In The Shark Tank

(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.

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

If you are like me you are looking forward to tonight’s episode of Shark Tank on ABC. A new batch of entrepreneurs will pitch their business to The Sharks who will have to decide whether they will fund the business or if they are out.

This week you will notice that the set has changed, gone is the large desk replaced with leather chairs.

This is a very similar look to Dragon’s Den that Shark Tank is based on and airs around the world.

Tonight on Shark Tank:

“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

From the preview I have been able to pull out the following companies:

Jeff Cohen CEO of Voyage Air Guitar will present his business to The Sharks. Voyage Air Guitar holds the patent and manufactures full size guitars that fold in half for easy travel.

www.voyageairguitar.com

Kwytza Recycled Chopstick Art is a company that takes used chopsticks and turns them into art.

www.chopstickart.com

Ken Bradford and his business “50 state capitals in 50 minutes”, which is a flash card game that helps children learn their capitals.

(cannot find link)

Lori Lite is a writer of childrens books, so far she is self-published. Her books are written to help children deal with anxiety and anger.

www.StressFreeKids.com

The Turbo Baster is Marian Cruz idea to improve your regular baster.

www.turbobaster.com

Interviews with the Sharks: