Meet Chelsea Rhoads and Liz Hess of pup•eeze

Today we’d like to introduce you to Chelsea Rhoads and Liz Hess.

Thanks for sharing your story with us Chelsea and Liz. So, let’s start at the beginning and we can move on from there.
pup•eeze was born out of love for our dogs and the love of travel. In 2009 we camped around the western US, and we quickly realized the difficulties of traveling with dogs since dogs aren’t allowed in many places. Everyday activities such as going to the grocery store, out to eat or doing laundry were nearly impossible. These events inspired the creation of the mobile temperature monitor; Pup Alert. The monitor was powered by a cellular network that sent notifications of temperature that are too hot or too cold based on their age, breed, and weight.

Before we fully committed to the technology world, we were part of a handful of other startups that had nothing to do with technology. These adventures, including, copper mining in North Dakota, a brewery in Colorado, real estate in Colorado than finally, we took the plunge into the technology space.

To keep a long story shorter. We spent a year developing, designing and pre-selling the temperature monitor. We had a good response; many people in the RV, hunting and showing dogs worlds appreciated the peace of mind our device gave. However, once we were ready to start manufacturing, we learned that we hadn’t met certification for the cellular network. It stopped us dead in our tracks! We were out of a product, out of funds, and out of ideas about how to move forward.

We took a few weeks and took a step back to reevaluate our market and product. We knew people were interested and willing to purchase, but how could we get to market faster and to more people without starting over from scratch?

We had the idea to create a wearable, wellness tracker for the dogs. It’s was smaller, longer battery life, no cellular restrains, plus it helped show additional health-related stats outside of just temperature issues. We changed the name, updated the branding, and started developing pup•eeze, in September of 2017.

Over the next year and a half we had many ups and downs from an ever-changing technology world, we had a rollercoaster ride of positives and negatives. We struggled to get our home automation connections working. But we solidified a manufacturable and qualified hardware solution. We struggled with our mobile application working consistently. But we were invested in by a local IoT and data company out of Boulder called Fathym. See, ups and downs!

As of Q3 of 2019, we have many pre-sold devices waiting to be delivered. We’ve received our first bulk shipment of devices and gateways, and we are putting on the final touches to ship out to our supporters! We’ve grown as people, as entrepreneurs, and the business has matured into a data analytics company. Our goals are to get the pup•eeze device on as many dogs as possible. And through a world of data, and different aggregated sources, we are developing relevant connections to supply all verticles in the pet industry with the best data possible. Together, we are building a community of industry leaders, driven to connect all aspects of a dog’s life into a holistic health care system.

Great, so let’s dig a little deeper into the story – has it been an easy path overall and if not, what were the challenges you’ve had to overcome?
Definitely not a smooth road! ha

We’ve learned and accepted that starting a company is truly a lifestyle. Things go well, things to wrong and you have to take them in stride and keep moving. Similar to life, you don’t get to say, “this is too hard, I’m done with it” and lay around forever. You have to always come up with new, creative ways to improve, grow, and advance your company, yourself, and your surroundings to always move forward.

We’ve had struggles ranging from contractors not coming through, to having to learn in-depth how different technologies work. We’ve had to learn how to manage people and expectations. We’ve struggled with timelines and how long development takes and accepting that it’s never fully completed. We’ve learned the importance of knowing the business. We’ve struggled with realizing things that aren’t always as you want, but we must be determined to make the best of it and do as much with what we have.

The obstacles are stressful but also very gratifying to continuously be conquering!

Please tell us about pup•eeze.
pup•eeze is an IoT and data analytics company for the pet industry. Industries include veterinarians, retail shops, online stores, walkers, daycare and groomers. We are supplying each industry with relevant data to improve their businesses, advance decision-making, and targeted marketing through data-backed stats. In-return, we are creating better health care for their clientele and their dogs around the US.

Our specialty and what sets us apart is our ability to develop dashboards with cost-effective data solutions rapidly. We don’t believe in stagnant data, we believe in real-time data and how the world is interacting with our dogs. From that information, businesses can recommend, market, and add exponential value to their clientele, improve the health of dogs.

We are very proud to be part of a thriving startup community in Boulder. We’re honored to be building a community focused on bettering health care for our four-legged friends. While proving the enormous value that big data brings to the whole pet industry.

Do you look back particularly fondly on any memories from childhood?
Memories of playing basketball. I loved the friendships, the competition, the travel, and the desire always to improve.