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people who were no longer a                                                                                              Merging technology and medicine    subscription to Fuzzy, members can              Think about what
          fit for the future business. Our                                                                                         can be difficult. We’ve seen this   chat with veterinary experts on how   Take     your clients really
                                                                                                                                                                                                                      need from your
          initial model was focused on                                                                                             through the advances in human      to best care for their specific pet—  Action    business. How are
          delivering veterinary care in-                                                                                           health care. Still, we are continuing   anytime, anywhere.                         you working to
          home. After launching in the                                                                                             to position our company as the clear                                               respond to consumer
                                                                                                                                                                                                                      demands, and why
          San Francisco Bay area and                                                                                               answer to how technology and health   What gaps in the pet care market             should people
          seeing exciting early traction,                                                                                          care can work together to benefit   does Fuzzy work to fill?                       choose you instead
                                                                                                                                                                                                                      of your competitors?
          we expanded into New York.                                                                                               animals in the best way possible.
          Customers absolutely loved                                                                                                                                  With the pet boom of the pandemic
          the service, but the cost and                                                                                            What was the key to the company’s   and the veterinary shortage, Fuzzy   love. It lets you keep track of all your
          operational complexities of                                                                                              exponential growth?                is working to be a “first stop” for pet   activities with your pet so that Fuzzy
          moving vet teams around                                                                                                                                     parents to speak with veterinarians   vets can help to make even more
          cities were really challenging.                                                                                          We’ve been fortunate to build in a   and understand if in-person care   specific recommendations for your
          At the beginning of 2020,                                                                                                category that people care deeply   is necessary, which in turn helps to   dog or cat. It sends fun notifications,
          our cofounder, Eric Palm,                                                                                                about, their pets, and lucky with   alleviate the strain on the veterinary   too, reminding you to take play
          and I were evaluating the                                                                                                the timing of some key shifts in   industry as pet ownership continues   breaks or brush your pet’s teeth!
          company’s performance from                                                                                               the market: namely, telemedicine   to skyrocket. Because Fuzzy is
          the previous year and the                                                                                                adoption as a result of the pandemic.   available online and 24/7, pet parents   What advice would you give to
          future outlook of the business.                                                                                          We’ve also been bold in our        can seek advice, get personalized   fellow entrepreneurs?
          We realized that the in-home                                                                                             experimentation. When we’ve seen   recommendations, and place orders
          care model was flawed, and                                                                                               early signs of success, we haven’t   for products at any hour of the day,   Be clear about the mission and
          we wanted to build a business                                                                                            hesitated to be aggressive. That’s   ensuring they are taking the absolute   vision you’re building toward, and
          that could quickly grow to                                                                                               yielded positive results for our   best care of their pet no matter   communicate this often. Be incredibly
          serve every one of the ninety-  ZUBIN BHETTAY                                                                            business and the people in it.     where they live or what time their   selective about how and who you
                                          AND HIS DOG MO
          six million households in the                                                                                                                               local veterinary clinic opens. We see   hire. Work with your teams on getting
          country with a pet.                                                 How has the company grown since                      What made you decide to make       ourselves as a complement to what   crystal clear on your strategy; this
                                                                              its founding?                                        Fuzzy a subscription service?      local veterinarians provide, extending   is how you’re going to achieve your
          We decided to shut down                                                                                                                                     those services around the clock.   vision. Communicate it regularly, and
          the in-home care business                                           Over the course of the company’s                     Preventative pet care is one of the                                   have your management teams do
          and pivot to building the                                           life span, we’ve put pets and their                  best ways to cut costs and relieve   What is your favorite service that   the same. Have a relentless bias to
          virtual veterinary clinic with                                      caretakers—both pet parents and                      the strain on veterinary clinics. Our   the company offers?           action: execute, ship product, grow,
          telehealth and medication                                           veterinarians—at the center of all our               goal at Fuzzy is to provide actionable,                               learn—especially from those people
          delivery. We made the                                               efforts to reimagine the care journey.               daily advice that keeps your pet   We recently launched a journal     that are paying for your product—
          incredibly difficult choice to                                      We have built our company around                     healthy in the long term. With a   feature in the Fuzzy app that I really   and iterate. n
          cut 70 percent of our team                                          this, finding top professionals in their
          and rebuild from scratch.                                           respective fields.
                                                                                                                                                                           For more info, visit fuzzy.com.





       8 / BUSINESS IN ACTION                                                HEADSHOT: LIPO CHING, SAN FRANCISCO BUSINESS TIMES                                                                                           businessinaction.com / 9
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