This week, we welcome Mike Geller to the show! Mike has built a career at the intersection of technology and retail, working with some of the world’s biggest brands, including PepsiCo, Newell Brands, and Amazon. He started as a founder, selling one of his first startups to John Sculley (former CEO of Apple & PepsiCo), and later helped shape e-commerce strategies at Fortune 500 companies. He is currently a Non-Executive Director at Brimar Industries.

Mike shares how he built and sold a startup right out of college (2:15), the unexpected path that led him to PepsiCo (5:42), and what it took to build a digital commerce strategy at a global brand (9:36). He also discusses the transition from tech companies to brand-side roles (12:54), the evolving omnichannel shopping experience (21:32), and how companies decide whether to build in-house or partner with vendors (27:18).

Connect with Mike: https://www.linkedin.com/in/mgeller/ 

Get the It’sRapid Creative Automation Playbook: https://itsrapid.ai/creative-workflow-automation-playbook/

Take It’sRapid’s Creative Workflow Automation with AI survey: https://www.proprofs.com/survey/t/?title=ffgvd

Email us at [email protected] with code “BEYOND2025” to find out how you can save more than $1,000 on our Digital Sell Sheets and Retail Media Automation solutions

Theme music: "Happy" by Mixaud - https://mixaund.bandcamp.com

Producer: Jake Musiker