Beyond Sushi: This Plant-Based Alternative Goes Above and Beyond

Authored by: Ian Gyan

In America, the foods that we love aren’t always the healthiest options. However, that’s slowly changing as people become increasingly aware of their diets.  

Still, finding a balance between food that’s good for you and food that tastes good has always been difficult. Fortunately, Guy Vaknin’s company, Beyond Sushi, presents a solution tastier than you can imagine.

On Episode 3 of Season 10, Guy calmly requested $1.5 million to help grow his New York-based company in Los Angeles, offering 25% of his west coast profits and 5% of his already established east coast profits.

His hefty ask drew a few odd looks from the Sharks, so Guy kept his puns to a minimum and delivered his pitch without much flair. A smart choice, as the Sharks grew less apprehensive as he went through his talking points.

Beyond Sushi is a multi-unit vegan restaurant chain. It makes use of veggies, fruits, and whole grains to create unique flavors, all without the use of artificial meat. The “extensive” menu includes salads, wraps, dumplings, and (sushi) rolls.

This modern approach to traditional food manages to maintain that delicate balance between flavor and nutrition. It’s what distinguishes Beyond Sushi as one of the “pioneers” of the vegan movement and shows its commitment to creating more sustainable ways of eating.

Thanks to Guy’s best-selling “Mighty Mushroom” and “Sunny-Side Up” rolls, the Sharks could clearly see that… or taste it, rather. His “amazing” sample platter included sushi made with robust ingredients like braised fennel, micro arugula, truffle shiitake sauce, 4-grain rice, and sun-dried tomatoes.

Despite the good food, these Sharks would only be satisfied with profitable numbers, and in that regard, Guy did not disappoint. It only costs Guy $1.50 to make one 280 calorie roll (8 pieces), which he then sells for $7.50. Guest Shark, Matt Higgins, absolutely loved the sound of an 80% margin but that wasn’t Guy’s only advantage, there was also his scale of operations.

Guy opened his first restaurant using the last $70K from his life savings in July 2012. Back then he only had 12 seats and 1 employee. Since then, he opened 6 locations throughout New York City.

So, how does one man handle so many restaurants?

It’s because Beyond Sushi is a commissary-based business, meaning all the food is cooked by a single distributor. This is a perfect example of working smart instead of working hard. Having one entity produce the food keeps his margin stable, cuts the hassle of keeping ingredients in stock, and allows him to focus on the macro aspects of expanding a business.

Guy owned restaurants ranging from as small as 180 sq. ft. to as large as 2,500 sq. ft., but regardless of size, each location pulled its weight. He confidently reported that last year, his east coast operations grossed $4 million in sales!

“Mr. Wonderful” leered suspiciously, as the other Sharks nodded in approval, he sensed the devil hiding in the details

Before Guy announced his sales, he revealed his resourceful partnership with Sandy Beall, the founder of Ruby Tuesday. Together, they planned to change Beyond Sushi’s grab-n-go structure to a more open-seated arrangement using Guy’s largest restaurant. When Kevin asked how much he netted out of last year’s $4 million gross, he sadly revealed that he was down $272K. Evidently, his expansion placed a lot of pressure on the entrepreneur to keep his business afloat. He assured the Sharks that this was not the norm and mentioned that the year before his deficit, he pocketed $600K out of his $2.4 million gross.

At Guy’s current pace, Beyond Sushi’s projected sales rested comfortably at $5.6 million, but to Mr. O’ Leary’s disappointment, he only expected to net $300K next year. Although, this letdown didn’t weigh too heavily on the other Sharks.

Being the food aficionado of the tank, Matt began asking about his unit economics, specifically Guy’s QSR (Quick Service Restaurant) percentage. He answered questions as quickly as Matt asked them but this eventually wore down the interest of some of the other Sharks.

Daymond cut into their conversation simply because he couldn’t understand any of the food industry-specific jargon. Since he also wasn’t familiar with the back-end of the restaurant industry, he decided that it was best for him to back out.  Daymond’s loss of appetite was echoed by a few others. Kevin also took the chance to expand on his issues with the business. Since Guy only expected to net $300K out of his projected $5.6 million in sales next year, fronting the requested $1.5 million for 25% of an expansion that hadn’t begun yet would be akin to him paying twenty times Guy’s pre-tax earnings. A valuation like that was “insane” according to Kevin, so he backed out as well.

Things didn’t get better from there, Mark correctly pointed out the already immense workload that Guy’s east coast operations placed on him. Given that Beyond Sushi wasn’t the only restaurant selling plant-based foods, Mark decided to go with his “gut” on the matter and pulled his hand away from the table. Perhaps Mark thought Guy wouldn’t be able to handle the financial burden of expanding again so soon.

This was more than likely a reaction to the entrepreneur's last year of sales. His expenses sank him so low into the red that he had to invest $160K in personal funds just to stay in business. For a seasoned money maker like Mark Cuban, a fluctuation like that raises a big red flag.

With 3 Sharks now out of the water, Guy’s eyes were left wide and nervous. At the same time, Matt and the ever-patient Lori Greiner settled in for a deal, but not before making Guy sweat a little...

“Here’s what I don’t like,” Matt said, explaining that he didn’t like that Guy’s offer would have him paying $1.5 million for 25% of operations that hadn’t begun yet, but only gave him 5% of his east coast operations, which were already profitable. Considering his losses, Guy’s initial offer now looked more like an investment to be made on faith alone.

However, these Sharks don’t deal in faith, they deal in fact. And the fact was that between east and west coast operations, the potential for a “misalignment of interests” between them was too great to ignore. With how hard he worked to counteract his deficit, it was very possible for Guy to end up too focused on east coast maintenance instead of west coast expansion like Matt wanted.

So, Matt requested more east coast equity as an incentive to ensure that guaranteed profits would come his way. Even though Guy looked terrified at the thought of giving up equity, he still offered to raise the east coast stake up to 10%. Clearly, it wasn’t enough because during the time it took Guy to respond, Lori had whispered what seemed like a fruitful agreement into Matt’s ear. They both turned their mischievous eyes back onto the now silent entrepreneur.

Matt announced that he and Lori were coming into the deal together, as Beyond Sushi was also right up her alley. Lori believed that the company would do better on the west coast, as the health-conscious movement over there was very strong. Their plan was to cross-market, get Guy into major airports and stadiums and change his life. And at first, the entrepreneur smiled, only to stop once he heard their new offer of $1.5 million for 30% of west coast operations & 15% of east coast operations.

At this point, Guy could only say “yes”, “no”, or make a counteroffer.

He chose to counter with a similar offer of $1.5 million for 30% of the west and 12% of the east. But that wasn’t enough, Lori and Matt’s offer was final. So, Guy looked to the ceiling as he pondered the deal, as though saying a prayer, and finally said, “ok, let’s do it.”

Lori and Matt sprang from their seats, rushing to congratulate him. The other Sharks congratulated him too, although Kevin didn’t hide his disapproval. He just scowled and shook his head. Maybe he saw the signs of a bad deal, but based on the way both he and Daymond started clearing out the rest of the sushi samples, Beyond Sushi would be just fine.

Ultimately, giving up equity was the best move, as it would translate to faster growth. With two Sharks worth of resources behind it, Beyond Sushi would start growing practically at "lightspeed."

The Applesauce Queen gets her American Dream

Authored by: Quinn Donaldson

There are many of us who believe they don’t have enough time to pursue their ideas and create their own American Dream. These people usually cite work, family, school, bills, and/or a host of other obligations as reasons for never investing in themselves. If you are one of those people, I’d like you to meet Keisha Jeremie.

As the Global Head of PR at News Corp. (at the time of taping), Jeremie invested a great deal of free time and sleepless weekends into Sanaía – a new approach to applesauce designed to give adults a more suitable option outside of brands that target children or the elderly. Jeremie created this organic, vegan-friendly product to attack the applesauce market the same way Chobani took on yogurt; find an underrepresented consumer segment in an existing market and tailor your entire product & marketing campaign around that group.

With poise and confidence, Jeremie initially attracts the Sharks with her plan to attack hot food trends, a tasty and well-branded product, and healthy top-line margins. Being the only player in a potentially large niche market is like blood in the water to these Sharks. Furthermore, having a tasty product that can accommodate various diets helps make Sanaía attractive to many adult consumers.

However, Jeremie runs into trouble when discussing her distribution strategy and future sales. The Sharks are turned off by her idea to sell glass jars of applesauce on Amazon Prime, citing increased shipping costs that could be avoided by her lighter weight grab-n-go style product. Furthermore, she states that she has $35 million in potential sales from many popular companies such as Starbucks, Whole Foods, and Kroger. However, in realty, she only has one Whole Foods store in Harlem, NY that’s committed to testing the grab-n-go product.

Her inability to accurately define real sales interest in her product combined with risk associated with her distribution strategy and a lack of predictable market size causes Herjavec, Greiner, and O'Leary to pass on Sanaía. Also, O’Leary, Corcoran, and Cuban all have questions about her commitment given that she has a full-time job on top of running Sanaía. With all of that in mind, Barbara counters Jeremie’s initial $150k for 15% equity offer with an offer of $150k for a 75% equity stake in the company. Jeremie quickly denies, so Barbara quickly passes.

Jeremie initially cited valid reasons and remained poised when questioned about her decision to not go full-time with Sanaía. However, she becomes emotional when O’Leary and Cuban continue to question and debate over her commitment to the company. When asked about her tears, she whole-heartedly explains how she financially supports multiple family members and that Sanaía is “the first thing she’s done for herself.” That, and the fact that she has invested half of the $500k she set aside to get Sanaía off the ground was enough proof for Cuban to offer $150k for a 25% equity stake. Jeremie immediately accepts, leaving us with a satisfying storybook ending.


Analysis & Performance Score Total: 79/100

Presentation: 45/50 
To gain the Sharks’ attention in the Tank, you need a focused, well-organized, and engaging presentation to draw them in. Jeremie did just that; she staged a problem, open market opportunity, and solution that gave the Sharks and viewers a vivid image of what the future could look like with Sanaía. Her poise and natural energy captured the Sharks’ attention and respect. However, I don’t believe anyone was truly bought the multi-billion dollar/next Chobani picture that Jeremie drew of Sanaía. And worse, she didn’t include the arguably better variation of her product in the grab-n-go cup until later. Nonetheless, her initial presentation was nothing short of excellent.

Product: 22/25 
The product itself had everything the Sharks were looking for; a tangible market, proven sales, and virtually no direct competitors. From a food perspective, Sanaía is one-of-a-kind (apple wedges inside applesauce), accommodates multiple dietary restrictions, and comes in various tasty flavors. She touts impressive gross margins on both the glass jars and grab-n-go cups of ~75% and ~50% respectively. My only criticism – the grab-n-go cups were not the focal point (see Strategy).

Strategy: 12/25
Jeremie’s direct-to-consumer strategy is decent at best. Her initial plan is to sell 4-packs of glass jars on Amazon Prime, which Cuban and O’Leary immediately hate. The shipping costs from shipping heavy glass jars would cut into her margins tremendously. Also, even after hearing from potential buyers that they like grab-n-go cups over the glass jars, her initial strategy of glass jars on Amazon Prime remained unchanged. Key point – listen to your customer.

Also, the grab-n-go cups may be a better option as far as visibility is concerned. Having these cups at every Starbucks register or at eye-level in every refrigerator unit in Whole Foods would grab millions of eyes per day. I believe the dietary accommodations combined with the $2/cup price tag would be enough for many adults to try Sanaía at least once. If consumers like the $2 cup, they may be more inclined to buy a 4-pack later. That versus buying a 4-pack of something no one has ever tasted on Amazon is a much better sell to an investor.

Finally, she confused interest from big buyers for potential sales/orders for her product, which turned off some Sharks. Also, she mentioned that those big buyers referred her to other buyers, which she took as “wow I’m getting Whole Foods AND their friends!”. Personally, I viewed it as “Your product has promise, but try it with these buyers first before Whole Foods gets involved.” If you’re going to mention that you have $35 million in potential sales, it is imperative that you have the orders to back it up. By throwing that number out, she dug herself a deep hole that she almost didn’t recover from.

The CEO of Tower Paddle Board Created A Brand

As good as any new idea or product may be, no investor is willing to put down money until he/she has complete confidence in the entrepreneur behind it. Read this great article by Denise Lee Yohn of Forbes about how Stephan Aarstol, the CEO of Tower Paddle Board, is the exemplification of an entrepreneur worthy of getting an investment from the Sharks.

For many entrepreneurs, appearing on the TV show Shark Tank is ultimate win. But for Stephan Aarstol, founder and CEO of Tower Paddle Boards, being on the show was just a stepping stone in his quest to build a great brand.

Of course, Aarstol’s start-up paddle board company, Tower Paddle Boards, gained broad exposure from his Shark Tank segment and the deal he forged with billionaire Mark Cuban. Before he appeared on the show, company gross revenue for the first half of the year was a mere $100,000. Afterwards, annual revenues jumped to $1.7 million, and then $3.1 million, and hit approximately $5 million in 2014. Aarstol also credits Cuban with advising on bigger picture strategy and suggesting growth opportunities such as making custom boards.

But the foundation for Tower Paddle Board’s success was laid well before Aarstol’s Shark Tank appearance. The impetus behind its growth was Aarstol’s insight into innovation which he explained to me in an interview. He told me there are three types of innovation. The first is product innovation, which Aartsol describes as the riskiest and toughest. “A lot of times you innovate on a product and then there isn’t a market there,” he says. “There are a lot of unknowns, so that’s the innovation of big companies.”

Smaller companies that can’t afford to take such risks can innovate on distribution. He points to Netflix as an example, saying “Netflix took Blockbuster’s business model of giving people movies in their home, but instead of going to a store, they get them by mail and now they download them.” He says distribution innovation is much easier and, “In today’s world, that’s where the huge gains are being made.” Uber serves as another example of this kind of innovation.

Then there’s marketing innovation done by the likes of companies including Google and Facebook. “They never advertise. They have a product that’s so compelling, it creates a network marketing effect,” Aarstol explains. “Your customer experience becomes much more important. It’s got to be so over the top that customers will tell their friends.”

Marketing innovation has driven Tower Paddle Board’s success. While other paddle board companies were either selling through specialty retailers or direct through fancy websites and traditional advertising campaigns, Aarstol decided to “hack the system” and use search engine optimization and social media to grow his business. Simply by showing up first in search results and sparking word of mouth marketing, Tower has become a popular brand with a legion of customers and followers. In fact, his zero spend on advertising got the attention of the Shark Tank’s Kevin O’Leary aka Mr. Wonderful (whose deal offer Aarstol turned down in favor of Cuban’s.)

Aarstol’s intuition about his brand also extends well beyond what his Shark Tank success proved. He describes his company as “an online marketing agency that owns a surf brand” and a player in a constantly evolving field. So he says he is always trying to reinvent what they’re doing and ultimately he wants to build a brand that accommodates that flexibility. He holds Richard Branson’s Virgin group of companies as a model and is building his brand to embody the beach lifestyle in many different categories. Flip flops, sunglasses, bikes, surf boards, and other adventure sports are among the 25 companies he has planned for Tower. His goal, to roll out 2-3 companies each year, seems do-able given that they’re all based on the same business model and leverage Tower’s existing strong partnerships with Amazon and daily deals site Woot.

In addition to Aarstol’s insight into marketing innovation and far-sightedness of brand flexibility, Tower’s success rides on his foresight into the future of brand-building. He states, “Every brand is now a media brand,” and he says that energy drink Red Bull has demonstrated the power in creating the media for its target market. That’s why Tower has created its own magazine and amassed 25,000 subscribers. His plan is to launch every new company through the magazine and establish the disruptive nature of the brand through it. “We’re doing marketing backwards,” Aarstol explains. “We’re finding our audience, making them happy, and building a brand before we ever even try to sell them anything.”

These aren’t just claims from an eager entrepreneur. Tower Paddle Boards has been named among the fastest growing private companies in San Diego and top 10 innovative products of INC 500 companies and hailed as a spotlight customer for Amazon and PayPal.

Aarstol may have Shark Tank to thank for fanning the flames of his company’s growth, but his unique take on how to build a brand today ignited Tower’s initial spark and continues to fuel its fire.

Denise Lee Yohn is a brand-building expert, speaker and author of What Great Brands Do and the upcoming book, Extraordinary Experiences.

@ Kitchen Safe - Controlling Bad Habits

Ryan and David, owners of Kitchen Safe, approached the Sharks requesting $100,000 for a 5% stake in their company. David came across like a used car salesman yelling the words KITCHEN SAFE over and over. One would have expected the Sharks to be annoyed, but interestingly enough they found it humorous. We couldn't be sure if they were laughing at or with David and Ryan but based on the offers made it certainly appears like the Sharks enjoyed the commercial approach to selling this bizarre product.

The Kitchen Safe is a plastic container with a lid that locks on to the container with a timed mechanism that does not allow the lid to be opened until the countdown timer reaches zero. Its intended use is for people to lock away their junk food so that they are not able to yield to their temptation to snack on the junk food at will. Instead, they will be frustrated by not being able to open the container where they themselves stored the junk food and set the timer at a point during the day when their temptations were not as strong.

David tells us that the Kitchen Safe functions as what psychologists term a commitment device. His claim is that this is a scientifically proven method to fight temptation. The idea is that you create a larger obstacle to the temptation in order to increase the cost of yielding to the temptation. As there are no overrides that would allow the device to be opened the only way to bypass the commitment device is to break it. And the cost for doing so is a whopping $49.00 which is the retail price for the container.

But, therein lies the dilemma. On the one hand, all of the sharks agreed that the device (which according to Kevin O’Leary is a piece of crap) is way overpriced at $49.00. Of course it is when you are looking at it as a kitchen container. However, if the price were significantly reduced, then the question would be whether it would still function well as a commitment device.


[TV Note: After calling the item a piece of crap, David is brought to tears and tells of his own prior challenges of trying to resist junk food and being overweight. A chord is struck and David is brought to tears soliciting Kevin to profer: “Don’t start crying, be a man”. David is on a roll and tells Kevin off after which Lori chimes in and tells Kevin to shut up. Great TV!]

So, what about the financials? In the 11 months since the product has been available on line, they have sold 300,000 units. The cost to manufacture these containers is $14.50 and as mentioned the retail cost is $49.00. If those numbers are accurate that would mean that Kitchen Safe has had a gross profit of over $10 million. One has to assume that these entrepreneurs were not on the show to ask for money. They wanted a Shark (or Sharks) to join their team and propel them to the next level.

Several offers were placed on the table, and Mark Cuban was never even able to make his own offer before Daymond John forced everyone's hand and asked for a decision to be made. At that point two offers were available: The first was from Daymond who offered $100,000 for a 20% stake in the company. The second was a joint offer from Lori and Nick Woodman (the Guest-Shark) for the same $1000,000 for a 20% stake. There were two differences though in the offers being made. David and Ryan already had a deal with HSN to sell their products. But Lori and Nick's offer came with the contingency that the deal with HSN needed to be dropped and that a deal with QVC would be put in its place. This did not sit well with David and Ryan as they appear to be men of integrity.

But, business is business, and what the men really wanted was to partner with a Shark. And given the choice of partnering with one Shark (Daymond) vs two Sharks (Lori and Nick), the choice was easy. Goodbye HSN and hello QVC!

Congratulations to Ryan and David on a job well done. There is no doubt that thousands of people in middle America will be purchasing this 'piece of crap', and even Mr. Wonderful would be willing to sell this 'piece of crap' to make money.

Shark Bait: Stick Figure Family (Episode 4)

This week's episode of Shark Bait features the famous and unfortunate Stick Figure Family with a new product to help solve some of their major-league issues. Find out what the Sharks had to say right here!

Stick-Figure Family on Steroids from Mike Browne

@ Velocity Signs: Sometimes Quality Trumps Quantity

By: Pete Troshak
Twitter: @Shak74
Website: www.Shak74.com

Have you ever seen one of those guys standing on the side of the road holding an ad for a business and felt sorry for them? It's a miserable job, and frankly the sight of a disheveled, sweaty employee tiredly waving a sign in the heat is neither professional nor likely to draw a lot of customers. Scott Adams and Josh Faherty came into the Shark Tank with a solution for this advertising dilemma. Their company is Velocity Signs, and their products are large rechargeable waving signs that are placed in the ground or on sidewalks outside of businesses. The signs have a heavy base that sits on the lawn, and consist of a directional arrow front-piece that bobs and weaves creating a dynamic and eye-catching 3D form of advertising that points customers in the direction of the business. Scott and Josh were asking for $225,000 for 15% of their company. The company made a quarter of a million dollars last year, and is projecting to grow to $2.5 million next year.

Five Incredible Business Influencers to Follow on LinkedIn

One of the greatest resources on the web for entrepreneurs is LinkedIn and their Pulse news app. Business influencers from around the world contribute qualitative and informative articles on various topics, each which gets read by thousands, if not millions, of subscribers and news readers. Trying to keep up with each influencer's postings can be quite arduous and time consuming, so I've put together a list of my Top Five LinkedIn Influencers which I strongly recommend following::



1) Jack Welch. As one of the world's most respected CEO's, Jack needs no introduction. Like his leadership, his articles are filled with guidance and advice which is easy to take to heart. And if you find that you want to keep learning under him, you can always enroll in the Jack Welch Management Institute to advance your education.

2) Mark Cuban. Being that this is Blog Shark Tank, it would have been almost hypocritical to exclude Mark Cuban from my Top Five List. Mark usually posts once or twice a month to his blog, Blog Maverick, and shares those articles with his followers on LinkedIn as well. Although most of his recent articles have been about his battle with the SEC, they are worth reading if you appreciate his unique articulation of opinion and style when it comes to doing business.




3) David Sable. The CEO of Y&R, one of the largest marketing firms in the world, brilliantly combines current events, brands, and philosophies in his Weekly Ramble. His perfect-length articles are filled with humorous phrases and quotable quotes, and usually end with engaging, open-ended questions for his readers to ponder.





4) Jonah Berger. Jonah is a marketing professor at the Wharton School of Business, and the author of a best-selling book on viral marketing, entitled Contagious. His passion for analyzing why things go viral surfaces in every one of his articles, all of which are enjoyable to read.





5) Arianna Huffington. Although Arianna's articles are not always strictly about business, she has a very unique perspective on all worldly matters ranging from politics to entertainment to culture. She is no doubt a high-profile influencer and the brainpower behind the wildly successful Huffington Post.

@ Packback Books: When You’re in the Tank, it’s Not that Easy, Right?

By: Pete Troshak
Twitter: @Shak74
Website: www.Shak74.com

Twenty years ago if I told you that instead of going to the local book store to get the latest bestseller you would be downloading books on a device the size of a pad of paper that can hold the equivalent of a small library, you would have never believed me. The way we digest print media has changed, and along with that comes opportunity for innovative minds to market and sell books in new ways to niche markets.

Young entrepreneurs Casey and Mike have created their company, Packback Books, to address one of these niche markets. The duo was looking for $200,000 for 10% of their company. Their website offers pay-per-use access to college text books on a rent-per-day basis at $5 per day. The average rental would cost the student $34 a semester as opposed to the price of buying the textbooks, which even used can cost over a hundred dollars each. Packback Books only has a deal with one major publishing company so far, and pays them 75% of their income for each rental which is apparently the industry standard for licensing publications for rental. The publisher’s gain from Packback Books renting their books because they earn revenue with no effort on their part, and it is better than the alternative, which finds many students buying used books with don’t benefit the publishers at all.

Define Bottle and iReTron: A Tale of Two Pitches

By: Pete Troshak
Twitter: @Shak74
Website: www.Shak74.com

Last week's Shark Tank featured entrepreneurs ranging in age from six to sixteen who have invented items to make the world a better place. Two of the pitches featured inventors of roughly the same age who displayed business savvy combined with an impressive level of social and environmental consciousness beyond their years. Only one walked out of the Tank with a deal, and we are here to analyze why.

10 of the Most Ridiculous Shark Tank Products Ever

Throughout the past five seasons of Shark Tank, America has seen some of the strangest products (and entrepreneurs) out there. In case you missed some, here are 10 of the most ridiculous Shark Tank products ever:

1) Ionic Ear (Season 1, Episode 1)
In the very first episode of Shark Tank, Darin Johnson introduced his idea for an implantable Bluetooth device. And yes, implantable meaning it would be surgically inserted into your ear. His valuation only made the whole thing crazier, asking for a whopping $1,000,000 for a 15% stake in the business. You guessed right, he walked away empty-handed while being laughed at uncontrollably by all the Sharks.




2) Squirrel Boss (Season 4, Episode 23)
After being frustrated from wild squirrels eating all his bird food, Mike DeSanti invented a way to keep them away - by shocking them! Want one? It'll cost you $50!

3) Throx (Season 1, Episode 8)
After constantly losing one of his socks in the wash, Edwin Heaven decided that a good solution would be to just sell socks in a package of three. I don't think any more needs to be said.






4) Esso Watches (Season 3, Episode 6)
The Sharks showed no mercy when Ryan Naylor introduced his "negative ion" bands to them, and tried convincing them how his watches can improve their balance. Mark Cuban could barely look at him without being disgusted over the falsity of his claims.

5) Wake n' Bacon (Season 2, Episode 2)
Inventor Matty Sallin trotted into the Shark Tank asking the Sharks for a $40,000 investment in his alarm clock which wakes you up with the smell of bacon. The Sharks went out after agreeing that sleeping with an oven next to your bed is probably not the best idea...even if it means you'll be a little late.




6) Flip-n-Notes (Season 1, Episode 2)
The look on the Sharks' faces when they were listening to Mary Ellen Simonson demonstrate her product was priceless. Flip-n-Notes is a sleeve that goes on a laptop to provide space to stick post-it notes on. Gotta love it when people create problems that don't really exist in order to invent a solution that is not needed.


7) Man Candle (Season 2, Episode 8)
Johnson Baily wanted a candle that could make his house smell fresh, while at the same time give off a manly aroma. And by "manly aroma" I mean footballs, golf courses, and gas. Just plain ridiculous.





8) Arkeg (Season 4, Episode 12)
Brant Myers and Dan Grimm created the Arkeg drinking game to combine their two favorite activities: playing video games and drinking beer. Unfortunately for them, they are about three decades too late.






9) Man Medals (Season 5, Episode 2)
James O'Brien came up with the Man Medals concept after continually being asked by his wife "do you want a medal for that?" after doing some chores. Unsurprisingly, his cute idea with practically no sales got no bites from the Sharks.



10) Track Days (Season 4, Episode 24)
Stuntman James LaVitola and his buddy Brian Pitt pitched their motorcycle movie concept to the Sharks in need of $2 million. The problem was, there was no clear plan or actors yet. Just a bit too early for the Sharks.

Revolights: A Wheel of Fortune?

Kent Frankovich, mechanical engineer and co-founder of Revolights, walked into the Shark Tank seeking an investment of $150,000 for 10% of his business. Revolights are revolutionary bike lights which mount to the front and back tires to always provide safety and visibility for both the rider and the cars sharing the road.
Revolights has two patents, no real competition, and sells for $229 retail.

According to Frankovich, 70% of night bike collisions are due to poor side visibility. Revolights are designed to prevent these accidents by synchronizing light with the bike's speed. Furthermore, due to Revolights' circular design, they are not easily stolen and don't just fall off. In under 12 months, Revolights has sold over $600,000 of the product, though it has yet to turn a profit.

Mark Cuban Calls This Entrepreneur "Delusional"

Lori Cheek from New York City walked into the Shark Tank seeking $100,000 for 10% of her business, Cheek'd. Cheek'd, as Lori explained, is essentially online dating in reverse. It's a way for individuals seeking companionship to approach a perspective date by means of a non-intrusive gesture as simple as slipping a card to him/her. Each card contains an ice-breaking  pickup line and a special code, which can be used to look up the person's profile on the Cheek'd website. Using this method, no personal information is given until both parties are fully ready.


At first glance this business seemed like a great idea. Wait. No it didn't. It's a horrible idea and here's why:

The Cycloramic Feeding Frenzy

By: Elizabeth Francois, Writer & Designer
Twitter: @elizfrancois
Facebook: Elizabeth's Note Book

When this episode was first filmed in June 2013, the number of downloads of the Cycloramic app was 660,000. Now, it is over 8 million. Ladies and gentlemen...I bring you the Power of the Shark Tank!

Bruno François is the co-founder and CEO of Egos Ventures, an innovation lab with projects in mobile application and accessories, as well as the developers of Cycloramic. Bruno came into the Tank seeking $90,000 for a 5% stake in the company.

Takeaways: Social Media, Story Time, and a Deck of Cards

By: Matt Turner,
Writer and Entrepreneur

There were certainly a lot of lessons learned in the Shark Tank this week for both the entrepreneurs on the show and the fans watching. Here are some of the Key Takeaways from this week's episode (Season 5, Episode 15):

1. SMO & the Changing Landscape of Social Media

Entrepreneur: Susan Peterson
Company: Freshly Picked
Proposal: $150,000 for 10%

Susan Peterson, who came into the Shark Tank asking for an investment for her baby shoe moccasin company, beautifully portrayed the opportunities available to all entrepreneurs through Social Media Optimization (SMO).

Life Caps: There's No Such Thing As a Failed Pitch in the Shark Tank

By: Pete Troshak
Twitter: @shak74
Website: www.shak74.com

Daryl Stevenett has invented seemingly magic pills called Life Caps. Just take one pill in place of eating a meal and Stevenett claims that you will have all the nourishment you need and never be hungry. According to Stevenett, the pills even have a special side effect – losing a pound of weight a day while on them. The pills have a five year shelf-life and cost roughly a dollar per pill retail. Daryl markets the pills to campers, hunters,and hikers, and to anyone who want to have a bottle on hand in case of emergencies such as earthquakes, tornadoes, and hurricanes. He claims that he has gone as long as 17 days without food living just on Life Caps and water, and that he walked into the Shark Tank on an 8 day fast living only on the pills and water. He has averaged almost $100,000 in sales of the pills per year for four years, and arrived at the Shark Tank looking for a $200,000 investment for 30% of his company. Although Stevenett failed to land a deal, his pitch sure left us with many mistakes to learn from.

The Sharks' New Groove

By: Matt Turner,
Writer and Entrepreneur

The GrooveBook pitch was one of my favorite pitches to date. There are several elements in it that truly provide entrepreneurs keen insight into both building a business and successfully closing a deal with investors.

One thing that truly impressed me about Julie and Brian Whiteman was their knowledge of their business. They knew all of the numbers that an investor likes to see when assessing any investment opportunity.

With a cost of $2.99 per month for their photo subscription service, their cost of $2.30 left them with $0.70 profit per book. However, even with 18,000 subscribers in 8 months, they were still losing cash. With this business model, it would take 30,000 monthly subscribers to break even on their $21,000 of cost each month, with a profit of $0.70 per subscriber per month there after.

Another thing that impressed me was their commitment to this business. Having invested $400,000 of their own money, their passion for the business was quite apparent. Their ask of $150,000 for 20% of their business wasn't pulled out of a hat; it was well thought through and appropriate.