Building a Marketplace Giant: Flywheel's Journey to $835 Million
In 2021, Origin Materials made waves when it went public through a unique merger with blank-check company Artius Acquisition (AACQ). At the time, the company was valued at upwards of $1 billion.
Origin Materials is a leader in developing carbon-negative materials and the years since the IPO have seen Origin Materials solidify its position in the sustainable materials market. They've strategically acquired major clients like Ford, Mitsubishi Gas Chemical, Solvay, and Primloft – a company that supplies apparel giants like LL Bean, Nike, and Adidas.
Join us on June 20 for a fireside chat with Origin Co-Founder and CEO John Bissell. In a conversation with Founders Network Founder andIn 2014, Patrick Miller co-founded Flywheel Digital, a cloud-based platform that revolutionized how brands sell across online marketplaces. Fueled by a strategic vision, Patrick and his team bootstrapped Flywheel from a scrappy startup into a leading platform with solutions for more than 400 digital marketplaces.
Through a series of smart acquisitions, they integrated multiple companies to create a powerful, one-stop platform. Last year, this journey culminated in Flywheel's impressive $835 million acquisition by Omnichannel.
On July 31, Patrick will join Founders Network Founder and CEO Kevin Holmes for a fireside chat. He'll delve into the Flywheel story, sharing the highs and lows, and how prioritizing and investing his team helped fueled their meteoric rise. From the early days of running major ad campaigns on personal credit cards to scaling to a global team of 2,000+, Patrick will offer invaluable insights for entrepreneurs at all stages.
Opening Remarks @ 9:30am PT
Join us for opening remarks with Dina Fattom, Member Success Manager at Founders Network, to get the latest updates from the Network and opportunities for getting involved.
Keynote Speaker @ 9:40am PT
Patrick Miller co-founded and is a Director of Flywheel Digital, a pioneering digital advertising, eCommerce, and technology firm that optimizes sales and media for the world’s largest brands. Patrick led client engagements, product, technology and data science for Flywheel. By verticalizing technology and managed services, Flywheel became the largest advertiser across Amazon, Walmart, Instacart and other leading marketplaces. Under Miller’s leadership, Flywheel grew to more than 2,000 colleagues with global operations in the Americas, Europe, APAC, and China while acquiring, creating, and integrating twelve industry-leading businesses.
Flywheel was acquired by Omnicom Media Group, North America’s largest purchaser of media, in January 2024 in what was Omnicom’s largest ever acquisition. This is the second time Flywheel was acquired, previously by Ascential, PLC in 2018. Miller continues to serve on the Board of Directors at Flywheel as well as on the boards of eCommerce company Workflow Labs and legal AI company, ThoughtRiver. Miller also serves on the Board of Directors for Sheppard Pratt Hospital, the nation’s largest private, nonprofit provider of mental health.
A frequent speaker at industry events, Miller has presented at the Cannes Lions International Festival of Creativity, CES, Cleveland Research eCommerce Summit, Amazon Unboxed, as well as numerous direct brand engagements.
Prior to founding Flywheel, Miller was Director of Community Building and Web Services at the Chesapeake Bay Foundation where he was responsible for social, web, and online fundraising optimization. Miller continues to be engaged in the environmental non profit space, serving on the Maryland League of Conservation Voters Board as well as leading their PAC efforts. Prior to serving on the LCV Board, Miller held board positions on the Friends of Patapsco Valley State Park, International Mountain Bicycling Regional Leadership Council, MD Bicycling and Pedestrian Advisory Council, MD Recreation Trail Program, and MORE Mountain Bicycling Trails Advocacy.
Miller spent his early career in politics, overseeing web, email, GOTV direct mail, and outdoor advertising for the winning 2002 MD Gubernatorial candidate. Miller went on to serve in the administration where he was the youngest member of the senior staff.
Patrick is married to Dr. Amy Plotkin, an Anatomic Pathologist and Director of the Biorepository Program at the University of Maryland Medical Center. They have two toddlers, two cats, one dog, and plenty of chaos. Patrick is also a competitive mountain biker, mediocre cook, and avid reader. Miller is a graduate of James Madison University, where he earned a Bachelor of Arts in English.
Stage-Based Roundtables @ 10:30am PT
Community Partners:
Jeff leads the Partnerships Team at Forecastr — a leading FP&A software company that helps startups create kick-butt financial models to impress investors, confidently raise capital, and effectively run their businesses better.
Jeff serves on the advisory boards of several startup companies and is an active angel investor. He's passionate about startups and enjoys working with founders and mentoring entrepreneurs.
Jeff is an experienced entrepreneur and was the founder and CEO of a successful consumer goods company that he rapidly grew from $1M in sales its first year to over $40M in annual revenue in its fourth year of operations and was ranked #138 on the Inc. 500 list of fastest growing companies.
Prior to founding his own company, Jeff was a partner at Beanstalk Partners where he led the sales and business development activities. He also served as the National Sales Director for a venture-backed tech startup where he generated over $45M in client contracts and developed the company’s channel partner program.
Jeff has a degree in accounting and graduated Magna Cum Laude from the University of Utah. After receiving his MBA in Finance from the University of Utah he served as the Vice President of Investments for Sentry Financial Corporation.
Cathy is the Managing Partner at FullScope Growth, a global consortium of elite Fractional Executives and Business Acceleration Partners that provide the exact combination of experts that organizations require.
She has cross-functional experience in sales, management, marketing and business planning, client services, network development and operations. Delivers strong results within highly competitive markets.
Guests Are Welcome!
Please bring a guest! Every member can bring one (1) guest to each event. Each guest must be a full-time tech startup founder so they can bring new perspectives, skillsets, and experience to your chapter.
All guests must be full-time tech startup founders and you can register them directly on this function page. See How to Register a Guest here.
Confidentiality Policy:
All information shared within Founders Network is strictly confidential. We are built on a foundation of trust, and the community takes confidentiality seriously. Investors, members, and staff all share experiences and opinions off the record. In this roundtable forum, we continue to model our fnValues of Reciprocity, Humility, Authenticity and Inclusivity.