Marc Atiyeh, CEO of Pawp, on building telehealth for pets

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The demand for pet care services, particularly on-demand veterinary telehealth services, rose at the height of the pandemic, as pet owners looked for alternatives to in-person visits. The rise in pet ownership during this period means that the future demand for other pet care services (e.g., dog walking, pet sitting, and pet boarding) is also likely to increase. Marc Atiyeh, CEO of veterinary telehealth services provider Pawp, discusses what inspired him to build the company, its business model, growth drivers, and unit economics. He also touches on customer acquisition dynamics in the pet care space, bridging physical and digital care, and the future of Pawp.

The following interview was conducted by Sacra—September 2022

Background

Marc Atiyeh is the CEO of Pawp. We talked with Marc about the economics of human and pet telehealth, why Chewy's push into pharmacy is doomed, and building a hybrid physical-digital business in a time when capital efficiency is key.

Questions

What is Pawp? What inspired you to build it?

Can you share a few key milestones? What are you looking to accomplish over the next year?

Can you talk about the consumer-facing subscription product? Who uses this and why?

Can you talk a little about how you’re approaching bridging the physical and digital?

The explosion of D2C telehealth has been exemplified by Ro. Can you talk about the D2C telehealth model for humans and position it against what you're trying to do with Pawp? How do you think about it?

What does Pawp's business model look like? What is the revenue mix, today? What are the main growth drivers behind that?

On the supply side, how do you incentivize vets to work with Pawp customers? How do you work the matching dynamics to get great providers on board?

How do you think about unit economics? Where does value creation happen?

Are there any SaaS providers that you use, maybe specific to telehealth or the pet space that give you a ton of leverage?

Can you talk a little about CAC and the dynamics with respect to the pet space?

Telehealth and pets were two of the biggest segments that made headlines during COVID. Can you talk about the demand dynamics you saw during COVID and how that has changed today?

You talked about the lack of innovation and lack of tech and its application to pets. While there are Chewy, BarkBox, Rover, and Facebook for Dogs, what’s been happening in the pets and tech space? What's worked or not? What are your learnings from seeing how the space has evolved?

Can you talk in detail and more specifically about Chewy and going from ecommerce to pharmacy and then, maybe doing telehealth on the side? How do you see that competition coming from that perspective?

How do you think about building brands for younger people or newer dog owners and healthcare positioning which is important and essential but at times takes a backseat to buying toys and treats?

How do you plan to bridge the physical and digital? Setting up Blank Street-esque kiosks or vans in the current climate seems capital-intensive. How do you think about financing the trajectory to build out the vision? Where do you see Pawp in five years?

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