Head of a rapidly expanding startup, Darden Executive MBA student Brian Larsen (Class of 2020) is leading the way in the growing pet health and wellness industry. Larsen is co-founder, president and CEO of RestoraPet Inc., a health supplement company for pets, including dogs, cats and even horses.
His timing couldn’t be better. Pet ownership has increased by 12 percent in the last 30 years — a statistic that Forbes credits to a shift in culture as Millenials and Generation Z embrace pet ownership with unprecedented enthusiasm — and The Washington Post recently examined the business of pet wellness, including a spotlight on Larsen and RestoraPet.
After Larsen’s own experience watching a beloved pet’s health decline, he tapped into his background in chemistry and biology to develop the unique recipe that would become RestoraPet, according to Post business columnist Thomas Heath:
RestoraPet is now sold in 90 countries and is on track to gross more than $2 million this year.
Larsen has 15 full-time employees, including five at the 8,000-square-foot factory where the supplements are mixed and bottled, and said he expects revenue to reach $10 million next year.
The company is in the fifth year of a business model built around cultivating a recurring revenue stream. Though carried by a handful of independent pet stores and veterinarian offices, most sales are done online. The company is now moving toward a subscription model. A month’s supply currently runs about $30.
Hoping to grow his business acumen and “round out” his business skills, Larsen decided to pursue an MBA.
It was a fellow Darden student — a service member working on his MBA — who helped Larsen connect with [RestoraPet investor Morton] Meyerson. The Texan has a long history of hiring and supporting veterans and was coming off a failed attempt to get cannabis legalized in his state as treatment for post-traumatic stress disorder in the military.
“So I turned my attention to pets,” Meyerson said. “I am a dog lover. I have had many dachshunds. I wanted something that had a chance of helping pets for anxiety and for arthritis as they get old. Once I decided that, I discovered what Brian was doing, and it was a perfect fit.”
Read the full story in The Washington Post and listen to a Darden Executive MBA podcast featuring Larsen.
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