Brian Hsu

  1. Operations
  2. Fractional COO
  3. Advisor
  4. #strategy
  5. Business Operations
  6. Leadership Coach/Advisor
  7. Product Strategy
  8. Go-To-Market Strategies & Implementation

Experienced executive specializing in scaling start-ups

With over 25 years of experience, achievements and valuable learnings from some of Silicon Valley’s most successful (and soon to be successful) companies, my mission and passion is to leverage my background and network to help drive extraordinary results for Founders, leadership teams and their organizations.


I have previously held senior executive roles at eBay and Lyft, C-level positions (COO, CRO, CDO) at multiple start-ups and received a certificate in executive coaching. I specialize in help…

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Brian Hsu

Work

  • Launching the Lyft Fleet Program

    At Lyft, a critical part of providing great service for riders was ensuring high availability of drivers in safe, clean and comfortable vehicles. In studying our driver acquisition data, we noticed that many prospective drivers were being disqualified because they did not have a suitable vehicle to carry passengers. We solved this bottleneck by procuring and deploying a fleet of vehicles for drivers to rent so that they could earn money on the Lyft platform. Through partnerships with select auto manufacturers and fleet management companies we were able to provide comfortable, late model vehicles that riders raved about. And for drivers, the more they drove for Lyft the less they were required to pay to rent the vehicles. It was a win/win/win for riders, drivers and Lyft.


    Under my leadership we were able to take this program from idea to launch (10k+ vehicles in 20 cities) in roughly 18 months. This included a full cross-functional effort including operations, partnerships, product/tech, finance and legal.

  • KiwiCo Growth Initiatives

    KiwiCo has built a loyal following for its core business - fund and engaging STEM maker kits delivered to the home as a monthly subscription. As the company scaled it sought to invest in new growth levers to diversify it's revenue base and expand its customer appeal.


    One of my jobs as Chief Revenue Officer of the company was to explore and execute new growth opportunities. I was successful in advocating for and deploying three major efforts: (1) moving beyond the subscription model to sell individual STEM products through the company's own e-commerce channel as well as third-party channels (e.g. Amazon) (2) selling products directly to educational institutions and enrichment programs through direct sales and (3) expanding into the burgeoning China STEM e-commerce market.


    Here were the results under my tenure:

    -- 3x revenue growth through the company's e-commerce channels in one year

    -- 4x increase in sales to the Education segment in one year

    -- Standing up a China division and operation in 2 quarters

  • Changing the eBay Business Model

    eBay was arguably the first consumer marketplace of its kind. Many of the aspects that define marketplace business as we know them today were originally developed eBay (e.g. feedback/reputation systems, the concept of favored "Power Sellers", sponsored product ads vs. natural product search, etc.). But it took a lot of evolution and trial and error to get to where we are today.


    For instance, eBay used to collect more than half its revenue from sellers before a sale was even made on the platform. Sellers would pay to create product listings, pay for visibility of those listings and then assuming someone found and purchased their products would then pay a commission on the sale. It made no sense - why should anyone pay eBay anything if there were no assurances of actually selling something on the marketplace? Clearly this needed to change - but the problem was that eBay was already wildly successful despite its monetization scheme and was already a public company doing $3B in revenue in the US at the time. Messing with the revenue model at this stage of maturity was a potentially risky proposition.


    With a lot of skepticism from the CFO, I nevertheless set off to change the way eBay made money. Through smart, low-risk testing via promotional fee schedules, the use of smaller international markets as "guinea pigs," and lots of input from eBay sellers (who are a pretty vocal bunch) I was able to shift 95% of all revenue to be collected only when something sold -- that is, I aligned eBay's success with the success of its sellers. And sellers responded. With more trust and confidence in the eBay model sellers listed more of their inventory and eventually sold more volume through the platform. I was able to not only shift the revenue to a more customer friendly model but also accelerate growth at the same time.

Experience

  • Resound Leadership Consulting

    Resound Leadership Consulting

    Founder

    Aug 2018 - Present

    Self-founded consulting practice providing on-demand executive leadership

    • Fractional executive, business advisory and executive coaching for start-ups
  • Inxeption

    Inxeption

    Chief Digital Officer

    Sep 2022 - Mar 2023

    Industrial commerce marketplace digitizing the B2B procurement and supply chain

    • Member of C-level leadership team responsible for Product Management and Digital Transformation
    • Built strategy and implementation plan for the company’s industrial commerce marketplace
    • Owned and managed overall Product roadmap for full suite of logistics and e-commerce applications, infrastructure upgrades and third party development projects
  • KiwiCo

    KiwiCo

    Investor / Advisor / Former Chief Revenue Officer

    Oct 2019 - Sep 2023

    KiwiCo develops engaging hands-on STEAM projects and activities to spark curiosity and creativity in kids of all ages.

    • Leadership team position responsible for Strategy & Planning, Analytics and New Growth Initiatives
    • Led effort to build and scale KiwiCo e-commerce store, expanding company footprint beyond core subscription business. Drove 3x revenue growth Y/Y in first year
    • Drove focused effort to grow education segment, including strategy, operational planning and execution, resulting in a 4x Y/Y increase in sales to K-12 schools and enrichment programs
    • Developed strategic plan for international expansion and executed first localization pilots
    • Initiated new strategic planning process for company including annual and quarterly OKR setting, business review cadences, budgeting and investment prioritization
    • Advise Founder/CEO on strategic direction, potential paths to liquidity and Board interactions
  • Blackbird Air

    Blackbird Air

    Chief Operating Officer

    Oct 2018 - Jun 2019

    Aviation marketplace enabling private flying for the masses

    • In partnership with Founder/CEO, developed business model and established product market fit for an early stage marketplace focused on enabling private air travel
    • Launched operational proof of concept in CA and NY markets
    • Pitched, negotiated and closed $10M Series A (company acquired by Surf Air in Feb 2020)
  • Lyft

    Lyft

    Vice President, Driver Operations & Fleet Programs

    Apr 2016 - Jun 2018

    A hop, skip, and a jump is just a tap away

    • Responsible for scaling the driver side of the US ride-sharing marketplace, using Product, Operations and Marketing levers to impact acquisition, onboarding, engagement and retention.
    • Optimized driver acquisition funnel across multiple online and offline channels resulting in 2x growth of driver base and 4x increase in ridership within two years
    • Developed and launched the Lyft Express Drive vehicle rental program for drivers in need of an eligible vehicle. Opened program in 26 markets in less than one year
    • Executed real-time driver incentives to improve service levels at peak ride times and reduce overall rider churn
    • Built and executed a driver loyalty and perks program to increase retention, activity and driver satisfaction scores
    • Executed product roadmap to optimize customer acquisition, retention and satisfaction
    • Managed cross-functional team of 100+ across Operations, Marketing and Product
    • Implemented company strategic planning process, business review cadences and OKR setting
  • Ebay

    Ebay

    Vice President and General Manager

    Dec 2005 - Apr 2016

    Connecting people and building communities to create economic opportunity for all.

    • Vice President & GM, North America Marketplaces: GM and P&L owner of $30B GMV, $3B revenue, 600 person North America business unit, owning Growth, Merchant Acquisition and Scaling, Category Management, Comms and Business Operations functions
    • Vice President, Global Product Operations: Led strategy and operations for eBay Global Product, executing planning/prioritization of global technology roadmap, optimizing on-shore/off-shore developer capacity and managing overall CTO budget
    • Senior Director, Marketplaces Monetization: Revamped global monetization strategy to increase supply and better align eBay incentives with sellers. Raised overall monetization $350MM while continuing to grow platform GMV by 10%
    • Director, Trust & Safety: Developed policies and incentives to drive seller performance and buyer trust, leading to a 40% decrease in poor buying experiences and a 15% increase in buyer retention. Revamped reputation system and launched Top Rated Seller p
    • Head of Seller Analytics: Owned merchant side analytics driving breakthrough insights and data-driven recommendations to inform executive decision making. Analyses led to overall increase in supply, lowered shipping costs and reductions in fraud and count

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