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.

Henrik Werdelin is the co-founder of BARK, where he oversees strategy, brand and M&A. He is also founding partner of Prehype, a venture development firm headquartered in New York with offices in London and Copenhagen. Across all his endeavors, Werdelin has made tactics to make large companies entrepreneurial, methods to help entrepreneurs build ventures, and products that make people (and dogs) happy.

Werdelin’s experience – centered on solving problems at scale in creative ways – ranges from being Entrepreneur in Residence at Index Ventures to helping invest, advise and start many successful ventures. Before becoming an entrepreneur and angel (the investing kind, not the flying kind), Werdelin was Vice President of Product Development and Strategy for MTV Networks International, where he spearheaded the development of many of MTV's award-winning products.

Werdelin is the author of The Acorn Method: How Companies Get Growing Again (Lioncrest). He teaches his approach to venture building at leading universities and is often quoted in the press on subjects such as corporate innovation, product design, entrepreneurship, and his dog’s favorite parks. He has been named in the Top 100 Most Creative by Fast Company and Silicon Alley Insider’s '100 People in Tech’. Henrik is Danish but lives in Brooklyn with his family and very spoiled dog, Molly.

Carly Strife is the co-founder of BARK. Carly has managed and scaled the complex business operations behind each of BARK's businesses starting with BarkBox in 2012 and now spanning several distribution channels and product lines. Today she leads strategic BARK initiatives, including BARK Eats, the company’s new personalized food blend offering.

Prior to BARK, Carly was an early employee at Uber, hired to help launch the company’s New York operation. She started her career in the Financial Advisory practice at Deloitte where she was responsible for the valuation of real estate, property, and business assets. She also co-founded Ambush Capital, investing in and advising early stage founders.

Carly has been featured on the ‘30 Under 30’ lists of both Forbes and Inc. magazines. She has a mechanical engineering degree from Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute. Carly lives in Brooklyn with her dogs Cooper, a very hungry puggle, and Reginald, an adventurous rescue terrier. On weekends she can be found riding or rebuilding motorcycles.

Zahir Ibrahim brings nearly three decades of financial leadership experience scaling high-growth, direct-to-consumer brands. Prior to BARK, Zahir served as Chief Financial Officer and Chief Administrative Officer of Do Good Foods LLC, a startup focused on upcycling surplus grocery food into nutritious animal feed to create sustainable animal protein.

Prior to that, he served as Chief Financial Officer of KIND LLC, a healthy snacks company, where he helped drive the company’s strategy and build its infrastructure, enabling significant growth and international expansion. In addition, he led KIND through M&A transactions, as well as the sale of the business to Mars in 2020. Before KIND, Zahir served as Chief Financial Officer at Annie’s Inc. (NYSE: BNNY), a widely recognized natural and organic food company, where he led the business through organic and inorganic growth, and managed the sale and transition of the business to General Mills. Previously, Zahir held several roles at Molson Coors Brewing Company (NYSE: TAP), culminating with Vice President, Controller, and Chief Accounting Officer.

Earlier in his career, Zahir served in senior financial positions at CML Innovative Technologies, Elementis Specialties, and Pirelli Tires, and trained as a Chartered Accountant with KPMG LLP. He holds a Bachelor of Arts in Financial Management, Economics, and Accounting from the University of Sheffield and an MBA from the University of Warwick.

Zahir resides in Connecticut, with his wife Nicole and their beloved Golden, Oscar, who has been enjoying his introduction to BARK toys, treats and toppers!

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.

Michael Parness brings three decades of experience leading transformative brand, retail, and e-commerce initiatives, unlocking sustainable growth across various CPG industries, including pet and toys. Prior to BARK, he served as the Chief Marketing Officer of JustFoodForDogs, a premium fresh dog food brand, where he was responsible for elevating brand awareness and driving growth across their direct-to-consumer, e-commerce, and owned retail channels. Before that, Mr. Parness served as the Chief Digital Officer of Chateau Ste. Michelle Winery, a multi-brand, omnichannel wine portfolio. Previously, he served as the Chief Marketing Officer of Outward Hound for nine years, where he worked closely with Mr. Black and led various functions including brand strategy, performance marketing, social media, and creative. Mr. Parness was also responsible for starting and growing their direct-to-consumer and e-commerce channels, which grew significantly during his tenure.

He holds a Bachelor of Fine Arts in Toy Design from the Fashion Institute of Technology and a Bachelor of Industrial Design from Pratt Institute. He resides in Denver, CO with his long-term partner Jennifer, her two kids, their crazy St Bernard/Newfoundland/Doodle mix named Lola, and a hamster.