Our team

On a run together in the Berkeley hills, Eli saw that Andy was doing the same thing he had grown accustomed to — trail running with six feet of nylon webbing leash wrapped around one hand. Just because trails are “off-leash,” doesn’t mean you don’t need one. Other dogs, wildlife, poison oak, parking lots, shredding mountain bikers — all reasons why it makes sense to have a leash on you.

At this point we started talking about working on a leash together. Andy had a product design background and Eli had a branding one. This on top of being trail runners with dogs.

We went through a lot of designs and prototypes. For a while we were walking and running with our dogs using a new leash every week. It was great to be able to product test so easily and immediately. It was at this point that Eli's dog, Davis, really started to slow down. He was diagnosed with DCM and an irregular heartbeat. He needed 14 pills a day and regular vet visits just to keep going. Even though he couldn’t run anymore, he was still a happy guy, so we were happy to do it. He made it until a day after his 11th birthday when the meds couldn’t regulate his heart anymore.

Ok, that was heavy. Sorry. Davis was really the reason why Eli started this project. He was the original product tester alongside Andy’s dogs, Sydney and Rue. Through all of our testing we realized that Ultraderp was for more than just runners. Having a leash that weighs almost nothing is great going for walks around the neighborhood or at the dog park. So here we are, sharing Ultraderp with the world.