Rad Dog Wins PayPal 10K Business Makeover Contest

Listen to this article

Rad Dog, designers and builders of performance dog gear, was selected as a winner of the PayPal $10K Business Makeover competition based on growth potential and expressed business need for makeover, as well as clarity, originality and creativity of their entry.

A longtime champion of small businesses, PayPal’s contest attracted over 13,000 applications. Contenders navigated a highly selective, multi-round process that included short essays, phone interviews and a final review by a panel of expert business leaders. Rad Dog’s distinction comes with a $10,000 cash prize, one-on-one payments consultation from PayPal, and website design enhancement from Shopify or a back-office accounting package from Xero.

“We are honored that PayPal has selected Rad Dog,” Rad Dog co-founder Paula Dagnon said. “Our team is absolutely thrilled to put the resources from the PayPal $10K Business Makeover to work so that we can help more people enjoy the outdoors with their dogs.”

With the winnings from PayPal, owners Paula and Brian Dagnon plan to continue the process of designing a retractable leash-harness as a partner product to the successful Release N Run Leash, a collar with a retracting leash built-in, and the inspiration for the founding of Rad Dog. Additionally, the owners will use the funds and professional consultation to streamline the company’s operational infrastructure, update their Ecommerce platform and invest in SEO management.

Rad Dog designs every product to be durable and comfortable for the dog. Rad Dog products can go into water, dirt, rain and mud and still work time after time.