Building a Sustainable Pet Food Business with Isaac Langleben of Open Farm

Author: Ripple Ventures
Published: Thu 16 Nov 2023
Episode Link: https://tanktalks.substack.com/p/building-a-sustainable-pet-food-business

There’s a term of art in the business world—dogfooding. It means if you’re going to propose a solution, you should use that same solution to help better understand problems the end user may encounter. Our guest today is familiar with dogfooding, both as a business process and from literally making food for pets. Isaac Langleben made the leap from consulting to leading Open Farm, a sustainable pet food business. We talk about that leap, the Canadian Startup Scene and have a news roundup with John Ruffolo.

About Isaac Langleben: Isaac Langleben is the CEO and Co-Founder of Open Farm, a premium pet food brand on a mission to deliver exceptional pet nutrition while driving a positive impact on animals and the planet. Isaac leads Open Farm’s team across Canada and the US in bringing innovative, healthy products to pets through over 6,000 pet stores & online. A serial entrepreneur, Isaac has also co-founded two other pet product companies – Canada Pooch, a leading pet accessories company and Diggs, an innovative pet supplies company.

Prior to being a pet entrepreneur, Isaac was at Clairvest Inc, a Toronto-based private equity firm with over $2.4 billion of equity capital under management, and a consultant at Boston Consulting Group.

He has two bachelor’s degrees from McGill University.

In this episode, we discuss:

(01:02) News rundown with John Ruffolo(02:08) Developments and challenges in quantum computing(04:18) Analysis of Microsoft's investment strategies(06:12) Microsoft's approach to innovation in technology(07:24) OpenAI's expansion and its implications(08:12) Challenges and opportunities in AI and consumer technology(10:26) Impact of GPT-4 Turbo on AI development(11:06) Competitive landscape in AI startups(12:58) New AI technologies and privacy concerns(14:07) Role of AI in modern technology trends(15:21) Isaac's journey from law to pet food industry leadership(17:13) His private equity experience and insights into the pet industry(18:44) Evolution of the pet food industry(21:02) Strategies for scaling and diversifying in the pet industry(23:41) Challenges and opportunities in business growth(26:18) Different investment and growth approaches(28:18) Open Farm's commitment to sustainability(30:21) Challenges in global expansion and market entry(32:20) Strategies for customer base expansion in the U.S.(34:22) Open Farm's future growth and sustainability goals(36:15) Alignment of Open Farm's mission with business objectives(38:44) Role of investors and strategic partnerships in business growth(41:51) The Canadian startup ecosystem(44:29) Encouraging entrepreneurship in Canada(47:20) Navigating supply chain challenges during COVID-19(49:38) Isaac's advocacy and educational initiatives