Bending Rules -- Dood Woof CEO, Elina Panteleyeva explains how she went from being fired to starting a company that generated 650K in its first year and is on target to more than double sales in 2025

Intro: I have always believed in learning from entrepreneurs younger than myself, which seems to be happening more and more these days, and this episode with Elina Panteleyeva is no exception. It's too easy, as an experienced entrepreneur, to think that you have many of the answers. In today's fast-moving waters with AI start-ups and new methods to reach your audience, I find myself at a disadvantage on some fronts. However, entrepreneurs like Elina make the murky waters a bit clearer. After being let go from her job at an AI company, Elina decided to take the proverbial entrepreneurial leap. With not much experience in e-commerce or retail, she followed her passion and founded Dood Woof, a company that offers organic shampoo and detangler for doodle dogs. Niche, right? In her first year, she realized revenues of $650,000 and is projecting $1.5 million in her second year of operations, with more products to follow. Elina financed her own efforts, and what she lacked in experience she more than made up for with tenacity and her authentic, thoughtful approach to building her brand to this point. If I were contemplating any sort of e-commerce start-up, I'd tune into this episode.Onward ~3:42 -- Elina's background and the birth of Dood Woof16:54 -- Building a community and landing a product28:14 -- Leveraging micro influencers for brand growth30:25 -- Sales strategy: Amazon vs Direct Website Traffic38:28 -- Financing growth42:27 -- Utilizing AI in Business Operations44:27 -- Establishing culture and values early