La Pine-based TurboPUP on Shark Tank Friday

Kristina Guerrero, founder of TurboPUP, will debut her complete meal bars for dogs on Friday’s episode of Shark Tank. The La Pine resident was inspired to create portable energy bars for our furry friends after a backcountry ski trip with her own dog Dunkan. 

The Cascade Business Journal reports that:

Guerrero is already experienced in pitching her idea to investors; she appeared at the 2013 Bend Venture Conference, and has been awarded several grants in the past few years that have been foundational in getting the business off the ground.

A $1,000 Women Veteran Entrepreneur Corps Award in 2013 and a $25,000 award from Citi and the Institute for Veterans and Military Families at Syracuse University helped her transition from making the bars at home to finding a large-scale manufacturer.

Now if you’re like most people you probably have a love-hate relationship with Shark Tank. For instance, I love the entrepreneurs and hearing the ideas, but dislike how much everyone cries. Guerrero couldn’t say much about the upcoming episode, but as a decorated U.S. Air Force veteran and recipient of two combat air medals, she was well equipped for the intensity of the Tank.

“I’ve been through basic training that simulates being a POW,” she said in a phone call earlier this week. “I didn’t cry. But I will say that it’s brutal honesty, it’s absolutely unfiltered brutal honesty. Everything that was said was valid, and it was really insightful feedback.”

In the meantime, she’s been readying her website to accommodate an expected influx of buyers after the show. So tune into to ABC at 9 p.m. PT Friday to see what happened. And no matter the result, congrats to Guerrero. We’re excited to see what the future holds for TurboPUP!

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Kelly Kearsley

Kelly Kearsley, the co-founder of StartupBend.com, is passionate about startups, entrepreneurship and Bend. In addition to writing this blog, she creates content and manages content projects for global financial companies, tech firms and startups. She began her career as a newspaper journalist and later worked as a freelance writer. Her work has appeared in WSJ.com, Money Magazine, CNNMoney, MSNBC and Runner's World. See her work at kellykearsley.contently.com or kellykearsley.com.

You can reach Kelly by email at [email protected].

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