Interview with Marian Cruz: Turbobaster

Alexander Muse over at Texas Startup Blog had the opportunity to interview Marian Cruz who pitched her business Turbobaster this week to the sharks. Here is a excerpt from the article:

“Obviously Marian was still very excited about her experience on the show. She shared with me that the producers kept the details of the program fairly secret and it wasn’t clear whether or not she would be competing against the other entrepreneurs.”

“While she was waiting to go on, Marian pulled out her laptop and began checking the backgrounds of each Shark. Immediately she realized that Kevin Harrington would be the perfect ‘partner. ABC credits Kevin as having started the infomercial industry 25 years ago. His first company reached more than $500MM in annual sales. Little did Kevin know, but Marian intended to do a deal with him regardless of the terms.”

“Five weeks after taping the show Marian had a conference call with Kevin and his team that lasted around 10 minutes. Kevin wanted Marian to explain the product once again and ten minutes later he ended the call. I asked Marian what the next step was, but she didn’t know. I asked if she had received a term sheet, she had not. I probed for more details about her understanding of the ‘deal’ she had struck with Kevin. What if Kevin ultimately failed to build the Turbobaster? Would she get IP back? Would she be able to license it to someone else? She hoped so, but didn’t have the answer.”

Take a look at the rest of the article at Texas Startup Blog