Artem Mashkov
.
Wartime operator · Multi-exit founder
Scale lean. Cut to profit. Know which one it’s time for.
Finance, ops, legal and people under one roof. At SwagUp I did both: the back office I ran barely grew through 12,919% revenue growth, then I cut company overhead from $2M to $670K a month and sold it to BDA. Three exits in 20 years.
$180M
SwagUp revenue as COO/CFO
12,919%
SwagUp revenue growth, 2017–2020. No. 23 on the Inc. 5000.
$670K
Monthly overhead after the turnaround, down from $2M
+$2.8M
Adj. EBITDA, up from -$3M, before the sale to BDA
Since 19
It started with one cell phone store.
Immigrant kid, grew up on welfare. I didn't get into a single college I applied to, Stuyvesant diploma and all. So I took a job at a cell phone store in South Brooklyn, got good at it, and bought it at 19 with my mother's life savings. Paid her back in seven months, with interest, while finishing at Baruch. Then I bought a Paging Zone franchise store, became their biggest dealer and formed a joint venture with the master dealer that grew to 12 Verizon stores. It still runs today as AIR Wireless, and I've kept a stake. Along the way, I met with members of the Obama administration on youth engagement and got a thank-you letter from the President. It's my go-to in two truths and a lie.
Every company since has run on the same instinct: collect good people, sell the relationship over the transaction, bet on the team over the idea, and automate anything a person shouldn’t do twice. It’s why I was early to AI tools. Built through multiple recessions, a pandemic, and the worst inflation in 40 years. The millennial special.
Track record
From the ground up, more than once.
COO → CFO · 2018–2025
SwagUp
Finance, ops, legal and people reported to me, and I worked hand in hand with product and sales. Scaled to $180M as COO. SwagUp made No. 23 on the 2021 Inc. 5000 on 12,919% revenue growth from 2017 to 2020, while the back office I ran barely grew: we automated the work instead of hiring for it. As CFO I took that playbook company-wide: overhead from $2M to $670K a month through automation, vendor renegotiation, streamlining and restructured semi-fixed costs, EBITDA from -$3M to +$2.8M, and a sale to BDA.
Managing Partner · Verizon
Paging Zone
Bought a franchise store, became the biggest dealer, then formed a joint venture with the master dealer: 12 Verizon premium stores across NYC, $22M a year, 4.8 stars across 5,000+ reviews. Now AIR Wireless, where I keep a stake.
Managing Partner · since 2010
Intelligent Ventures
Holding company backing founders for 15 years. Exits include SwagUp, Little Choc Apothecary and New Auto Group.
Reference
“Artem is one of the smartest business minds I know, with a rare ability to pair operational excellence and efficiency with creative problem solving.”
Michael Martocci, founder of SwagUp
Now
Building Arodus.
B2B vendor intelligence, built with founding clients and pre-seed investors. Open to board seats.