“We had 60 people at our height. We were burning like half a million dollars a month. And just, you know, flooring it towards a wall that we kind of all saw.”
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More from Mike Salguero
Insight
Startups should pair egoless industry veterans with gritty beginners, says Salguero
“What I found with older people is, like, there's really no ego. They're not, he's not trying to build his career. He's just, like, trying to do something meaningful and fun. And so to pair him with somebody with no experience and a lot of grit was like magical…”
Mike SalgueroJul 30, 2026▶ 18:30How to build a $600 million company without raising money (with ButcherBox CEO Mike Salguero)
What-if
ButcherBox would not have survived if it raised VC, says Mike Salguero
“And so I actually, I don't think I'd be around right now if I had raised money.”
Mike SalgueroJul 30, 2026▶ 24:41How to build a $600 million company without raising money (with ButcherBox CEO Mike Salguero)
Insight
VCs threaten to blackball founders who do not comply, says Mike Salguero
“So what they don't talk about is the, You know, the phone calls where if you guys don't do what we say, you probably gonna be blackballed. You probably won't be able to raise money again. You know, it's a, you're dealing with these powerful venture capitalists…”
Mike SalgueroJul 30, 2026▶ 7:15How to build a $600 million company without raising money (with ButcherBox CEO Mike Salguero)
Opinion
Salguero: The US meat industry is broken and built on confusing labels
“The meat industry is pretty broken in this country. A lot of the labels are just confusing and people don't understand what they're eating. And really the industry has been built since the 19 fifties on cheap, food safe protein, and don't ask a lot of question…”
Mike SalgueroJul 30, 2026▶ 27:55How to build a $600 million company without raising money (with ButcherBox CEO Mike Salguero)
Opinion
Salguero: Companies cannot do good while optimizing solely for shareholder profit
“I don't see how a company can be built, a company that wants to do the right thing can be built in the right way if you are just supposed to make decisions to make people more money.”
Mike SalgueroJul 30, 2026▶ 29:31How to build a $600 million company without raising money (with ButcherBox CEO Mike Salguero)
Insight
Founders only sell or IPO due to burnout or liquidity needs
“Generally, either you're sick of the business, like you're like, get me out of this thing or you need liquidity.”
Mike SalgueroJul 30, 2026▶ 30:12How to build a $600 million company without raising money (with ButcherBox CEO Mike Salguero)
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