This as-told-to essay is based on a conversation with Ken Ehrman, co-founder and CEO of Halo Collar. It has been edited for length and clarity.
Back in 2017, my niece’s dog, Ruby, escaped from their yard and was hit by a car. My niece was only 11, and this was her first experience with death. She had just rescued Ruby the year before, and the dog had become a huge part of the family. We were all hysterical.
I used the same sort of invisible dog fence that had failed Ruby, and I worried about my own dog, Reese’s. One day, a lightbulb went off for me.
My brother and I had already built a company that used GPS tracking to monitor high-value assets for companies: items like forklifts for Walmart, and rental cars for Avis. I knew the capabilities of GPS, and I thought, what more high-value asset is there than the family dog?
The idea had been right there in front of me, but I didn’t see it until tragedy struck.
My patent attorney asked me to invest right away
I immediately called my patent attorney. He did some research and shared that I was likely to get a patent on the device. He also told me he wanted to invest.
That stopped me in my tracks. My brother and I hold more than 40 patents. We’d worked with this attorney a lot, but he’d never asked about investing in one of our products.
When I pointed that out to him, he explained he also used an invisible fence for his dog. He could immediately see the benefit of replacing that with a GPS collar. He thought my idea was an incredible product with a huge opportunity.
I built a team with my brother and Cesar Millan
My second call was to my brother, Michael. I knew I wanted him on the team. I’m a pretty smart guy, but I pale in comparison to Michael. Our skills are like peanut butter and chocolate: when you put those together, it’s a great combination.
I had moved on from the previous company I founded, but Michael was still working there. He was hesitant to leave the security of a salary. So, I turned my attention to the other person I knew I needed to get on board: Cesar Millan.
I knew from my previous experience that I needed a subject matter expert, and Cesar is the best dog trainer in the world. But he’s a very hard man to get hold of. It seemed next to impossible, but through enough networking, I was finally able to reach his team and demonstrate the product. Once Cesar was on board, Michael was too.
I use the product all the time with my dog
We officially started the company in 2018, and spent about two years on research and development. I thought creating the product would be a cake walk, but it wasn’t. It’s challenging to design a GPS product that is indoors 90% of the time and can withstand rough-and-tumble use by dogs.
My dog, Reese’s, was an integral part of the team. She was the tester for all our iterations. One major investor wanted to see the collar in action, on my dog, at his house. Reese’s came through, and he invested.
My earlier inventions weren’t products that I used. That’s different with Halo, because I use it every day to protect Reese’s. I’m intimately familiar with the user experience, and because of that, I spend a portion of each day engineering the product, in addition to my role as CEO.
We’re on track to exceed projected revenue
Having the collar and the ability to set a “fence” anywhere has made it easier to travel with Reese’s. We can now easily bring her on vacation to my mother’s or my in-laws’, which we couldn’t do before.
Last year, Halo Collar did more than $99.7 million in sales. This year, we’re on track to exceed our projected revenue. That’s unusual for a tech company, and something I’ve never experienced as a CEO.
As an entrepreneur, my biggest goal has always been to solve a problem. Dogs are man’s best friends, and we have a responsibility to keep them safe. It’s way too common for pets to get lost or hit by cars. If I can help prevent other pet owners from experiencing the heartbreak my niece went through, I’ll consider that a success.
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