Paloma Newton and Jackson Gritching had six weeks to completely pivot their business strategy, build an MVP on Bubble, and craft a three-minute pitch — and they won their category at SXSW Sydney. In this episode of The New Build, they break down exactly how they did it — from selecting a Bubble agency in three days to practicing obsessively until they could perform, not just recite.

About Paloma Newton and Jackson Gritching

Paloma Newton is the co-founder and CEO of Elita, bringing a background that spans restaurant management, advertising at major brands like Nestlé, startup marketing, and venture capital. Jackson Gritching is the co-founder and CTO, with a biomedical engineering background and experience in deep tech, including work on stem cell-derived neurons for biological computing. Together, they turned their concern for their pandemic puppy Edgar Allen Paws into the world’s first pet longevity platform.

Connect with Paloma: LinkedIn |Twitter/X

Connect with Jackson: LinkedIn

About Elita

Elita Blueprint is the world’s first pet longevity platform, helping pet owners connect the dots of their pet’s health and act proactively rather than waiting for annual vet visits. The platform aggregates longitudinal health data — from clinical records to advanced diagnostics — to create personalized health profiles that account for breed-specific variations. Elita started as a stem cell bank before pivoting to a digital-first approach that makes preventive pet care accessible and affordable.

Try it: elita.pet

Follow Elita: Instagram | TikTok | LinkedIn

What you’ll learn in this episode

This conversation covers the specific decisions that took Elita from a stem cell bank to a digital platform — and onto the SXSW Sydney stage in just six weeks. Paloma and Jackson share how they evaluated 15 agencies in three days to find the right Bubble development partner, and why they chose to build on Bubble despite having no software development experience.

You’ll hear about Paloma’s approach to pitch preparation, including why she spent more time iterating on the story than practicing it, and why she believes being nervous shows you care. Jackson explains the technical challenge of building personalized pet health tools that account for massive breed variation — and why knowing when something is “good enough” is one of the hardest skills for a founder to develop.

Whether you’re preparing for your first pitch competition or figuring out how to validate a complex idea quickly, this episode offers a practical look at what it takes to pivot, build, and win under extreme time pressure.

Episode timestamps

[00:00] Introduction to the episode and the Elita founders

[01:59] The origin story: how a pandemic puppy named Edgar sparked a pet health startup

[05:59] How stem cell banking for pets actually works

[09:14] Why everything pointed toward building a digital platform — despite no software experience

[14:09] The SXSW Sydney deadline and getting investor buy-in on the pivot

[19:17] “Being the robot” — why Paloma manually handled the first 50 concierge requests

[23:29] The Cindy Gallup moment: telling a hero “I’m about to quit my job and start a company”

[30:51] The hardest part of crafting a three-minute pitch for a complex business

[36:07] Pitch day nerves and why being anxious shows you care

[40:56] The moment they knew they had won — when the audience booed a judge

[45:52] The playbook for pitching: iteration before practice, and knowing when to play

[52:57] Hot take: entrepreneurs aren’t paying enough attention to their customers

[57:47] Most memorable career feedback: “You have an unhealthy bias toward action”

[1:03:41] Bubble updates, Academy refresh, and Bubble Tip of the Week

Key insights from this episode

Be the robot before you automate it

Paloma personally handled the first 50 vet concierge requests before automating the process. This hands-on approach revealed edge cases — like discovering that vet records must be kept for seven years, which allowed her to push for archived records. The lesson: Running manual processes yourself before automating them teaches you things no amount of planning can surface.

Strategy is deciding what you won’t do

With just weeks to build, Paloma and Jackson ran a ruthless prioritization process: what are table stakes, what can wait, and what do we need to get our first 100 users? They defined success not as a perfect product but as a foundation they could test and iterate on. This clarity let them ship something real instead of getting stuck in scope creep.

Pitch preparation is mostly iteration, not practice

Paloma spent three and a half weeks iterating on her pitch script and only two weeks practicing it. She tested it constantly — with her co-founder, team, strangers, and friends over the phone — using feedback to refine the story. Only once she knew the material inside out did she allow herself to “play” with delivery and respond to the energy in the room.

Obsession is the underrated founder trait

When asked what made the strongest pitches at SXSW Sydney, Paloma didn’t point to traction or metrics. She pointed to obsession — founders who had done “weird things” to get where they are and who cared deeply enough to keep pushing. In her view, early-stage traction matters less than a founder’s genuine, sustained commitment to solving a specific problem.

Resources

• Elita Blueprint — Elita’s pet longevity platform
• SXSW Sydney — The pitch competition where Elita won their category
• Bubble Academy — Refreshed learning platform mentioned in the episode outro
• Bubble Newsletter — Stay updated on product releases and builder stories

Listen and subscribe

The New Build is a bi-weekly podcast exploring how solo founders and small teams are building products that reach millions of users. New episodes drop every other week.

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