Akash Bajaj Personal Portfolio
v.001 Apr 2026

Akash Bajaj

Operator, builder, generalist. Currently scaling an apparel business and building the software that runs it. Looking for chief of staff, operations, or GM roles at growth-stage companies.

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Soho, NYC F.01
01 About
Modernizing a business, learning everything else along the way

I came in to modernize a business and ended up learning everything else along the way.

I came to Advance Apparels in my early twenties, fresh out of a degree in Business and Technology, a program built around the idea that every business eventually becomes a tech company. I joined to modernize one that was running on paper invoices and fax machines. Twelve years later, every piece of information about that business lives at our fingertips, we've grown 6x, and I've learned more than I thought any one job could teach.

I didn't study fashion. I didn't study software. I came in to do one thing and ended up learning the rest by being curious and slightly stubborn. How clothing actually gets made. How to hold a relationship with a customer over a decade. How to lead a team of 140 across two countries. How to write enough code, with the help of modern tools, to replace the SaaS we used to pay for.

The thing I'm proudest of isn't a number. It's what running this business taught me about uncertainty.

When COVID hit, every boutique we sold to in New York shut down right as we had peak demand. By the time New York reopened, the rest of the country was in lockdown and the demand was gone. We launched a direct-to-consumer store essentially overnight. It became a meaningful part of our revenue. We didn't plan it. We reacted, fast, on instinct, and it worked.

Earlier in my career, I would have been wrecked by every wrong call I made. Now I know that intuition gets sharpened by being wrong. Every bad decision either taught me something or showed me a new product category, a new fabric, a new way of doing things. Problems that used to feel enormous don't anymore. Not because they got smaller, but because I got more reps.

What I'm looking for next is a role where I can work closely with founders or senior leadership, move fast, and be useful immediately. I'm drawn to chief of staff, operations, and general management roles at growth-stage companies. I have a soft spot for commerce, consumer brands, and fashion, but I care more about good people and a real problem than any specific industry.

02 Currently
Operating a wholesale apparel business since 2014

Advance Apparels

Chief Operating Executive · 2014 → Present

A wholesale apparel business serving boutiques across the United States. I joined to modernize the operation and ended up running it. Today the business spans manufacturing in India, Thailand, and Bangladesh, fulfillment in the US, and a 140-person team across two countries.

Every part of how the business runs today, I either built or rebuilt: the systems, the team, the supplier relationships, the software. The work that used to live on paper now lives in tools we built ourselves.

Revenue growth
$2M → $12M
140+
Employees
US & India
4
Countries
US, IN, TH, BD
12+
Years
operating
F.03 Editorial · Mediterranean
F.04 Studio · Maxi
F.05 Studio · Eyelet
Case study coming soon Read the full case
03 Built
Custom software for a business that needed it

Three tools I shipped without a CS degree.

I taught myself enough modern engineering, with the help of AI, to ship the software that runs our business. All three are in production today.

F.06
Advance HQ

A custom enterprise resource planning system built from scratch for our business. Customers, orders, invoices, products, shipments, pick tickets, all in one place, designed exactly to how we work. What we used to rent, replaced.

StatusShipped
Year2024 → present
StackNext.js · Supabase · Vercel
ScopeInternal · 140 users
F.07
Team Inbox

A unified inbox combining email, SMS, and order context. Every customer thread shows their order history, top products, and live status alongside the conversation. The team can reply across channels from one place. Built around our workflow, not someone else's.

StatusShipped
Year2024 → present
StackNext.js · Supabase · Twilio
ScopeInternal · Sales & Support
ChannelsEmail · SMS · MMS
F.08
Virtual Try-On

An AI-powered virtual try-on tool for wholesale buyers. Pick a model, upload a garment, and generate the model wearing it in seconds. Built on FASHN v1.5 with a custom model library and a Next.js frontend. A tool that didn't exist before for our use case.

StatusBeta
Year2025 → present
StackNext.js · FAL.ai · Flux
ModelsFASHN v1.5 · Flux Realism LoRA
ScopeWholesale buyers
04 Founded
A bootstrapped DTC menswear brand
Brand
AK Threads
Years
2017 → 2020
Model
Direct to consumer
Channels
Online · NYC pop-ups
Status
Closed in 2020

A vertically integrated menswear brand built on principles of sustainability and value. Operated for three years before I wound it down to focus on Advance Apparels.

AK Threads was a bootstrapped direct to consumer menswear brand I founded out of grad school. I designed the line, ran the marketing, managed production, and shipped the orders out of a studio in New York. We sold online and through pop ups for three years.

It taught me what it actually takes to build a brand from nothing. The unit economics of DTC, the brutality of paid acquisition against well funded incumbents, the difference between a good product photo and a great one, and how product is everything. I closed it in 2020 to go all in on Advance Apparels. The lessons I still use every week.

F.09 Editorial · SS19
F.10 Editorial · SS19
05 Consulting
AI and automation for small businesses

Outlever Advisory.

A small consulting practice I run on the side, helping small businesses adopt AI and automate their operations. Most clients are owner operators looking to do more with the same team. Recently launched.

Visit website
Outlever Advisory
Small business AI and automation consulting. Now taking on clients.
06 Education
Where I studied
F.11
Babson College
MS · Entrepreneurial Leadership
F.12
Stevens Institute of Technology
BS · Business and Technology
Footnote Our senior thesis project went on to become VitalFit Nutrition, later acquired by TB12.
07 Press
Selected mentions
08 Contact
How to reach me

Let's talk