These Bootstrapped Founders Are Playing the Long Game

Issue #287

January 5th, 2026

Quick Hits:

🐕 Dogs outnumber children in one in three neighbourhoods!

💔 Heartbroken pet owners will share a $5.5 million payout after claims that Mid America Pet Food’s dog and cat food was contaminated with deadly Salmonella

🧊 Dog rescued from icy pond

🇰🇷 Starting in March, diners in South Korea will be able to visit restaurants and cafes with their pets

😮 Tylenol, Advil, Purina, Haribo face urgent FDA recall

🎰 Petkit unveiled three new smart devices designed to make pet care easier and more connected.

🧩 Virbac’s stock is trading quietly despite strong performance and ambitious plans in animal health.

🇳🇿 Pets are joining a wave of people relocating from New Zealand to Australia

This week’s interviews feature two female founders who built durable pet brands the hard way — without outside capital and without shortcuts. One spent over a decade growing an outdoor dog brand rooted in Tahoe culture. The other turned a single product into a defensible platform — even after a Shark Tank deal fell apart.

First interview is with Rachel Skolnick Friedline - Owner & Founder of WilderDog

The second interview is with Shannon Ross - CEO & Founder of Springland

We covered:

• Constraint forces clarity. Bootstrapping pushed both founders to obsess over getting one product right, delaying expansion until it earned its place and cash flow could support it.

• Momentum doesn’t equal durability. From supply chain shocks and tariffs to post–Shark Tank pressure, both interviews surfaced how quickly growth can become dangerous without discipline.

• Saying no is an operating skill. Whether it was resisting overexpansion, ignoring copycats, or waiting years to launch a new SKU, restraint showed up repeatedly as a core business advantage.

You’ve bootstrapped Wilderdog for more than a decade — a rare feat in today’s fundraising-driven landscape. What kept you committed to growing slowly and independently rather than pursuing outside capital?

Join Our Premium Community