Dead Meat Society was born when our founder and CGO (Chief Grilling Officer), Jake Kouns, hit a crossroads. After years building a successful cybersecurity company, he found himself in a strange spot: no longer working for the company he founded, feeling directionless and increasingly disconnected.
While he was trying to figure out what was the next phase of his career, one ridiculous idea refused to leave his brain: a skull spatula. It started as a fun product concept, but the more he thought about it, and through conversations with friends, grillers, and other founders, he realized a lot of people felt exactly like he did just with their own set of circumstances.
Jake was seeing more and more isolation (particularly with men), more doom-scrolling, more arguing about politics between people than ever before. The pandemic didn’t create that feeling, but it supercharged it, and he noticed that it wasn’t just him feeling this way.
Instead of launching another tech/AI company, Jake made a different call. So Dead Meat Society was founded with a mission to become bigger than a skull spatula.
A community to bring grilling enthusiasts together to fight loneliness and feed our communities.
What started as one founder’s career pivot is now a growing movement, getting people back around the flame, where we’ve always belonged, and taking care of our communities.
Flame. Family. Community. Feed Everyone.
Proudly supporting
Dead Meat Society isn’t about a founder, a logo, or the team working behind the scenes. It’s about the members — the people who fire up their grills, feed their families, invite others to the table, and help turn this thing into something bigger than a brand. That said, there are a few people who spend their waking hours pushing the movement forward, keeping the flame alive, building the community, and making sure DMS keeps growing the right way.
Then there’s the DMS Crew — the ones out there repping the skull, posting cooks, spreading the word, and bringing new people into the Society. These are the backyard warriors, creators, supporters, and straight-up believers who help carry the movement beyond our shop and into the real world. Check out the DMS Crew and meet some of the people helping us prove that this is more than grilling — it’s community, fire, and Feed Everyone in action.
Jake Kouns
Jake Kouns started Dead Meat Society despite the fact that his personal grilling résumé is mostly burgers, bourbon, and pretending he knows what he’s doing near fire. Who the hell starts a grilling company without being a pitmaster? Apparently this guy. But DMS was never about being the best griller in the room — it’s about bringing people together, feeding your crew, and building a Society around the flame. 🔥💀🥃
Barry Kouns
Barry Kouns is DMS’s Fractional CFO, which is a fancy way of saying he keeps us financially on track while still leaving enough time for golf. He keeps trying to retire, but we keep finding reasons to drag him back into the Society. Numbers, budgets, sanity checks, and occasional adult supervision — Barry helps keep DMS moving the right way. 🔥💀⛳
Colin Barker
Colin Barker has been in the BBQ world for a long time, and his support for DMS goes way beyond the grill. Was Barker BBQ, now he’s helping keep the Society moving, growing, and fired up from behind the scenes. Real BBQ knowledge. Real support. Real Society energy. 🔥💀
Flame. Family. Community. Feed Everyone.
Join The DMS Movement
Chapters
We’re in the process of launching Dead Meat Society Chapters, small but mighty groups of grillers who want to bring the DMS vibe to their city, neighborhood, or town. We’re looking for people who want to be the ones to say, “Yeah, I’ll host. I’ll get the fire going.”
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