Henrik Werdelin | Hustle Con 2018
About this video
Henrik from Bark recounts how he and his co-founders stumbled into the pet industry by accident, starting with a hacked WordPress template and manual box-packing parties. He shares Bark’s philosophy of assuming products will fail, testing ideas cheaply with data before scaling, and structuring new initiatives as independent startups within the larger organization to maintain speed and creativity.
Key takeaways
- Henrik’s approach assumes failure by default and focuses on reducing the cost of trying new products rather than betting everything on grand visions, allowing for rapid experimentation and iteration
- Bark tests new product concepts at minimal cost through mock-ups and limited ad campaigns (like the poop bag statements) before committing significant resources, letting data guide decisions about what to scale
- As Bark grew to 400 employees, Henrik structured new product launches like Chompers Club as independent teams with separate branding and full P&Ls, keeping the parent organization’s inertia from slowing innovation and decision-making
Episode details: published July 31, 2018 · 761 views · 18:01 long. Summary written by Self Growth Videos from the episode itself. The business ideas, figures and results discussed are the hosts’ and guests’ own claims, shared as brainstorming and entertainment — not verified facts and not investment advice.
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