At A Glance

Erick Eidus is the Founder of PupPod, an advanced, enrichment game designed specifically for dogs. Created in 2014, PupPod offers a way to stimulate your dog’s mind, encouraging fast responses, training, engagement, and prolonged play. And it allows pet parents to be part of the fun through a built-in video camera and personalization options for gameplay, even with multiple dogs. 

Who is Erick Eidus?

Meet Erick Eidus, the Founder of PupPod. 

About PupPod

Back when tablets first started being introduced to the public they were also being introduced to children. Young children. Children who were not just playing games but learning new things. This was when the wheels really started turning and Erick started to consider how pets could benefit from software, and his consulting clients were intrigued. 

Erick began to consider different ways that software and technology could help pets. How it could help them be more active and stimulated. And he started to ask himself ‘if a dog could invent a computer, what would a dog invent?’ It wouldn’t look the same as the computers that humans used, with screens and keyboards and mice. But what could it entail? 

Erick’s Journey

Erick Eidus isn’t new to the technology space. In fact, he has a strong background in early smartphone operating systems, including consulting with other businesses on building smartphone apps. Somewhere along the way, he started to think a little more about dogs in particular, and especially about the way that they think. Because Erick firmly believed that dogs were smarter than they were often given credit for. And the idea for some type of software that would enter into the pet space started to incubate. 

The CX Team of PupPod

When it comes to customer service, PupPod has always been remote, which is something that Erick is very familiar with, because his previous business was structured around a remote team as well. Even the members of the team who are located nearby still don’t meet in person, because, for Erick, online is more efficient for building the company and getting things done. 

Business Growth and Revenue Strategies

What’s the most important area for Erick to spend time? Marketing and sales. After all, Erick already has an excellent stable product. Scaling and continuing to improve the hardware is becoming an important component of the business, since it’s primarily considered part of the consumer electronics space. But for Erick, the goal is to launch further into the subscription model, offering the hardware for free and the subscription service with their own pet food as the real ‘product.’ 

PupPod’s CX Philosophy

Customer support and customer experience are also key to success at PupPod, and for Erick, he’s personally involved. In fact, he will get on the phone with customers directly when there’s a problem or a ticket submitted. No matter when they send in that request, they can expect to receive support and direct attention, because the personal relationship is a key component of the company he’s created. 

When customers say that this product is crucial to their lives and that it’s a tool that they use every day for their pets, that’s something that Erick really appreciates, and it makes the whole process even more worthwhile. Because being a part of a customer’s daily life and influencing it that much is pretty amazing. 

Innovation and Adaptability

Innovation is a key aspect for any business, and with PupPod it entailed a great deal of firsthand research on intuitive design. After all, the software needed to be useful for pet parents, but for their pets as well and as Erick discovered, designing something to be intuitive and natural for a dog is very different from designing it to be intuitive for a human. It required a great deal of work to achieve. But even then the process wasn’t done.

For Erick, there were some aspects of his product that he was certain were important and needed to be included. But that wasn’t always the case. Talking to customers became a key aspect of innovation within the company, ensuring that the features of the product were what customers would actually use.

It all comes down to listening and paying attention. Both to the customers and to the dogs that use the product. And that is more important in creating the best product than what you as a founder might think is best.  

Building and Growth for the Future

So, what is Erick’s plan for the future of PupPod? His goal is to have his product in every house that has a dog, especially those that are food motivated and need more activity than a pet parent can provide every day. 

It’s a lofty goal, but it’s one that Erick believes will help pet parents and ensure that their dogs are happier and healthier. It’s especially important in areas where the weather may otherwise keep dogs indoors or limit the amount of physical activity they’re able to get in a day. 

What Does it Take to be a Success?

To Erick there is one piece of advice that’s most important. And that’s to spend the least amount of time and the least amount of money to figure out where you’re wrong. It’s something he’s learned himself from being dedicated to ideas or plans only to find out that customers don’t really care about those specific aspects. And it allows the business to keep moving forward productively, providing the key things that customers really want. 

Adding into that, Erick believes that having some pressure on you is actually a good thing. After all, as an entrepreneur you’re going to have pressure to do well, to succeed. But at the same time it’s essential to make sure that pressure doesn’t turn into stress that can hurt you and your business.

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