What Can Founders Learn From Stryve Co-Founder Joe Oblas?
Published on: Jan 8, 2020
Updated on: October 8, 2026.
It's hard to find a convenient snack that's actually good for you, and Joe Oblas co-founded Stryve to fix that with biltong, an air-dried, high-protein, low-sugar meat snack. In this People. Process. Service. episode, you'll learn how biltong differs from jerky, what a failed rebrand taught him, and how founders should build the team around them. Frontline Source Group, founded in Dallas in 2004, has completed 5,619 placements, holds a 5.0-star Trustpilot rating across 683 verified reviews, and backs every direct hire with the 5-Year Placement Warranty, 20 times longer than the 90-day guarantee most of the industry offers.
TL;DR
- The problem: convenient snacks that are actually good for you are hard to find. Joe Oblas co-founded Stryve to solve it and was Co-CEO when he joined the People. Process. Service. podcast in January 2020.
- Biltong is an air-dried, high-protein, low-sugar meat snack with South African roots, which sets it apart from cooked, often sugary beef jerky.
- His hardest lesson came from a smoothie business that rebranded without testing and didn't survive: stay true to the mission and test big changes first.
- His formula for success is a competent entrepreneur surrounded by very experienced people who fill the gaps.
- Stryve later listed on the Nasdaq, brought in an outside CEO in 2022, and by 2026 trades over the counter while reviewing strategic options, a real-world test of every lesson in the episode.
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What problem does Stryve solve in the snack market?
Shoppers who want protein on the go usually have to choose between convenience and clean ingredients. Many packaged meat snacks lean on added sugar and heavy processing, and the healthier options can be hard to find. Oblas put it plainly on the podcast:
"You rarely find a product that is truly good for you."
Joe Oblas, Co-Founder of Stryve, on the People. Process. Service. podcast, January 2020
Stryve's answer was biltong. Instead of cooking meat and adding sweet marinades, biltong is air-dried and cured, which keeps protein high and sugar low without a long ingredient list. Stryve describes its snacks as lower in sugar and carbohydrates and higher in protein than other snacks, and its stated mission is to help America snack better. The rest of this article covers how Oblas built the company around that idea, the lessons he learned along the way, and what happened to Stryve after the episode.
Who is Joe Oblas?
Joe Oblas is a lifelong entrepreneur and one of the co-founders of Stryve, a North Texas company that makes air-dried meat snacks, most famously biltong. Before Stryve, Stryve's SEC filings show he co-founded the sports nutrition brand ProSupps USA and served as its Chief Operating Officer from 2007 to 2016. Health-focused products have been the through line of his career.
When Oblas sat down with Bill Kasko in January 2020, he was Stryve's Co-CEO. By the end of the conversation, Bill was a convert, holding onto his bag of biltong after a few bites in the studio.
What happened at Stryve after the episode?
A lot. Stryve listed on the Nasdaq in 2021, and Oblas became sole CEO in November 2021. In May 2022, the company named consumer packaged foods veteran Christopher Boever as CEO as part of a planned succession, and Oblas moved into the role of Chief Growth Officer, according to Stryve's SEC filing announcing the change. The leadership handoff is its own lesson in what this episode was about: knowing when to bring in experienced people to take a company to its next stage.
| Date | Milestone |
|---|---|
| 2007 to 2016 | Oblas co-founds ProSupps USA and serves as Chief Operating Officer |
| November 2017 | Oblas becomes Co-CEO of Stryve |
| January 2020 | Oblas joins Bill Kasko on the People. Process. Service. podcast |
| 2021 | Stryve lists on the Nasdaq after merging with a special-purpose acquisition company |
| November 2021 | Oblas becomes sole CEO |
| May 2022 | Christopher Boever named CEO; Oblas moves to Chief Growth Officer |
| April 2025 | Stryve begins a review of strategic alternatives |
| November 2025 | Stryve reports multiple expressions of interest and starts a formal process |
| April 2026 | Boever, still CEO, discusses the brand in a published interview |
How have Stryve's sales changed since the podcast aired?
Stryve's public filings let you trace the company's path in numbers. Sales nearly doubled from 2020 to 2021 as the brand expanded and went public. After the 2022 leadership change, the company deliberately dropped unprofitable accounts and cut slow-moving, low-margin products, which shrank sales in 2023 but lifted gross margin from negative territory back above 13 percent. Growth returned in 2024 on a smaller, more focused product line, before capital constraints weighed on 2025. The fiscal 2022 and fiscal 2023 annual reports lay out the details.
| Year | Net sales | Change | Gross margin | What drove it |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2020 | $17.0 million | Baseline | Not shown | Year of the podcast episode |
| 2021 | $30.1 million | Up 77% | 34.1% | Nasdaq listing year; broad retail expansion |
| 2022 | $29.9 million | Flat | Negative 2.4% | Leadership change; product line cuts begin |
| 2023 | $17.7 million | Down 41% | 13.7% | Unprofitable accounts and products dropped on purpose |
| 2024 | $21.0 million (preliminary) | Up 18.5% | Not yet final | Growth returns on a smaller, focused line |
| 2025, first nine months | $13.4 million | Down from $16.5 million | Not yet final | Working capital limits, beef supply, input costs |
| Channel | 2020 | 2021 | Change |
|---|---|---|---|
| E-commerce | $6.3 million | $10.9 million | Up 73% |
| Wholesale | $6.2 million | $13.7 million | Up 122% |
| Private label | $4.6 million | $5.6 million | Up 22% |
| Total | $17.0 million | $30.1 million | Up 77% |
Where does Stryve stand in 2026?
Six years after this conversation, Stryve is a very different company. Christopher Boever is still at the helm, and in an April 2026 interview he described Stryve's pitch as the cleanest, most convenient form of protein in the category. The company sells air-dried meat snacks under the Stryve, Kalahari, Braaitime, and Vacadillos brands, plus human-grade pet treats, and its shares now trade over the counter under the symbol SNAX.
It hasn't been an easy stretch. In April 2025, Stryve began reviewing strategic alternatives, which it said could include a sale of the company or its assets. By November 2025, it reported multiple expressions of interest and started a formal process. The company's nine-month 2025 net sales came in at $13.4 million, down from $16.5 million a year earlier, and it said working capital limits, beef supply issues, and higher input costs held back its ability to meet demand. At the same time, it guided to near break-even EBITDA for the fourth quarter of 2025 and stressed that outside financing remained critical.
Stryve's own turnaround update lists what it changed since 2022: it simplified or rationalized more than two-thirds of its products, relaunched its core brands with better quality and packaging, improved manufacturing efficiency, reduced operating expenses by roughly 80 percent from 2022 levels, and strengthened its leadership team with people who have proven consumer packaged goods experience.
What does Stryve's CEO say about the road ahead?
Boever sounds optimistic. In the same April 2026 interview, he pointed to lower operating costs, stronger talent, and better outside partners as the reasons for the progress, and he summed up where the company stands this way:
"Now we are at the inflection point, with a path to profitability."
Chris Boever, CEO of Stryve, in Business Focus Magazine, April 2026
Whether that holds will depend on how the strategic review plays out and on financing, which the company itself has called critical.
Where can you buy Stryve snacks?
In February 2025, Stryve announced new distribution with retailers including Kroger, Key Foods, Save Mart, and HomeGoods, and expanded its presence at Hy-Vee, Cub Foods, and New Seasons Market, according to The Provisioner. The products are also sold directly at stryve.com.
What can founders learn from Stryve's story since 2020?
Put the 2020 interview next to what happened afterward, and Oblas's lessons look even sharper.
Why does growth capital deserve a plan of its own?
Oblas's smoothie chain stumbled when it needed money to expand and changed course to get there. More than a decade later, Stryve's own filings point to working capital as the constraint on meeting demand. Different companies, same pressure point. Founders who map out how they'll fund growth before demand arrives give themselves room to make good decisions instead of rushed ones.
Why does focus beat product sprawl?
Simplifying more than two-thirds of a product line is a big move, and it echoes the lesson Oblas took from the failed smoothie rebrand: know what made you successful and protect it. Fewer, stronger products are easier to make well, easier to sell, and easier for customers to understand.
When should a founder bring in an outside CEO?
Stryve's founders chose to hand the CEO role to a seasoned consumer foods executive as the company scaled. That's Oblas's own formula at work, a competent entrepreneur teamed with very experienced complementary pieces, applied at the top of the company. There's no single right moment, but the signals tend to be familiar: the business needs operating depth the founder doesn't have, investors or a board want a proven operator, or the founder's best contribution is shifting toward growth, product, or brand. Recognizing that moment is a sign of good judgment, not a step back.
What is biltong, and how is it different from beef jerky?
Biltong looks a lot like jerky, but it's a different product. It comes from a centuries-old South African method of air-drying and preserving meat. Biltong is air-dried rather than cooked, minimally processed, high in protein, and low in sugar, without the added sugar and additives that show up in many meat snacks.
| Attribute | Biltong | Traditional beef jerky |
|---|---|---|
| Method | Air-dried and cured | Cooked or dehydrated with heat |
| Origin | South Africa, centuries-old preservation method | Various, widely produced in the U.S. |
| Sugar | Low, with no added processed sugar in Stryve's pitch | Often sweetened or marinated with sugar |
| Protein | High | High |
| Processing | Minimal | Varies, often more additives |
For Oblas, that difference was the whole point. A cleaner, higher-protein option in a crowded aisle of processed snacks is what sets biltong apart.
As the episode put it, Stryve's mission is to help America snack better. That focus shaped everything Oblas described, from the product itself to how the company stayed disciplined about what it would and wouldn't change.
What entrepreneurial lessons did Joe Oblas share on the podcast?
Oblas has been starting businesses since he was a kid, and he's collected some hard lessons along the way.
How did he get started?
At 12 years old, Oblas and a group of friends bought and sold baseball cards at card conventions. Shortly after college, that same group started a fruit smoothie chain. Those early ventures gave him real experience running a business long before Stryve existed.
What did a failed rebrand teach him?
As the smoothie business grew, it needed capital to expand, and it moved away from the things that had made it successful. A rebrand launched without research or testing sent sales down, and the business didn't survive. Oblas took the lesson to heart: stay true to the mission, and test big changes before you bet the company on them.
Why can't successful entrepreneurs be timid?
One of the episode's key takeaways was that successful entrepreneurs can't be timid. Oblas's own path shows it, from a 12-year-old working card conventions to a founder taking a little-known South African snack to American shoppers. Being bold, though, isn't the same as being careless, which is exactly what the smoothie rebrand taught him.
What is his formula for success?
Oblas summed it up in one line:
"A combination for success is a competent entrepreneur teamed up with very experienced complementary pieces."
Joe Oblas, Co-Founder of Stryve, on the People. Process. Service. podcast, January 2020
A capable founder is necessary but not sufficient. The founder needs experienced people whose strengths cover the gaps the founder can't fill alone.
How does People. Process. Service. connect to building a team?
Oblas's formula is the same principle behind good hiring. People. Process. Service. is Frontline Source Group's philosophy and a registered service mark: the right people, supported by a disciplined process, deliver lasting results. Stryve's own story, a founder bringing in a seasoned consumer packaged foods executive to lead the next stage, is that principle in action.
How does Frontline Source Group help growing companies build winning teams?
Frontline Source Group helps employers find the experienced, complementary talent that turns a strong leader into a strong company. The firm recruits across accounting and finance, technology, human resources, legal, administrative, engineering, and energy, and it handles C-suite executive search for companies at the stage Stryve reached in 2022. Every direct hire is backed by the 5-Year Placement Warranty, and Frontline publishes its fees at frontlinesourcegroup.com/pricing.html, which few staffing firms do. See all services at frontlinesourcegroup.com/services-offered.html.
Where can you listen to this People. Process. Service. episode?
The People. Process. Service. podcast is available on Spotify, embedded below, and on Apple Podcasts. More episodes are on the Frontline Source Group podcasts page.
You can learn more about Stryve at stryve.com, and read more from Frontline on the Frontline Source Group blog.
How do you connect with Frontline Source Group?
Employers can share a hiring need through the employer request form. Candidates can apply at frontlinesourcegroup.com/how-to-apply.html.
What do people ask most about Joe Oblas and Stryve?
What problem does Stryve solve?
Stryve set out to fix a common snack aisle problem: it's hard to find a convenient snack that's actually good for you. Its answer is biltong, an air-dried meat snack that's high in protein and low in sugar, and the company describes its products as lower in sugar and carbohydrates and higher in protein than other snacks.
Who is Joe Oblas?
Joe Oblas is a co-founder of Stryve, the air-dried meat snack company known for biltong. He was Stryve's Co-CEO when he appeared on the People. Process. Service. podcast in January 2020. Before Stryve, he co-founded the sports nutrition brand ProSupps USA and served as its Chief Operating Officer from 2007 to 2016, according to Stryve's SEC filings.
What is Stryve?
Stryve Foods is a North Texas company that makes air-dried meat snacks, including biltong, under the Stryve, Kalahari, Braaitime, and Vacadillos brands. It listed on the Nasdaq in 2021, and its shares now trade over the counter under the symbol SNAX.
What is biltong?
Biltong is a high-protein, low-sugar meat snack made by air-drying and preserving meat, a process that originated in South Africa centuries ago. It's minimally processed and is not cooked the way traditional beef jerky is.
How is biltong different from beef jerky?
They look similar, but biltong is air-dried rather than cooked, and it's typically made without the added sugar and processing found in many jerky products. That gives it a high-protein, low-sugar profile, which is the heart of Stryve's pitch.
What lesson did Joe Oblas learn from his smoothie business?
When the smoothie chain needed capital to expand, it launched a rebrand without research or testing. Sales dropped and the business didn't survive. Oblas took it as a permanent reminder to stay true to a company's mission and to test big changes before making them.
What is Joe Oblas's formula for entrepreneurial success?
On the podcast, Oblas described it as a competent entrepreneur teamed up with very experienced complementary pieces. A capable founder isn't enough on their own; the right experienced people around them fill the gaps.
Is Joe Oblas still the CEO of Stryve?
No. Oblas became Stryve's sole CEO in November 2021. In May 2022, Christopher Boever was named CEO as part of a planned succession, and Oblas moved into the role of Chief Growth Officer, according to Stryve's SEC filings. Boever was still leading the company in an April 2026 interview.
What is the People. Process. Service. podcast?
People. Process. Service. is a podcast from Frontline Source Group, hosted by Founder, President, and CEO Bill Kasko, featuring conversations with entrepreneurs and industry leaders about building companies and teams. It's available on Spotify and Apple Podcasts, and more episodes are at frontlinesourcegroup.com/podcasts.html.
Where does Stryve stand in 2026?
Stryve's shares trade over the counter, and since April 2025 the company has been reviewing strategic alternatives, which it said could include a sale of the company or its assets. In November 2025 it reported multiple expressions of interest and started a formal process, while stressing that it still needs outside financing.
Is Stryve for sale?
Stryve began reviewing strategic alternatives in April 2025, which it said could include a sale of the company or its assets. In November 2025 it reported multiple expressions of interest and started a formal process. No completed sale had been announced as of this October 2026 update, and CEO Chris Boever described the company in April 2026 as being at an inflection point with a path to profitability.
How does Frontline Source Group help growing companies build teams?
Frontline Source Group recruits the experienced people who turn a strong leader into a strong company, from accounting and technology to C-suite executive search, on a contract, contract-to-hire, or direct hire basis. Every direct hire is backed by the 5-Year Placement Warranty. Services are listed at frontlinesourcegroup.com/services-offered.html.
About the author: Bill Kasko is the Founder, President, and CEO of Frontline Source Group, which he founded in Dallas in 2004, and the host of the People. Process. Service. podcast. Bill specializes in C-suite executive search across the sales, energy, and dental verticals. Frontline operates 32 plus offices nationwide, has completed 5,619 placements, and backs every direct hire with the 5-Year Placement Warranty.
