About

Built it. Sold it.
Building what’s next.

Mike grew up on a ranch in southern Arizona, one of six siblings. When something broke, you fixed it. Nobody was coming to save you. That’s the foundation everything else got built on top of.

His first venture was a restaurant. It failed. Brutal at the time — the most useful business education he never paid for.

He founded Freshly in 2012 to solve a problem he couldn’t solve himself: finding healthy meals that were actually worth eating. Freshly raised $107M, scaled to 2,500 employees, and shipped over a million meals a week to all 48 states. Sold to Nestlé on October 30, 2020 for $1.5 billion.

The headline is the exit. The real story is the team that built it.

Today his work runs on three rails. He’s co-founder and co-CEO of Petfolk with his sister, Dr. Audrey Wystrach — connected pet care, 40+ centers across 8 states, NPS 90+. He’s investing through Cutting Horse with partner Chris Protasewich — backing founder-led consumer brands like Cassi, Ripi, Superteeth, and BetterWild, and helping create over $5B in enterprise value along the way. And he’s sharing what he’s actually learned through The Advantage: a podcast and weekly newsletter. No corporate polish, no success theater — if it’s on the show, it actually happened.

InvestorSerial FounderOperatorPodcast HostSpeakerFortune ContributorRanch KidVery Average Golfer

The Journey

How Mike got here

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The Beginning

Southern Arizona

Ranch Kid

Mike grew up on a ranch in southern Arizona, one of six siblings. When something breaks on a ranch, there’s no one to call — you figure it out. That’s where he learned accountability, hard work, and what it actually takes to solve real problems. Those values held through everything that came after.

The Steak Out, the family restaurant in southern Arizona that ultimately failed — The Steak Out — first venture, first real lesson

The Lesson

Early Career

Failed Restaurateur

Mike’s first real venture was a restaurant. It didn’t work. The failure was brutal — and the most useful business education he never paid for. He learned about capital needs. He learned about listening to customers. He learned about hiring the right people. Most importantly, he learned that discipline matters. When he built Freshly, he approached it differently because of that restaurant.

Failure

Best education he never paid for

Mike Wystrach in the early days of Freshly, beside a Freshly shipping box — Early Freshly — in the kitchen, before it scaled

The Build

2012

Founded Freshly

Mike couldn’t find healthy meals he actually wanted to eat. That single frustration led him to a massive opportunity inside a $1.3 trillion industry. Freshly raised $107M, scaled to nearly 2,500 employees, and shipped over a million fresh meals a week across all 48 states. The real story isn’t the numbers — it’s the people who believed in the mission from day one.

$107M

Capital raised

Freshly meal kit on a kitchen counter — Chicken & Rice Pilaf, Steak Peppercorn, Korean-Style Shrimp — Freshly · 1M+ fresh meals/week across all 48 states

The Moment

2020

$1.5B Exit to Nestlé

Mike sold Freshly to Nestlé for $1.5 billion. The exit validated the work — but it was just one moment. The real value was always in the journey of building it. The people hired, the problems solved, the culture created. The exit is brief. The journey is where you spend your life.

$1.5B

Acquisition

Mike Wystrach and his sister Dr. Audrey Wystrach, co-founders of Petfolk — Mike and Dr. Audrey Wystrach, co-founders of Petfolk

Operating

2021

Co-founded Petfolk

Mike’s sister, Dr. Audrey Wystrach, came to him with a vision. Growing up on a ranch, they had learned something simple: when animals need medical care, you don’t make them wait. They built Petfolk around that insight — modern veterinary care for pets. 40+ care centers across 8 states, recognized by Newsweek as one of America’s best veterinary hospitals.

Best Vet Hospital

Newsweek

Mike Wystrach and Chris Protasewich, co-founders of Cutting Horse — Mike & Chris Protasewich — Cutting Horse · $75M Fund I

The Fund

2024 · Fund I closed Feb 2026

Co-founded Cutting Horse

Mike and Chris Protasewich have been collaborating in the consumer ecosystem for more than a decade — Chris was an early Freshly investor at Highland. Cutting Horse is the formalization of that work. $75M Fund I, oversubscribed, backing founder-led consumer brands like Cassi, Ripi, Superteeth, and BetterWild. Together they’ve helped create over $5B in enterprise value and raised more than $300M for the companies they founded. Now they’re putting that operator playbook to work for the next generation.

$75M

Fund I (oversubscribed)

The Advantage podcast cover art — The Advantage · Drops Summer 2026

What's Next

Building now

The Advantage — Coming Summer 2026

Mike is building The Advantage because the best insights come from people who’ve actually built things. Not consultants, not theorists — founders, investors, operators, and athletes at the top of their game. Real conversations about the climb. Episode one drops Summer 2026. Get on the waitlist and you’ll hear it first.

The Portfolio

Companies Mike is building, backing, and betting on.

He’s helped create over $5B in enterprise value and raised $300M+ for companies founded along the way.

Operating

Growth Equity · Fund I

Cutting Horse

$75M Fund I

Growth Equity · Fund I

Cutting Horse

$75M Fund I

Co-founded with Chris Protasewich. $75M Fund I, oversubscribed. Backing founder-led consumer brands across food, health, pet, and consumer services.

Built it. Sold it.Building what’s next.

How Mike got here

Ranch Kid

Failed Restaurateur

Founded Freshly

$1.5B Exit to Nestlé

Co-founded Petfolk

Co-founded Cutting Horse

The Advantage — Coming Summer 2026

Companies Mike is building, backing, and betting on.

What Mike Stands For

Hard Work

Truth-Seeking

Authenticity

Generosity

Hear the full story

Built it. Sold it.
Building what’s next.