How Jacob Zuppke grew Whisker from a litter-box maker into a giant

Zuppke was a digital-media consultant at Automated Pet Care Products when he organized the Instagram promotion in December 2015. Each day, a different cat account gave away a product to a follower. The account holders took part for free, he told Business Insider, at a time when paid pet-influencer campaigns were not yet common.

The company, founded in 2000 and now known as Whisker, has recorded more than $1.5 billion in lifetime sales. Its revenue has grown 55-fold during Zuppke’s tenure, a company spokesperson said. The Litter-Robot sells for $599 to $999; Whisker also offers litter and accessories. Zuppke joined after selling his stake in a digital marketing agency he had founded after college. He became CEO in late 2021, succeeding founder Brad Baxter, who remains chairman and chief inventor.

One of Zuppke’s early marketing bets was to make commercials in-house. After the Instagram campaign, he gathered six employees at an Airbnb writing retreat to develop an ad around the chore of scooping litter. The result, “Don’t Be a Scooper,” became the company’s flagship commercial for two years. Zuppke said revenue more than quadrupled during that period. Some customers objected to being called “scoopers” or to a scene involving chocolate icing, but he said the reaction showed the ad had caught people’s attention.

Whisker has grown from about 25 employees when Zuppke joined to roughly 650. It now employs more than 70 engineers, compared with one in 2015. Its latest litter boxes use cameras, weight sensors and machine learning to identify cats, track bathroom habits and flag potential health changes; an app gives owners access to weight and routine data.

The company is headquartered in a Detroit suburb, with manufacturing in Juneau, Wisconsin. Zuppke said he keeps in touch with staff through birthday and work-anniversary messages and individual lunches. As the organization has grown, he has taken on 11 direct reports and said he plans to meet regularly with an executive coach. “How do I grow up as a CEO?” he said is among his hardest questions.