Ep. 049: On Launching an Innovative Pet Product Company — The Ken Goldman Interview

Hear the fascinating story of how Ken Goldman launched his dog gear company, Stunt Puppy.  Learn how he started producing dog leashes and collars by hand, and how he utilized his professional marketing experience to grow the brand. Listen as he describes his number one lesson since starting Stunt Puppy, and who has most influenced him in his career. Hear why he chose to produce his products in the United States, and what has frustrated him the most as an entrepreneur. Leave a Rating & Review in iTunes for the Product Launch Rebel Podcast Transcript John:  Greetings Product Launch Rebels, and welcome to the Product Launch Rebel podcast, brought to you by Venturesuperfly.com, where we help double your entrepreneurial courage, even if you don’t know what you’re doing. Please visit the Venture Superfly website and check out the contact page to join our mailing list. Today we’ll be learning about the pet product industry, which should be a lot of fun. I’m interviewing Ken Goldman. He’s the founder of a unique brand of dog gear called Stunt Puppy. It offers products such as collars and leashes that are designed and made in the United States, right here in Minnesota. The company designs products with cues from the rugged camping and climbing gear industry, so they are extra durable. Seems pretty smart and cool. Ken’s products are available at StuntPuppy.com, as well as through many retailers across the United States. To learn more about his company, visit StuntPuppy.com. Hello, Ken. Thanks for being here, and welcome to the Product Launch Rebel podcast. Ken:  Oh, it’s great to be here. Thanks for the invitation. John:  Absolutely. This is going to be a lot of fun. Thanks for your time. Ken, within this podcast there are three segments. The first is called “give me the basics,” which helps set the context about your company for our listeners. The second part is called “let’s get personal” where we get into some of the more personal topics about what it’s like to start a business. The final part is what I call “tell me how” where we’ll get to the heart of the matter on issues that aspiring entrepreneurs want to know now to help them move forward. What do you think, Ken, are you ready for some questions? Ken:  I’m ready and I’m hoping you’re gonna tell me how at the end. John:  Fantastic, here we go! 02:29 — Ken, tell us the story. How did you originally come up with the idea to start Stunt Puppy? Ken:  It probably sounds cliché but it definitely was not on purpose. My dog Bauer and I, he was a golden retriever and we were a therapy team so we spent a lot of time in hospitals moving out and about and I wanted some gear that helped us move around the hospital easier and more fluidly. And that combined with the fact that I know how to sew, combined with the fact that I love gear, uh, it just all kinda came together. I went down to my basement and started making stuff for he and I. So we were, it’s definitely a happy accident. Um, then layer on top of that, I have another company that’s a marketing agency and we kind of looked at it and said, hey, we could build a brand around that. So that was 11 years ago. 03:31 — John:  Yeah. That’s very interesting. And tell me about your sewing background. How did you get into that? Ken:  Definitely not on purpose. My mom, who still sews to this day, she’s a big...