Milkify’s Post-Shark Tank Growth: An Interview with Pedro Silva

Today’s special guest is Pedro Silva. Many of you may already know him from his appearance on Shark Tank. He is the CEO of Milkify. We have already covered the Milkify Shark Tank Update separately, so you can check that out.

Recently, I contacted Pedro for a short email interview. I’m happy to say that he was responsive and answered my questions. I appreciate him for taking the time to provide such thoughtful responses. I hope this short interview will prove to be helpful for our audience. This conversation is a great chance for us to learn more about his journey and get some valuable advice from his experiences.

Introduction and Background

Sara: Please tell me about yourself, your background, education, experience, and position in the company.

Pedro: My name is Pedro Silva and I’m the CEO + one of the founders of Milkify. My background is in finance – I started my career in investment banking and was an investment professional at a global private equity firm for a few years before starting Milkify with my wife, Berkley. The idea for Milkify was something that she came up with during her PhD studies at Baylor College of Medicine. We didn’t have kids yet and there was no one else freeze-drying breast milk at the time, so I initially thought the idea was a bit crazy. But as we talked to moms about their struggles with breast milk, I began to realize that this was a service that could benefit a lot of people, and there was clearly a strong unmet need for something like this. As we dug deeper into the concept, we realized that freeze-drying breast milk was just the first step in a series of innovations that could help unlock a ton of value for consumers and healthcare providers alike.

Pre-Shark Tank Preparation

Sara: Can you describe the journey and preparation that led up to your pitch on Shark Tank?

Pedro: When you start a company, especially something no one has seen before (like freeze-drying breast milk), there’s an element of fear. We had strong early traction, but it was still very early in our journey and there were a lot of unknowns. We didn’t know if the Sharks would welcome the idea of freeze-drying breast milk, or if they would laugh us off the Tank and ridicule us in front of millions of people. So we focused on what we could control, which was our preparation. We drilled our pitch and practiced answering tough questions for months before we filmed the episode. We role played with friends and family. We watched every episode and took notes, studying each entrepreneur’s approach and the Sharks’ reactions. It was intense, but the preparation paid off in a big way.

Valuation and Strategy

Sara: How did you decide on the valuation you presented to the sharks, and what was the strategy behind your initial ask?

Pedro: We had other offers of investment at the time, so we had a good idea of the kind of valuation we would be able to get given our traction and the potential for the business. We definitely came on pretty strong by asking for such a large amount of $400K. At the same time, we knew that offering anything less than 10% would not be well received – by studying the show, we noticed that Sharks rarely got excited about initial offers in the single digits, and those pitches tended to get off to a bad start. So we took all of that into account and ended up deciding on the valuation by thinking about the lowest number we could accept, then increasing it modestly to give us some room to negotiate. We watched every previous episode of the show and studied the outcomes closely, so at the end of the day we had a good idea of what to expect. At the end of the day, it was more art than science.

Post-Shark Tank Impact

Sara: What happened to your company after appearing on Shark Tank in terms of investments and business growth?

Pedro: Our traffic is up by 5x and our monthly sales have more than tripled. Our social media has also done quite well, as we now have over 40K engaged followers on IG. Being on the show also brought a level of visibility to our business that was quite helpful – in addition to customers, to this day we get calls from investors, medical professionals, and potential business partners who learned about Milkify because they watched a rerun of our episode.

Current Valuation

Sara: What is your company’s net worth today?

Pedro: This is a tricky question, as valuation is often in the eye of the beholder! We have raised investment at a valuation that is higher than was presented on the show, and our strong traction and continued growth since our last capital raise would support an even higher valuation if we were to raise again today.

Additional Investments

Sara: Have you secured any investments from other investors since your appearance on Shark Tank?

Pedro: Yes, we were fortunate to connect with several investors who have joined the Milkify family since we aired on Shark Tank. This includes venture capital, family offices, and angel investors. Many of them were initially customers of ours, and only invested after they experienced the benefits of the service we provide. Others have been believers without ever trying the service for themselves. I am grateful for their support, as many of them have added incredible amounts of value that goes beyond the dollars they invested – in the form of their expertise, business advice, and strategic connections.

Business Strategy Evolution

Sara: How has your business strategy or operations changed after your appearance on Shark Tank?

Pedro: Our operations have evolved considerably since we aired on the show. Our rapid growth created operational challenges – “growing pains” – related to the logistics of shipping, receiving, and processing large volumes of breast milk while maintaining our industry-leading safety and quality controls and a 5-star client experience. Overcoming these challenges ultimately made us much stronger as a business, and we feel well positioned to continue our growth trajectory. Our strategy, however, has remained the same – we believe we are in the early innings of a transformation in the way people think about the storage and usage of excess breast milk, and we will continue to position Milkify to be at the forefront of this evolution. I’m proud of our team for having made it this far without sacrificing our core tenets, while maintaining our focus on our long-term vision.

Challenges

Sara: What were the biggest challenges you’ve faced since your appearance on Shark Tank, and how have you addressed them?

Pedro: One of the main challenges was sourcing the capabilities to service the demand growth we’ve seen since airing on the show – primarily (1) the right people, and (2) the right facility and equipment. We addressed this by managing our growth appropriately. We decided we could never compromise on the quality of our service, even if it takes time to put the necessary elements in place. So at times we had to manage the number of clients we were able to accept until we were able to scale our operation up to the appropriate level. We sacrificed short-term growth to ensure a long-term focus on safety and quality, and this was absolutely the right decision given the industry we’re in.

Long-term Objectives and Influence

Sara: What are the long-term goals for your company, and how has Shark Tank influenced these goals?

Pedro: Our vision is for Milkify to help usher in a new era in the science of human milk by reimagining how it is stored, used, and transported. Breast milk is literally a living food, and in many cases it is a life-saving medicine. By breaking down the transportation and storage barriers, we can help the most vulnerable infants to receive the full benefits of breast milk. So our long-term goal is for Milkify to enable a future where breast milk is always accessible and available to those who need it most, regardless of geographic or other barriers that may stand in the way.

Advice for Future Contestants

Sara: What advice would you give future entrepreneurs considering applying for Shark Tank?

Pedro: Do it! Just be prepared for the process to be more intense than you may initially realize. Take it seriously and give it all you have. Even if you don’t end up airing on the show, the process of applying will force you to think about your business in new ways, and this may unlock hidden potential and opportunities you hadn’t previously considered. The application process will also help reveal your weaknesses and areas for potential growth and improvement.