Our Team
Daniel Duty
Founder & CEO
Daniel Duty is an internationally known expert in the fields of negotiation, partnership building, joint problem-solving and collective impact.
Daniel built the Business Partnerships and Negotiations team for Target where he developed its negotiations and partnership strategy and implemented a variety of frameworks, creating billions of dollars in savings and growth.
Daniel has led hundreds of negotiations on every conceivable topic with companies like Nestle, Hasbro, and Unilever. He developed strategic partnerships creating innovative new products and solutions with organizations like P&G, Starbucks and UNICEF.
Daniel developed Target’s social responsibility strategy and built the Alliance for Bangladesh Worker Safety, a coalition of companies that made collective impact on worker safety in record time.
Daniel has taught thousands of businesspeople in the art and science of negotiation and partnerships at companies, business forums and leading universities such as Harvard, Berkeley, and Northwestern. Prior to joining Target, Daniel worked on behalf of US Senator Paul Simon, the US International Trade Commission, General Mills and other organizations.
Will Davis
Founder & COO
Will Davis is an expert in the retail ecosystem. He’s led billion dollar businesses, transformed merchandising processes, and negotiated across the spectrum of Retail/CPG relationships.
As head of Conlego Operations, Will focuses on company strategy and implementation, creating new product offerings, developing innovative negotiation approaches, and delivering obscene value to clients through customized engagements and long-term transformation.
His customer negotiations and partnership approach with Whole Foods earned Conlego Supplier of the Year in 2018.
Kryssa (Anderson) Byron
Senior Engagement Manager
Kryssa leads retail engagements focusing on negotiations, category management, coaching and training. Known in the field as the Female Negotiator, Kryssa leads and develops Conlego’s “Women in Negotiation” practice.
Kryssa spearheads Conlego’s Merchant Academy where she develops and delivers best-in-class coaching and training content for our clients, with an emphasis on building confidence.
Kryssa has held various roles in merchandising at Target, where she ran multi-million-dollar Health and Beauty businesses. She was also a lead negotiator for Target’s Business Partnerships & Negotiations Team, where she created significant bottom line value for its Hardlines & Grocery businesses.
Alex Kopplin
Senior Engagement Manager
Alex leads major client engagements at Conlego focused on developing and implementing business strategies, negotiation systems, and partnerships to drive sustainable growth.
Alex also negotiates major deals for clients and has generated significant savings and value for Conlego clients worth hundreds of millions of dollars.
Alex also leads Conlego’s Portager.ai platform, a first of its kind SaaS tool built specifically for merchants and the way they work, facilitating negotiations and assortment building between retailers and brands in a more transparent and efficient way.
Alex is a former deal attorney with deep expertise in M&A and complex business transactions where he led major negotiations across diverse business sectors.
Benton Uttley
Senior Engagement Manager
Benton leads major engagements for Conlego where he focuses on negotiations, Joint Business Planning, e-commerce, business strategies, storytelling and financial analyses and modeling.
Benton leads Conlego’s productization and innovation practice, developing new tools and systems that benefit clients’ needs, including Conlego’s revolutionary Portager.ai tool.
Benton is a former merchant at Abercrombie & Fitch and Target, where he developed special expertise in sourcing and apparel. He was also a member of Target’s Business Partnerships and Negotiations Team.
Mark Mathews
Senior Engagement Manager
Mark leads major client engagements at Conlego focusing on developing and implementing strategies in negotiation, partnerships, innovation, and business to drive sustainable growth.
Mark has generated significant savings and value for both brands and retailers worth hundreds of millions of dollars. Mark also leads Conlego’s CPG and overall consulting practices, where he develops best-in-class approaches and best methods for delivering significant value. He is a frequent lecturer and trainer in academia and in business.
Mark is the former VP and sales lead for Ripple Foods and the head of Merchandising Partnerships & Negotiation at GoPuff. Mark held senior merchandising positions at Target and was a member of its Business Partnerships & Negotiations Team. He also has a background in finance.
Scott Robertson
Senior Advisor
Scott is the country’s foremost leader in developing strategic partnerships and Joint Business Planning that achieve significant growth, innovation, and impact. His efforts have grown client businesses, while producing outstanding financial results.
Scott formerly held senior roles in Target’s finance and merchandising organizations. He was the lead merchant developing Target’s grocery business. He later led Target’s Grocery area on its Business Partnerships & Negotiations Team, where he developed its Joint Business Planning expertise and created over $1 billion in savings, while building some of the company’s most important strategic partnerships.
Lisa Naughton
Chief of Staff
Lisa serves as Conlego’s Chief of Staff, where she focuses on best practices in negotiations and training that benefit our clients. She also conducts category negotiations for retail clients and is a significant coach for our clients and team.
Lisa has a diverse background, working at General Mills, as a consultant for 3M in marketing and sales, as a merchant for Target’s soda and cookie/cracker businesses, as a negotiator in both procurement and merchandising, and as a leader developing merchandising IT systems at both Target and Best Buy.
Clay Parrish
Senior Associate
Clay is an expert in negotiations, category management, Joint Business Planning, business strategy, supply chain and innovation. Clay helps our clients develop strategic plans for creating more value, while implementing those strategies in a way that creates sustainable results.
Clay is a former innovation strategist with Target, where he led problem-solving and innovation teams that helped launch Instacart and “Last Mile Fulfillment”. He was also a merchant for the toys division of Target.com.
Mark Hill
Associate
Mark is a negotiation leader focused on developing significant outcomes in retail category negotiations. Mark has special expertise in coaching clients through their business strategy and communications efforts, helping them develop a winning story that garners more investment.
Mark is a former Target merchant and sales lead for Sony PlayStation. He has coached several debate teams, helping them succeed in developing winning positions.
Faye Zhang
Senior Analyst
Faye is a negotiations leader focused on how data and insights lead to greater result. With deep expertise in management information systems, supply chain & operations management, her work has uncovered opportunities worth millions of dollars for our clients.
Faye is a former Cloud Engineering Strategy Analyst with Deloitte and a Display and Paid Analyst with the Ovative Group.
John Pouchot
Associate
John is a negotiations leader focused on retail category and contract negotiations where he develops plans and strategies that produce out-sized results.
John has deep experience in conflict management, and holds a law degree that provides him with unique insights into negotiations and finding solutions that work.
Juli Lassow
Engagement Consultant
Juli is an engagement consultant to Conlego where she brings deep expertise in sourcing, negotiations, private label, and financial modeling. She has helped Conlego clients build tremendous value and impact.
Juli is also the founder of JHL Solutions, an advisory firm focused on building private-label partnerships. She is also an expert in, and a sought-after speaker on, sustainability and the “circular economy.”
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Connect with us today to create more value and impact.
With a focus on maximizing value and fostering mutually beneficial relationships, Conlego is your partner in achieving retail excellence.