ELEVEN YEARS.
ONE BRAND.
EVERY SEAT.
Ed Rainey has spent most of his career working in founder-led consumer brands. After some time with Back to the Roots, Ed joined Knockaround as Director of Finance. Over eleven years he became the founder's right hand — VP of Finance and Operations, then COO, then CMO, and finally Chief Brand Officer — all through the growth years and a private equity capitalization.
WHY MILE 22.
At mile 22 of the LA Marathon, Ed hit the wall. The training plan that carried him 21 miles stopped working, and the only way forward was a different gear. The same thing happens to businesses. The playbook that got you to $15M quits on you, usually without warning. That mile is the moment Mile 22 Co. is named for, and the moment it's built for.
THE TRACK RECORD.
Leading nearly every department in one company let Ed see how a decision in finance shows up in operations, and how both show up in the brand. During the COO years, revenue more than doubled, inventory ran four times leaner, and the business completed an institutional PE capitalization.
That sequence, finance to operations to marketing, inside the same brand, almost never happens.
2X+
Revenue growth during COO tenure.
~4X
Faster inventory turns.
PE
Capitalization completed during COO tenure.
THE FOUNDER WHO SAW IT ALL.
"Here's the thing nobody tells you about building a company: you get really good at one part of it, then spend the next decade bluffing your way through the rest. Ed is the person who makes the bluffing unnecessary. When things got complicated, he was the only one in the room who could see the entire picture at once instead of his slice of it. If you're a founder staring at a business that suddenly doesn't respond the way it used to, I don't think there's a better person to call."
Adam Moyer
Founder, Knockaround
THE ENDGAME.
Whether the plan is to raise, sell, or simply own a healthier business, the destination looks the same — books that hold up under scrutiny, margins you can explain, the best people in the right seats, and growth that doesn't depend on the discount. Ed has taken a brand through that process from the inside. He knows what a buyer's team looks for, because he's been the one doing it.
Ed lives in San Diego with his family and his favorite running buddy, a Vizsla named Doobie.