A Product Market Fit Show | Startup Podcast for Founders He sold dog food from his condo. Now he does $100M+ a year. | Russell Breuer, Founder of Spot & Tango
Jan 29, 2026
Russell Breuer, founder of Spot & Tango who scaled a studio‑apartment dog‑food side hustle into a nine‑figure DTC brand. He recounts hand‑delivering first orders, inventing UnKibble fresh‑dry food, and vertically integrating manufacturing. Short stories cover branding with pink butcher paper, cheap winning ad creative, and the four‑day sellout that signaled product‑market fit.
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From Studio Apartment To First Customers
- Russell started cooking human-grade meals in a studio apartment and gave them to friends and neighbors, growing orders by word-of-mouth.
- He hand-delivered orders on the subway and by bike messenger while still working his day job to validate demand.
Cooking In An Incubator Kitchen
- Early operations used an incubator kitchen with vacuum sealers, bike messengers, and Russell's food handler's license.
- He personally bought hundreds of pounds of meat, cooked, packaged and froze orders after leaving his finance job.
Start High, Then Test Prices
- Test pricing informed by competitive market data and your cost-per-unit rather than guessing.
- Start higher to test tolerance, then lower if conversion or CAC indicates price sensitivity.