What does it take to launch a premium consumer product that stands out in a crowded market?

In this episode of Supply Chain Moves, we're joined by David Stickland, Co-Founder & President of Popsmith, to discuss the journey of creating a modern kitchen brand from the ground up.

David shares how PopSmith transformed an overlooked product category into a premium consumer experience through thoughtful product design, strategic crowdfunding, exceptional packaging, and disciplined supply chain execution. From working with industrial designers to leveraging Kickstarter for validation and funding, this conversation is packed with practical lessons for founders launching physical products.

Whether you're building a DTC brand, preparing for your first product launch, or scaling an existing ecommerce business, you'll gain valuable insights into balancing innovation, operational excellence, and long-term profitability.

In this episode, you'll learn:

• How PopSmith developed a premium product in a traditional category
• Why encouraging bold product design often leads to better innovation
• Lessons from launching successfully on Kickstarter
• How crowdfunding can validate demand and build a loyal customer community
• Why packaging is a critical part of the customer experience and brand perception
• The role of New Product Introduction (NPI) teams in reducing manufacturing risk
• Why building an audience before launching is one of the smartest growth strategies
• How consumable products can increase repeat purchases and customer lifetime value
• Why sustainable profitability matters more than chasing rapid growth

David also shares how decades of experience in retail and supply chain management have shaped his approach to product development, manufacturing, and making difficult business decisions that create long-term value.

If this episode helped make your supply chain a little less painful, share it with another founder because nobody deserves to learn these lessons the hard way. Follow Supply Chain Moves wherever you get your podcasts.

Connect with Dave & Popsmith:

• LinkedIn - David Stickland
• Website - Popsmith

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Get more insights:

• ⁠Unboxed Weekly⁠ – Lara’s newsletter on DTC supply chain moves
• ⁠Lara’s AI Brain⁠ – Ask Lara’s AI anything about supply chain
• SC Lounge⁠ – Join Move Supply Chain's free Slack community for DTC founders

Keywords: David Stickland, PopSmith, Kickstarter, crowdfunding, product development, consumer products, DTC brands, ecommerce, product launch, supply chain management, product innovation, packaging design, manufacturing, NPI, retail operations, startup growth, brand building

#SupplyChain #Ecommerce #ProductDevelopment #StartupGrowth

Your supplier says they'll deliver in 45 days. But how often do they actually do it?

In this episode of Supply Chain Moves, we dive into one of the most overlooked supply chain KPIs: supplier on-time delivery rate (OTD). Many ecommerce brands build their inventory plans around quoted lead times, only to experience recurring delays, stockouts, and cash flow problems because those estimates don't match reality.

Learn how to measure supplier reliability using historical purchase order data, calculate actual lead times, and identify which vendors are helping or hurting your business. You'll also discover why measuring performance against original promised dates—not revised delivery dates—is the key to making better sourcing decisions.

If your inventory planning constantly feels reactive, this episode will show you how better supplier data can make it predictable.

In this episode, you'll learn:

• What supplier on-time delivery rate (OTD) measures
• How to calculate supplier on-time delivery performance
• Why quoted lead times are often unreliable for inventory planning
• How to measure delivery slips using original PO promise dates
• How to calculate your supplier's actual lead time from historical orders
• The connection between supplier delays, stockouts, and working capital
• Healthy supplier OTD benchmarks and when to escalate performance issues
• How to use supplier scorecards to improve vendor accountability

Whether you source from overseas manufacturers or local suppliers, tracking supplier on-time delivery can help you reduce stockouts, improve forecasting, and build a more resilient supply chain.

If this episode helped make your supply chain a little less painful, share it with another founder because nobody deserves to learn these lessons the hard way. Follow Supply Chain Moves wherever you get your podcasts.
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• ⁠Unboxed Weekly⁠ – Lara’s newsletter on DTC supply chain moves
• ⁠Lara’s AI Brain⁠ – Ask Lara’s AI anything about supply chain
• SC Lounge⁠ – Join Move Supply Chain's free Slack community for DTC founders

Get more insights:

• ⁠Unboxed Weekly⁠ – Lara’s newsletter on DTC supply chain moves
• ⁠Lara’s AI Brain⁠ – Ask Lara’s AI anything about supply chain
• SC Lounge⁠ – Join Move Supply Chain's free Slack community for DTC founders

Keywords: supplier on-time delivery, supplier performance, vendor scorecard, supplier KPIs, lead time, actual lead time, purchase order management, inventory planning, supply chain management, vendor management, ecommerce operations, DTC supply chain, supplier reliability, procurement metrics, inventory forecasting

#SupplyChain #VendorManagement #InventoryManagement #Ecommerce

Running out of inventory isn't a sign of success. It's one of the most expensive mistakes an ecommerce business can make.

In this episode of Supply Chain Moves, we explore two overlooked inventory metrics that can dramatically improve profitability: stockout rate and stockout cost. While most businesses celebrate selling out, few calculate what those missed sales, wasted ad dollars, and lost customers actually cost.

Learn how to measure stockouts at the SKU level, estimate their financial impact, and build a proactive replenishment system that keeps your best-selling products available without creating excess inventory.

If you're relying on gut feel to reorder inventory or only discovering stockouts after customers complain, this episode will show you a better way.

In this episode, you'll learn:

• What stockout rate is and why it should be tracked by SKU
• How to calculate the true cost of a stockout beyond lost revenue
• Why stockouts waste advertising spend and hurt marketplace rankings
• How inventory shortages impact customer loyalty and lifetime value
• The difference between measuring stockout history and preventing future stockouts
• How to use days of cover to make smarter replenishment decisions
• In-stock benchmarks for hero and mid-tier SKUs
• Common warning signs that your inventory planning process needs improvement

Whether you sell on Shopify, Amazon, or multiple ecommerce channels, understanding stockout costs can help you protect revenue, improve customer experience, and make more confident inventory decisions.

If this episode helped make your supply chain a little less painful, share it with another founder because nobody deserves to learn these lessons the hard way. Follow Supply Chain Moves wherever you get your podcasts.
Connect with Lara & Move Supply Chain
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• ⁠YouTube⁠

• ⁠Unboxed Weekly⁠ – Lara’s newsletter on DTC supply chain moves
• ⁠Lara’s AI Brain⁠ – Ask Lara’s AI anything about supply chain
• SC Lounge⁠ – Join Move Supply Chain's free Slack community for DTC founders

Keywords: stockout rate, stockout cost, inventory stockouts, inventory management, ecommerce inventory, inventory planning, replenishment planning, days of cover, inventory forecasting, contribution margin, working capital, Amazon inventory management, DTC operations, supply chain management, inventory KPIs

#InventoryManagement #SupplyChain #Ecommerce #InventoryPlanning

If your inventory dashboard says everything looks healthy, but you're still running out of cash to reorder your best sellers, you're probably looking at the wrong metric.

In this episode of Supply Chain Moves, we break down why tracking inventory turns by SKU is one of the most important habits for growing ecommerce brands. While blended inventory metrics can make your business appear healthy, they often hide slow-moving products that quietly tie up working capital and reduce profitability.

You'll learn how to calculate inventory turns, convert them into months of supply, identify frozen cash, and build a simple monthly SKU-level report that highlights where your inventory is helping or hurting your business.

Whether you're managing a growing catalog or trying to improve cash flow, this episode will help you make smarter inventory decisions based on real performance instead of averages.

In this episode, you'll learn:

• What inventory turns actually measure and why they matter
• How to calculate inventory turns and months of supply
• Why blended inventory metrics can hide costly problems
• How dead stock impacts cash flow and working capital
• The simple SKU-level report every operations team should maintain
• Healthy inventory turn benchmarks for DTC and ecommerce brands
• Red flags that signal excess inventory before it becomes a financial problem
• Practical ways to free up cash without increasing sales

If you've ever wondered why your best-selling products are constantly out of stock while slower-moving items keep filling your warehouse, this episode explains exactly what's happening and how to fix it.

If this episode helped make your supply chain a little less painful, share it with another founder because nobody deserves to learn these lessons the hard way. Follow Supply Chain Moves wherever you get your podcasts.
Connect with Lara & Move Supply Chain
Want to keep learning and connect with Lara and the Move Supply Chain community?
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• ⁠Unboxed Weekly⁠ – Lara’s newsletter on DTC supply chain moves
• ⁠Lara’s AI Brain⁠ – Ask Lara’s AI anything about supply chain
• SC Lounge⁠ – Join Move Supply Chain's free Slack community for DTC founders

Keywords: inventory turns by SKU, inventory turnover, inventory management, SKU analysis, dead stock, slow-moving inventory, working capital, cash flow management, ecommerce inventory, DTC operations, supply chain management, inventory optimization, months of supply, inventory KPIs, warehouse management

#InventoryManagement #SupplyChain #Ecommerce #WorkingCapital

What does it really take to expand an ecommerce brand internationally?

In this episode, SpeedFulfill features Omar Cali, Growth Partner at Move Supply Chain, for a conversation on building a cross-border supply chain that supports long-term global growth. Together, they break down the operational, logistical, and strategic decisions brands need to make before entering new markets.

Whether you're planning your first international expansion or looking to optimize an existing global operation, this episode covers the real-world challenges behind cross-border ecommerce, including customs, fulfillment, tariffs, customer expectations, and market selection.

In this episode, you'll learn:

• How to build a scalable cross-border supply chain
• Common logistics mistakes brands make when expanding internationally
• How to choose the right market for global expansion
• What the latest US tariff environment and EU regulatory changes mean for ecommerce brands
• How to use slow seasons to improve logistics, reduce costs, and prepare for peak demand
• Why regional warehousing is becoming the new standard for international fulfillment

If you're an ecommerce founder, operator, or supply chain leader looking to grow beyond your home market, this episode offers practical strategies to help you scale internationally with confidence.

Connect with Speedfulfill

Website: speedfulfill.com 

Contact Information:

• Phone: +86 18558994039
• WhatsApp: +86 18558994039
• Slack: [email protected]
• Email: [email protected]
• Location: Jinjiang, Quanzhou, China

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Get more insights:

• ⁠Unboxed Weekly⁠ – Lara’s newsletter on DTC supply chain moves
• ⁠Lara’s AI Brain⁠ – Ask Lara’s AI anything about supply chain
• ⁠SC Lounge⁠ – Join Move Supply Chain's free Slack community for DTC founders

Your sample looked perfect.

The stitching was flawless. The materials felt premium. The packaging was exactly what you envisioned. So you approved the vendor, wired the deposit, and moved forward with confidence.

Then batch three arrived.

And suddenly the product looked like it came from a completely different factory.

In this episode, Andrew breaks down one of the most expensive mistakes founders make during product development: assuming a factory sample represents future production quality.

You'll learn why the sample is often an audition rather than a preview, how quality drift quietly destroys margins and customer trust, and the simple systems that prevent suppliers from slowly changing your product over time.

Plus, Andrew shares the story of a founder who watched a best-selling product unravel after a factory made an 11-cent component swap that ultimately cost more than $120,000 in lost inventory, returns, and damaged reviews.

In this episode:

• Why your factory sample is usually the best version of your product
• How quality drift happens across production runs
• The hidden cost of accepting small quality issues
• Why customers are often the first to discover manufacturing problems
• The difference between a sample and a written specification
• The "magic sentence" every purchase order should include
• How third-party inspections prevent quality from slipping
• Why supplier management is about systems, not suspicion
• The simple process that protects product consistency as you scale

If you're launching a new product, working with overseas manufacturers, or trying to maintain quality while growing, this episode will help you avoid a mistake that can quietly undermine your brand for years. Follow Supply Chain Moves wherever you get your podcasts.

Connect with Lara & Move Supply Chain

Want to keep learning and connect with Lara and the Move Supply Chain community?

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Get more insights:

• ⁠Unboxed Weekly⁠ – Lara’s newsletter on DTC supply chain moves
• ⁠Lara’s AI Brain⁠ – Ask Lara’s AI anything about supply chain
• ⁠SC Lounge⁠ – Join Move Supply Chain's free Slack community for DTC founders

Everyone tells you to study successful brands.

The problem? Most of the advice you're hearing was built for businesses 10, 50, or 100 times your size.

In this Season 1 finale of Supply Chain Moves, we unpack one of the most expensive mistakes founders make: copying the operational playbooks of much larger brands. 

From hiring too early and implementing complex software to diversifying suppliers before you're ready, these "best practices" often create unnecessary costs, complexity, and cash flow problems.

You'll hear the story of a growing pet brand that adopted a $40M company's supply chain strategy and ended up with tighter cash, lower margins, and more stockouts than before. Then we'll break down how simplifying the business helped restore profitability and momentum.

If you've ever felt behind because you're still using spreadsheets, managing fulfillment yourself, or running a lean operation, this episode is your reminder that simplicity isn't a weakness. At the right stage, it's a competitive advantage.

In This Episode

• Why copying successful brands often backfires
• The hidden costs of importing "big company" infrastructure too early
• How complexity compounds and drains cash flow
• Why the scrappy phase teaches lessons software never can
• The difference between copying tactics and understanding principles
• How to find advice that's actually relevant to your stage of growth
• The real story of a founder who built a Ferrari pit crew for a go-kart
• Why staying simple longer is often the smartest growth strategy

Key Takeaway

Don't copy the playbook. Understand the principle behind it.

The tactics that help a $50M brand succeed can hurt a $500K brand. Instead of asking, "What are bigger brands doing?" ask, "What problem are they solving, and what's the simplest way to solve that problem at my stage?"

If this episode helped make your supply chain a little less painful, share it with another founder because nobody deserves to learn these lessons the hard way. Follow Supply Chain Moves wherever you get your podcasts.

Connect with Lara & Move Supply Chain

Want to keep learning and connect with Lara and the Move Supply Chain community?

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• ⁠YouTube⁠

Get more insights:

• ⁠Unboxed Weekly⁠ – Lara’s newsletter on DTC supply chain moves
• ⁠Lara’s AI Brain⁠ – Ask Lara’s AI anything about supply chain
• SC Lounge⁠ – Join Move Supply Chain's free Slack community for DTC founders

Treating suppliers as transactional vendors instead of long-term partners puts you at the back of their priority list — exactly when you can't afford to be there.

Most early-stage founders manage supplier relationships purely transactionally — PO in, product out. In this episode, Lara makes the case that supplier partnership is one of the highest-leverage and lowest-cost investments an early brand can make, and breaks down exactly how to build those relationships from day one — even when you're small. For pre-revenue to $500K founders who want to be a priority client before they've earned it through volume.

Key Takeaways:

• Suppliers prioritize clients who treat them like partners, not purchase orders

• Relationship capital translates into better pricing, preferential capacity, and early intelligence

• Simple, consistent relational behaviors cost almost nothing and compound over time

If this episode helped make your supply chain a little less painful, share it with another founder because nobody deserves to learn these lessons the hard way. Follow Supply Chain Moves wherever you get your podcasts.

Connect with Lara & Move Supply Chain

Want to keep learning and connect with Lara and the Move Supply Chain community?

Follow & Subscribe:

• ⁠LinkedIn – Move⁠
• ⁠LinkedIn – Lara⁠
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Get more insights:

• ⁠Unboxed Weekly⁠ – Lara’s newsletter on DTC supply chain moves
• ⁠Lara’s AI Brain⁠ – Ask Lara’s AI anything about supply chain
• SC Lounge⁠ – Join Move Supply Chain's free Slack community for DTC founders

You can have record revenue, healthy margins, and a business that looks like it's winning on paper... and still find yourself struggling to make payroll.

In this episode of Supply Chain Moves, Omar breaks down one of the most overlooked metrics in DTC and product-based businesses: the cash conversion cycle.

Learn why growth can actually create cash flow problems, how inventory ties up capital for months before it returns to your bank account, and why profitable brands can still run out of money. Through a real-world case study, Omar explains how founders accidentally fund their own growth into a corner and what they can do to avoid it.

You'll learn:

• What the cash conversion cycle is and why it matters
• Why profit and cash flow are not the same thing
• How rapid growth can increase cash pressure
• The warning signs that your business is outgrowing its cash position
• Practical ways to shorten your cash conversion cycle
• Why every founder should build a 13-week cash flow forecast

If you've ever wondered why your bank account doesn't reflect your revenue numbers, this episode is for you. Follow Supply Chain Moves wherever you get your podcasts.

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Want to keep learning and connect with Lara and the Move Supply Chain community?

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• ⁠LinkedIn – Lara⁠
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• ⁠YouTube⁠

Get more insights:

• ⁠Unboxed Weekly⁠ – Lara’s newsletter on DTC supply chain moves
• ⁠Lara’s AI Brain⁠ – Ask Lara’s AI anything about supply chain
• SC Lounge⁠ – Join Move Supply Chain's free Slack community for DTC founders

One of the most common mistakes early-stage founders make is hiring a full-time supply chain manager too early.

At first, it feels like the right move. Operations are messy, inventory feels unpredictable, and the supply chain starts becoming a black box the founder wants to escape from. So they hire someone senior to “take it over.”

But in many cases, that hire creates more problems than it solves.

In this episode of Supply Chain Moves, we break down why premature operations hires can drain cash, overcomplicate simple systems, and disconnect founders from the operational knowledge they actually need to build a resilient business.

We unpack:

• Why a $65K to $85K supply chain salary is often the wrong investment for pre-revenue and early-stage brands
• The hidden risk of outsourcing operational understanding too early
• Why senior operators struggle in low-complexity businesses
• How over-engineering starts happening inside small brands
• The difference between strategic supply chain support and execution support
• When fractional consulting makes more sense than a full-time hire
• Why junior operations coordinators are often the better early-stage solution
• The revenue and operational milestones where a true supply chain manager becomes a “real unlock”

If you're building a DTC brand and feeling overwhelmed operationally, this episode will help you understand what kind of support you actually need, and when.

Connect with Lara & Move Supply Chain

Want to keep learning and connect with Lara and the Move Supply Chain community?

Follow & Subscribe:

• ⁠LinkedIn – Move⁠
• ⁠LinkedIn – Lara⁠
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• ⁠YouTube⁠

Get more insights:

• ⁠Unboxed Weekly⁠ – Lara’s newsletter on DTC supply chain moves
• ⁠Lara’s AI Brain⁠ – Ask Lara’s AI anything about supply chain
• ⁠SC Lounge⁠ – Join Move Supply Chain's free Slack community for DTC founders