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.
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.
Daniel Canton
@dancanton
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.
844 commits since May 2026 · 38 pages · ~70K lines · 177 migrations
~20 sync jobs · ~30 Postgres tables · 138 Python scripts
GA4 · PostHog · Redash · Stripe · Shopify Partner · Intercom · HelpScout · Customer.io · Ahrefs · Sheets
484 versioned notes, synced to the app on every commit
64 branded documents in 3.5 months
0
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.
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.
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.
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
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
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
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
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.
Moravia × Microsoft — $70M Contract Win
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.
Whyline — COO Through Acquisition
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.
Olivine Marketing — 2x Revenue Growth
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.
AI Startup — Company OS Build
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
Translation Agency — Turnaround
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.
Startup Advisory — Active Advisor
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.
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!”
“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
“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.”
“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.”
“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.”
“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.”
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.
Run the check →