First 100 days: Hugo Smoter takes charge and builds team
Spreadshirt, the ecommerce platform for spreading ideas on something tangible, elevated Hugo Smoter to the newly created role of Chief Commercial Officer (CCO) in August to lay the foundation for the company’s grand plan in 2017. He is specifically tasked with making improvements to the company’s management organization and internal processes to deliver unprecedented commercial results. Smoter has wasted no time implementing his action plan.
On day one, Smoter identified the strength of the unsurpassed three business models available on one platform and reorganized Spreadshirt into three commercial divisions; equipping each with the resources to reach the goal of becoming the market leader in their sector. His second step was to build out strategic teams to directly take on the competition:
- The Personalization unit enables people and businesses to design and order custom decorated goods for all occasions, big and small. Tobias Beutel, with the company since 2015, was named Director of Personalization Services with a mandate to eclipse CustomInk.
- The Marketplace unit serves as the world’s design marketplace for artists and creatives to publish, share, and sell their ideas internationally. Mareike Goedemann, with the company since 2010, has assumed the role of Director of Marketplaces with a focus on beating Redbubble.
- The Merchandizing Services unit is the world’s leading self-service platform for managing a merchandizing business easily online. Michael Johannes will remain Spreadshirt’s Director of Merchandising Services with a goal of beating TeeSpring.
“My first 100 days have been the best of times and the worst of times,” reflects Hugo, “It is pretty daunting to step into a new role during a critical time period and let go of older responsibilities and embrace the new ones—all while keeping things stable and ensuring turnover is minimal. However, the challenge of guiding Spreadshirt through our puberty phase of corporate existence is a unique and career defining challenge. I am very enthusiastic about our bold direction and the new team in place to deliver great results.”
The next 100 days of leadership will require substantial energy from this young executive and stretch his global communication skills with US/EU teams. All Spreadshirt teams will drill down to deliver the tools, prices and features needed in personalization, increase engagement and vibrancy of the marketplace community, and build awareness of merchandizing services. The Spreadshirt grand plan is ready to unfold in 2017.