Beckett Kitaen doesn’t believe in waiting for the perfect moment to launch a business. “It’s never going to be a perfect time,” he said. “If I fail, now’s a good time to fail. I’m in college. I’ll learn a lot. It’s kind of a win-win.”

That conviction led the senior finance and real estate major to co-found Buffs, a high-protein snack brand built around a product that didn’t previously exist on grocery store shelves: a beef puff made from grass-fed meat, free of seed oils and designed to deliver protein in a more satisfying way than traditional bars or jerky. 

“Buffs wants to deliver protein — high-quality protein — in the most enjoyable way possible,” Kitaen said, “so that people are consuming this as a daily thing, rather than just a task or a chore.”

From Health Scare to Startup

Kitaen grew up in Orange County, California, where staying active was part of everyday life. But Buffs began not with athletics, but with migraines.

After childhood headaches returned in early college, he immersed himself in nutrition research, experimenting with whole foods and cleaner eating.

As he adjusted his diet, he noticed a gap in the snack aisle. Many protein products were filled with preservatives, artificial flavors and seed oils. He wanted something simpler and better.

He was interested in what he calls “high-quality animal-based protein” — food that fuels recovery, hormones and brain power, not just muscle gain.

The result was Buffs.

Kitaen had long imagined himself as an entrepreneur. Growing up, his father ran his own business. “As a kid, I thought that’s just how you made money,” he said. “You graduate college and start your own company.”

At TCU’s Neeley School of Business Kitaen sought courses built for founders, including an NIL entrepreneurship class with Antonio Banos, instructor ii and associate director of the Institute for Entrepreneurship and Innovation, and a sales foundations course with Ken Corbit, assistant professor of professional practice and assistant chair of marketing. The latter helped Kitaen structure an investor pitch for Buffs.

Corbit remembers Kitaen as focused and intentional.

“Beckett stood out almost immediately,” Corbit said. “He treated the material as if it mattered for his life, not just his grade.”

Kitaen and Buffs co-founder George Zhou, a student at the University of Southern California, also pitched the idea in TCU’s CREATE competition, which provides mentorship and enough seed money to launch an entrepreneurial venture. The duo won funding that has helped move Buffs forward.

Buffs is moving from concept to production as Kitaen and his team prepare to scale the snack startup.

Much of Kitaen’s education has happened outside the classroom, at industry conferences and through mentors in the consumer-packaged goods world. Early investors have largely been industry professionals who took a chance on two college founders still refining their product.

Buffs remains pre-launch. The recipe perfected in a kitchen setting must now be scaled for commercial production, a process that requires capital, equipment and patience. In the meantime, the founders test demand through samples, pop-ups and pre-launch ads that drive potential customers to a waitlist.

“You never want to launch without product-market fit,” Kitaen said. “We’re trying to understand who our niche is — the people who are going to be obsessed with it.”

Grit, Growth and What’s Next

Balancing a startup with a full academic load hasn’t been simple. For Buffs, no one assigns deadlines. No one checks progress.

“If you want to learn how to go get things done, start your own company,” Kitaen said. “It builds grit. It builds discipline. No one’s pushing you — you’re the one pushing the needle.”

Feedback from classmates and faculty has helped sustain momentum. When people taste Buffs and immediately ask where they can buy it, the doubts quiet.

Long term, Kitaen envisions Buffs as a trusted name in animal-based snacking, with regional retail placement growing into national distribution. Whether this company becomes his lifelong venture or simply the first of many, one thing is clear: Entrepreneurship isn’t a phase.

“Even if this fails,” he said, “I’m starting another company.”

For now, he continues to balance classes, product development and big ambitions. The timing may not be perfect. But for Beckett Kitaen, that’s beside the point.