Hudson Gaines-Ross

Hi Mentor Community! I’m Hudson. Born and raised New Yorker, now living in Austin, TX (yee haw!). I’ve spent the last 13 years in consumer product goods (CPG), ecommerce (DTC), food & beverage (F&B), wholesale and can talk all day about these industries. When I’m doing my CEO thing at Plant People, I’ve spent the last 10 years mentoring and advising early to mid-stage companies through their CPG, DTC, Wholesale or brand building adventures. I’m excited to help others with my experience and expertise. My areas of focus are primarily based around (feel free to check out my LinkedIn): -- Anything Consumer Goods & Food/Beverage -- Idea validation & product market fit -- Go-to-Market Strategy -- Branding & Brand Positioning -- Product Packaging Design -- Supply Chain & Customer Experience -- Fundraising & Deck Building -- New Product Development -- B2B Wholesale, Distributors & Sales Development -- DTC Operations & Strategies -- Recruiting & Hiring -- Company Culture Can speak to any of these topics: Thrive Market, Whole Foods Market, Faire, Kroger, The Vitamin Shoppe, KeHE, UNFI, Llasa OMS, ecommerce, wholesale, sales, branding, packaging, hiring, team-building, brand-building, supply chain, Shopify, Shipstation, Zendesk, Monday.com, DTC, Gusto, UpWork, Trello, Faire, Slack, reCharge, etc. I'm really excited to pass on what I've learned along the way to anyone who's in need of guidance.

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  Go to market strategy

  I have 10 years of go-to-market strategy experience whether boot strapped or well-funded. It all starts with the problem you're trying to solve and whether you have product market fit. Most founders have trouble thinking through the steps before, during and after your launch in market. I'd love to help you here.

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  Idea validation

  Ah, yes. The ultimate brainstorm. Let's think long-term vision and big to see the forest through the trees but also maybe we drill down and divide into how you accomplish that vision. Can't wait to hear your idea and debate whether it has legs -- and if it has legs already, let's learn how fast it can run!

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  Dropbox

  11 years of experience

  I've used Dropbox for business and personal -- it's the easy-sync tool for projects, files, photos, creative assets and anything for long term storage.

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  I have 12 years experience of selling consumer product goods via ecommerce (DTC) from fashion, supplements, furniture, wine through food and beverage.

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  I have 12 years experience of selling consumer product goods via retailers and distributors from fashion, supplements, furniture, wine through food and beverage.

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  12 years of e-commerce (DTC) experience with expertise in ecomm website builds (custom, WooCommerce, Shopify, etc.), email marketing, sms marketing, digital UX/UI, pricing stragies (shipping minimums, etc.) -- the list really goes on. I've seen it all!