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Shark Tank “No Deal” Success Stories

1/22/2015

It would seem that with all the business and financial experience amongst the six sharks on the popular reality show Shark Tank–a show that features business pitches from entrepreneurs who are looking for an investor–they would be able to sniff out the entrepreneurs who have potential every time. Alas this is not the case, and there are many incidences on Shark Tank where an entrepreneur failed to make a deal with any of the sharks, but then went on to become a huge success.

James Martin and Copa Di Vino James Martin pitched his Oregon winery, Copa Di Vino, to the sharks as well as a patented glass that comes with a peel-off top that is meant for single servings. O’Leary was the first shark to be interested in James, but only liked his invention, which he thought could be marketable to other alcohol distributers. O’Leary offered a financial deal of $600,000 for a 51% share of just Martin’s patented technology and not the winery. Martin refused this offer and walked away from the shark’s table, venturing out to make Copa Di Vino and his patent a success, which he most definitely did. James came back the next season of Shark Tank when he turned a $500,000 a year product into $5 million, but once again came out of the shark tank without a deal. It doesn’t seem that Martin needs one however, as his company is projected to be sold for several hundred million sometime in the future.

Donny McCall and Invis-A-Rack Donny McCall appeared on Shark Tank in season three with an invention called Invis-A-Rack, which is a folding cargo system designed for pickup trucks. Although the sharks liked his design, they did not like his implementation, and insisted that he outsource the manufacturing of the invention to increase his profits. McCall did not agree with the sharks and wanted to keep his product all American, which ultimately lost him the deal. However that’s where McCall’s bad luck ended. After he appeared on Shark Tank, McCall transformed from making a $75,000 profit during a year and a half period to making the same profit in three months. McCall went on to make a deal with a corporation in Iowa called DeeZee to create and distribute Invis-A-Rack.

Shawn Davis and CBS Foods, Inc.Shawn Davis came on Shark Tank in season two with a company he calls CBS Foods, INC., as well as his flagship product: the Original Shrimp Burger. He failed to get the $200,000 investment he was asking for; however, after his stint on Shark Tank, Davis went from making about $30,000 in profit to making almost $10 million. He did this in part by securing over $500,000 in financial investments from private investors who saw him on the show and liked his brand.

Abby Jordan, Becky App and E-Creamery Abby Jordan and Becky App brought their idea of an online ice cream store to the shark table. Although the sharks like the idea and loved the ice cream, the two women failed to get a deal. All was not lost however, as right after the Shark Tank episode that featured E-Creamery was aired, the sales of E-Creamery ice cream jumped through the roof. By the end of the weekend E-Creamery had 75,000 new visitors, and has grown exponentially since then.

Erika Welsh, Keeley Tillotson and Wild Squirrel Nut Butter Erika Welsh and Keeley Tillotson pitched Wild Squirrel Nut Butter in May of 2012. Their custom peanut butter line was a hit, and Barbara Corcoran put up a $50,000 investment for a 40% equity stake. A few months down the line however, the deal went sour, as Barbara Corcoran wanted to run the business a different way than what Welsh and Tillotson had in mind. Although the deal fell through Wild Squirrel Nut Butter is making efforts to stand on its own and no hard feelings between the entrepreneurs and Barbara materialized.

Susie Taylor and Bibbitec Susie Taylor is a stay-at-home mom from South Florida who turned entrepreneur when she invented an improved bib, and created the company Bibbitec. She went on Shark Tank asking for a $40,000 investment for a 14% stake in her company. The sharks were not so keen about her margins however, as it cost $15 to make an individual bib, because it was produced in the U.S., and Taylor used very high-quality material. The sharks were also not satisfied with her price point and sales strategy, and so they turned her away without a deal. This was a blessing in disguise however, as Shark Tank introduced Taylor’s product to the public. Soon after the show aired, orders for the stain-resistant bib came rolling in, and within the first 48-hours Taylor made about $21,000 in sales, and was contacted by numerous private investors.

Pat McCarthy and Liquid Money Pat McCarthy is the proud inventor of a fragrance he claims smells exactly like money. He brought ‘His and Hers Liquid Money Fragrances’ to the shark table, asking for a $100,000 investment for a 5% share in his company. The sharks saw this valuation as extremely high, as it put his company at a worth of $2 million. This didn’t make any sense to the sharks as McCarthy had only invested $50,000 of his own money into his product, and only received close to $50,000 in revenue. Daymond John made a counter offer of $100,000 for 80% of the company, which Pat immediately refused, leading to a no deal for the liquid money business. Although McCarthy’s valuation was way off, after the show aired he has managed to put his Liquid Money product into a number of retail stores, and is selling his product at $42 a bottle.

Jared Joyce and 5-Minute Furniture 5 Minute Furniture did not fail to get a deal once or even twice, but appeared on Shark Tank a grand total of three times without getting a deal. Jared Joyce presented the sharks with a line of furniture that does not require screws or nails to assemble, in fact the furniture is so simple to assemble that it does not require any instructions, which makes it very competitive in the furniture market. Joyce claims that anyone can assemble his furniture in 5 minutes or less. The first time that he appeared on Shark Tank, Joyce asked for a $250,000 investment for a 25% share of his company. Both Lori Greiner and Kevin O’Leary turned this offer down, and instead made a counter offer of $250,000 for the rights to 100% of the company. Joyce did not sell out, and instead went on to license his product. After failing to get a financial deal from any sharks for the third time, Joyce was able to secure a private investment from Edison Nation for 50% of his company.

Brenda Coffman and Blondie’s Cookies Brenda Coffman tried to appeal to the sharks’ sweet tooth by bringing a batch of her famous cookies for them to try. Although her grandmotherly charm melted the hearts of the sharks, her deal of $200,000 for a 3% stake in the company was ridiculously high. Although Coffman has twelve stores in Florida and Indiana, and had made over $2 million in sales the previous year, she was in debt by $800,000 and was hoping to bring Blondie’s Cookies to a higher level of success. However, the valuation was simply too high, and none of the sharks took the cookie bait. Coffman didn’t let this halt her success, and her appearance on Shark Tank spurred online sales and her cookies’ popularity. Coffman plans to open more stores soon.

Ben Wood and ViewSport ViewSport is an innovative clothing line designed by Ben Wood that has a sweat-activated design made for athletes. On his appearance on Shark Tank, Wood ran into some bad luck when he accidently sprayed the wrong side of one of his shirts, leading to the message, which only appears when wet, not being displayed to the sharks. This as well as the fact that the sharks didn’t seem to like Wood’s personality, led to him not getting a deal. However, that didn’t stop the U.S. Navy, Detroit Pistons, Iron Man Competition, and many others from showing interest in his product after the show aired.

Nick Larosa, Penilopee Larosa and the Instant Lift The Larosa’s created a very useful invention to get rid of the appearance of cellulite by lifting and taping the excess fat around the stomach, thighs, and even arms. They asked for a $100,000 investment for a 25% stake in the company. Although the business was solid (they sold $75,000 worth in 5 months), the sharks felt cheated, because the Larosa’s turned out to have a lot more patents than just the Instant Lift. The Larosa’s came out of the tank without a deal, but took away a lot of great business advice from the sharks. Namely, they took the shark’s advice in combining all of their patents together into one brand, which they entitled ‘The Skinnies Instant Lifts’.

Gary DeJohn and Vinamor With Dejohn’s invention, entitled Vinamor, anyone can easily breathe a glass of wine almost instantly. Vinamor is an aerator system for wines that sits on top of an individual glass, and covers a greater surface area than traditional aerotors, and can also pour out exact portions of wine. For their own personal reasons the sharks did not buy in to Dejohn’s invention, but this did little to slow the progress of Vinamor. After the show aired, Dejohn’s phone blew up with investors who were interested in Vinamor. Dejohn was able to find a better manufacturing deal and he can now sell Vinamor for a much lower cost than what was originally priced.

Paul d’Auriac, Debbie Brooks and Debbie Brooks Handbag Collection Debbie Brooks and Paul d’Auriac are the designers of Debbie Brooks Handbag Collection, which is a versatile handbag that can take many forms. The sharks admired the quality of the handbags, but were wary of the numbers. Brooks and d’Auriac asked for $540,000 from the sharks for a 20%, stake in the company which values their company at $2.7 million. The sharks also did not like the high price of the handbags at $288 a pop and they all were out rather early in the game. The woman didn’t let that stop them from shining, and went on to create other products including phone covers and charm bracelets. The Debbie Brooks collection was even recently featured on Extra.

Scotty Olsen and SkyRide Technology Scotty Olson is the inventor of the futuristic technology that enables a person to fly above ground using a form of human transport that is powered by the rider. This fuses both exercise and fun together into one interesting package. Olsen, already an accomplished inventor who conceived the roller blades a quarter of a century ago, created the Sky Ride Farm located in Waconia, MN to demonstrate his invention’s capabilities. Olsen hoped to get the financial backing from the sharks to put his invention in ski resorts as well as other tourist attractions. Although the sharks were extremely impressed with Olsen, they were not willing to put down $3 million of their own money, which is what Olsen was asking for. Although Olsen came away from the Shark Tank empty handed, he currently has multiple bids for his technology from resorts and clubs around the world.

Tereson Dupuy and Fuzzy Bunz Fuzzy Bunz is a cloth baby diaper that has been successful thus far, making the inventor, Tereson Dupuy, $3.9 million in sales in one year alone, and $23 million total since she began her business. Fuzzy Bunz are sustainable and environmentally friendly diapers that are also very cute. The problem that the Sharks had with Fuzzy Bunz is that although Dupuy made $3.9 million in sales, she only got about $20,000 of that from pure profit, which makes the profit margin .5% of gross sales. Dupuy claims that her profit margin problem is due to a company in China stealing her product and selling it for much cheaper even though she has a patent, which has taken away about 70% of her business. Unfortunately, the sharks thought this was too much of a liability, and so backed out of any financial deal. Dupuy has stated that she learned a lot from the sharks even without a deal, and she has made major changes in her strategy to make sure her patent is safe.

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7 THINGS TO CONSIDER IF YOU MAKE IT ON SHARK TANK

1/21/2015

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7 GREAT TIPS BEFORE YOU GO ON SHARK TANK

This blog article is the second one on ABC Television’s prime time hit, Shark Tank. Your Invention Guru will pull back the show curtains for you to learn some valuable lessons.

Shark Tank gives unknown inventors/entrepreneurs the chance to make their pitch for investment money to five rich people known as Sharks. The Sharks are from different backgrounds and include: Robert Herjavec, Daymond John, Kevin O’Leary, Mark Cuban and either Barbara Corcoran or Lori Greiner. All are self-made multi-million or billionaires who will invest their own money if they like the business opportunity. Brutal honesty and fast-paced negotiations are played out on national television.

Because the Sharks are investing their own money, the deal has to make real business sense. Barbara Corcoran’s philosophy is: “If something solves a big problem and takes a little bit of money to get it out there — these are the businesses that always make money.” Daymond John has a successful fashion and entertainment background, but will pass on even the best opportunity if the entrepreneurs are not focused and business-like. Kevin O’Leary is primarily interested in products that he can license to maximize value. Robert Herjavec likes to invest in things he knows something about. When Lori Greiner replaces Corcoran, she is on the lookout for inventions that fit with her QVC home shopping show. Finally, Mark Cuban is the most outspoken and the one who seems to have the broadest interest. Just like any investment deal, the Sharks will negotiate hard to get themselves the best deal they can get.

Although Shark Tank, the television show, is mass entertainment looking for ratings, there are valuable lessons for inventors and entrepreneurs to learn:

1. GET YOUR VALUATIONS RIGHT. Know how much money you need, what you will do with the cash and what percentage you are willing to give up.
It is typical for a Shark to challenge a presenter by saying: So you want $100,000 for 10% of your business, which means you think your business is worth $1million dollars. There’s a problem – the numbers don’t work. Your sales are less than the $100,000 you’re asking for.Investors deal in the real world where “potential” has very little value. It is what you have done for me lately.

.2. FEELINGS HAVE NO PLACE IN BUSINESS.
Investing one’s own money in someone else’s business is strictly about making a profit. Making a pitch saying that this means everything to you and your family means nothing to an investor. Know exactly how the money will be used to make the investor money.

3. THE NUMBERS MUST MAKE SENSE.
It is not a real business unless the numbers work. Most retail products use a factor of 5 from manufacture to retail. That means that a product with a realistic $9.95 retail price must be mass produced for $2.00 or less to have a chance in the marketplace. Mass produced means that the inventor cannot work for free in order to make the numbers work.
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4. KNOW YOUR BUSINESS.
You need to be an expert in your business. Know everything about it and be capable of answering both the easy and tough questions. Most importantly: Be able to sell your product yourself and explain how an investor will make their money back with a profit.

5. HOW IS YOUR INVENTION UNIQUE AND IS IT PROTECTED?
A product that is unique in the marketplace has the best chance for success. Once the uniqueness is identified, get the proper legal protection, which could be a patent, a trademark or a copyright. If a patent is the choice, don’t go cheap and rely upon a provisional patent or on any patent that you wrote and filed yourself.

6. REEL IN A SHARK WITH A COMPELLING STORY.
If the facts bait the hook, a compelling story can reel a Shark into your boat. Have your “elevator pitch” ready, all of your facts down cold, and put a pretty bow around it all with a compelling story that will motivate a Shark to invest. An interesting story can set the stage for closing the deal and getting the needed investment money at favorable terms. There is a popular sales phrase, “facts tell and stories sell.” This was the case for Kevin and Melissa Kiernan who pitched their product The Last Lid to the Sharks. The product is a replacement fabric lid for garbage cans to keep animals out. Even though the numbers weren’t exactly perfect, Daymond John made a deal anyway because he bought the story the Kiernans told.

7. IT’S NOT A DEAL UNTIL THE MONEY CLEARS THE BANK.
Although Shark Tank television show goes from a new product pitch by an unknown inventor to getting investment capital, or not, in about 15 minutes, what you see on television isn’t always what you get. There may be smiles and hugs all around, but “due diligence” and transferring money lurks once the cameras stop rolling. Many investment deals fall apart on Shark Tank as well as in the real world. Just about anything can derail the train. There can be differences between inventor and investor, or something was found not be as initially presented, or simple “buyer’s remorse” can be the culprit. One celebrated case involved Mark Cuban offering $1.25 million dollars up front, plus 7.5% royalties and a 6-figure salary to Jeff Stroope, the inventor of Hyconn, for a 100% interest. On TV Cuban outbid both O’Leary and Herjavec to get the deal, but something happened on the way to the bank. Neither Cuban nor Stroope are saying what made the deal go south; however, it is clear that they parted ways without Stroope getting paid.

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ENERGY GAME CHANGER Toyota Releases Hydrogen Fuel Cell Patents Royalty-Free @ CES 2015!

1/8/2015

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TOYOTA IS THE NEW TESLA,

This will change the future of energy as we know it. The first step in building infrastucture to create a true economy of scale to support this disruptive technology will require all major auto and energy manufactuers to work together . Its exciting times, to save money and create a better world to live in.

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SHARKTANK CASTING IN MIAMI JANUARY 15TH - DO YOU HAVE THE NEXT MILLION DOLLAR IDEA?

1/8/2015

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Small Business Expo is proud to host a casting call for ABC’s hit reality show, Shark Tank!

If you’re an entrepreneur, small business owner or inventor with a great idea, this could be your big chance to get it in front of the right people.

The Miami Shark Tank Open Casting Call will be presented at the Miami Small Business Expo, 1901 Convention Center Drive, Miami Beach, FL 33139, and is free to attend for all participants.

Arrive on January 15th, between 9 and 11 AM to receive a wristband that will determine the order in which you are seen. Before you show up, be sure to fill out the Shark Tank official application form here:

Learn more>>>

Download the Shark Tank Application>>

THURSDAY, JANUARY 15TH - MIAMI, FL

SMALL BUSINESS EXPO @ MIAMI BEACH CONVENTION CENTER

1901 Convention Center Dr.

Miami Beach, FL 33139

9:00 AM to 11:00 AM - Numbered Wristbands Distributed

10:00 AM - Interviews Begin

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LIEF SKATEBOARD , SNOW BOARDING ON STREETS ..AMAZING!

1/7/2015

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global resource broker blog

Shark Tank “No Deal” Success Stories

7 THINGS TO CONSIDER IF YOU MAKE IT ON SHARK TANK

ENERGY GAME CHANGER Toyota Releases Hydrogen Fuel Cell Patents Royalty-Free @ CES 2015!

TOYOTA IS THE NEW TESLA,

SHARKTANK CASTING IN MIAMI JANUARY 15TH - DO YOU HAVE THE NEXT MILLION DOLLAR IDEA?

LIEF SKATEBOARD , SNOW BOARDING ON STREETS ..AMAZING!

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