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GM @ Relay Commerce · AI operations

I run the P&L and build the systems that run it

Decisions used to wait on data. Data waited on someone else's roadmap. That broke in 2025.

SEE THE BUILD RECORD
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OPERATOR

17 years running operations at increasing scale: a $70M Microsoft contract and 150 people across 5 countries at Moravia, COO of a startup through its acquisition by Clear, an agency doubled as Managing Director. The constraint never changed. Decisions waited on data, and data waited on someone else's roadmap. That broke in 2025. Today I'm General Manager at Relay Commerce, where I built the live KPI dashboard and the pipeline underneath it myself. Not to replace the data team. I built it because nobody could tell me which number a director was about to decide on without joining a two-year queue. 90 days, no engineering headcount. Across the three-product portfolio I inherited, four of the numbers people were steering by turned out to be structurally wrong. On the side I angel invest and scout for venture funds in AI, AgTech, and Travel.

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Years in Operations
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Engineers on the Build
$0123456789M
Largest Contract Won
Strategy90%Process85%Technology80%

Daniel Canton

@dancanton

Role
AI-Native Operator
Status
GM @ Relay Commerce
Location
Remote
Uptime
17+ years

WHAT GOT SHIPPED

Dashboards are cheap. A dashboard wired straight to the systems that charge the customer, built in the gaps of a full-time GM job, is not.

Ninety days at Relay Commerce. Three products, $2.6M ARR, one repo, no engineering headcount.

Live KPI dashboard

844 commits since May 2026 · 38 pages · ~70K lines · 177 migrations

Data pipeline underneath

~20 sync jobs · ~30 Postgres tables · 138 Python scripts

Live sources wired

GA4 · PostHog · Redash · Stripe · Shopify Partner · Intercom · HelpScout · Customer.io · Ahrefs · Sheets

Knowledge base

484 versioned notes, synced to the app on every commit

Deliverables shipped

64 branded documents in 3.5 months

Engineers involved

0

DEF-01
2.8×

The churn metric that could only see one rail

Churn was keyed on a Shopify uninstall field. About 74% of that product's revenue bills through Stripe, and a Stripe cancellation never touches that field. The dashboard showed 2 churned accounts in a week where 11 had gone. We had already written a churn-prediction finding off that data and reported a 24× lift. With both rails included it was 12.9×. Still real, half the size, and the wrong number was already sitting in three documents.

DEF-02
3.9×

Three weeks of zeros that were not zeros

A new-paid funnel stage counted one billing rail. Three consecutive weeks read zero conversions. The real numbers were 3, 1 and 2. It looked like a product that had stopped converting, and it was a metric that had stopped looking.

DEF-03
~10×

A tile reading 5, above a table listing 1,168

A product tile reported five automations enabled. The table directly underneath it listed 1,168. The event source was under-capturing by roughly ten times, and the metric was a different flow wearing a stock label. Corrected, the series told the opposite story to the one on the screen.

Every read runs read-only, least privilege, version controlled. Built to hand over.

The full build record →

CAPABILITIES

The scarce person right now is not the AI engineer and not the ops consultant. An engineer does not know which loop is worth automating. A consultant cannot ship it.

SPRINTSRETAINERSMOD-001MOD-002MOD-003MOD-004MOD-005
CAP-016-week install
online
Live KPI Dashboards

Most companies have a dashboard. Fewer have one wired to the system that actually charges the customer. I build the second kind, on Stripe and Shopify data, and it stays current without anyone filing a ticket.

> Companies where the number arrives too late to act on

CAP-022-week audit
online
Pipelines & Lineage Repair

The model is usually right. The wiring is usually wrong. I trace each number back to the field it came from, find the rail or the event source it cannot see, and fix the pipeline instead of the chart.

> Teams steering by numbers nobody has reconciled

CAP-03Project sprint
online
Agent & Automation Loops

n8n for predictable movement, an agent for judgment. Most jobs are one of each, in that order. The hard part is deciding which loop is worth closing, and that needs someone who carries the number.

> Teams doing by hand what the system should be doing

CAP-04Advisory
online
Governance & Access Design

Read-only by default, least privilege, row-level security, agents scoped to named tools. Built so the company can take it over the week it decides to.

> Companies shipping AI internally without a guardrail policy

DEPLOYMENTS

Relay Commerce — 90 Days, Three Products, Zero Engineers

AI OperationsData PipelinesP&L

Took over three products with reporting nobody could steer by. Built the live KPI dashboard solo, found the numbers were structurally wrong, fixed the pipeline underneath, and automated the reporting loop. The CEO adopted the framing. The company AI initiative adopted the security model.

844 commits, ~20 sync jobs, 10 live data sources, 0 engineering headcount.

2026
online

Moravia × Microsoft — $70M Contract Win

EnterpriseScaleGlobal Ops

Key player in the RFP process that won a 3-year, $70M contract with Microsoft's Cloud & Enterprise division. Onboarded the largest localization account in company history — 150 people across 5 countries in under 5 months.

150 people onboarded across 5 countries in under 5 months. Read as: has run real operational scale, so knows which loop matters.

2013-2017
complete

Whyline — COO Through Acquisition

StartupCOOAcquisition

COO from seed stage through acquisition by Clear. Led product ops, solution architecture, and the SeaTac airport RFP that triggered the deal.

Built ops infrastructure from zero to acquisition by Clear in 3 years. Read as: has owned product and ops together before.

2018-2021
complete

Olivine Marketing — 2x Revenue Growth

AgencyGrowthP&L

Took a product marketing agency from $1M to $2M/yr as Managing Director. Ran full P&L, professionalized operations, and co-built the client acquisition engine — enabling the founders to focus on their own startups while keeping the agency running.

Revenue doubled ($1M to $2M/yr) in 18 months. Read as: commercial accountability, not a staff function.

2021-2025
complete

AI Startup — Company OS Build

AIStartupProcess

Designed sprint process, product positioning, and operational stack for a pre-seed AI startup. Integrated CRM, analytics, and automation layer from zero.

Full operational stack deployed in 6 weeks

2025
complete

Translation Agency — Turnaround

TurnaroundAgencyStrategy

Interim director for an 11-month restructuring. Redefined pricing, operational processes, and hired the new permanent director.

Restructured in 11 months. New pricing, redefined processes, permanent director hired.

2024-2025
complete

Startup Advisory — Active Advisor

AdvisoryStartupStrategy

1.5-year engagement with weekly strategy sessions. Guided the CEO on product-market fit, operational decisions, and growth.

18-month engagement with weekly sessions guiding PMF and operational decisions.

2023-2025
complete

SYSTEM SIGNALS

Daniel pushed us to be more ambitious. He designed the operational processes that drove the scale of our client base and gave us the confidence to go after bigger engagements, and more engagements. More than that, he's completely trustworthy and a true friend. Can't imagine growing and selling Olivine without him. I dearly hope we work together again someday. 10/10 would recommend to a friend!

Rae Lambert

Co-Founder, Olivine

Daniel has a rare combination of operational skill and visionary creativity! He's never afraid to think totally outside the box, and leads with an ethos that the right solution is always possible with some ingenuity and dedicated time. Most importantly, Daniel was a warm and encouraging leader who is genuinely invested in each team member's professional growth and happiness in the workplace. It was a pleasure to work for him for many years!

Teri Madonna

Ops Manager, Olivine

Daniel brought strategic clarity when we needed it most. He helped us see the bigger picture, restructured how the team operated, and introduced systems thinking into everything we did.

Mónica Nainsztein

CEO, Localipsum

What truly sets Daniel apart is his ability to transform vision into structured, scalable execution. He doesn't just define strategy — he builds the operating frameworks behind it. From designing high-performing team structures to implementing clear governance models, reporting cadences, and KPI systems, he ensures that ambition is backed by discipline and measurable outcomes. His leadership combines strategic depth with operational rigor, creating organizations that are not only effective, but built to scale.

Iván Marinángeli

Former Program Manager, RWS · Now MD, Localipsum

As a strategic advisor working closely with Daniel, I saw how he takes ownership of execution in a way that genuinely frees the founder. He's the kind of partner who absorbs operational complexity so founders can do what they do best: ideate, lead, sell and grow. Reliable, proactive, a true team player, and deeply committed, Daniel is the person you feel both privileged to work with and to learn from his expertise.

Noemí Otazu

Former Strategic Marketing Manager, Orange Spain · Localipsum

Daniel took ownership of everything on the execution side — engineering direction, client implementations, customer support, recruiting. He let us focus on the product and the fundraise knowing the operation was in good hands.

Michael Twersky

Co-Founder, Whyline

We needed someone who could run the day-to-day across engineering, onboarding, support, and solutions architecture while we focused on sales and strategy. Daniel did all of that and built the team around it.

Gastón Frydlewski

Co-Founder, Whyline

Daniel and his team made onboarding one of our most complex localization programs seamless. He understood what we needed before we had to ask, kept delivery on track, and made my job as vendor manager significantly easier.

Adam Johnson

Former Vendor Manager, Microsoft

Through his vision, dedication, and relentless focus on excellence, he not only led us to win the largest business in our industry but also built and flawlessly ran a world-class operational and delivery organization that consistently exceeded expectations. Daniel embodies what true leadership looks like — driving success not just through strategy, but through people and purpose.

Tomas Kratochvil

Former CEO, Moravia

Daniel led a very ambitious and ground breaking outsourcing project on behalf of Microsoft Cloud & AI international team to the tune of $30 million. He owned establishing & running a geographically dispersed team, responsible for product timelines and quality. He is a super professional and popular colleague, bringing strong leadership, business knowledge and execution muscle to all his roles.

Mary McHale

Former Director, International Cloud & Enterprise, Microsoft

START A CONVERSATION

I am not taking new consulting work. If you are hiring for an operator who can build the reporting as well as carry the number, that is the conversation I want.

Curious about your own numbers?

Eighteen questions on how your reporting is wired. Ten minutes, and it usually finds something.

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