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As Seen on Shark Tank
Tuesday, February 2nd, 2010Shark Tank Episode 14 Recap
Saturday, January 30th, 2010Tonight’s episode of Shark Tank featured for different entrepreneurs, each competing for the Sharks money. These entrepreneurs must convince the Sharks to invest at least the amount they asked for or they walk away with nothing.
Jill Quillin came up with an innovative way for women to save money on their lipstick. LipStix Remix is a system that allows you to melt down your old lipstick and poured into a mold to create a brand-new lipstick. Jill was looking for $105,000 for 30% of her business. Jill needed the sharks help in order to get her product to market, she had currently been selling her product at a mall kiosk, she managed to sell 800 units herself.
It was obvious that Jill knew her stuff, she knew the best way to sell her product was on TV. This meant she needed to get a deal with Kevin Harrington a pioneer in the infomercial business. She was convinced that after a series of infomercials she would be able to get her product in stores. For every kitshe sold on the infomercial she expected to sell ten in stores.
Barbara was first to act offering half the money, but she required another shark to come into the deal. Daymond offered $105,000 for 40% of the business. And Kevin Harrington joined Barbara but required 40%. Daymond was convinced the Barbara was not needed in the deal and tried to convince Kevin to drop her, but after some jostling Barbara, Daymond and Kevin made an offer for the full amount for 50% of the business. Jill saw the value in all three sharks, in on the deal, so she accepted.
Tim Gavern was hoping to make a deal with the sharks for a piece of his business, Captain Ice Cream. Tim planned to sell and franchise is novelty moped ice cream business. He was willing to give up 25% of his business for an investment of $48,000 from the sharks. Tim would wholesale the ice cream to his franchisees, and sell them a moped for $7000 each. In a good day a franchisee can expect to sell $200 worth of ice cream in four hours, which according to Tim would translate into about $25-$50,000 a year in income. Even with a markup of 400% on ice cream, this business is not going make anyone into a millionaire overnight. None of the sharks invested.
Next into the tank was Michael Schiavone and his business Caffeindicator. Michael had developed a method for testing whether coffee was decaf or regular. He’d been able to combine this with sugar packets, when a regular coffee was poured on the packet it would turn pink. The obvious advantage of this would be that you don’t inadvertently drink decaf and hour before you go to bed. Michael was looking for $200,000 in exchange for 25% equity in the business.
Michael, a mechanical engineer, had patented the product and was planning to license the product to one of five major sweetener companies. Michael recognized it would be more profitable to make a small fraction of a penny off of each order, versus the risk of producing your own packets and the costs involved with that. He expected that the sweetener companies might use his product to gain market share, he was predicting a bidding war. Michael even suggested that he might sell the patent to the highest bidder, and it would be up to them whether they use it or bury it.
Robert was first to jump at it, offering $200,000 for 60% of the business. This was contingent on him getting a deal with the sweetener companies. Kevin H. followed Roberts lead and offered $200,000 for 50% of the company with the same contingency as Robert. Michael wisely accepted Kevin H’s deal.
Last into the shark tank was Jeff and Annie Hughes and their business Legal Grind. Legal grind is a coffee house where middle-class people can get access to legal resources, such as lawyers and other basic legal services. They were looking for $200,000 for 15% of their business. Jeff and Annie tried to do a funny pitch, but the sharks were not impressed, and their pitch fell flat on its face.
Their goal with their business was to franchise, bringing legal services to middle-class America. Jeff is a lawyer, he been operating the business since 1996, bringing in about $200,000 in gross sales a year.
The sharks questioned the legality of the business (waitress giving legal advice), and the scalability, it would be hard to find another set of Jeff and Annie’s out there. The couple then surprised the sharks by saying that they had over 100 franchising requests. Daymon recommended that they take a down payment from a certain amount of the franchisors and they would have all the money they need it, in order to build a business into a franchise.
In the end the sharks were not able to invest in the business, and Jeff and Annie walked away without an investment.
If you are enjoying this season of Shark Tank please take a second to send ABC a message here, and ask for a second season of Shark Tank.
Episode 14 Preview
Wednesday, January 27th, 2010
This weeks episode of Shark Tank will feature 4 very different businesses. Jill Quillin will pitch her business LipStix remix which is the at-home system which allows you to recolor, repair, and recover your lipstick by melting it down and creating a whole new lipstick. On this weeks preview Kevin Harrington says “this could be $100 million idea”.
Jeff Hughes and his wife will pitch their business Legal Grind which is a coffee shop which provides low-cost legal services. The coffee is actually free, but its $45 for 20 minutes with a lawyer.
I do not have all the facts on this one but Michael will pitch an idea for sugar packets, which are coded with a substance that when exposed to caffeine turns pink. The product helps to determine if the coffee you are drinking is decaf or not.
Edit: Caffeindicator
Last Tim Gavern will pitch his business Captain Ice Cream to the Sharks. Tim plans to franchise his fleet of three-wheeled moped ice cream vendors
Make sure you tune on Friday at 9pm on ABC.
“Episode 114” – An entrepreneur from Monrovia, California who wants to bring back the old fashioned ice cream man hopes the Sharks will be swayed by their nostalgia for sweet things of the past and not cream him for his lack of big sales. Things percolate between the Sharks and a husband and wife team from Santa Monica after Kevin O’Leary mocks their poorly executed business pitch about providing legal services at a coffee house. Another coffee-oriented pitch finds a man who has created a way to determine if a cup of Joe does or doesn’t contain caffeine. A housewife from Knoxville, Tennessee hopes her idea on how to recycle lipsticks to create new ones will smack of success. Also, there is an update on how the business venture has been going with the Sharks who partnered with Lisa Lloyd (from Tucson, Arizona) and her Treasure Chest Pets (“Episode 108”), on “Shark Tank,” FRIDAY, JANUARY 22 (9:00-10:00 p.m., ET) on the ABC Television Network.
Episode 7 rerun
Saturday, January 23rd, 2010Today (Jan 22) at 5 ABC will rerun Shark Tank episode 7 featuring: Grill Charms, The Fun House Project, Boogie Box Fitness, and Soy-Yer Dough. Click here for a full recap of the episode.
Hope for Haiti Telethon
Thursday, January 21st, 2010There will be no Shark Tank this week, instead ABC will air the Hope for Haiti Telethon. This live event will bring together concerts in London, Los Angeles and New York City and live reports from Haiti.
Money raised from the telethon will be spilt evenly between the World Food Programme, UNICEF, the Red Cross, Oxfam, the Yele Haiti Foundation, the Partners in Health and the Clinton Bush Haiti Fund.
ABC will not be the only network airing the telethon, it has been reported that this commercial free telethon may be the most widely broadcast telethon ever, airing on more than 25 networks around the world.
So please do your part and donate today!
Shark Tank Episode 13 Recap
Saturday, January 16th, 2010
First into the Shark Tank was Nate Berkopec and his company The Factionist. Nate is a 19 year old NYU business student who started his business in High School. The Factionist is an environmentally friendly and ethically responsible T-Shirt company. In the last year Nate has sold $3,000 worth of T-Shirts, he was looking for $30,000 for 20% of his company.
Fashion guru Daymond wanted to know what was unique about his business? And how he intended to compete with everyone else with a screen printer? Nate said he planed to get people from developing nations to design the T-Shirts and to pay them a decent wage, along with making the shirts out of bamboo. The Sharks argued that there is nothing preparatory that would keep someone form copying him, and that he didn’t have a strong brand. The Sharks were all out and Nate walked away with out a deal… or so we thought, it was revealed that Barbara contacted him after the show and offered Nate a job, Nate accepted the offer.
Next up was Anthony Calvert and Tina Calvert pitch their business PODillow. PODillow is a tanning pillow with a secret compartment for your valuables. They were looking for $250,000 for 33% of their business. Anthony a veteran San Diego SWAT team was injured, and while he was off work recuperating from his injury he came up with the idea for the PODillow. In their spare time it sold 6000 units in the last two years, at a price of $29.95 and the manufacturing cost around seven dollars. Most of their sales was through mail-order catalogs, they currently have orders from the catalogs that they are not able to fill, their looking for help from the sharks in order to fill those orders and also get the business knowledge from the sharks to grow their business.
PODillow is a cute little product, perfect for the mail-order market, the only issue with their pitch is a common mistake that many entrepreneurs on shark tank make. They value their business way too high, basing their value on future profits and not current profits. Damon Navin said he wanted to invest in would’ve been able to make them a lot of money but because they asked for way too much money in the business of almost $750,000 he was not able to invest. Anthony and Tina walked away with no deal.
Third to try to swim with the Sharks is brother and sister team Kimberly and Matthew Foley and their business Wee Can Shop. Wee Can Shop is a were gift shop designed for children so they can shop for their loved ones. They been in business for 3 ½ years and their sales have grown by 100% each year, to $13,000 in income last year. 100% can be a misnomer, as sales going from $1-$2 is 100% growth.
Their goal for the business was to franchise and open up a second location in a more high profile location. Although the sharks believed the business had failed, Kimberly and Matthew believe that there is still opportunity for their business to grow. They do not get a deal.
Last to pitch to the sharks was Tim Stansbury and Erin Whalen of Grease Monkey Wipes. They were looking for $14,000 for 40% equity in the business. Grease Monkey Wipes is a portable, individually packaged wet wipe, made with non-chemical all natural cleaning ingredients. The weights will easily clean your hands and removed most grease and grime quickly. They did not have a patent because when you file a patent you have to give away your formula, which allows their competitors to copy their formula. The wipes are sold for one dollar apiece and they sold 7400 this year, and shops had already started to reorder.
Robert is a huge gearhead, so this business was right up his alley. Erin pleaded with Robert saying repeatedly “I promise we will make this work”. Both Robert and Barbara were impressed with Tim and Erin’s as entrepreneurs, Robert and Barbara accepted the deal.
Episode 13 Preview
Thursday, January 14th, 2010
First into the tank is Tim Stansbury and Erin Whalen of Grease Monkey Wipes. Both avid cyclists they developed an individually packaged cleaning wipe that use an all-natural, citrus formula to handle heavy duty cleaning. Their best bet for a deal might be to go after Robert Herjavec, who is a huge gear head.
Next we have Nate Berkopec and his company The Factionist. Nate is a NYU Student who’s company sells environmentally friendly T-Shirts with a good message on each.
Kimberly Foley and her business Wee Can Shop. Kimberlys store is set up for the child shopper, offering unique gifts for children to buy for their loved ones.
Anthony Calvert and Tina Calvert pitch their business PODillow, which is a sun tanning pillow with storage spaces for your valuables.
“Episode 113″ – Two bicyclists from Austin, Texas hope their idea for a portable hand de-greasing product won’t slip by the Sharks; a veteran police officer from the San Diego S.W.A.T. team brings a product that is smart, but less than manly; and the Sharks give a business lesson to an enthusiastic college student from NYU who is passionate about his environmentally friendly and socially aware clothing line. Also, the Sharks unintentionally bring to tears a New Jersey woman who designed a shopping experience for children. And a suspenseful moment occurs when Barbara Corcoran and Kevin Harrington find out if the eccentric, life-long entrepreneur, Cactus Jack (“Episode 105″), lost at least 35 pounds (the Sharks had challenged him to lose the weight before they would seal their business deal with him and his fitness invention, the Body Jac), on “Shark Tank,” FRIDAY, JANUARY 15 (9:00-10:00 p.m., ET) on the ABC Television Network.
From Hell to Ink, Shark Tank Episode 12 Recap
Thursday, January 14th, 2010
First the tank was Michael and Babz Barnett and their business, Romp n’ Roll . Romp n’ Roll is a children’s entertainment center franchise, offering gym, art, music classes and camps for children under five. They were looking for $300,000 for 10% of their business. They have 10 locations already, 8 of which are franchised, and brought in $1.2 million, with a 30% profit margin before salaries.
You could definitely tell that Babz dealt with children a lot, because her pitch was very animated. After Barbara went out, Michael tried to convince her to come back in the deal while Robert was trying to ask a question. This could have cost them their deal, but Robert and Kevin offered $300,000 for 51% of the business. The couple countered with 20%, but the sharks would not budge. Michael and Babz walked away without a deal.Sh
Marix Stone and Dr. Nancy Tanchel and their business Hells Bells, was seeking
$500,000 for 20% equity in the business. Hells Bells produces helmets with 3-D elements on them, they also own the patent to add these unique designs to other helmets. They have sales of $300,000, and sell a helmet for around $175 with a 50% profit margin.
With the hundred $175,000 profit last year Hells Bells, seems a solid investment, but not at the $2.5 million evaluation. The sharks are more interested in licensing the patent, then producing the helmets. Daymond offered $500,000 for 50%, but he would be licensing the patent and not focusing on selling the helmets. They accepted the deal.
Next was Alfonzo Down and his business The Twister a golf ball cleaner that attaches to your golf bag. Alfonzo was looking for $85,000 in exchange for 40% of his business. Alfonzo’s had very low sales only selling in flea markets and online, and was mostly a seasonal business. Now the Sharks were interested and he walked away without a deal.
The Chef in Black was next into the Shark Tank, owned by Dorene Humason, they produce their own line of dried salad dressing called Jaden Chinese Salad Dressing and Seasoning Mix. Dorene was seeking $50,000 in exchange for 10% of her business.
Dorene business have a rough start, after getting into 1300 stores she had to pull her product after learning her packaging was offensive. She had mistakenly put a cartoon image of a Japanese prostitute, which is obviously offensive and caused her to redesign her packaging. Dorene was smart, she saw an available market (the dried salad dressing) and produced a product to fill that niche. She expressed interest in expanding into wet salad dressing, but the sharks felt the bigger guys would crush her.
Barbara offered $50,000 for 40% of her business, with the stipulation that they stay with dried salad dressing and expand nationwide. Dorene countered with 35% and the offer was accepted.
Last into the Shark Tank was Andy Sperry and his business Inkflip. Inkflip offers a mail-order ink cartridge service (Like Netflix for your printers). He was looking for $150,000 for 20% of his business. Unfortunately the last six months he only generated $10,000 in sales, and was unaware of the cost of acquiring a new customer. He simply was asking for way too much money, and all the Sharks were out.
Shark Tank Episode 12 Preview
Monday, January 4th, 2010Follow us on twitter @SharkTankABC
Have you been missing Shark Tank? Well the wait is over, on Friday January 8th at 9pm Shark Tank will return with a whole new batch of entrepreneurs ready to pitch their businesses to the hungry sharks. The Sharks will decide if they will fund the business with their own money.
This week we will see Dorene Humason and her business The Chef in Black. After working hard to launch The Chef in Black Jaden Chinese Salad Dressing and Seasoning Mix, and getting the salad dressing into stores she learned that her packaging was offensive, it featured a cartoon of a Japanese prostitute. Needless to say this was a big hit to her bottom line, she had to pull the product from stores and redesign the packaging.
Marix Stone and Dr. Nancy Tanchel and their business Hells Bells, which sells custom made 3D helmets.
Romp n’ Roll is a business run by husband and wife team Michael and Babz Barnett. Their business offers a facility for parents and their children under 5, to learn about art, music and sports (just to name a few). The couple is looking for money to expanding their franchises beyond their home state of Virginia.
Alfonzo Down and his business The Twister portable golf ball cleaner, will pitch his business to the hungry sharks. The Twister is attached to a gold bag allowing golfers to clean their golf balls anywhere on the course.
Inkflip is netflix for ink. You run out of ink, put it into a shipping box, mail it off and inkflip sends you a refilled one back. Andy Sperry will pitch his business to the Sharks, but will he be able to answer their hard hitting questions?
Here are some businesses that will be diving into the Shark Tank over the next few weeks:
Nubrella and hands free umbrella that will not invert in the wind.
Send-a-Ball a custom message sent on a ball in the mail.
Express Effects natural hunger craving controlling lip gloss.
Qubits an educational construction toy.
Grease Monkey Wipes individually packaged cleaning wipes.
Wee Can Shop a store where children can shop for the ones they love.
Captain Ice Cream ice cream delivered on a moped.
Legal Grind a coffee shop for people looking for legal help.
Sensual Steps and their shoe parties in your home, called Pillars of Slippers
These two may be on the show, but I am not 100% sure:
The Factionist an environmentally friendly and socially aware clothing line.
Lip stix remix melt down your old lip sticks into a new one.
D-Caf Test Strips a method determine if your coffee contain caffeine.
PODillow a sun tanning pillow with storage spaces for your valuables.
Follow us on twitter @SharkTankABC
The Sharks to close the NASDAQ
Monday, January 4th, 2010
The Sharks will be closing the NASDAQ on Tuesday January 5. All the sharks, along with a few entrepreneurs that have appeared on the Shark Tank this season will be on hand helping close the exchange.
Remember to watch Shark Tank this Friday at 9pm on ABC.
Update:
Check out Pork Barrel BBQ’s behind the scene video as the help the Sharks close the NASDAQ