Matt Meeker and Henrik Werdelin are serial entrepreneurs. They were both ready for their next startup and stumbled on the idea of doing something with dogs. They were also dog lovers, a fact that stimulated their interest further in a new venture.

Werdelin had a dog and recently Meeker adopted a 130-pound Great Dane named Hugo. In fact, Hugo is the primary reason that Meeker and Werdelin started talking about dogs. Meeker had been looking for toys and treats for Hugo in his Brooklyn neighborhood. To his surprise, he was unable to find toys for a dog Hugo’s size. He was also struck by the lack of cool, fun, and unique toys and treats for dogs in general.

After contemplating this situation, Werdelin and Meeker developed the idea of putting together a monthly subscription box for dogs, an idea that resembles what Birchbox does for women’s cosmetics.

Each box would contain dog treats, toys, and a meaty chew item. Meeker and Werdelin knew that for their idea to become a successful business, they would need someone with operations experience. So, they asked Carly Strife to join them as a cofounder of the firm. Strife had operations experience at Uber and, best of all, she too was a dog lover. The three made a mockup of a website explaining their intended service and started showing it to their friends. Their friends loved it and 30 to 40 people committed to signing up. That was the beginning of BarkBox, which the parent company BARK launched in early 2012. The cofounders committed to creating a company that would delight dogs and dog owners—and make it fun, quirky, and positive. They wrote the mission statement for the company: “BarkBox is committed to building products that foster the health and happiness of dogs everywhere.....

Discussion Questions:

1.To what degree did BarkBox’s cofounders create a company that its customers want, rather than the company that its founders may have envisioned originally? List at least three techniques that BarkBox used to reach that objective.
2.On a scale of 1 to 10 (10 being the highest), how good of a job has BarkBox done in talking directly with its customers? Provide examples from the case of how BarkBox talked to its customers in the past and continues to do so today.
3.Use at least one of the resources listed in Appendix 3.3 to identify whether the pet industry in the United States is growing or declining in terms of overall sales. Identify the resources you used and the results of your inquiry. Are the results you found good news or bad news for BarkBox?
4.Imagine you have a startup idea and you are beginning to prepare a feasibility analysis to vet the potential business that could result from your idea. List three takeaways from the Bark Box case that you could use in your efforts.