Inventing from a Young Age
For as long as he can remember, Founder and CEO, Bryan Perla, was creating and inventing. He is an inventor at heart, “Dreaming, prototyping, and making new products is what makes me excited about the future.”
Inventor Bryan Perla was diagnosed with severe dyslexia in second grade when it became obvious that reading, spelling, and fluency were an incredible challenge for him. While this initially left him behind his peers, Perla soon learned that, when embraced, dyslexic thinkers have unique brilliance to share. He was taught about big-picture thinking, how to visualize complex problems, and identifying needs in the world in order to help others. This led to Perla's passion for inventions at a young age, “During my high school senior year at The Winchendon School, I designed, prototyped, and worked on a patent for a project — a device that helps people cut wrapping paper. I went through many different models, but ended with one that was the most Easy, Lightweight, and Fast. I called my new product, Little ELF.”
Little ELF was designed to solve the annoying issue associated with wrapping presents. After watching his family and friends continuously struggle with cutting wrapping paper, he knew he could help. With the desire to revolutionize how people cut wrapping paper, he created Little ELF! In 2016, I launched Little ELF Gift Wrap Cutter in high school and presented it to my teachers and peers through a fair. The response was amazing. I decided to pursue my idea further to see where it could go and what else I could learn about product development and business. In 2018, after 2 years of design and development, Perla launched a 30-day Kickstarter campaign to fund Little ELF’s production costs. After 30 days, not only did Little ELF meet its pledge goal, but exceeded it by 700%, when 4,134 backers pledged $130,125 to help bring this project to life, allowing Little ELF to go straight into mass production.
As Seen on Shark Tank
In December 2019, Founder and CEO of Little ELF Products Bryan Perla pitched his product to the notorious Sharks — Barbara Corcoran, Kevin O'Leary, Lori Greiner, and Robert Herjavec on ABC’s hit show Shark Tank. The product was received with excitement by the Sharks and, with two offers on the table, the Sharks fought hard for a deal with Perla. Perla ultimately decided to partner with Greiner (USA Today).
Little ELF Today
Since Little ELF aired on Shark Tank, Little ELF Gift Wrap Cutter can be found in retail outlets around the globe, available at Walmart, Target, Hobby Lobby, CVS, Kroger, Bed Bath & Beyond, amongst many other stores. It is also a 'Best-Seller' product on Amazon.
While at Stanford University, Perla ran his business out of his dorm room, while completing a major in Product Design, a perfect pairing for this creative and entrepreneurial mind. Upon graduating in June 2022, Perla now runs Little ELF full-time, working to launch it bigger than ever to change the gift wrapping industry.
Little ELF solves big problems in simple ways. The Little ELF Gift Wrap Cutter makes holidays less stressful, so people, including yourself, can focus more time on family and what matters most. That is the goal of Little ELF Products - Gift Wrapping Made Fun and Easy !
We are grateful to everyone who has supported us on this incredible journey so far. We can’t wait to see all that is to come, and to have you along for the ride.