This Shark Tank episode yielded two Sharky Awards for entrepreneurial excellence.
Platinum Sharky…..Aaron from Scrub Daddy
Aaron was passionate about his “sponge that smiles”. His presentation looked and sounded like a good infomercial. This helped the Sharks create a vision for Scrub Daddy. Three of the Sharks got into a bidding war and Aaron ended up getting his original company valuation of $1 million. Lori ended up getting the deal and will get a real infomercial produced and on the air asap. Getting multiple offers is the objective for every entrepreneur in order to maximize their company valuation.
Gold Sharky….Daniel and David from SBU
I think this is the sleeper hit of the year. These two presented their “robotic unicycle” that cost them $350 to make and sells for $1800. They’ve had 100 built so far and they sold out immediately. Despite looking something like the Segway (a huge failure from an investor standpoint), Sharks Kevin and Robert invested in SBU. I couldn’t help but think that this proprietary technology could be used in military and law enforcement applications in the future.
Update……This episode included an update on Mark and Hanna from Lollacup. These two were nominated for my Season 3 “Most Intriguing Entrepreneur” Award….glad to see they are doing well. They are now manufacturing 3000-5000 sippy cups a day. This husband and wife team make a great business partnership too.
Shark Chum….Meg and Matt from The Bear & The Rat are also a great husband and wife team. Their healthy frozen dog treats have potential, but they got some bad advice from an advisor regarding their company valuation (unrealistically high) . As Mark Cuban put it, “Never take advice from somebody who doesn’t have to live with the consequences”. Great advice!
Shelton from Shemie was a little too scattered and a little too early to get an investment in her six-week old company. Did you ever have a kid or an employee whose story just doesn’t hang together….like they were hiding something? Turns out Shelton went thru rehab a couple of years ago and was looking for a fresh start. Best of luck…..come back to the Shark tank next year…..it will be a different story then.