Advising on and implementing 10X business growth and supporting operational strategies with a focus on VC-backed start-ups and mid-size companies; turning businesses into profit-making machines. Over 20 years of consulting experience with enterprises like Nokia, HGST/Western Digital, FLSmidth, Trimble Navigation, and Microsoft as well as for VC-backed startups like Meta, Playground Global, and Subpac.Partnering with CEO's and CFO's to deliver ops budgeting, sales forecasting, contract manufacturing, global distribution, and sourcing/procurement for hardware-based companies looking to have a global presence. Recent professional highlights include: • Eliminated $255K per year in logistics and storage cost at Subpac by optimizing entire global supply chain and distribution network• Reduced development cycles by 33%, enabling 8 startups to graduate early from Playground’s accelerator program by generating official process documentation• Reduced component costs by 55% from $3K to $1.4K at Meta Company— built entire supply chain infrastructure including moving specialty product manufacturing to U.S. and negotiating with suppliersProject proposals comes with a guarantee! Return on Investment (ROI) is 8:1, on average.Consultations are available through Upwork (https://www.upwork.com/freelancers/robertcaputo) as well as some recent projects completed for your reference.

Lead supply chain, logistics, and manufacturing for San Francisco-based startup with distribution across 95 countries—recognized as 1st company to deliver AI-generated wearable haptics for music producers and artists including Billy Eilish and Coldplay. Partner with CEO and CFO to raise funds and build strategic partnerships with investors. Collaborate with suppliers/partners, manufacturers, and distributors to determine cost development-to-distribution and new product introduction (NPI) strategies. Deliver ops budgeting, sales forecasting, global distribution, and sourcing/procurement for all product lines both in development and production. Minimize cost of sale (CoS) and mitigate risk on consistent basis. Track asset costs per region across US, CA, EU, UK, and AU and quarterly budget KPI results for performance tracking as key advisor to executive leaders. Optimize development and distribution planning by delivering detailed analytics for sales, marketing, and engineering teams. Train and support global ops teams.

Advised and mentored executive startup founders on “make-or-break” supply chain and manufacturing strategies for VC-backed venture capital firm with accelerator helping entrepreneurs develop technology, product, and management of programs to grow from startups to stable, profitable enterprises. Delivered sound expertise to portfolio of founders in management, manufacturing engineering, supply chain, and logistics. Improved quality of suppliers by training staff to identify optimal suppliers and supporting companies for each startup’s needs.• Reduced development cycles by 33% with 8 startups graduating from accelerator early by generating official process documentation• Gained 50% increase in adoption rate of startups by using supporting companies beyond accelerator program graduation• Increased sponsorship revenue by 45% (~$5.2M AR) by expanding diversity of supporting companies• Accelerated program completion from 9 to 6 months by increasing new and investment-ready startups in portfolio

Built entire manufacturing and supply chain with $10M NPI budget and $35M planned production budget for AR/VR headset product distributed globally for startup operating out of Littlefield Mansion in Portola Valley, CA—IP acquired by Google and Meta/Oculus. Developed and led lean global operations teams focused on implementing infrastructure for NPIs, production, and supply chain for wearable computer systems (AR/VR) and ancillary devices. Established proprietary manufacturing processes, testing metrics, and yield criteria with Tier 1 manufacturer. Negotiated all manufacturing and development terms for Meta product lines within US and China facilities. Planned and implemented sourcing strategies for components and services including pricing, terms, contracts (MSA’s/SOWs) with strategic partners (EMS/ODM/CM), critical suppliers, carriers, and distribution centers.• Reduced component costs by 55% from $3K to $1.4K—built entire supply chain infrastructure including moving specialty product manufacturing to US and negotiating with suppliers• Saved $200K in internal engineering costs by negotiating 6 months’ free engineering support with strategic Tier 1 CM partner• Eliminiated $3.8M in materials costs across 5K units by negotiating all materials down—in some cases, at cost—with suppliers• Hired VP of engineering and lean operations team of 8 to oversee all manufacturing, supply chain, logistics, and sourcing activities for US; managed 15-member engineering and ops team in China

Led materials sourcing from global suppliers to drive increased profits and cost savings for computer drive manufacturer and data storage company with $12B revenue and 10K+ global workforce. Targeted expense categories to decrease by 20%+. Reported savings performance and targeted results to executive management and identified future savings opportunities across all business units. Managed global strategic supplier relations and transitioning service contracts teams across 11 global sites.• Identified $35M in waste across various spend categories and untapped values of precious metals by identifying process deficiency in recovery of hard disk scrap and recycling processes• Saved $160M annually by adopting team-centric approach and fostering collaborative environment—ensured facility management received recognition for efforts in saving initiative

In a pivotal role, as liaison for key European and North American suppliers, ensured sourcing continuity and efficiency for manufacturing facilities in both London and San Francisco. Minimized product cost losses by effectively managing End-of-Life/End-of-Sale (EOL/EOS) and Excess & Obsolete (E&O) electronics procurement and recovery programs. Optimized success of global administrative staff: supporting sales, procurement, logistics and RMA activities by providing strong analytical problem solving in all operational efforts.

Maximized cost recovery of assets through collaboration with global manufacturing facilities. Worked closely with senior management on new product introductions (NPI's), volume production, and procurement programs. Responsible for EOL, EOS, and E&O materials within the Global Sourcing Group which was a $62M+ spend category, at the time. Led efforts to minimize cost of materials, reduce cycle times and exposure to risk by facilitating communication between overseas contract manufacturers, internal engineering, and global procurement teams.