From screenwriting to transforming logistics and fulfillment
Ben Eachus set out to be a screenwriter in California until he found his true calling in logistics. In this interview, he shares his journey from Hollywood aspirations to building Flowspace (a BuildGroup portfolio company), offering insights on disrupting traditional industries while balancing life as a founder and parent. His story is one of grit, determination, and vision. We hope you enjoy it as much as we do!
I didn’t grow up dreaming about warehouses and logistics. I grew up in South Jersey outside of Atlantic City and moved to California in 2005 to be a screenwriter. I worked at a film studio for about a year, but quickly realized it wasn’t the right fit for me.
My first real exposure to logistics and fulfillment came when I joined McMaster Carr, a multibillion dollar privately-held company, known for same-day and next-day delivery. It was an intense crash course in how operations should run, and to my surprise, I loved it. Logistics is all about math and problem-solving, and that really clicked for me. While working there, I pursued my MBA part-time at night and on weekends.
I had always wanted to start my own company, and one of my business school professors shared an interesting stat: the highest percentage of founders come from companies with a 100 people or fewer right before they start a company. That stuck with me, so I set my sights on startups and ended up at The Honest Company. It was an incredible environment—my boss and team were top-notch, and many of them went on to start their own companies or join other startups. Being surrounded by that kind of entrepreneurial energy was really inspiring and helped lay the foundation for Flowspace.
I joined the Honest Company in early 2014 as one of the first employees on the supply chain team. My job was to help professionalize logistics and supply chain operations, which basically meant implementing software for the first time – up until then, a lot of processes were running manually.
One of our biggest challenges was figuring out how much warehouse space we needed. The company had decided to license best-in-class software, but it quickly became clear that existing solutions weren’t built for direct-to-consumer eCommerce fulfillment. We had to go through endless customization requests just to make them work. Meanwhile, Honest was growing fast. We never had enough warehouse space, but we also didn’t have the appetite to sign long-term leases. I became really invested in solving this problem, especially as I kept running into providers who told me it was either impossible to find space or that it would take months to get set up.
That’s when the initial idea for Flowspace started to take shape: could we create an Airbnb for warehouse space? The first question we needed to answer was, whether enough warehouse operators actually had available capacity. This was back in 2017, and at the time, the only way that you'd find space was through word-of-mouth: literally walking the neighborhood, knocking on doors, asking around, and calling friends. So, that’s exactly what we did. We built a database of logistics companies with extra space, went door to door to see who was interested, and that’s how Flowspace got started.
My dad was a carpenter for many years, working for different companies, until one day in his forties, he came home and told us he was quitting his job to start his own construction company. I remember it being a really stressful time – he just dropped this on my mom and we didn’t have much of a safety net. But he went for it, and over time, he built a successful business. I always thought that was really inspiring—he wasn’t sitting there analyzing spreadsheets or researching market trends. He just trusted his intuition and made it happen.
Working with him during summers and weekends, doing real, physical labor, had a huge impact on me. My dad showed us what hard work looked like, and my mom showed us what sacrifice meant—she made a lot of them so he could build the business. Together, they set an incredible example, and that mindset has definitely stuck with me as I’ve built my own company.
McMaster Carr is over a hundred years old and the and the gold standard for operational excellence—it’s what “good” looks like in logistics. But the Honest Company showed me the reality of running a fast-growing business: things can be messy, and you’re often figuring things out on the fly.
Working at the Honest Company was especially valuable because it put me in the seat of our potential customers. I was the one buying fulfillment services and software—exactly the kind of solutions that Flowspace provides today. That experience taught me that businesses need flexibility, not just in their supply chain but also in the software they use to manage it.
You never know if you're going to succeed. The first few months of starting a company are terrifying––and, honestly, a little embarrassing. You're busy, but you're not actually doing much yet. You're calling people as the CEO of a company that doesn't really exist.
Our approach was to break things down: what questions can we answer with minimal funding? What can I prove by myself right now, with no money? The first thing that we needed to figure out was whether warehouses would even sign up for what we were offering. Did they actually even have available space and capacity? That was something we could validate for free.
My wife helped me with that. She was out knocking on doors with me. Within a couple of weeks, we had a hundred warehouses in Southern California telling us they had space and were interested. That was step one. We weren't making any money yet, but the next question was: Are there companies that actually need to use this space?
Jason Harbert, our cofounder and CTO, kept iterating on the prototype of the product based on this feedback.
At Y Combinator, those early months were nerve-wracking. No one was knocking on our door. But a mentor there gave Jason and I a simple framework: If you can get one customer, you can get five. If you can get five, you can get ten. So that became the next challenge—finding one company that actually needed space. We did. Then we found a couple more. Then a few more after that. The momentum started building.
You have to go all in before you're certain. Fortunately, we were able to stack some early wins, and that gave me the confidence to keep pushing forward
Everyone will tell you their software is cutting edge, but I truly believe ours is. But what really sets us apart is trust and reliability. Logistics and supply chain management are all about handling exceptions. No one calls their operations manager to say, “Hey, great job, everything’s running smoothly!” You only get a call when something goes wrong.
That’s where we make a difference. We have a team that genuinely cares, proactively manages issues, and helps our customers succeed. With our technology and the way that we deliver our service, I don't think anything else compares. We're constantly evolving, building new functionality to save our customers––many of whom are increasingly understaffed––valuable time. It’s exciting and rewarding to help them solve their problems.
We've built software that automates a lot of the daily back-and-forth. One of the biggest challenges with traditional legacy software is how long it takes to get up and running. Our platform connects directly to wherever our customers sell, automating processes that used to rely on endless email chains or scattered Excel documents.
I think we’ve also done a great job of providing visibility and transparency in an industry that historically lacked both. We give customers granular, line-level reporting on key metrics—like exactly how much each order costs or how their fulfillment is performing. When we started the company eight years ago, hardly anyone had access to this kind of real-time data, even though it’s critically important.
When it comes to hiring, we look for people who genuinely care. Logistics isn’t an industry known for great customer service, but things inevitably go wrong whether it's tariffs, port congestion, or other unexpected disruptions. A team that’s responsive, proactive, and dedicated to solving problems in real time makes a huge difference in helping customers succeed.
One of the key value propositions we offer is helping brands strategically stock inventory to minimize the distance that a product travels. Instead of shipping something from California to New York for every order, we use data-driven insights to position inventory closer to customers. This not only reduces the environmental footprint but also lowers costs and improves delivery times—so sustainability and efficiency go hand in hand.
By taking a more data driven approach to supply chain optimization, we’re able to support brands in meeting their sustainability goals while also enhancing their operations. Reducing the distance products travel is a big part of what we do.
BuildGroup is a VC firm with operator DNA, which makes a huge difference. I love having people like Jim Curry, Eric Levine and Miguel Perez Jr. involved – not just as investors but as hands-on partners. They help with everything from financial modeling to competitor analysis and market landscape assessments – things that are crucial but can be hard to prioritize in the day-to-day. Their insights help me eliminate blind spots and make more informed decisions about the company.
At our core, we believe that people in logistics want to do a great job. They want to be more efficient and cost competitive. The real challenge isn’t a lack of effort or intelligence—it’s outdated software and structural inefficiencies. Sometimes you hear Silicon Valley companies paint certain industries as being run by people who “just don’t get it,” but that’s nonsense. The problem isn’t the people; it’s that they don't have the right tools to scale their businesses and improve service.That's always been a fundamental belief behind Flowspace.
The key is to talk with people every day. Understand their work, their challenges, and how your tools can help them. We’ve been incredibly lucky to have partners who were patient with us, especially in the early days when our product was, frankly, pretty bare-bones. I still remember demoing our product in Texas, and this old school logistics guy Larry took one look at it and said, “Whoever did this is the stupidest idiot.” Jason, our cofounder and CTO, and I just looked at each other and said, “Well, that would be us.”
That kind of feedback was invaluable. It pushed us to improve, and even now, we know there’s still a long way to go. The deeper you go into an industry, the more opportunities you uncover. That's what keeps us moving forward.
Honestly, he was probably right. The product was pretty basic at the time, but it was still a good idea, and that's why he was on the phone with us. We were basically asking him to take a leap of faith and trust us.
There are two ways to handle feedback like that. You can dismiss it and assume the guy doesn’t know what he’s talking about, or you can recognize that there’s probably some truth in it. We took the latter approach, asking ourselves, “How can we improve and come back to him?” We still talk about “Larry in Texas” to this day. You can't be sensitive about tough feedback.
The worst thing that can happen is people just nod along on a call, say they like the product, and then never use it. I’d rather someone be honest and say, “Hey, this thing won't work and I won’t use it.” At least then, we know exactly what we need to fix.
When you start a company, it's not just you starting it; it's your whole family. My wife was actually the one who encouraged me to quit my job and go for it. When we made that decision, she was six months pregnant. I ended up living apart from her for four months while we were getting the company off the ground – I moved to San Jose with Jason, and she stayed behind to have our son. Having a spouse who’s fully on board makes all the difference.
There's really no halfway to doing this. In the beginning, we moved in with my in-laws for a year and rented out our place so that we could cut back on the salaries we were taking. Honestly, that was one of the reasons we were able to keep going as long as we did. Most days are tough. There's always a new crisis, but having someone who's all in and truly supportive makes it a lot easier to navigate.
I would love to hear from a CEO who's actually figured this out! Lately, I've been better about setting boundaries – like taking a couple of hours after work to unplug, put my phone away, and just be present with my kids.
At the same time, I think it's valuable for kids to see their parents taking on big challenges. Mine are four and seven, so they might not fully appreciate it yet, but I don't think it's a bad thing for them to grow up watching their parents try to build something from the ground up. And I’d like to think there’s a good lesson in that; showing them what it looks like to take risks, work hard, and push through obstacles. At least, that’s what we’re telling ourselves! But seriously, if you find someone who has figured it out, send them my way.
The information in this blog post is provided in good faith without any warranty. It does not constitute investment advice, recommendation, or an offer of any services or products of BuildGroup Management and it is not intended to provide a sufficient basis on which to make an investment decision. This document is provided for educational purposes only. Discussions of current or former BuildGroup portfolio companies are intended for educational and discussion purposes only. Any portfolio company discussed has been selected based on objective, non-performance based criteria.
This content does not constitute or form part of an offer of any investment advisory services of BuildGroup Management, LLC, nor does it constitute or form part of an offer to issue or sell, or of a solicitation of an offer to subscribe or buy, any securities or other financial instruments, nor does it constitute a financial promotion, investment advice or an inducement or incitement to participate in any product, offering or investment.
©BuildGroup 2024
©BuildGroup 2024
