#328 - The Mastermind Behind Seed’s Supply Chain & How to Design DTC Ops for Hypergrowth

DTC POD: How The Best Brands Are Built

John Morgan is the founder of Pelagic, a unique agency of top tier operators that helps brands tackle supply chain, logistics & operations. Prior to starting Pelagic, he served as VP of Ops at Seed Health where he built the infrastructure behind one of the fastest growing modern health brands. Before getting into DTC he worked on the Falcon 9 rocket team at SpaceX. His expertise spans across optimizing supply chains for efficiency, sustainability, and growth, especially for early-stage companies.

In this episode of DTC Pod, John talks about the iterative nature of supply chain management and the need for startups to continuously adapt and refine their processes. He highlights the use of technology to streamline operations, the significance of understanding the complexities of global supply chains, especially under the strain of events like the COVID-19 pandemic, and shares a framework for setting up supply chains with a strong foundation in operational details and supplier partnerships.

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On this episode of DTC Pod, we cover:
1. Iterative Supply Chain Management
2. Third-Party Logistics Partnerships
3. Fractional Operations and Technology
4. Profitability and Cost Optimization
6. Impact of COVID-19 on Supply Chain
7. Future Tech in Operations
8. Building and Scaling Supply Chains

Timestamps
02:09 John Morgan’s background and experience working on SpaceX
06:39 Leading the operations at Seed Health
09:37 The effect of COVID on global manufacturing, supply chain, and operations
11:46 Pelagic as a supply chain service provider
13:15 How to get supply chain right from the get-go; mistakes to avoid
18:56 Adapting supply chains to growth and change
23:41 Hiring for supply chain, considerations for early-stage founders
26:35 Optimizing for profits vs quality, financial optimization of supply chains
30:26 What founders need to know before importing
33:55 Common mistakes to avoid in supply chain management

Show notes powered by Castmagic

Past guests & brands on DTC Pod include Gilt, PopSugar, Glossier, MadeIN, Prose, Bala, P.volve, Ritual, Bite, Oura, Levels, General Mills, Mid Day Squares, Prose, Arrae, Olipop, Ghia, Rosaluna, Form, Uncle Studios & many more.

Additional episodes you might like:

• #175 Ariel Vaisbort - How OLIPOP Runs Influencer, Community, & Affiliate Growth

• #184 Jake Karls, Midday Squares - Turning Your Brand Into The Influencer With Content

• #205 Kasey Stewart: Suckerz- - Powering Your Launch With 300 Million Organic Views

• #219 JT Barnett: The TikTok Masterclass For Brands

• #223 Lauren Kleinman: The PR & Affiliate Marketing Playbook

• ​​​​#243 Kian Golzari - Source & Develop Products Like The World's Best Brands

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Projects the DTC Pod team is working on:
DTCetc - all our favorite brands on the internet
Olivea - the extra virgin olive oil & hydroxytyrosol supplement
Castmagic - AI Workspace for Content

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John Morgan - Founder of Pelagic
Blaine Bolus - Co-Founder of Castmagic
Ramon Berrios - Co-Founder of Castmagic