Fractional COO · Consumer Goods

Strategic Interventions. Outsized Results.

A founder's right hand for the business behind the brand.

A trim tab is a small attachment on a boat's rudder that lets you steer something massive with minimal effort.
That's the model — precise operational interventions that create outsized impact across the business.

The Problem

Growth outpaces the systems behind it

A familiar pattern for almost every founder-led company on the verge of scaling.

No processes or systems

Institutional knowledge lives in people's heads, not in documented processes or integrated systems that grow with your business and survive turnover.

No KPI visibility

Leadership can't see what's actually happening across the business in real time.

No governance rhythm

No regular cadence for decisions — planning, S&OP, reporting, and accountability happen ad hoc.

Functions in silos

Finance, supply chain, commercial, and ops each operate locally, not as one synchronized and optimized system.

The Model

Enter the COO: An end-to-end integrator

Ownership of core operational areas — manufacturing and supply chain — combined with holistic expertise across business functions, makes for an end-to-end integrator: a visionary founder's right hand, building the operating system that brings their vision to life.

$ Finance Supply Chain Manufacturing Commercial Ops People Technology
How It Works

Three steps, one continuous engagement

01 — Diagnose

Assess what's in place

Process, KPIs, governance, technology infrastructure, and where the functions disconnect.

02 — Build

Set up the operating system

Month-end routines, governance processes, KPI dashboards, the tech stack that connects them all, and clear decision-making authority.

03 — Run & Transfer

Operate alongside your team

Strategic oversight and executive leadership — coaching your team to use the tools, read the business, make the calls, or bring recommendations to leadership.

Where I Add Value

A strategic partner for the business.

Connecting every function into one coherent system — working closely with your CFO, CMO, and other executive leaders to turn strategy into outsized results.

What I Do

  • Strategic & executive-level support
  • Steer supply chain and manufacturing performance
  • Own governance, annual operating plan, and monthly routines
  • Diagnose and fix root-cause issues across functions
  • Guide major decisions — financing, capacity, technology, M&A
  • Coach and upskill your team
  • Represent operations at the board or investor level
  • Embedded, ongoing engagement, built on long-term trust

What I Don't Do

  • Day-to-day tactical execution
  • Place purchase orders
  • Audit and approve supplier invoices
  • Tender freight or route shipments
  • Run daily production schedules
  • Function as a sales-ops analyst or coordinator
  • Data entry and back-office administrative work
  • Single-deliverable, transactional projects

In short: I set the direction, build the system, coach and guide your team, and own executive oversight of the functions, while they run the daily plays.

A Track Record of Results

Real-world outcomes, earned in the trenches over two decades.

Scaling Capacity To Support Growth

Scaled manufacturing and supply chain operations to support 12x growth in under two years.

Turnarounds & Root-Cause Fixes

Cut distribution costs 32%, distressed inventory 66%, and working capital 30% in under 8 months.

Manufacturing & Line Efficiency

Modernized manufacturing — improving throughput 70% while cutting labor costs 40%.

Financial Planning & Forecasting

Architected an integrated business planning and forecasting model, combining sales & operations planning with long-range financial forecasting.

Financing Strategy

Negotiated and structured an asset-backed financing facility to fund raw material sourcing and scaling, and established business processes to ensure proper cash flow management.

M&A

Led operations integration following acquisition of a public company by another.

The Value Proposition

Built to outlast my involvement.

I'm not here to be indispensable. I'm here to build something that outlasts my involvement — when the job's done, your team runs things without missing a beat.

$10–50MIN ANNUAL REVENUE
Founder-ledCONSUMER GOODS, REAL MOMENTUM
Ready to scaleNO OPERATING SYSTEM YET
Good conversations don't need to fit a template.

If you're outside this range but this resonates, let's talk anyway — for the right founder and the right company, I'll find a way to help, whether that's this model, a different structure, or an advisory relationship.

A limited practice, by design — about five clients at a time, so the work stays hands-on.

About Me

I'm Sujit, the founder of Trimtab. I've spent 20+ years in operations, including Intel, Craft Brew Alliance, Anheuser-Busch InBev, Take Two Foods, and most recently as COO of Abbot's, but it was the move from big companies into the early-stage and founder-led world that hooked me. There's something genuinely exciting about the CPG space: innovative products, better-for-you brands, the founder stories behind them. I found real satisfaction in building the systems, processes, and discipline early on that let a small team run like a well-oiled machine — the kind bigger companies would envy (my Ph.D. in Chemical Engineering from the University of Michigan probably has something to do with that instinct).

I thrive in ambiguity, and I'd rather be resourceful with what's actually in front of me than wait around for the ideal setup. Progress beats perfection any day. I'm at my best as the right-hand person to a visionary founder or CEO who needs someone to help turn the vision into an operation that actually runs.

Based in beautiful Portland, OR, outside of work my wife and I are true wanderlusters at heart, always chasing the next adventure across the globe (we've lost count of the places by now), usually with a camera in hand for landscapes and city scenes alike. On the home front, things can sometimes get loud with rock and heavy metal, occasionally quieter for cocktail mixology experiments gone right (or wrong). And there's an adorable rescue pup who thinks all of this is about him.

Abbot's · COO, 2022–2026  —  Take Two Foods · COO, 2021–2022  —  Anheuser-Busch InBev · M&A Integration, 2020  —  Craft Brew Alliance · Managing Director, 2014–2020  —  Intel · Global Sourcing & Procurement, 2005–2014

Get In Touch

Let's talk.

If your operations are starting to feel stretched,
let's figure out what's actually needed to fix it.

Send us a message hello@gotrimtab.com