Operator Spotlight: Mark Riskowitz @ Caraway

February 4, 2025
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How did you get into operations and supply chain management?

When I moved from South Africa to New York City, I started looking for jobs in the operation space, with ecommerce and supply chain catching my eye. I had operations experience in the service industry, and while not directly related, I felt like my background specifically with high-growth startups was good enough to dip my toes into that space. Luckily the folks at the Mohawk group (now known as Aterian) decided to take a chance on me, and so my journey in supply chain & ecommerce began.

What’s misunderstood or challenging about operations at consumer brands?

I think there's two pieces. The first is that the physical layer of supply chain is very people-driven — you have to be personable, you have to empower your partners, and you have to find a way to just get the best out of people and be the best version of yourself to enable success.

In terms of number two, I think the ability to understand the connectedness between the physical layer and the digital layer is critical. Constantly obsessing about how you track and catalog everything that's happening in the physical world, from an inventory movement and the costs behind it, to an end-to-end transaction, is crucial. How do you visualize that and record it digitally? You want to install processes and tools that allow you to float between the two layers as smoothly as possible, which ultimately creates for a much more efficient operation and overall business.

What place does AI have in a function where people are so important?

I believe AI plays a role in enabling people to be more strategic and intentional in the tasks they choose, allowing us to leverage human strengths — our intellect and creativity —to address more complex and engaging challenges. Ultimately, the goal is to use the technology to give us back the time and energy to apply ourselves to those problems, so we can propel the business forward and have a bigger impact overall.

To that end, in the short term, AI is mainly going to be solving a lot of the arduous, manual, and repetitive tasks that are, in my opinion, a waste of human brainpower.

Are there other trends you think will be impactful on operations?

It's challenging to capture the full picture, but AI, automation, and machine learning are unlocking new possibilities. At their core, these technologies are designed to collaborate with people, driving us toward a more digital-first world. This shift not only accelerates growth and scalability but also changes the nature of constraints. Rather than both digital and physical limitations holding us back, the only real constraint becomes the physical world itself.

A great example of this is shipping a purchase order to a new B2B partner. There are physical constraints like labor, logistics, and the fundamental realities of moving goods. Even if you perfect those processes and optimize every step, there’s still a digital challenge—translating and integrating all that activity into systems that provide real-time visibility and connectivity across tools and partners. These physical and digital hurdles have always coexisted, and in the near term, they will continue to do so. However, the power of AI and advancing technology lies in removing the digital roadblocks, allowing businesses to focus solely on managing and overcoming the physical constraints.

What’s been the biggest challenge about scaling at Caraway?

The biggest challenge that I faced is the requirement to grow at a scale with such a tight “physical ceiling”. In Caraway’s industry, there are long lead times and complicated products and materials used. It’s very difficult to create or optimize a journey around those inputs without taking significant risk, without staying on top of inventory positions, and without laying out meaningful capital towards this part of the business that could otherwise be deployed elsewhere.

The challenge has been finding a balance between allocating resources to supply chain and inventory while also taking advantage of opportunities from a growth standpoint in the form of new channels, so the company can be in accessible to consumers in as many places as possible. Overcoming that has really come down to maximizing agility of inventory to ensure that each product ultimately returns its maximum value and efficiency, wherever that may be at the time.

This remains our biggest challenge, because if you 2x or 3x the channels and the “pull” on inventory, the key question becomes how do you continue to develop the DNA that ensures moving inventory is as agile, seamless, and efficient as possible. Ultimately, it comes down to people, process, and technology.

What advice would you give to someone starting in operations?

Focus on a couple of fields of interest you want to master, and just obsess about them. Obsess through learning and networking as much as you can, and be always be resourceful. Always assume the best in people, because the ones you surround yourself with and the ones you turn to for advice will be key to tackling challenges as you grow your areas of expertise. Curiosity, an all-in mindset, and the right people by your side are really the main ingredients for success.

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