Daniel Folkman ’12 joined goPuff—co-founded by Forbes “30 Under 30” awardees Rafael Ilishayev and Yakir Gola—as one of the early employees. goPuff is the fastest growing delivery company, delivering food and drinks, cleaning supplies, home needs, over the counter medications and more in just minutes. Folkman, who previously led user growth and partnership on-boarding at a marketing and insights platform Sumpto, was brought on to lead the business development function and has spearheaded the development and scaling of goPuff’s partnership strategy.
The name of the game for consumer packaged goods (CPG) companies is “innovate or die”. This is true for large, small, established and start-up brands alike and true across the entire spectrum of their business, from product, to branding, to how they communicate with shoppers, to how they enable product purchasing and delivery, and how they leverage data to target consumers.
goPuff has been able to develop a unique and valuable offering to help these companies adapt to the new age of retail and that enable them to win in the race for digital “shelf space.” goPuff’s innovative partnerships allow CPG brands to micro-target consumers and provide an ultra-convenient digital shopping experience, especially to highly coveted millennial and Gen Z consumers—driving sales and building long-lasting brand loyalty with target consumers.
Over the last two plus years, Folkman has developed partnerships with leading CPG companies such as Coca Cola, Hershey’s, Kraft Heinz, Unilever and Kellogg’s—as featured in Food Dive, Mobile Marketer, Philly magazine and Retail Touchpoints—while scaling goPuff’s partnerships department to dozens across Brand Partnerships, Partner Success and Consumer Insights teams. These partnerships deliver invaluable insights and media opportunities while providing a substantial incremental revenue stream for the business.
Beyond the CPG industry, Daniel and his team have also developed partnerships with Venmo, Mastercard and Chase, among others, helping the business to raise brand awareness and bolster customer loyalty. Folkman also oversees Communications at goPuff, shaping the external positioning of the company’s brand marketing, advertising and corporate social responsibility.
goPuff is unique from other delivery services in that it owns strategically located facilities stocked with inventory in each market in which it operates, allowing the company to control the entire experience and bring products directly to the customer, thanks to its more than 4,000 employees nationwide.
goPuff currently delivers to more than 500+ U.S. cities, including Atlanta, Austin, Boston, Chicago, Denver, Philadelphia, Phoenix, Pittsburgh, Syracuse and many, many more. Most recently, goPuff was named to the 2020 CNBC Disruptor 50, an annual list of breakthrough companies revolutionizing the economy.
goPuff can be downloaded on iOS or Android or found at www.gopuff.com.
Folkman graduated from Syracuse University’s Martin J. Whitman School of Management in 2012 with a dual major in Entrepreneurship and Emerging Enterprises and Finance and a minor in Economics. While at Syracuse, Folkman participated in the Syracuse Student Sandbox, the IDEA Awards Competition and many other startup events.
He has since spent time investing in and advising early-stage startups, participating on panels at conferences, such as SXSW and Shop.org, and speaking to Fortune 500 executive teams on innovation, new retail and digital transformation. Additionally, he serves on the Young Whitman Advisory Council for the Whitman School.
- Featured Alumnus: Daniel Folkman ’12 - September 17, 2018
Daniel Folkman was Captain of the Syracuse Ice Hockey Team.
GO ORANGE !!