Through a blend of investing, advising and consulting, Vanish Ventures enables entrepreneurs and small business owners to improve their mental, physical and financial health. Current clients include companies from the consumer products, third party logistics and artificial intelligence sectors.
Vanish Ventures is led by Van Barker who recently sold his private label e-commerce business to a private equity group after six years of annual double digit growth . While leading the rapid growth of YardStash, he gained extensive experience in the end-to-end management of e-commerce channels such as Amazon, Walmart, Home Depot and Wayfair and developed scalable supply chain and marketing capabilities. Further, he developed a deep appreciation for the twists and turns of the entrepreneurial roller coaster ride.
Prior to founding YardStash, Van held global marketing and product management leadership positions at PepsiCo and Hewlett-Packard, led interactive marketing for CBS/Viacom’s e-commerce start-up and was SVP of CUTS Performance Marketing. Van received his BA in Asian History from Bates College and his MBA from Northwestern’s Kellogg School of Management.
Van is currently a mentor for San Diego Sport Innovators and Pacific Community Ventures and is committed to “paying it forward” by improving the mental, physical and financial health of entrepreneurs. He can be contacted at (619)846-5187 or van@vanishventures.com.
