Michael Malatesta

Bridging the gap.

[Carlos Chavez @carloschavez_oi]

Over the last five years, I have:

1. Helped Mini Katana scale from a tiny warehouse into a major 3PL operation shipping 200,000+ swords.

2. Helped candy company manufactures in-house and launches into nationwide retail legacy stores.

3. I am now helping 9-figure brands keep OpEx lean while scaling hard into thousands of doors. 

The biggest unlock for me, over the last two years, has been AI.

Here are the core lessons I’ve learned:

1. AUTOMATE EVERYTHING YOU CAN

Why? Because human error is REAL.

When the goal is to produce quality output, the key is to replace human inputs with automation - this reduces the margin of error and variance greatly. 

Packing Lists, BOLs, Pallet labels etc are notorious for having manual entry typos. 

Have Claude generate them from validated source data, then have a human approve it. 

On the warehouse floor, use equipment to eliminate repetitive labor:
- Conveyors
- Case erectors
- Tape Machines
- Palletizers
- Pallet Wrappers
- Forklifts

Automation streamline throughput while making it safer, consistent and more accurate.

2. REDUCE THE NUMBER OF STEPS

Every unnecessary footstep, click or transfer is WASTE.

I drastically increased production output while decreasing staff by:
- reducing walking distance
- Installing an automatic heat sealer & inkjet printer
- Adding conveyors
- Mounting a sponge to remove candy residue from the pouches

These are tasks that humans used to do and not one of them involves putting candy into the bag.

3. INCREASE HEADCOUNT SHOULD NOT BE THE FIRST SOLUTION

If your inbound team spends all day unloading one container, instead of hiring more people you can:
- get a 30 ft conveyor
- get an electric forklift
- redesign the unloading lay out 
- improve appointment scheduling

Better equipment and better processes will permanently improve productivity and capacity. 

4. BUILD AN ANTI-FRAGILE OPERATION

Do not wait for the fire, prevent the fire. 

Identify every single risk to your operation and set up counter measure protocols before they happen. Because they will happen. 

Facility overheats? Build a heat extraction system. 

Weekend Managers are unreliable? Have someone who is cross-trained.

At Mini Katana, our warehouse experienced an electrical fire ( not our fault ). Fortunately, the team and finished goods were completely safe because we had:

- Product on pallets, this avoided water damage from sprinklers
- Nothing against the walls
- Fire extinguishers handy 
- Clean and open exits
- and an evacuation plan

5. INCREASE IN VISIBILITY WILL DECREASE CONFUSION

Decisions happen faster when everyone sees the same info. 

My production and warehouse team needed to see target numbers and actual throughput in real time. 

So I installed a giant jumbotron in the middle of the floor with KPI’s.

The founder needed to see inventory and fulfillment statuses without messaging 5 people

So I built a dedicated custom ops dashboard that answers every high level question at a glance. 

6. The BEST AI implementations are BORING.

Constantly exporting and manipulating data? Build a skill in Claude.

That weekly report? Build an agent that will automatically generate one. 

It saves 10 minutes here and 30 minutes there. Spread over a year, that adds up to thousands of hours saved!

7. AI WILL NOT REPLACE GREAT OPERATORS 

Operators who harness the power of 
 - AI
- Automation
- Anti-fragile building
- Lean processes
- Visibility 
- Redundancy 

Will have a RIDICULOUS advantage.

What a great time to be in Ops!

[isaac @theisaacmed]

Carlos was with me for 4~ years.

He was one of the reasons I scaled so fast.

He went from warehouse worker to managing ops because of how smart and hardworking he is.

Now he is working with a 9 figure brand, and has automated a ton of their processes with AI.

He is new to X and deserves a follow.

[shobhanai @HeyShobhan]

Ten million people have watched an MIT professor accidentally destroy the executive coaching industry.

He filmed the lecture once in January 2018 and died eighteen months later.

Executive coaches charge fifteen thousand dollars a session to teach a third of what he covered in one hour for free.

His name was Patrick Winston. He ran the MIT Artificial Intelligence Laboratory from 1972 to 1997 and wrote the AI textbook every computer science major in the world read for thirty years.

Every January for four decades, he gave a lecture called "How to Speak."

His entire framework fits on a napkin.

Do not read. Be in the image. Keep images simple. Eliminate clutter. Start with an empathetic connection. End with a punch line the audience can repeat over dinner. Never open with a joke. Never end with "thank you."

That last rule alone has probably cost the executive coaching industry a hundred million dollars.

"Your success in life will be determined largely by your ability to speak, your ability to write, and the quality of your ideas. In that order."

That is the actual opening line of the lecture. Winston believed it strongly enough to spend fifty years teaching computer scientists how to talk.

Founders spend $80,000 on an MBA and then hire a communications coach to teach them the same material Winston filmed once for free. Engineers write brilliant code and lose promotions to teammates who watched this lecture on the train.

The lecture is free on MIT OpenCourseWare. The textbook is free on his page.

Winston died in 2019. Almost none of the ten million viewers have actually implemented the four rules on the napkin.

The napkin is free. The willingness to actually use it in your next meeting is the entire edge.

[Take Heed Son @takeheedson_]

@ClayMatthews52 @CaesarsSports Multi-millionaires encouraging ordinary dudes to throw their family's money down the drain?

Not sure it gets more shameful and demonic than this.

[Riley Gaines @Riley_Gaines_]

They continue to reveal themselves. They have no shame. So disrespectful.

[Armaan Jaswal @ArmaanJaswal2]

Job posting: "Entry level. 0-2 years experience."

Requirements:
• 5 years in tools that are 3 years old
• MBA preferred
• Salary: "competitive" (it's not)
• Must wear many hats (it's 3 jobs)
• Fast-paced environment (chaotic, no processes)

I decoded the job market so you don't have to.

Save this. You'll need it. 👇

[Michael Malatesta @MichaelJMala]

@moizali Yes.. emphatic yes.. as the partner of a service based industry provider.. I say again.. yes 🤦‍♂️🤣

[Michael Malatesta @MichaelJMala]

@moizali Eddie.Eddie.. and Eddie… but I need more information. 🤣 time of day, how many people were not on this board or is this the lot.. averages.. blah blah blah.. if only when we called a reference we could have data 💡 that is a service I would pay 1000 bucks a month for.butidigress

[Michael Malatesta @MichaelJMala]

@MustangMan_TX Yes fuh that.. man needs to be locked up with her.. for real real..

[Michael Malatesta @MichaelJMala]

@Mel2Gibson Foul AF

[Michael Malatesta @MichaelJMala]

@AmericaPapaBear Sad..the dumbass fat fudge .. doesn’t realize he body’s him by 100 and can’t gain control of his ego at full guard .. wailing like his daddy did him..

[Michael Malatesta @MichaelJMala]

@esthercrawford Love this.. in the game of life risk is the rake…thanks for the reminder.

[Michael Malatesta @MichaelJMala]

@fred_floss @RadioGenoa Why do people feel the need to audibly regurgitate amazingly high levels of ignorance in a premeditated form?