ButcherBox’s founder reveals how he built a $500 million meat subscription empire built on free bacon

Key takeaways

• Age: 42
• Career highlights: Created direct-to-consumer subscription meat delivery company ButcherBox, worth an estimated $500 million
• Approximate net worth: $375 million

Mike Salguero knows quality when he sees it.

The Paraguay-born, Western Massachusetts-raised businessman knew he wanted to be an entrepreneur from the beginning. He got his start as a paperboy and worked many jobs along he way, from selling peanuts at Fenway Park to working in real estate and getting fired—something he was glad about, so he could start working for himself.

But the thing is, he wasn’t even really working for himself his first time as a founder, after raising “a bunch of capital” from the likes of Google and First Round Capital. Three days after his first startup folded in 2015, Salguero started ButcherBox. It’s made him a millionaire hundreds of times over, he has no intention to sell, and his biggest advice is counterintuitive: don’t raise outside funding.

Salguero’s idea came from his network. The father-in-law of a friend was a farmer who would drive trash bags full of meat into Boston to sell once a quarter. Salguero liked the high-quality, grass-fed product so much, he kept buying more and even re-selling it to friends, and within months he decided to go all in, cold-calling the CEO of Omaha Steaks with a LinkedIn message. Then, with a little help from Kickstarter, he launched ButcherBox.

Salguero remains in awe of the company he’s built. Back in 2015, he only intended to raise $25,000, but he blew past that to raise $215,000 within 30 days. As of 2023, the…