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Jan Bednar

Founder & CEOShipMonk

Florida

Member Since March 2022

Skills

Entrepreneurship
Marketing Strategy
Business Planning

About

I founded ShipMonk in 2014 with a vision to change the way eCommerce companies manage their supply chain and ship products to their customers through a game-changing supply chain software, automation, and exceptional fulfillment solution. ShipMonk is a technology company that solves e-commerce's companies biggest problem > getting the products to their customers while allowing them to focus on growing their business rather than dealing with supply chain and shipping issues. My passion for problem-solving, operations, and technology has enabled me and my team to bootstrap and build ShipMonk into a profitable market leader in the industry and in late 2020 brought on PE Growth Partners in a $355M round. I started with $30k from a college business plan competition, and in just a little over 5 years, build ShipMonk from $0 to over $300M in annual recurring revenue, 10 locations around the world, and over 2500 exceptional employees. I’m a huge proponent of bootstrapping and never used external funding to grow the business. ShipMonk is currently helping over 1,500 eCommerce companies to deliver over 5 million products every month to their customers around the world. I’m originally from the Czech Republic and moved to the U.S to go to school with a dream of starting my entrepreneurial journey at the age of 17. After a few failed businesses, I founded BedaBox (international package forwarding business) after graduating from Florida Atlantic University in 2014 and in 2016 pivoted BedaBox to ShipMonk. In my personal life, I love to travel, play ice hockey, wake surf, do CrossFit, martial arts, adrenaline sports (heli-skiing, paragliding, kitesurfing, canyoning, etc.), and anything else that gets the blood flowing with my amazing wife or friends. I’m always down to connect with like-minded individuals (no boring sales pitches) so don’t be shy and if you feel like we should connect hit me up!

Published content

Nervous about public speaking? 15 steps to prepare confidently

expert panel

Apply these strategies to cover your points and connect with the audience.  If you're feeling a bit anxious about how to deliver your best presentation to a tough audience, preparing for the event ahead of time is the easiest way to calm your mind. You'll want to first gain an understanding of what the program agenda is, and then figure out what you want to say. Providing real-world examples make some of the most effective narratives, so figure out which points to cover in your story, write it out, and begin reviewing it on your own or amongst your network of colleagues. The more you practice, the more familiar and comfortable you become with the materials you plan to share with your audience. To get you motivated and help you stay in the zone, below, 15 Fast Company Executive Board members are providing their best practices for leaders to project their knowledge and become the go-to reliable source.

10 Strategies To Determine The Right Focus In Business 

expert panel

Prioritze solutions to improve your customers' journey.  During and beyond the global health crisis, plenty of corporate leaders and small business owners alike, have readjusted their thought processes on how they do business.  Some began to streamline certain aspects of their product and service offerings to improve bottom line outcomes so the establishment could not only survive in an uncertain and evolving economy but thrive and continue to shine above their competitors. Here, 10 business leaders from Fast Company Executive Board weigh in on what their top strategies have been for streamlining their company's focus and how doing so is impacting their clients' positive engagement with the business. 

Is your business ready for a major rebrand?

expert panel

Here are 10 tips to help leaders decide on the best next steps to level-up business. If you're looking to upgrade your company's image or improve on the pattern of behaviors it is widely known for in the marketplace up until now, there are plenty of factors to evaluate before making a decision to promote the rebranding of your business. Be clear on what it is that you truly plan to accomplish and why. Then do your research even further to make sure it's the right plan of action for you now and if now is the best time to do it. By examining these few points, you'll be setting your team up for successful wins each time.  Fast Company Executive Board members advise leaders on how to start with just some minor adjustments to improve your business effectively before moving on to invest in a major overhaul that you may not be prepared for to move forward with as quickly. 

13 ways to create memorable ad campaigns that build business

expert panel

Here's how to stand out in a noisy marketplace. Running an effective advertising campaign is more than saying the right words to get people to buy into your products, services, and what your brand is all about. If you want to make the most of your marketing investment, then focus on the pulse of consumer behavior patterns and where they need the most attention. In addition, connecting emotionally and socially with your target audience members will keep them coming back to your brand everytime if you continue to share a purpose that they can relate to wholeheartedly. Below, 13 Fast Company Executive Board members share some best practices of how you can implement more creativity in your promotions and bring targeted audience members together who will support you every time.

Nine ways to evaluate mid-year business successes and pain points 

expert panel

These crucial factors will contribute to the organization's ability to thrive and make the necessary improvements, year after year. Taking a mid-year stock of your company's latest goals, accomplishments and challenges in the industry is a typical process that every leader and their team must engage in to enable the establishment to survive.  But why wait until mid-year? Planning ahead of the assessment season to find innovative solutions that will push your company's growth—whether you're experiencing an economic downturn or the business is booming—is the best way to move forward!  Here are nine items that leaders from Fast Company Executive Board always like to consider in their efforts to help the company continue to meet its objectives. 

Leading executives share 16 tips that nurture corporate finance

expert panel

Here's how implementing good advice can improve your bottom line in the business world. The success of a well-run business is not determined by its financial performance levels alone, and that is why leaders need to take a holistic approach and consider how each area of the establishment and decisions made about specific contributions to the company can build it up or weigh it down.  As you work towards achieving your financial goals, it's also important to find the right balance and prioritize how to maintain a steady cash flow and make wise choices about how and where to invest your time and money to elevate the organization.  Below are 16 members of Fast Company Executive Board to share some of the best practices they've received about how to manage their company finances.

Company details

ShipMonk

Company bio

ShipMonk is the world's largest 3PL for high growth ecommerce and DTC brands. Since our inception in 2014, we've operated with a singular guiding principle: to help small and medium-sized e-commerce businesses scale by offering technology-driven fulfillment solutions that enable business founders to devote more time to the things that matter most in their businesses. Put simply, ShipMonk helps e-commerce companies stress less and grow more. Headquartered in Fort Lauderdale, FL, ShipMonk has more than 2,500 employees across facilities in Fort Lauderdale, FL, Pittston, PA, Los Angeles, CA, Bay Shore, NY, Las Vegas, NV, Dayton, NJ, Louisville, KY, Mississauga, Ontario, Canada, Tecate, Mexico, the United Kingdom and Prague, Czech Republic. More information is available at www.shipmonk.com.

Industry

Technology

Area of focus

eCommerce Order Fulfillment
Storage and Warehousing
Inventory Management Software

Company size

1,001 - 5,000

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