmates and Cruise. Ben launched new markets for Lyft, ultimately carving out a leadership role in Competitor Intelligence, responsible for analyzing every component of his firm’s own business and that of leading competitors. Some might call him a Spy but we won’t go that far 👀🔍
The idea for Packsmith was born out of Ben’s understanding of the distributed marketplace model, the efficiencies it provides to all stakeholders, and ideating other industries that might benefit from its advantages - enter the legacy world of eCommerce logistics.
Packsmith is a new fulfillment and last mile delivery platform for the $7 trillion global eCommerce industry. Traditionally, merchants and brands work with 3PLs (Third-party logistics companies) who store their goods in warehouses, “pick and pack” them into delivery boxes, transport them from distribution center to distribution center, ultimately landing on customer doorsteps. However, these 3PLs often lack transparency into how items are stored, picked and packaged. They are rigid in enabling order customizations, have dated technology, and force brands to work in spreadsheets and email. They are also quite costly. For these reasons, their services are inadequate for many emerging and growing brands, preventing them from competing with larger ones. Meanwhile, consumers are demanding faster and lower cost shipping which most brands can’t afford to operationalize.
Packsmith is a SaaS-enabled managed marketplace that enables intelligent, distributed fulfilment and logistics for growing eCommerce brands 📦 🚚 .
Packsmith’s solution allows ordinary people (AKA Packsmith’s) to fulfill orders on behalf of merchants within their own homes instead of warehouses. This localization between fulfiller and consumer leads to lower costs and quicker last-mile delivery. Each “Packsmith” sets their own schedule, follows packing instructions via a user-friendly app and hands it off to one of the company’s delivery partners. For brands, they get more control of their fulfilment operations and can customize orders with ease. They also get access to real time reporting, trend analysis and forecasting. All for a lower cost.
Since orders are no longer transported long distances from warehouses to distribution centers, and instead are fulfilled closer to their final delivery location, the last-mile delivery costs and associated carbon footprint of every order is reduced, while speedy delivery times are increased. Everybody wins.
Given the value prop to each stakeholder, it’s no surprise the company has exploded out of the gate, going from $0 to $3.5m ARR within its first six months. Learn more here and check out our interview with Ben below 👇
Describe your company in 5 words or less?
Ben: Intelligent, distributed fulfillment for growing e-commerce brands
What was your primary motivation for starting your business?
Ben: To fix one of the hardest problems in e-commerce last mile delivery.
What piece of advice would you give an entrepreneur starting a business today?
Ben: Start with a big vision, a clear understanding of the market, and a defined growth strategy.
What do you love to do in your free time?
Ben: Hiking and adventure travel with the smallest backpack possible.
What is the most interesting place you’ve visited recently and why?
Ben: Pacific Grove, CA -- truly amazing to see thousands of Monarch butterflies in the air as they migrate to Mexico and back.
What is your favorite app or tool in your work life and in your personal life?
Ben: Airtable -- it has changed the way we manage and structure data on a fundamental level.
What do you believe is the most important skill or attribute of a successful founder?
Ben: Resourcefulness.
Want to invest with SuperAngel?
Join SuperAngelSyndicate.com. Once accepted, syndicate members are invited to review deal memos whenever I have a new investment to share and can choose to invest or pass at their discretion. Minimums generally start at $2,500 and priority allocations are given to SuperAngel.Fund LPs on a first-come, first-served basis. Click here to request an invitation to the syndicate.
Join SuperAngel.Fund. Unlike the syndicate, the fund is my primary investment vehicle and provides diversified exposure to every company SuperAngel invests in, one of the most important attributes of a successful early stage portfolio. LPs also receive priority access to co-investments. Click here to request more information on the fund.
SuperAngel.Fund is an early stage fund led by Ben Zises that invests in Consumer (CPG, eCommerce SaaS), PropTech & Future of Work. You can learn more at SuperAngel.Fund.
Why am I receiving this?
You are receiving this email because you are either a friend, co-investor, associate, or connection of Ben Zises or SuperAngel who at one point expressed interest in receiving updates and other correspondence from me. If you received this email in error please accept my apologies and feel free to unsubscribe at the link below.
