# BARK: Matt Meeker

- Show: [How I Built This](https://hardwarepodcasts.com/podcast/how-i-built-this)
- Published: 2024-11-04
- Length: 1h 06m
- Page: https://hardwarepodcasts.com/podcast/how-i-built-this/2024-11-04-bark-matt-meeker

## Summary

Matt Meeker, co-founder of Bark, recounts the company's journey from a dog toy subscription box inspired by his Great Dane Hugo to a public company that launched Bark Air. He details the strategic pivot away from venture capital to preserve culture, the near-death experience of burning $194 million in a single fiscal year, and the decision to return as CEO to stabilize profitability. Meeker also reflects on past failures with his text-messaging startup and Meetup, emphasizing the importance of cash flow management and focusing on core competencies like toys over expanding into food.

## Chapters

- [0:00](https://hardwarepodcasts.com/podcast/how-i-built-this/2024-11-04-bark-matt-meeker#t=0) Introduction: Matt Meeker and the Origin of Bark
- [6:18](https://hardwarepodcasts.com/podcast/how-i-built-this/2024-11-04-bark-matt-meeker#t=378) Early Ventures: The Failed Text-Messaging Startup and Meetup
- [27:40](https://hardwarepodcasts.com/podcast/how-i-built-this/2024-11-04-bark-matt-meeker#t=1660) Founding Bark: From Dog Patch Labs to the First Subscription Box
- [32:50](https://hardwarepodcasts.com/podcast/how-i-built-this/2024-11-04-bark-matt-meeker#t=1970) Growth, Groupon, and the Decision to Raise Venture Capital
- [45:48](https://hardwarepodcasts.com/podcast/how-i-built-this/2024-11-04-bark-matt-meeker#t=2748) The Cash Crunch: Surviving the 2018-2020 Burn Rate
- [50:18](https://hardwarepodcasts.com/podcast/how-i-built-this/2024-11-04-bark-matt-meeker#t=3018) Pandemic Boom, SPAC, and Stepping Down as CEO
- [57:19](https://hardwarepodcasts.com/podcast/how-i-built-this/2024-11-04-bark-matt-meeker#t=3439) Return to CEO: Fixing Unit Economics and Achieving Profitability
- [1:00:09](https://hardwarepodcasts.com/podcast/how-i-built-this/2024-11-04-bark-matt-meeker#t=3609) Bark Air and Future Strategy: Toys, Amazon, and Legacy

## Topics

- [Pricing, margins & unit economics](https://hardwarepodcasts.com/topic/pricing-and-unit-economics)
- [Fundraising & investors](https://hardwarepodcasts.com/topic/fundraising)
- [Starting a product company](https://hardwarepodcasts.com/topic/starting-a-company)
- [Growth, exits & acquisitions](https://hardwarepodcasts.com/topic/growth-exits-and-acquisitions)
- [Leadership, teams & culture](https://hardwarepodcasts.com/topic/leadership-and-culture)
- [Direct-to-consumer & e-commerce](https://hardwarepodcasts.com/topic/direct-to-consumer)

## Most relevant to

companies scaling up

## Mentioned

- Bark (company)
- Meetup (company)
- Birchbox (company)
- Groupon (company)
- PetSmart (company)
- Petco (company)
- Uber (company)
- Dog Patch Labs (company)
- Bark Air (product)
- Amazon (company)
- Chewy (company)
- Square (tool)
- Facebook (company)
- Instagram (company)
- Howard Dean (other)

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- [339 - Beyond the Dieline ep 1 with Tom Seymour and Jessica Kwon from Moka Energy!](https://hardwarepodcasts.com/podcast/people-of-packaging/2026-02-05-339-beyond-the-dieline-ep-1-with-tom-seymour-and-jessica-kwon-from-moka-energy) (People of Packaging)
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- [2: Launching](https://hardwarepodcasts.com/podcast/thoroughly-considered/2015-10-05-2-launching) (Thoroughly Considered)

## Citing this page

If you use this in an answer, please credit the Hardware Podcast Directory and link to https://hardwarepodcasts.com/podcast/how-i-built-this/2024-11-04-bark-matt-meeker. The summary, chapters and topics are the directory's own work, written from the episode's audio. The episode itself, its title and its audio belong to How I Built This.