Where it started:
The SiliDog brand gained it’s inspiration from a rescue dog named Bentley in Gainesville, Florida. He was thrown from a car on the highway, friends saved him, and Founder, Mikey Lickstein, took him in. It wasn’t long before Mikey decided to keep the pup who wasn’t in the greatest shape. Beaten and abused, Bentley would constantly scratch in the middle of the night, causing his pet tags to jingle and the colors and engraving to fade.
We all love our pets! But the sound of the pet tags jingling… is SO annoying! After a few too many sleepless nights and four faded pet tags in just one month, Mikey set out to create The New Standard in Pet Tags.
Made out of 100% Sili-cone, SiliDog tags are Silent, Never Fade, and even Glow-in-the Dark!
Mikey created SiliDog while getting his Master’s Degree at the University of Florida and [attempting] to foster Bentley. Giving back has always been important to SiliDog, which is why portions of every sale help donate to charity.
After launching the four original prototypes on Christmas Day 2014, Mikey and Bentley went door-to-door to veterinarians, pet supply stores, and animal shelters in the community to promote the new invention. In just one month, SiliDog was in 30 locations.
Realizing there was a need in the market for silent pet tags, SiliDog made it’s big debut at the World’s Largest Pet Product Tradeshow in Orlando, Florida, Global Pet Expo. In a booth clearly too large for any startup, located in the very back corner of the room, was SiliDog’s Founding Team: Mikey Lickstein, his parents, best friend Mathew Kaplan, and Bentley. Over the next three days, SiliDog was in another 30 locations, in 12 states!
Room to grow:
Over the next four months, SiliDog gathered feedback and suggestions from thousands of SiliFans, which helped lead SiliDog to create it’s first full-line of pet tags. With the creative use of Kickstarter and exposure from Las Vegas’s tradeshow, SuperZoo, SiliDog ran the 3rd most-popular pet product campaign and successfully surpassed 100 locations!
Help:
SiliDog was growing… out of the garage and into the house! The new SiliDog HQ was located at Mikey’s parent’s house. Working out of the garage was one thing, but now the house was filled with all things SiliDog. From logo’d coffee mugs, to the daily t-shirts, and of course tags, SiliDog had taken over! With this new found growth, came new found help; SiliDog’s first part-time employee, Mikey’s Grandmother. Prepping envelopes and packaging tags, this was not your ordinary Granny!
In only 18 months, SiliDog Tags had shipped to all 50 states, over 30 countries, and 5 continents! With such worldly support, SiliDog’s mission dedicated to creating the best pet tags possible, gained further motivation while spreading the message: Every dog is a SiliDog.
From coast to coast, SiliDog has been able to provide charitable contributions to over 50 organizations that support animal rescue, cancer research, service men and women, and those with special-needs, all while keeping pet initiatives in mind.
*SiliDog plans to launch it’s own nonprofit organization in 2018 to help spread the Sili-ness around the world!
These were the kinds of steps necessary in order to get the attention from some sharks! On October 21st, 2016 SiliDog made it’s debut on ABC’s, Shark Tank! After initially getting offers from four Sharks, CEO Mikey Lickstein, landed a deal from Lori Grenier for $100,000 in exchange for 30% equity in SiliDog.
Today:
(Starting from January 2017 and include plans for the future)
