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 Fast Favorites: 🎙- Favorite Podcast: Ringer NBA and Bill Simmons 📰- Favorite Newsletter / Blog: Axios 📲- Favorite Tech Gadget: Traeger Timberline 📈-  Favorite New Trend: Return to work and Brazilian jujitsu 📚- Favorite Book: Every Night is Pizza Night 🤔 - Favorite Life Lesson: If you see something, just go for it Follow Matt Cohen and Tank Talks here! Podcast production support provided by Agentbee.ai