Executive Management

Matt Meeker is the co-founder, CEO, and Executive Chairman of BARK, the company behind BarkBox. He served as CEO of the company from its foundation until September 2020 and resumed the role of CEO in January 2022.

Since launching with the monthly subscription service BarkBox in 2012, BARK has experienced rapid growth through product enhancement and revenue diversification. Matt led the company to design and create unique, dog-first products, experiences and content, carrying the success of BARK’s subscription model into new distribution channels, including e-commerce and retail.

Prior to BARK, Matt was Entrepreneur-in-Residence at DogPatch Labs, a startup incubator run by Polaris Ventures. He is an integral component of the New York startup community acting as board member or advisor to multiple early-stage companies. He currently serves as a Venture Partner at Resolute VC. In 2002, Matt co-founded Meetup, the largest network of local communities that meet offline about shared interests and passions.

Allison Koehler has over 20 years of public company legal experience in securities law compliance and disclosure, the corporate secretary function and all areas of board and committee management, M&A and strategic investments, capital markets transactions, stock administration, global subsidiary management, overseeing all other corporate matters, litigation, commercial contracts and intellectual property, developing enterprise risk management and compliance programs, and creating environmental, social and governance (ESG) and investor outreach programs. Previously, Allison was Deputy General Counsel at The RealReal, Inc., a company that went public in June 2019. Before that, Allison was at eBay Inc. (also PayPal, Inc. prior to its spin-off in 2015) as Associate General Counsel, head of Global M&A, Securities and Corporate. Before that, she was in the US Group at Freshfields Bruckhaus Deringer in Frankfurt, Germany and London, England after starting her career at Gray Cary in Silicon Valley during the dotcom boom.

Allison's life is run by Gizmo, a rescue puppy who may be part Papillon and part Pomeranian, but is definitely mostly attitude. Allison and Gizmo currently live on a ranch in the foothills east of Sacramento with a pack of cousin and rescue dogs, three cats, three of their five horses, deer, wild turkeys, geese and various other wildlife. Allison and Gizmo are excited to begin their New York life and watch those small town blues melt away.

Michael Black brings an impressive track record of delivering omnichannel growth across the pet sector. Prior to BARK, he served as the Founder and President of Paragon International Advisors, a consulting firm focused on partnering with private equity investors in the pet industry. Prior to that, he served as the Chief Executive Officer–and previously the Chief Revenue Officer–of Outward Hound. During his tenure, he led Outward Hound through a successful digital transformation and years of significant growth. Previously, Mr. Black served as Senior Buyer, Pet Accessories at Walmart. Mr. Black has also served as Board Advisor to PetLab Co. since 2022.

He holds an M.B.A. from the University of Arkansas and a Bachelor of Arts from Brigham Young University. He resides in Bentonville, AR with his wife Paola, their 4 children, and their Newfoundland named Chewie.