Brainforge Knowledge

2025-12-02_jason_it

8 min read

Meeting Agenda: Jason Wu (Head of IT) Discovery Call

Date: Monday, December 2, 2025
Time: 2:00 PM PT (1 hour)
Attendees: Jason Wu (LMNT IT), Uttam Kumaran, Awaish Kumar, Shivani Amar

POST-MEETING SUMMARY

Key Learnings

Current State:

  • Tech team (Jason, Steve, Andy) traditionally owns Shopify and 3PL integration but has limited involvement in analytics/reporting systems
  • Source Medium dashboards set up by vendor before Jason’s time, managed entirely by them with minimal LMNT tech team involvement
  • Many systems installed by third parties without tech team awareness (Element Ops dashboard was “vibe coded” by former analyst, causing ongoing maintenance burden)
  • Team becomes “support of last resort” for systems they don’t own but get pulled in when issues arise

Data Sources & Systems:

  • Infrastructure: All hosted on DigitalOcean (lightweight approach, legacy decisions)
  • E-commerce: Shopify (owned by tech), Recharge subscriptions (flows to Shopify), Klaviyo (email, not CRM)
  • Analytics: Source Medium (acquisition dashboards), Google Analytics 4 (conversion + pipeline), Elevar (pub/sub integration to Source Medium)
  • Fulfillment: Transitioning from WhereToGo to Stord (going live January 2026) - tech team building API integration
  • ERP: Currently QuickBooks, migrating to NetSuite (driven by Phil/Finance/Supply Chain, not tech team)
  • Forms: Using Jotform and Typeform (plan to consolidate to native forms + Postgres in Q1)
  • Credentials: LastPass (want to move to 1Password eventually, but “if it’s not broken” mentality)
  • Other: Refersion (partner affiliations), Convert (A/B testing - just started), SPS Commerce (big box retail EDI)

Quick Wins Identified:

  • Consolidate/sunset legacy systems (Triple Whale status unclear, Supermetrics unclear, Blue Onion Labs deprecated, Element Ops to be replaced)
  • Establish clearer ownership model for analytics tools (tech team wants visibility even if business owns)
  • Architecture diagram update and documentation (current diagram is 1 year old, many unknowns)
  • Plan for Stord integration data needs (going live January, need to pull fulfillment data)

Answers to Key Questions

Q1-4: Current Tech Stack

  • Q1: Core systems

    • A: Shopify (DTC), Amazon Seller Central, Walmart 3P, QuickBooks (ERP - migrating to NetSuite Q4 2026), Gorgias/Guru (CX), Source Medium (analytics), Stord (3PL launching Jan 2026)

  • Q2: Third-party vendors (WBX, JG Marketing, Tatari)

    • A: Needs follow-up with Carlos (e-commerce manager)

  • Q3: System integrations

    • A: Custom middleware for Shopify → 3PL (updating to Stord APIs), Elevar pub/sub to Source Medium, mostly plug-and-play for marketing tools

  • Q4: Challenging systems

    • A: Element Ops dashboard (inventory/CoA consolidation - “nightmare to maintain”), will be replaced when Stord launches

Q5-8: Infrastructure & Hosting

  • Q5: Cloud infrastructure

    • A: DigitalOcean for everything (all backups there too)

  • Q6: Cloud preferences

    • A: “Keep it lightweight” - no strong preferences, legacy decisions driving current state

  • Q7: Data storage/backups

    • A: All backed up in DigitalOcean (need to confirm details with Steve)

  • Q8: Data movement

    • A: Source Medium pulls from Shopify API, Elevar pub/sub for event data, otherwise mostly manual or system-specific

Q9-13: Security & Compliance

  • Q9-10: Security requirements

    • A: “Pretty light” - no formal PII policies established yet

  • Q13: API credentials

    • A: LastPass for secrets management (considering 1Password migration in H2 2026)

Q14-17: Access & Permissions

  • Q14-15: Access control

    • A: SSO via Google Workspace where possible, otherwise system-by-system basis

  • Q17: Brainforge access

    • A: Prefer SSO through Google Workspace, create email accounts for contractors if needed

Q18-21: Procurement & Vendor Management

  • Q18: Procurement process

    • A: “Pretty lightweight” - business drives tool selection, tech gives input if remembered

  • Q19: Vendor selection

    • A: Jason + Steve/Andy should be involved to evaluate technical fit and supportability

  • Q20: Contract structure

    • A: Prefer shorter contracts (1 year or month-to-month) to stay flexible, avoid long-term commitments until confident in tool

Q22-25: Data Warehouse & Tool Selection

  • Q22-23: Data platform experience

    • A: Team has familiarity with Snowflake and BigQuery as users, comfortable evaluating options

  • Q25: Budget

    • A: Not discussed, want to review recommendations first

Q26-28: API Access

  • Q26: API credential process

    • A: Jason can coordinate, or can work through tech team channel. Recharge data flows through Shopify (tagged as subscription orders)

Q29-32: NetSuite Migration

  • Q29: NetSuite timeline

    • A: Early days, driven by Phil/Finance/Supply Chain team (not tech-led)

  • Q30: Integration approach

    • A: Previously evaluated Soldigo for Sage implementation, likely similar approach for NetSuite (Shopify + Amazon first, pre-built connectors preferred)

  • Q32: Data foundation prep

    • A: Need alignment between data warehouse and NetSuite, especially for revenue/inventory reconciliation

Q37-40: Future Vision

  • Q37: Infrastructure vision

    • A: Want tech team to have visibility and input on all data/analytics systems even if business owns them

  • Q38: Pain points

    • A: Being pulled into support for systems they don’t own, maintaining undocumented/legacy systems like Element Ops

  • Q40: Team involvement

    • A: Tech team (Steve/Andy) has capacity and technical know-how to build custom integrations if needed, prefer to evaluate build vs. buy trade-offs

Decisions Made

  • Tech team (Jason + Steve + Andy) will be involved in data stack tool evaluations and architecture decisions
  • Brainforge will help document and update current architecture diagram
  • Follow-up meeting scheduled with Steve & Andy for December 11, 2025 @ 11am PT to discuss data architecture
  • Brainforge will use discovery process to inventory all analytics/reporting systems and help identify consolidation opportunities
  • For Stord integration data needs, coordinate with Andy (leading Stord implementation on tech side)

Follow-Up Needed

  • Jason: Provide FigJam/architecture diagram access to Brainforge team
  • Jason: Coordinate introduction to Steve and Andy (tech team leads) - SCHEDULED for Dec 11 @ 11am PT
  • Brainforge: Create initial data source architecture diagram based on discovery findings
  • Brainforge: Follow up with Carlos on third-party vendor questions (WBX, JG Marketing, Tatari)
  • Brainforge: Investigate status of unclear tools (Triple Whale, Supermetrics, Blue Onion Labs)
  • Brainforge: Present data warehouse and ETL tool options to tech team for evaluation
  • Brainforge: Coordinate with Andy on Stord API data access needs (launches January 2026)
  • Shivani: Create Brainforge tech team Slack channel or add Steve/Andy to existing channel

Meeting Objectives

  1. Understand LMNT’s current tech stack and data infrastructure
  2. Review security requirements and compliance considerations
  3. Clarify procurement process for new vendors and tools
  4. Discuss API access and credential management
  5. Align on Jason’s involvement in data stack decisions
  6. Get technical orientation on existing systems

Demos/Walkthroughs Requested

  • Overview of current tech stack

    • What systems are in place today?
    • How are they connected?
    • Architecture diagram (if available)

  • Data infrastructure tour

    • Where does data currently live?
    • How is data moved between systems?
    • Any existing ETL/automation tools?

  • Access management systems

    • How are credentials managed?
    • SSO/authentication setup
    • API key management

Questions to Ask

Current Tech Stack

  1. What are the core systems LMNT uses today?

    • E-commerce: Shopify, Amazon Seller Central, Walmart.com 3P
    • ERP/Accounting: Current system? NetSuite migration timeline?
    • CRM/CX: Gorgias, Guru, other tools?
    • Marketing: Meta, TikTok, Google Ads, Bing, StackAdapt, Email, YouTube, Podcast partners
    • Fulfillment: Stord integration?
    • Analytics: Source Medium, anything else?

  2. I see three third-party vendors in e-commerce budget (~$1.3M/year total):

    • WBX Third Party Support ($563K)
    • JG Marketing Third Party Support ($330K)
    • Tatari Third Party Support ($396K for TV/streaming)
    • What are these vendors? How do they fit into the tech stack?
    • Do they have systems we need to integrate with?

  3. How are these systems currently integrated?

  4. Are there any systems that are particularly challenging to work with?

  5. What systems do you see as critical vs. nice-to-have for data integration?

Infrastructure & Hosting

  1. Does LMNT have any existing cloud infrastructure? (AWS, GCP, Azure?)
  2. Any preferences or restrictions on cloud providers?
  3. Current approach to data storage and backups?
  4. How is data currently moved between systems? (manual exports, scheduled jobs, APIs?)

Security & Compliance

  1. What are LMNT’s security requirements for data platforms?

    • SOC2 compliance needed?
    • Data residency requirements?
    • PII handling policies?

  2. How should we handle sensitive customer data (PII)?

  3. Are there specific security certifications vendors must have?

  4. Network security requirements? (VPNs, IP whitelisting, etc.)

  5. How are API credentials and secrets managed?

Access & Permissions

  1. How is access control typically managed?
  2. SSO setup? (Google Workspace, Okta, other?)
  3. Who typically has access to production data systems?
  4. How should we structure access for the Brainforge team?

Procurement & Vendor Management

  1. What’s the typical procurement process for new tools?
  • Approval workflow?
  • Budget approval levels?
  • Contract review process?
  1. Who needs to be involved in vendor selection decisions?
  2. Are there preferred vendors or existing relationships to leverage?
  3. How are vendor contracts typically structured? (annual, monthly, enterprise agreements?)

Data Warehouse & Tool Selection

  1. Has LMNT evaluated any data warehouse solutions? (Snowflake, BigQuery, Redshift?)
  2. Does Phil or anyone on the team have experience with specific data platforms?
  3. Any existing relationships with data tool vendors?
  4. Budget range for data infrastructure tooling?

API Access & Integration

  1. What’s the process for getting API credentials for existing systems?
  • Shopify Admin API access
  • Amazon Seller Partner API
  • Other systems
  1. Are there any rate limits or API quotas we should be aware of?
  2. How are API keys rotated and managed?

NetSuite Migration

  1. What’s the current timeline for NetSuite implementation? (Q4 2026 target?)
  2. Who is leading the NetSuite project?
  3. What integration points should we plan for?
  4. How should we prepare the data foundation for NetSuite?

Monitoring & Support

  1. How are system issues typically escalated and tracked?
  2. Any existing monitoring or alerting systems?
  3. On-call or support expectations for data infrastructure?
  4. How should Brainforge communicate technical issues or outages?

Future Vision

  1. What’s your vision for LMNT’s data infrastructure in 1-2 years?
  2. What pain points would you most like to see solved?
  3. Any upcoming tech initiatives we should coordinate with?
  4. How do you see your team’s involvement in maintaining the data stack?

Resources Mentioned/Requested

To be filled out during/after meeting

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Action Items

To be filled out during/after meeting

LMNT IT (Jason)

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Brainforge (Uttam/Awaish)

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LMNT BizOps (Shivani)

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Notes

Space for additional notes during the meeting

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