The "Boss Move" That Saved Us From the 'Race to the Bottom'
- Dec 16, 2025
- 2 min read
By Santiago Gelvez
Founder & Board Member, PetCultures
The game-changing move that transformed my business was going international early. It was a counter-intuitive strategy, but it was the only way to protect our mission.
I am the founder of PetCultures, a science-first pet wellness brand. I launched the company because our unique formula saved my dog's life. This isn't just a supplement; it’s a high-potency probiotic for dogs. Our core innovation is a Tribiotic 3-in-1 formula delivered in potency-guaranteed powder sachets, which are designed to protect the live probiotic strains from air, moisture, and UV rays. We spent heavily on research to ensure our product delivered real, provable results.
When we started selling in the US market, I saw a massive problem. The pet probiotic category isn't controlled by a few giants; it's a fragmented "Wild West." The market is flooded with unregulated products making baseless claims. These companies sell products with unregistered strain IDs, no clinical studies, and zero R&D investment.
This creates an impossible squeeze for a science-first brand like ours. Because these competitors spend nothing on research, they pour all their margins into digital advertising. They can afford to pay astronomical amounts for ads, which drives up the (PPC) costs for everyone. We were trapped: we couldn't afford to both fund our rigorous research and compete with the inflated ad spend of low-quality products.
This is where I made my "boss move." Leveraging my past global CPG experience, I decided to flip the script. Instead of fighting a losing battle in a 'race to the bottom' in the US, I would launch in the EU and Canada.
Why did it work? Because the European and Canadian markets are regulated and sophisticated.
In the EU, you can't just make claims; you must have the science to back them up. In Canada, our formula successfully met the high standards for Veterinary Health Products (VHP) and received a Notification Number (NN). These regulations filter out the low-quality, unscientific competitors that were drowning us in the US. Our core strength—the investment in R&D and quality—wasn't a cost-burden; it was our biggest advantage.
The results were immediate and transformative. Our Cost Per Acquisition (CPA) was cut to a quarter of what we were paying in the US, dramatically improving our bottom-line financials.
The problem in the US was getting people to try the product amid all the noise. In the EU and Canada, passing the strict local regulations gave us instant credibility. It became easier and far less expensive to acquire that first customer. And our research paid off: once they tried it, they stayed. We see a 90% 'subscribe and save' rate, proving the product's efficacy. Going international allowed us to find a market that rewarded our innovation, not one that punished it.
My advice to other founders is this: Don't assume your home market is your only, or even your best, first market. If your domestic market is a "race to the bottom" that forces you to choose between quality and visibility, look elsewhere. Find a market that values what you do best. Your "boss move" might be to find an arena where your integrity and innovation can actually win.
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