Kai Schulze

I work with food, health, and wellness startups and DTC brands that are past the early phase and want to take the next step. My focus is on helping founders build the strategy and operating setup needed to scale profitably, expand internationally, and move toward being acquisition-ready. What I do is based on real operator experience. I’ve built and scaled eCommerce brands myself and know where growth typically breaks. I work with a proven, hands-on playbook that I actively apply and adapt inside the business, supported by a strong network across manufacturing, fulfillment, logistics, marketing, tech, and capital. I apply this knowledge directly in advisory work and share it with founders I work with, both hands-on in projects and, selectively, as an angel investor. My focus is strongly operational. I help founders fix and scale core ops such as fulfillment, logistics, warehousing, and cross-border setups, while aligning growth, brand, and performance marketing so the business actually holds at scale. I also advise on European health claims and regulatory topics in the supplement space, helping brands stay compliant while still communicating clearly and credibly. ScalecomX is intentionally hands-on. I don’t advise from slides. I work with founders inside the business to build systems that hold when the company grows.

As Managing Director of Primal Harvest EU, a fast-growing supplement eCommerce brand, I was responsible for leading operations and marketing across Germany, Austria, Switzerland, France, Italy, and Spain. I played a key role in scaling the business across European markets and marketplaces and was actively involved in the exit process, including the operational workstream during due diligence. (acquired 2023: https://www.prnewswire.com/news-releases/wm-partners-announces-majority-acquisition-of-primal-harvest-839026013.html) I led a team of nine people and owned the day-to-day management of the business, covering supply chain, fulfillment, logistics, customer service, and cross-border operations. In parallel, I was responsible for brand and growth, overseeing digital marketing, performance marketing, content, and social media to strengthen brand positioning and drive sustainable revenue growth. The role required hands-on leadership, clear prioritization, and strong execution across functions. I worked closely with marketing, operations, external partners, and leadership stakeholders to ensure the business scaled in a controlled way, while continuously identifying opportunities for expansion and efficiency improvements across Europe.

• Redefined brand strategy and repositioned Primal Harvest’s visual identity • Led the most ambitious campaign for Primal Greens, targeting athletes & sports • Successfully increased global revenue in this category • Developed new brand guidelines & design systems, including assets & templates • Provided the new creative foundation for the new primalharvest.com website rollout • Leadership across EU operations & global brand strategy during a high-growth phase

• Building and scaling modern e-commerce brands within the health & wellness industry • Leading the European Operations Team of our growing Brands (DACH, France, Italy, Spain)

• Marketing Consulting Agency (Customers: Samsung, LG, Berlin Brands Group, Swatch Germany, McKinsey, different German KMUs, Adeck Systems Berlin, Swatch Germany, Oris Germany) • Digital Marketing (Social Media, Facebook Ads, Shopify) • Freelance Consultancy for a British Consulting Company with Global Customers (eCommerce, Digital Innovation, Home Appliances Industry) • Website Projects: www.5-seen-solar.de , www.adeck-systems.de • eCommerce Projects: notokey.de (Shop System sold), westcoastcrew.de, laylu.de (sold), kaivesandbeaches.de (in partnership with myposter - offline since Aug21) >> Agency Website: www.wolkenkratzer-digital.de

"More than 1.000 Search Volume per month for Apples little design fail" - When I bought my Airpods Pro I was absolutely in love with them...UNTIL.... I wanted to do sports. The problem with the Airpods Pro is: they do not stay in the ear during sports activity. (of course ears are different, and not everybody has this issue) So I had three options: 1. Sending them back 2. Keeping them and don`t use them for sports 3. Looking for a solution And this is how westcoastcrew was born (actually the domain was provided for another business idea) After almost two years, the westcoastcrew earhooks are bestselling on ebay and on my shopify store (thanks to SEO and our USP: double hanger for perfect hold) - Amazon was not an option, because the investment for FBA would have been to high. Shop sold in 2022 to a Marketing Agency in Dubai, run by young German entrepreneurs

laylu Berlin • Affordable Luxury Bags & Accessories • Multibags are THE bag trend 20/21 and they were not easy to get during lockdown. H&M, Zara, Pimkie and other big stores were very late with this trend. And who wants to have a Pimkie Multibag? • Dropshipping & One Day Delivery (a test with 300 bags and special packaging - branded dustbags etc.) • Dropshipping: Shenzen Warehouse - we don`t hide where our international warehouse is. A mistake many dropshippers do (laylu had not one single day with a blocked Facebook Ad or Paypal Account - which meant hardly any effort for customer service) • More than 1.000 Happy Women who are wearing a laylu Berlin Bag this summer • Customized and Conversion optimized Shopify Theme was sold several times www.laylu.de

• In Cooperation with Allianz Germany • Product Ownership "ADAC Autoversicherung" (Allianz/ADAC) Online Distribution - in two years we doubled the amound of car insurance customers and won several awards for the Best Car Insurance Product in 2020 • ADAC Insurance UX: Together with my team, we bring the ADAC Insurance quote calculators to the latest UX designs and usability standards. • The user is always involved in the iterative design process. Since the end of 2019, 80% of all quote calculators have been successfully redesigned according to product requirements and customer needs. • Conducting creative (design and content) workshops to design the content along the customer journey in order to increase sales and conversion rates.

Print-on-Demand Online Shop in Partnership with myposter.de

Responsible for the user experience area at ADAC insurances, me and my team are aiming to increase the conversion rates and market share by providing an excellent user experience. We try to make the online channel as attractive as possible in order to bind our customers and members on a long-term basis. Besides a lot of creativity and the will to change things, we use Google Analytics, AB Testing, Hotjar and Uselabs to make our customers happy and our products successful. • Proven Record: ADAC / Allianz Car Insurance Project 2019: +90% closed contracts (/PY), CVR Increase: +80% (Av.)

Strategic Marketing Communication - Global Customer Service • Global responsibility and consultancy for the BSH Brand Websites of Bosch, Gaggenau and all regional Brands • Project Lead for the online booking project of the Global customer service • Responsibility for the website concepts worldwide / improvements with help of Analytics Tools (Adobe, Mouseflow) • Usability Testing in the BSH/Lab • User Experience (UX) Consultancy • SEO: creation, consulting and release of SEO content with all necessary actions (research, content • planning, ...) • Country consultancy for the Region Asia Pacific and China

• Responsible for all Online Marketing and eCommerce Topics - Brand: Siemens Germany • content planning for the German Siemens Home website www.siemens-home.de • Planning and implementation of brand campaigns at retailers websites (Amazon, Otto, MSD, ao.de) • Creation and Design of the Siemens Home Appliances Brand Shop • Development of new sales strategies with the help of Virtual Reality (http://www.mediamarktsaturn.com/press/press-releases/neues-einkaufserlebnis-dank-virtual-reality-saturn-testet-virtuelle) • Lectures and trainings for sales representatives on the topic of online marketing • Lead POS Marketing for Euronics & Expert (Electrical Retail)

Sales - Wholesale Siemens Germany • Consulting and Sales in the sales channel Wholesale • Price negotiations with purchasing managers and managing directors • Project Lead of over 50 Wholesale trade fairs in Germany • Development of a new and cost-saving flexible exhibition system • Assistance of the Sales Executive • Coordination and controlling Sales representatives team • Planning of marketing activities in cooperation with the marketing team

Stay abroad with 15 other participants in the prestigious USD. Impressive professors. Very interesting lectures. Great place to learn!

Theory (Siemens AG Talent Academy) and practice (BSH) in 2 years with a stay abroad in Sweden (BSH Home Appliances AB Stockholm)

Thesis: Der Einfluss von Usability auf die Markenbindung, Zufriedenheit und Markenloyalität

Work during the day. Studying in the evening or at weekends. I did not have a typical student life, even though I would have liked it sometimes. For this I have learned to go to my limits, to motivate myself again and again and to discipline myself. A stony path, which was worth it in the end. Thesis: Analyse der Vermarktungsstrategien von Online-Fitnessprogrammen