Building process like a pro: 4 lessons from ARMRA's VP of Process
What every omnichannel brand founder should know about scaling operations without losing their mind.
Process can feel like a dirty word for fast-moving consumer brands. It conjures images of bloated bureaucracy, lost speed, and unnecessary overhead.
But here’s the truth: as your brand scales, your chaos scales faster. (Knowing nod to the title of this newsletter!) If you don't invest in process early, you'll spend more time untangling messes than building momentum.
Our guest on the podcast this week is a pro at this— in fact, it’s his full time job at one of the DTC space’s hottest start-ups, ARMRA.
Process isn't about slowing you down. It's about helping you scale fast without breaking. And if you're doing it right, it’s less about rigid rules and more about building the infrastructure for autonomy, alignment, and adaptability.
So what does Noah Averbach, ARMRA’s VP of Process, suggest for nimble, fast-growing start-ups who don’t want to collapse under the weight of their own ambitions?
I saved his juiciest tips for the episode, but here are four highlights that I couldn’t not share…
1. Process is what keeps speed from becoming chaos.
“As you grow, you can't just hop on a huddle and figure it out anymore,” Noah says.
That's the tipping point. Once your team crosses 10 to 15 people, ad-hoc decisions become expensive mistakes—but process is the connective tissue that turns individual hustle into collective momentum.
Why it matters: Without defined workflows, cross-functional initiatives stall. Decisions get duplicated, deadlines slip, and ownership gets fuzzy.
How to do it: Start with lightweight SOPs and embed a single project manager across key teams. Their job? Keep the train on the tracks without dictating the route.
This hire can be fractional too! Resources are limited, and full-time hires can feel like a really big deal early on—starting small or starting somewhere is better than not starting at all.
2. Early structure = future speed.
Process doesn't have to mean rigidity.
Done right, it accelerates autonomy. Noah built his team to move fast by aligning each department around a consistent rhythm. "Wherever you drop into the company, it's all running in a similar fashion," he explains.
Why it matters: Founders can often think that speed comes from freedom… but doesn’t real speed come from clarity? When teams know how to plug in, they don’t have to stop and ask where the outlet is. 💡
How to do it: Normalize weekly team-level check-ins, shared PM tooling (Noah uses Monday), and one owner per deliverable. Set the cadence—then get out of the way.
3. A broken process is better than no process.
“It's not about finding the perfect thing and locking it,” Noah says. “It's about making things 1% better every day.”
Great processes are living systems—always evolving. Sometimes they break. That’s the point! I’m sorry, but it has to be said: commerce really is chaos.
Why it matters: Perfect is the enemy of progress. Your team doesn't need perfection… they need direction! I’ve made that mistake or gotten stuck on that point as a founder, and I’ve felt it working for many other founders. It’s so simple, but can feel really hard to implement.
How to do it: Treat every new workflow as a chance to observe and learn. Document what's happening, note what breaks, and iterate ruthlessly. It's okay to outgrow your first system. Just make sure you're growing with it.
4. Automate the handoffs, not the humans.
“I want to lift my team out of busywork,” says Noah.
His view on automation is refreshingly grounded: use AI to eliminate repetitive labor, so people can focus on connective, creative, high-leverage work.
Why it matters: Automations without human insight create brittle systems. But humans working at fast paced and high intensity start-ups without automation burn out…
How to do it: Start with one repeated task per team. Build a basic automation (like a Slack reminder, or a Monday status update—I love using Geekbot for Slack, for example). Then layer in AI tools for complex, variable work as you grow.
The TLDR: Process isn't the enemy of agility. It's the architecture for scale.
Done right, it gives your team the clarity to move faster, the autonomy to own more, and the space to do their best work.
And if you're not sure where to start? Start small. Document one workflow. Make it 1% better. Then do it again!
P.S.—curious about what a VP of Process even is? Wondering how you scale to get your own? All that and more in this week’s episode.
—Zoe