#523 - Michael Landa on Making Olympic-Level Pet Food

05/13/25 • 33 min

The Sport of Life: Chats w/ Comedians, Filmmakers, Sports Figures, Musicians, & Intellectuals

Michael Landa is founder & CEO of Austin-based Nulo Pet Food, the top specialty pet food brand on the market. He chats with Trey Elling about building Nulo into what it currently is, how a swimming background helps him in business, and benefitting from the endorsements of Simone Biles, Caeleb Dressel, and other Olympians during the 2024 Paris Games. Other topics include:

Starting Nulo (0:00)
The pet food industry (4:48)
The science (7:31)
The high-quality ingredients (11:07)
Michael's competitive nature (15:00)
Michael's entrepreneurial spirit (18:40)
Swimming helping in business (20:17)
Nulo's current goals (22:34)
Failure & the lesson learned (25:43)
Endorsed by Olympians! (27:48)
"Integrity is the new transparency" (30:19)

Starting Nulo (0:00)
The pet food industry (4:48)
The science (7:31)
The high-quality ingredients (11:07)
Michael's competitive nature (15:00)
Michael's entrepreneurial spirit (18:40)
Swimming helping in business (20:17)
Nulo's current goals (22:34)
Failure & the lesson learned (25:43)
Endorsed by Olympians! (27:48)
"Integrity is the new transparency" (30:19)

Previous Episode

#522 - Pro Pickleball: A Brief, Wild History

Filmmakers Ashley Underwood and Craig Coyne chat with Trey Elling about their documentary, DREAMBREAKER: A PICKLEBALL STORY. The film, which is available now on HBO MAX, chronicles the young-but-crazy world of professional pickleball. Topics include:

How the film came to be (0:00)
The major financial players (3:47)
Celebrity team ownerships (11:22)
Rising star Paris Todd (14:06)
Nudist pickleball (17:24)
Pickleball injuries (22:04)
Pro pickleball's viability (24:29)
Is there a good rivalry? (28:16)
Popularity at a local level (34:38)
Does Trey think pro pickleball will work? (37:45)