Ben Trask Email & Phone Number

Greater Los Angeles Area

Delivering consulting services in operations, technology, and investment. With a foundation of deep experience, I excel at problem-solving, conducting thorough research, and developing simple, straightforward solutions. • Provided strategic guidance to a startup brand, utilizing DALL-E and ChatGPT for unique content creation and setting up on-demand production stores for seamless integration with Etsy and Shopify. • Project Management: Led the development of a novel industry/education shared workspace, coordinating with stakeholders to meet project goals and deadlines. • Investment Strategy Consulting: Offered strategic consulting on investment decisions, including property sales and 1031 exchanges, to enhance financial performance.

Los Angeles, California, United States

Managed and invested in residential and commercial real estate, including the administration of rental properties for others. • Growth Milestones: Purchased and managed my first rental property in 1994, expanding to 18 units by 2020. • Project Management: Managed extensive remodels of apartment buildings, leading to a 3-5x increase in rental revenue. • Knowledge Acquisition: Moved from residential to NNN (Triple Net) commercial properties, gaining specialized knowledge in property and industry nuances.

Burbank, California, United States

Directed a cross-functional team in executing comprehensive online strategies, overseeing all aspects of e-commerce operations, including technology, content creation, fulfillment, and customer service. My efforts in optimizing vendor relationships, implementing analytics, and driving innovation led to substantial cost savings, enhanced customer satisfaction, and successful promotion of major artist brands.Responsibilities • Team Leadership: Led a diverse team of specialists to execute the company’s online strategy. • E-Commerce Management: Oversaw all aspects of web operations, including technology, content, fulfillment, merchandising, and customer service. • Vendor Relations: Managed partnerships, negotiated contracts for development, hosting, commerce systems, customer service, and CRM. • Analytics & Testing Leadership: Championed analytics, encouraged its integration across the organization, and implemented multivariate testing into web department workflows. • Cross-Functional Collaboration: Worked closely with Legal, BizDev, Marketing, A&R, Production, and Finance to support their departments and align web operations with strategic goals.Accomplishments • E-Commerce Advancement: Incorporated digital products into the shopping cart alongside physical products, marking a major label first. • Project Management: Led eight redesigns and four platform changes for Rhino.com. Developed sites for artists including Frank Sinatra, Grateful Dead, The Monkees, Bee Gees, Led Zeppelin, and George Harrison. Directed the creation of websites for TV marketing, special promotions, and special events. • Revenue Expansion: Launched and grew a site for Cream merchandise, increasing profits tenfold over venue sales. • Commitment to Customer Service Excellence: Transitioned support operations to external partners and later back to a hybrid model, improving customer experience and reducing costs from 6% to 4% of revenue.

Responsibilities • Pioneering Role: Charter member of the web team and first full-time new media employee. • E-Commerce Integration: Directed the integration of shopping cart systems with fulfillment partners. • Content Management: Oversaw the scheduling and maintenance of website content in collaboration with the print catalog team. • Search Engine Marketing: Administered search engine marketing efforts, including PPC advertising, search engine optimization, and campaign tracking. • Reporting Management: Managed reporting tasks, including web analytics, sales reports for royalty payments, and executive-level insights.Accomplishments • Brand Formation: Helped establish the Rhino Handmade brand, pioneering a new approach to direct-to-consumer sales for a major label. • Scalable Solution Implementation: Implemented Amazon EC2 and Akamai edge solutions within two weeks for a last-minute ticket sale event. Achieved 20,000% traffic scaling keeping all sites running smoothly, with a total cost of $129.81. • Application Development: Directed development of applications for iOS, Android, Spotify, and Facebook platforms. • Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) Initiatives: Featured non-profits on the website, within podcasts, and during product fulfillment to support Rhino’s commitment to social responsibility. • Dual Channel Strategy: Directed efforts to increase traffic to traditional retail stores while also enhancing direct-to-consumer (D2C) sales through optimized website content and design. • Cost Savings and Performance Improvement: Saved $30k annually by offloading hosting bandwidth to Akamai edge delivery, a notable and unusual step for a small website at the time, which also enhanced website performance. • Cost-Efficient Solution: Developed an internal database-driven product catalog website at 90% less than the next lowest proposal, enabling existing personnel to manage it with minimal additional costs.

• Provided strategic guidance to the company on emerging trends in music and home video technology, helping position the company effectively in the evolving consumer technology landscape. • Oversaw the support and management of desktop computing for 120 users.

Mac tech support

Designed and sourced school’s first multimedia computer lab for the arts.

Novell newtorking