In The Shark Tank

Shark Tank moved to Tuesday night at 8, and by the looks of the amount of twitter activity I am seeing the new time has been a big success.

First up was Leslie Haywood and her business Grill Charms. Grill Charms are dime-sized stainless steel charms that are placed in your meat right before grilling. This will help to separate different flavors, spices and identify what degree stake is cooked. Leslie was looking for $50,000 in exchange for 25% equity in her business. There are four different collections and opportunity to license the product to sports teams and other groups. Grill Charms are currently available in just over 100 stores and their sales were $60,000 last year.

That was enough, the sharks attacked. Kevin O was first to bite with an offer of $50,000 for 50% and 7% royalties. Kevin H was next with an offer of $50,000 for 50% and all his experience behind it. Both Robert and Daymond wanted in on Kevin H’s offer but Kevin H would only partner with Daymond. Robert would not let the offer die so he offered $50,000 for 25%, which is what Leslie, had original asked for. The sharks were jumping at this deal, fighting each other off, one of the best moments of the night.

After talking to her husband Leslie countered Kevin H and Daymond deal with 49% equity. Then came the best line of the night, Kevin O asked why she was not looking at his deal. Leslie said “I do like you, I just don’t think I can work with you.” Kevin O then offered $50,000 for 20% and 7% royalties. Leslie ended up taking Roberts deal.

Not really sure if this is the deal I would have gone for, Kevin H and Daymond offer was sure to make her a fortune. Although I am sure Roberts deal will still work out.

On a side note I would like to pass on my condolence to Leslie and her family over the loss of her father.

The Fun House Project was the brainchild of Todd Robbins and David Adamovich. Their goal was to build a magic themed, 20,000 square feet attraction in Times Square. They would have restaurants, theaters, bars and other attractions. They were looking for $300,000 for 20% equity in the idea. The idea was way too much of a risk for the Sharks and everyone was out.
It’s a little crazy to go from a performance magician to owning a 20,000 square foot entertainment centre in Times Square.

Dedelle Barbarti-Parra developed Boogie Box Fitness after having three children, she used her experience in martial arts and dance to develop her own workout routine. Boogie Box was hoping to take their workouts to the home DVD market by developing a DVD and marketing through infomercials. Dedelle was looking for $700,000 for 70% of her DVD business.

The sharks were not interested and everyone was out.

Last into the tank was Sawyer Skarks and his business Soy-Yer Dough. Soy-Yer Dough is a wheat free molding dough that is made out of soy. Play Doh and other molding clays are made out of a wheat-based product that children with celiac disease (an allergy to wheat) are not able to play with. Sawyer, a University student was looking for $125,000 for 25% of his business. Sawyer has a provisional patent on Soy-Yer Dough, although he was still making it in his mother’s kitchen he had been able to sell 8,000 units with 10,000 on order.

Play Doh has been knocking on his door, multiple times, their last offer was for $500,000 for his business. He turned down the offer.

Kevin O saw a huge opportunity in this business so offered $125,000 for 51% of the business. He argued that he would not be able to negotiate with Play Doh as effectively he had control of the business. For the first time ever it almost looked like Kevin was beggin an entrepreneur to accept his offer. He said he would bend over backwards to make the deal a success, he would get Sawyer everything he wanted including employment for his home town. But Sawyer was still not convinced and countered with 40%, Kevin added that he would negotiate the deal with Play Doh before the deal was done, and if Sawyer felt bad about it he could chose not to take Kevin’s deal.
Robert offered $125,000 for 40%, and Kevin O was not happy about it. Sawyer then asked for more money, and within a few seconds Daymond, Robert and Kevin O offered $100,000 each for a total of $300,000 in exchange for 51%.
Sawyer accepted their offer!

This episode featured two of the best deals in Shark Tank history, and it was the most entertaining episode I have seen. I am excited to see what next week holds.

Remember to follow on twitter @SharkTankABC

This is a pitch that was never seen on Shark Tank. Vincent Porpiglia’s business Dream Water is an all-natural sleep supplement drink. He was looking for 250k and willing to give up 10% equity of his business. Dream Water uses no chemicals and natural ingredients such as melatonin, GABA, and L 5-hydroxytryptophan. Once you drink Dream Water it will help you drift gently off to sleep and wake up in the morning with out that groggy feeling.

They had only enough capital to produce 15,000 bottles but in one month they had sold half their inventory, and were currently in the process of producing just under 100,000 more units.

The Sharks pointed out that they were a nothing brand, and would have problems going up against a major soft drink manufacture if they chose to enter this market. Vincent pointed out that traditionally soft drink companies have bought out other companies to get their product rather than develop their own. Barbara was the first Shark to offer a deal, she offered 250k for 40% of the company but Vincent turned down the deal. Robert then offered 400k for 51% and Vincent accepted the deal.

On tonight’s episode of Shark Tank cash strapped entrepreneurs pitched their businesses to the Sharks who were willing to invest their own money into the right ideas .

First to battle the Sharks was Jonathan Miller with his business, Element Bars. Element Bars is a custom created energy bar that you design online. Although the Sharks thought the bars were tasty they didn’t think it was worth the 150k for 15% that Jonathan was asking. The Sharks said there was nothing proprietary, meaning nothing another company could just copy, Jonathan felt that their ability to produce in small volumes was a proprietary process.
Daymond offered 150K for 75% of the company, but Kevin H said he was an investor in another company that he felt Element Bars would fit well into their product line. He offered 150K for 100% and 4% royalties. Jonathan countered with 20% and Daymond was out at that point. To my surprise Kevin H offered the 150k for 35% and 4% royalties and said that would be his final offer… in an incredibly gutsy move Jonathan countered at 25%, but they ended up settling on 30%.

Next in was David Chodosh and his business The Fizz Cup. He was looking for 150K for 25% of his business. The Fizz Cup was a device that you screw onto the top of pop bottles and is filled with ice cream to make the perfect root beer float. He has been selling them mostly to ice cream stores and has sales of approximately 84k. Although he has sold them to Coke a Cola he has yet to get an ice cream manufacture interested in licensing his product. All the Sharks were out.

Buck and Arleen Weimer pitched their extremely… unique product, Under-ease Underwear. Their product held in the smell of fart in the underwear and filtered it through a charcoal filter. The couple was seeking 55k for 25% of the company, there sales have fallen from 83k in 2002 to 37k last year. No Shark was willing to invest.

Kimberly Cayce a former women’s Pro Golfer pitched her business Kalyx. Which produced an innovative line of sports bras that were tailored to each woman’s needs. She was looking for 125k in exchange for 20% of her business. Kimberly had already invested 100k into her business and was “running on fumes”. The sharks thought it would be extremely hard to compete with the major players such as Under Armor and Nike. Kimberly thought the product stood for itself, she had spent three years developing the bras and they were comfortable unlike other sports bras. The Sharks didn’t see a worthy investment and were out. After Kimberly left Robert and Kevin O went at it, arguing over the way Kevin treated Kimberly.

Last into the tank were Brett and Heath and their business Pork Barrel BBQ. They were seeking 50k for 10% of their BBQ rub and sauce business. Both guys worked in government so there were a lot of jokes about government bailouts. They developed the products together, they had recently won the 2nd best BBQ sauce in the country and had orders for 10k bottles that were being shipped to stores. Barbara was the only Shark to offer up a deal, she offered 50k for 50%. After some negotiations they accepted her deal.

Shark Tank will be moving to Tuesday night at 8pm on 29th… so there will be no Shark Tank next week.

Cactus Jack jumped into the Shark Tank first with his product Body Jac. Body Jac makes it easier to do a pushup by using rubber bands to lighten the load. Cactus Jack is not a new entrepreneur he has sold millions of dollars worth of other products. Body Jac is patented and will be produced in China for between $20 and $30 and then self them for between $89 to $120. Jack was asked why he needed the money if he has sold millions, Jack said he has filed for Bankrupts once and wants someone else to take a risk. Both Robert and Kevin O were out. Kevin H and Barbara offered 180K but wanted 50% and that Cactus Jack needed to lose 30lbs using the Body Jac. Daymond then offered 180k for 50% of Cactus Jack’s whole business and not just Body Jac. He took Barbara and Kevin’s deal and agreed to lose the weight.

Next up was Irina Block with her company Face Blok, which would, manufactures surgical facemasks with designs on them. She was looking for 50K for 30% of her business, the money would be used to develop the masks to make them surgical clean. Although it was an interesting idea the sharks felt it was too much of a niche market product to invest.

Jeff Cohen entered the Shark Tank with his business Granola Gourmet a Diabetic friendly granola bar. He was looking for 175K for 25%. Granola Gourmet came out of a personal need, Jeff is diabetic and was never able to find snack food that tasted good and didn’t make him sick. Working with his son he identified foods that would work well with a diabetic diet and that people would actually want to eat. Granola Gourmet is sold in southern California Whole Foods. He is on track to sell 90k worth of bars and is already getting reorders. He need the sharks money to expand, a few years back he had filed for bankrupts when his software company folded. Kevin O was out because of his bankrupts, and the rest of the sharks were out too.

Ricky Farrar was next to enter the tank with her business Good Grief Celebrations inspired by her mothers death. Good Grief Celebrations is a funeral concierge that helps with funeral planning. The sharks saw no way to compete with funeral homes and were all out.

Last to pitch to the sharks was Rodolfo and Alexis Saccoman and their business MyTherapyJounal.com. They were looking for 80k for 20% of their business. MyTherapyJounal.com offers a safe place to write a privet online journal, you can also track your emotions, and the site is designed to help people dealing with depression. The sharks were not interested until they said that a major insurance company was looking at using their product. Kevin O, Robert and Daymond offered the 80k for 50% but it quickly changed to 51% after they found out about the insurance company. While the brothers deliberated back stage, Kevin O asked Robert why they needed Daymond and kicked him out of the deal. The brothers countered with 49%, Daymond still wanted in so her offered 120K for 50%. The brothers decided to go with Roberts and Kevin O’s offer because of their experience with online business.

Something I found interesting was they made a big deal about Jeff Cohen  filing for bankrupts but they didn’t seem to care the Cactus Jack also lost it all… interesting.

Kwame Kuadey was first into the tank to pitch his idea to reuse unused gift cards. His business Gift Card Rescue is a website that buys gift cards at around 60% of their value and sells them back at 90% of face value. With little to no marketing he is on tract to sell 120k worth of gift cards this year. Amazon has approached him and is looking at partnering with him. Kevin O offered 150k for 50%, Kwame countered with 40% but Kevin was unwilling to accept the change. Robert offered to join the deal and up the offer to 200k for 50%. Kwame took the deal, and is on his way to his American dream.

Gina Cotroneo and her business Soul’s Calling had one goal, to spread happiness with her line of positive message gifts. She was seeking 150k for 25% stake in her business. Her business produces pink umbrellas that say, “Let your smile be sunshine” and flip-flops that leave positive messages in the sand. Her sales last year were only 18k. No Sharks were interested.

Next up was Dan Claffey and his business Coffee Brands Gifts. He trademarked popular coffee names for the toy and gift industry and is the only one in the US who can produce plush toys with the word cappuccino on them. He had no purchases or orders but still wanted 300k for 40% of his business. Needless to say the sharks were out.

Paul Watts pitched his business Graffiti Removal Services, he planed to franchise his popular mobile graffiti service. He created a method to easily remove graffiti using a chemical produced by another company. He was looking for 350k in exchange for 15% of his company. A low-end franchise would cost 60k. Most of the Sharks saw no real way to franchise the business because he didn’t own anything unique. Robert and Kevin O offers 350K for 75% making Paul an employee, but Paul said no.

Finally Amy Feldman and Allison Costa entered the tank with their product Coverplay. They produced a slipcover for Play Yards (play pens) and have been selling them in Target and to major hotels. There initial order was 200k and company’s have began reordering. They say their major problem is no one knows their business exists so they want to use the Sharks 350k for marketing, in exchange for 15% of the company.
Barbara offered 350K for 40% but the money could only be used for product development and not for salaries. Daymond then offered 350K for manufacturing and would finance any future manufacturing for the existence of the company but demanded 65% of the company. Robert joined with Daymond and upped the offer to 500K. The girls asked Barbara if she would lower her percentage in exchange for an ownership in the patent. This throw a kink in the deal as all the Sharks withdrew their offers’ once they learned that the patent was not part of the deal. After much discussion the girls agreed to put the patent as part of the business. Kevin O then joined with Daymond and Robert but lowered their offer to 350k for 51%. The girls took Barbara’s deal.

(sorry for the delay)

First into the tank was Marian Cruz with her business Turbobaster. Her product is a battery-operated baster that is also a flavor injector. She wanted 35k for 30% but had no working prototype and no idea what the manufacturing costs would be. Marian was unable to prove their was a market for her company, Kevin O, Barbara and Robert were all out. Kevin H offered 35k for 100% and 2% royalties. Daymond also offered 40k for 51% and 2% royalties but latter upped his offer to 50K. Marian accepted Kevin H’s offer

Brian Parks entered the tank with his business Chopstick Art looking for 100K for 10%. His business recycles chopsticks and turns them into art, his best selling item was a foldable basket. Brian has invested 100k into the business with sales of 500k, with 45k net profits. The sharks didn’t invest.

Lori Lite of Stress Free Kids presented her line of books that help children deal with stress and go to bed. She was looking for 250k for 20% of her business. Lori has sold 30,000 units, which is around 180k in sales and 50k in profits. When she first started out she sold two of her books to a publisher, but found that the publisher didn’t promote her books enough. Kevin H was first to offer 250k for 100% but was turned down and out. Daymond offered 250k next for 51% and Barbra offered the same amount for 50%. After calling her husband she countered with 40% but the sharks would not budge and she accepted Barbar’s deal.

Next into the tank was Ken Bradford with his business 50 State Capitals in 50 Fun Minutes. He was looking for 155k for 10%, he had only sold one set of cards so everyone was out.

Father and Son Jeff Cohen and Josh of Voyage Air Guitar were looking for 500K for 5% of their business. Voyage Air Guitar is a guitar that folds in half at the neck and stays in tune. The own the patent and have sold 800 units so far, they are not able to keep up with demand. There sales are around 400K but they are losing money. The Sharks asked what they would sell the patent for and they said 1 million for 49%. Kevin O offered 500k for 51% of the patent. Jeff still wanted to produce the guitars while Kevin said it would be better to license the patent. Kevin has a lot of experience with licensing deals already. The best exchange of the night “Hit me with on example (taking about licensing)” says Jeff “my whole company that sold for $3.1 billion was all licensing” say Kevin O, “did you say 3.1 with a B” “Yes I did”
Kevin H jumped into the deal and said he would bring it to TV, but Jeff turned down the deal.

Beyond the great deals there was also a change in the music that made the show feel a lot more exciting.

Shark Tank episode 2 started out with Craig French from Long Island NY and his company Crooked Jaw. Crooked Jaw is a clothing company that targets fans of extreme sports and Mix Martial Arts. Craig started the company after he broke his jaw playing rugby freshmen year of college. Craig wanted $200k for a 20% investment in his company. CJ is being sold in 10 mom and pop shops in Long Island, after attending a tradeshow they received no orders. Daymond (the founder of Fubu) said he was one in ten thousand (nothing new) although he had great energy and passion he was not willing to invest. All the sharks were out.

Robert Allison was next into the Shark Tank. Lifebelt is a device that would not allow cars to start without the seatbelt being buckled up. Traffic accidents are the number one killer in the country. Lifebelt cost around $229 installed. Robert wanted $500k for a 10% stake in the company. The sharks were wondering why he was even bothering with creating a product since he owned the patent he could just enter a licensing deal with a major car company. He was worried that it would take to long, he believed his major problem was that no one knew his product existed. Kevin H, Daymond and Barbara were all out. Kevin O offered $500k for 100% ownership of the patent, Robert countered for $1 million but for the same percentage. He turned both offers down. Personally I would have tried to negotiate for a royalty deal, but it’s not my business.

Susan Knapp was the next entrepreneur to take a dip in the tank. She was looking for $500k for a 15% stake in her company, A Perfect Pear. Her company sold gourmet food products such as jam’s. A Perfect Pear was sold in 650 stores and had sales of $700k with $100k in orders that she was not able to fill. Banks were unable to lend her the money to fill the orders because of the credit crunch. Kevin O offered $500k for 70% then Daymond offered $500k for 51%. Kevin H and Robert offered the full amount for 50%. Susan counted with 49% but The Sharks would not accept, so she accepted Robert and Kevin H’s deal. Although she gave up more than she wanted, she gained a huge amount of business experience which should help her company get to the next level.

Mary Ellen Simonsen pitched her odd product Sticky Note Holder (great name). She was looking for $100K for 20% equity in her company. Sticky Note Holder was basically a larger sticky note that other sticky notes could be posted on the side of a laptop. She was hoping to sell them for $10 each, she had no patent and had only spent $1k on the product so far. The male sharks thought the idea was useless and were all out. Barbara said it would sell on a QVC type show, but was not willing to invest. This was not a real product, it was an idea… and a useless one at that.

The last in front of The Sharks was Marc Furigay and his product Classroom Jams. Classroom Jams is an educational record label and publishing house. He was looking for $250k for 10% equity in his company. Marc is a teacher who was having a hard time relating Shakespeare to his class. He composed songs that helped his class relate to Shakespeare. The song was actually pretty good, a class set with 30 CD’s and a teachers guide would sell for $499. Shakespeare is the most taught playwright in the English language but Marc had plans to expend to different subjects. The Sharks talked about the deal together, and offered $250k and 5% royalties, but he would have to give up 100% of his company. Marc wanted to be one of the partners. Robert then offered $250k for 100% with an option to buy 49% back with the profits from the business, but there would be no royalties. Marc still wanted to have a deal with all five sharks so Robert sweetened the deal for the same price but this time lowered what he wanted to 51%. Marc rejected Roberts deal and wanted the royalties from the first deal increased to 8.5%, The Sharks said no but agreed to let him use his royalties to buy into the company and become a partner with The Sharks. This was one of the best deals of the season, I have no dough this company will be a success.

Next week:

“Episode 103″ — An entrepreneurial newbie comes to the Shark Tank with high hopes for her kitchen accessory, but her presentation is less than stellar. Will the Sharks shred her vision to pieces or will there be a Shark fight to get a piece of the idea? A passionate stay-at-home mom (Lori Lite from Marietta, Georgia) with her own line of self-published children’s books seeks much-needed funds to grow her business. Also, a father and son business team impress the Sharks with a revolutionary new musical product, but their need to control could derail the opportunity to make a fortune, on “Shark Tank,” SUNDAY, AUGUST 23 (9:00-10:00 p.m., ET) on the ABC Television Network.

Take a look at Crooked Jaw’s audition video:

Shark Tank premiered Sunday, running against NBC’s NFL “Hall of Fame Game” averaged only 4.2 million viewers. Not exactly the strongest numbers but its something to build on. (so tell your friends)

Five money hungry sharks decide weather to invest their own money into a hopeful entrepreneurs business. The Sharks of “Shark Tank” are real estate mogul Barbara Corcoran, “infomercial” industry pioneer Kevin Harrington, technology innovator Robert Herjavec, fashion icon Daymond John and financial expert Kevin O’Leary.

Tod Wilson of Mr. Tod’s Pie Factory was first into the tank, he needed money to expand his business to meet demand. Although he ran a profitable retail pie business over 50% of his business came from wholesaling sweet potato pies, he had sales of over $850,000 last year. McDonald’s is interested in carrying his product in the southern states. He was asking $460,000 for a 10% stake in his business. Barbara and Daymond offered the money for 50% of his company and Tod accepted the deal.

Darrin Johnson presented his invention called Ionic Ear. He was looking for $1 million for a 15% stake in his company. The Ionic Ear is a Bluetooth device which is surgically implanted in the ear. As expected the Sharks laughed at him, and he didn’t get any investment. I actually wonder if this was a real business because I am unable to find any reference to a Darrin Johnson or a Bluetooth device called Ionic Ear anywhere online…

The next entrepreneur was Kevin Flannery who had to mortgage his house to keep his company WiSpots afloat. WiSpots is a content delivery system (advertising) which would be set up in doctors offices allowing patients to surf the net while waiting for their appointments. He was seeking $1.2 million for a 10% steak in his business. The units cost a little over $9 thousand and the sharks were positive doctors would not pay for it. They all opted out, and encouraged him to give up his business.

Next to enter the tank was Tiffany Krumins. She was looking for a $50 thousand investment for a 15% stake in her business, Emmy, an elephant that helped deliver medicine to difficult children. Tiffany was in need of mentorship, she had no patent, no mold, and nothing much more than a idea. Barbara offered Tiffany the money for a 55% stake,  which she accepted.

Last was Omar Solomon and Nick Friedman with their business College Foxes Packing Boxes. They would send good-looking girls to help pack up boxes on moving day. This business was a sister business to College Hunks Hauling Junk which sent guys to help move. Omar and Nick were only offering an investment in College Foxes Moving Boxes but the sharks wanted both. Omar and Nick asked for $1 milling for a 10% stake in both business. No one was interested, Robert counted with $250 thousand for a 10% take in College Hunks Hauling Junk and a 50% stake in College Foxes Packing Boxes. The guys were not interested.

Next week the Sharks hear a pitch from Mark Furigay an inner-city schoolteacher who has a unique way to get kids to learn. Sensing that a gourmet food business is about to make it big, Susan Knapp the owner watches as the Sharks fight it out for a piece of her business. Also, the Sharks are so impressed with a life-saving idea that an astonishing one million dollar offer is made. Will this headstrong entrepreneur accept the offer or will his ego stand in the way?