Ben Smith
Former COO, AG1
Operations
Hire the Top 1% of Operations Consultants
Work with operators who scaled real brands, from AG1 to FIGS to Warby Parker. Most of the founders who book them run ecommerce companies.
About MentorPass
Est. 202010,000+ engagements4.97avg rating
The list
The 8 best operations consultants
These are sitting and former COOs, not advisors who read about it. We ranked them by track record and what founders say after the call.
- 01
Ben Smith
Vetted operator100+ sessionsFormer COO, AG1
Ben scaled AG1 past $600M in revenue and a $1.2B valuation in four years, and has helped build brands like Earth Breeze, Sugarfina, and Williams-Sonoma. He works across operations, supply chain, and org structure, the parts of the business that cap growth before marketing ever does. Founders call him methodical and say one 30-minute session takes a week to fully unpack.
Business operations
Operations sub-capabilities
Go deeper into operations
Sound familiar?
From stuck to a plan you can run this week
The problems founders bring our operations operators — and what they walk away with.
Take my chaotic business to $30M a year.
A clear operating model and process map that lets revenue grow without the business breaking.
I do 90% of the work across ops, growth, finance, and product. Stretched thin, no time.
The scope
What an operations consultant actually does
The work our operations operators take on, from first call to ongoing.
Operating model and process design
Map how the business runs day to day and remove the steps that waste time or create errors.
Org structure and hiring plan
Decide what to build in-house versus fractional, and define the roles your stage actually needs.
Inventory and cash flow planning
Forecast demand, size inventory to it, and keep cash from getting trapped in stock.
Supply chain and logistics
Negotiate with suppliers, manage co-packer and factory relationships, and cut fulfillment cost.
Scaling systems past the next revenue tier
Find the systems you're missing to get from where you are to $10M and beyond.
How MentorPass works
The easiest way to hire an operations consultant
Find your expert, book a call, solve your problem — and keep them on when you’re ready.
1. Find your consultant
Browse the ranked list of vetted operators. Every profile shows their track record, the brands they’ve scaled, and exactly what they go deep on.
2. Book a call
Pick a time and share your context up front. They review it before you meet — no spending the first 20 minutes on background.
The guide
What to know before you hire a operations consultant
What an operations consultant does
Operations is how your business actually runs day to day: people, process, and systems. An operations consultant works on the parts that cap growth before marketing ever does. That means designing the operating model, fixing the process steps that waste time or create errors, planning inventory and cash flow so growth doesn't get trapped in stock, managing supply chain and co-packer relationships, and building the org structure your stage needs. At scale it also means deciding what to keep in-house versus outsource, and where AI belongs in support, internal tooling, and analytics.
Most founders come to operations help with one of a few problems. They're doing 90% of the work themselves across ops, growth, finance, and product, and have no breathing room. They rented a bigger space and watched overheads grow. They're a three-person team handling absolutely everything. Or they're trying to take a chaotic business to its next revenue tier and can feel the systems they're missing. The common thread: the company outgrew the way it was being run.
What to look for when hiring one
Hire someone who has run the function, not someone who has only advised on it. The difference shows up fast. An operator who currently runs a brand will share real numbers, name the specific mistakes brands make at the $5M to $10M transition, and give you advice you can implement the same week. As one founder on this page put it, they wanted people who'd navigated co-packer relationships and scaled physical-product brands, not generalist advisors. Match the operator to your model too: DTC, CPG, and physical products run very differently from SaaS, and the best fit is someone who has scaled your exact shape of business.
Why founders use MentorPass for operations
MentorPass gives you direct access to sitting and former COOs by the session, not a six-figure agency contract. The roster here includes the former COO of AG1, who scaled it past a $1.2B valuation in four years, an SVP from FIGS, and current COOs from Italic, Behave, and Cowboy Colostrum. Most of the founders who book operations help run ecommerce companies, so the advice is grounded in the exact problems you're facing. You book a 30-minute call, come with your real questions, and leave with a plan. The reviews say it plainly: specific, actionable, and worth coming back for.
Proof
Results from these operations consultants
- Average rating
- 5★
- Written reviews
- 35
- Sessions booked
- 200
- Expert operators
- 6
Average rating
Written reviews
Sessions booked
Expert operators
Matt is a trustworthy, reliable mentor who guided us through key technical manufacturing questions and helped us spot potential pitfalls to avoid.Matt is a trustworthy, reliable mentor who guided us through key technical manufacturing questions and helped us spot potential pitfalls to avoid. You can tell he knows the space and genuinely has your back. Highly recommend. ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐
Why MentorPass
MentorPass vs. the alternatives
When you need operations help, you have four options. Here's how they actually stack up.
Industries
Where our operations operators have done it
Real reps in these verticals, not theory. The kind of pattern-matching that only comes from having shipped in your category.
- E-commerce Operations ConsultantsOperations operators who've built and scaled DTC and online retail brands.
- CPG Operations ConsultantsOperations operators who've scaled consumer packaged goods brands in retail and DTC.
- Agency Operations ConsultantsOperations help built for agencies and professional service firms.
- B2B SaaS Operations ConsultantsOperations guidance for B2B software and platform companies.
- Marketplace Operations ConsultantsOperations for multi-vendor marketplaces and platforms.
- B2C SaaS Operations ConsultantsOperations guidance for consumer apps and subscription products.
FAQ
Frequently asked questions
What does an operations consultant actually do?
They work on how your business runs: process, org structure, inventory and cash flow, supply chain, and the systems that let you scale. The ones here are sitting or former COOs, so they advise from current operating experience, not a framework.
How much does it cost?
You book by the session, usually a 30-minute call, instead of a retainer or an agency contract. Founders use it exactly because they don't have six figures to hand an agency and still want senior operating input.
How do I book a session?
Pick the operator who fits your stage, choose a time, and book. Many message you beforehand to ask what you want to cover so the call is tactical from minute one.
Related capabilities
Hire a operations consultant who's done it before
Pick a consultant and book a call — or tell us what you're working on and we'll route you to the right operator in the network.