Coworking with Evan Smith

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Evan Smith, a former Starbucks exec, is co-founder and CEO of AI-powered retail tech company Ethosphere.

How would you describe your job to someone who doesn’t work in retail? We have an incredible CTO and world-class tech team, which means I do everything else that is not tech. An average day involves both the exciting—spending time designing the future with our retail brand partners and updating investors on our vision—as well as the mundane—balancing the books and making sure our HR benefits are in order. Good news for us—I am both the CEO and head of HR, so I should be clear to go to Coldplay concerts.

One thing we can’t guess about your job from your LinkedIn profile? I play bass guitar in a dad rock band. Basically a few guys with kids who play the ’80s and ’90s hits we want to play in a local Seattle bar every few months. Startups are a ton of work, but if you don’t have some outlet to maintain your sanity, you won’t be in a great place to support and lead your teams. The band was a total Covid accident, but we’re not half bad!

What’s your favorite project you’ve worked on? I was part of the team who brought the Starbucks delivery business to life. Some at Starbucks used to call me “The Godfather of Delivery.” In 2017, there was great skepticism in the C-suite that customers desired lukewarm lattes delivered to their doors 20 minutes after they ordered them. I took on the challenge of building a pilot to test these assumptions and proved that in fact this was exactly what our customers had been missing! We were able to take our adorable, one-market pilot to a national, and then international business, and stand up what continues to be the fastest-growing business channel for Starbucks even through to today.

Which emerging retail trend are you most excited about right now, and why? Back to brick and mortar! The renewed focus on stores after decades of e-commerce investment is exciting. Look no further than Warby Parker, a DTC darling, reaching 300 stores in July. Brands see the next horizon of growth coming through in-person retail experiences, and are now rethinking stores that may have become stale over the last decade. This is both aggressive store expansion for booming brands, and refreshed thinking from brands who understand that their customers and their teams look much different than they did pre-Covid. And, importantly, that the expectations of this new generation look much different.

What’s your go-to coffee order? Flat white—I like my coffee with just a little bit of milk. But the coffee has to be good!

Worst piece of advice you’ve received? “Don’t open your baseball cards and touch them. You’ll hurt their value.” Advice given to me in fifth grade by my best friend’s dad. The whole point of baseball cards was to touch them, learn about your favorite players, and trade them with your friends. When you hermetically seal things off because they have “value” you’re actually missing out on their true value: the joy they bring. Reflecting back, it is a reminder that life is to be lived to its fullest, not merely observed under glass.

What was your favorite retail product when you were 15, and what’s your favorite retail product now? 15: Airwalks. I was a skater-punk growing up. The brand met the moment with shoes that were both fashionable (although my parents would have disagreed at the time!) and functional, built for actual skaters. I even remember my last pair, they were the Jason Lee’s. Yes, the same Jason Lee who is now a great comedic actor. Few people know before he got into acting he was a professional skater. And I loved his shoes. Now: Bonobos pants. I’ve been a fan since their early days, and still find their fits great, and their colors fun. I tend to go with brightly colored pants. Why go beige, when you can go purple? Or green? Or aqua? Be the guy who shows up to the party in bright pants, and you’ll be memorable. Or at least feel more interesting from afar.