Mike Salguero

BIOGRAPHY

Why a Tech Power Player? For advancing consumer businesses, food, and sustainability.

When Mike Salguero’s wife was diagnosed with an autoimmune disorder, Hashimoto’s disease, the couple learned that grass-fed beef contains nutrients that could help alleviate some of her symptoms. But they struggled to find it in nearby grocery stores.

Salguero took to meeting farmers in parking lots to secure the elusive beef. He decided there had to be a better way.

That better way became ButcherBox, the Watertown-based ecommerce company that Salguero launched to bring high-quality meat and seafood to people who need it, want it, or both. ButcherBox ships curated boxes of grass-fed beef, free-range chicken, and wild-caught seafood directly to customers’ doorsteps.

Salguero had no background in the food industry when he launched the company in 2015 with $200,000 from a Kickstarter campaign. Since then, ButcherBox has flourished, raking in $560 million in revenue in 2022 and employing more than 200 workers — without any additional outside funding.

“Having run both a VC-backed company and this bootstrapped company, we pride ourselves on being an example that not every business needs investors,” says Salguero, who previously cofounded CustomMade.com as an online marketplace for jewelry and furniture. “We have flourished in Boston because of the amazing access to consumer-focused marketing, sales, brand, data, and technology talent.”

ButcherBox’s business model supports animal welfare, the environment, farmers, and fishermen. The company sources meat from around the world, from humanely raised cows in Australia to sustainably caught scallops from the waters off New Bedford. In 2020, it earned B Corp Certification, which is awarded by the nonprofit B Labs to companies that meet its criteria for social and environmental responsibility.

ButcherBox’s business took off during the pandemic as many people avoided restaurants and had groceries delivered, and the company partnered with the delivery service Instacart to expand its clientele. Today, ButcherBox has close to 500,000 customers across the country.

Salguero is a frequent speaker on entrepreneurship, giving lectures at local institutions such as Harvard University, Babson College, and Boston University. He was named an Entrepreneur Of The Year 2020 National Award winner by the professional services firm Ernst & Young.

“It’s a great place to build a premium brand,” Salguero says of Boston.

Mike Salguero was also on the 2022 Tech Power Players list.