Jules Pieri
About Jules Pieri
As a CEO, Entrepreneur, Fortune 500 executive, Board Member and Investor, I have proven experience in operating high growth tech companies and both emerging and established consumer brands (Stride Rite, Hasbro, Keds.) I am skilled in marketplaces, platform businesses, direct-to-consumer, community-based businesses and helping any company--including B2B models--with digital transformation. I have led two complex domestic and international company acquisitions, and their subsequent integrations. As an investor I am balanced between left and right brain assessments: I follow my proven instincts, but I test them with Excel. I currently chair the digital transformation committee on a large non-profit board. I grew up in Detroit, and am the daughter of an autoworker. I started my entrepreneurial career when I picked up the phone at age 13 and secretly applied to an elite boarding school. The scholarship I secured to that institution changed my life and I learned that tenacity, grit, and vision would be my lifetime calling cards. I put my shoulder into anything I do, and get untold pleasure from helping companies, organizations, and people reach their potential. The nuts and bolts of what I bring to my work: --Deep consumer business experience across multiple categories: CPG, connected devices, household tools, personal accessories, footwear and digital services --Digital transformation expertise --CEO leadership experience --Product development savvy --Operating experience in complex B2C and B2B business model structures --Marketplace business model knowledge and passion --Brand building skill --Social media/community building --Global business perspectives gained via living overseas (France and Ireland) and as an executive at Rakuten in Tokyo --Early stage and corporate strategic investment experience I wrote the definitive and award-winning book on how to build successful consumer products businesses: "How We Make Stuff Now." It was published by McGraw Hill Business in 2019 and named one of 11 "Must Read Books Business Books for Entrepreneurs" by Inc. magazine. I've been an industrial designer for three big computer and telecom equipment companies, an executive for several well-known consumer products brands, and have also had the pleasure of building three startups. I was a New England finalist for 2014 Ernst & Young Entrepreneur of the Year, one of the "100 Most Intriguing Entrepreneurs" by Goldman Sachs in 2014, and Fortune named me one of the Ten Most Powerful Women Entrepreneurs for 2013.