8 Questions with Our New Chief Growth Officer
Last month, Netrush hired Josh Cohen to be the company’s new chief growth officer, a role he’s been barreling toward for the better part of a decade.
The New York resident (by way of San Diego) spent the past nine years leveraging his acute understanding of omnichannel marketing, advertising technology, and the opportunities online marketplaces offer to build strong businesses quickly, if not from scratch.
On two separate occasions, he helped a manufacturer go from zero to eight figures in annual online revenue in a single year. And at another company, he created a host of new sales channels that led to 12,000% growth over a three-year period and a spot on the prestigious Inc. 5000 list.
As the surf lover paddles into new-but-not-unfamiliar professional waters and begins to consider short- and long-term growth strategies for Netrush, I sat down with him and rode a wave of conversation that was both fun and insightful.
Q: OK, first things first—where were you before Netrush, and how did those work experiences lead you here?
A: I started out on the brand side, working for a coffee manufacturer called Intelligent Brands. This was back in 2013. I was brought on as a business development manager but rose through the ranks pretty quickly and became their CMO and president of ecommerce. In fact, I founded the ecommerce division, which went on to become the biggest division in the company. We accelerated from zero to eight figures (in online revenue) within the first 18 months. Those were the golden years of Facebook and paid social advertising. I learned every facet of how businesses were run online.
Q: Wow, that’s quite a flip—and within a really short time frame, it seems.
A: It was and it wasn’t. The first year and a half that I was there, we all learned a lot. When I launched the ecommerce division, it was out of desperation. We were a startup. The coffee brands were great and had a lot of recognition, but they weren’t easy to sell. The price points weren't right. The products weren't always the right fit for certain audiences. I developed our own brand—and ended up with more than 10 brands and 150-plus products.
Q: And then you made your move to ad-tech?
A: Yes, to an ad-tech company called Quartile, which I’d gotten to know while at Intelligent Brands. I had a good relationship with their CEO, and I really believed in the technology. As soon as I arrived, the business took off. It was an incredible ride. I was their head of business development for a while and had amazing exposure to the frontline of sales on every level. While at Quartile, I was approached by another coffee company—Lifeboost—to be their CMO, and that was interesting, as well. It was sort of like riding a bike because right away I recognized, “I've done this before, and I've done it for bigger brands, so I know I can come in and have an immediate impact.”
“Netrush is sitting in a pocket right now where there’s a tremendous amount of opportunity for DTC companies and CPG companies in the categories that we specialize in such as sports, outdoors, health and wellness.”
At Lifeboost, I added 10 new DTC channels and the business grew dramatically. We made the Inc. 5,000 list in 2020, and rose to the No. 29 spot in 2021. In 2022, we calculated 12,000% growth over the previous three years. It was phenomenal. I also grew Amazon as a channel for us. I think we were up 225% year over year for the two years I was there. After that, I became chief revenue officer for Lunar Solar Group, which is basically a small group of agencies. In the six months that I was there, we were able to establish a successful sales machine and land the first outbound leads.
Q: It’s quite a trajectory you’ve been on. Let’s move on to Netrush. What appealed to you about Netrush, and why did that transition happen?
A: Well, knowing the space, understanding retail and DTC, and seeing firsthand the struggles that brands have been going through to acquire customers over the last two-plus years—all of that contributed. Netrush is sitting in a pocket right now where there’s a tremendous amount of opportunity for DTC companies and CPG companies in the categories that we specialize in such as sports, outdoors, health and wellness. Amazon's digital advertising business is booming. And everything's there as far as the tracking and the capabilities. It's very sophisticated, and it's all housed within Amazon.
Q: How about the people you’ve met and gotten to know at Netrush so far? What are your impressions on that front?
A: They're actually the main reason I was so excited to join Netrush. I got to meet so many people right off the bat—especially those on the executive team—and the culture fit felt perfect. I see the strengths in each one of them, and there’s a harmony to the way they mesh.
Q: First steps, then. How are you approaching this role, and what does your 100-day plan look like?
A: I’m focused on a few areas. One is continuing to grow our Managed Retail capability and launch additional agency services. While Standard Retail—where we buy products directly and take on all of the risk—remains a strong focus, we’re very well positioned to support 3P brands by applying our “retail-first” operating system and a new set of agency services. The message is “we know what it takes to scale because we’ve done it for ourselves,” and the goal is to get that message out to a larger audience of brand owners and operators who align with our mission.
I’m also focused on growing Sellozo, our advertising technology company, which helps brands better manage accounts, and allocate and optimize Amazon advertising spend. Sellozo gives account operators the benefits of AI and machine learning along with manual controls. I’m convinced it’s the perfect solution for small- to medium-sized sellers and agencies. We’re planning some phenomenal sales-and-marketing campaigns to advertise Sellozo’s solutions and cost-saving benefits.
“I’m focused on a few areas right now, and one is growing Sellozo, our advertising technology company. I’m convinced it’s the perfect solution for small- to medium-sized sellers and agencies.”
And then I’m focused on transportation and 3PL services. Netrush owns an innovative, third-party logistics center (in Kentucky) along with sister facilities across North America and in Europe. For most businesses, we can reduce transportation costs by a minimum of 20% and get products to customers faster, creating better experiences that drive repeat business and higher lifetime customer value. We’re also integrating a cutting-edge robotics system and have exciting messaging around it that we think will resonate with a number of brands who have experienced labor and supply-chain interruptions over the past couple of years.
Q: We’re about 60 days into 2023 already, but any predictions for the remainder of the year? What do you see coming down the pike in this world that Netrush and its partners live in?
A: One would be personalization, especially in health and wellness. A lot of people have tried a lot of products in the health and wellness space, and quite frankly, if they don't work, they move on. Smart brands in this space recognize that each body is different and that there are different types of people out there. Consumers don't want a one-size-fits-all approach anymore. So, I think we'll continue to see that personalization.
We also have to talk about genuine sustainability. That matters as much as ever. Creating products out of sincere care about the planet and everyone’s well-being are important to consumers.
I also think rest and recovery is going to go mainstream. Emotional, mental, and physical well-being is all connected, and rest and recovery is a huge part of that. So, taking care of ourselves and disconnecting—there's going to be a lot around that.
Q: It’s obvious you’ve learned a lot and accomplished a lot in your career. What’s been the biggest lesson you’ve learned, or piece of advice you’d give?
A: I would say fail fast—and cheap!—and embrace failure. That might not be a novel answer, but it's true. I've been a part of a lot of businesses, and I've tried a lot of things, and you have to acknowledge that everything you try isn't going to work so I approach opportunities intelligently and use resources carefully. Early on in my career, I didn’t have many resources at my disposal. That made me scrappy. And it showed me that you can do a lot with a little and I try not to lose sight of that.
Want to chat with Josh or learn more about any of the Netrush offerings he mentioned in this Q&A? Contact us and let’s get YOUR questions answered.