Shark Tank Recap: Season 9, Episode 9

Sharks looking to invest: Kevin O’Leary, Lori Greiner, Mark Cuban, and Barbara Corcoran with guest Shark, Alex Rodriguez.

Calling all baseball sharks! If you were excited to see Alex Rodriguez as a guest shark, hold your breath and dive in. In this episode he was back with some of our favorite sharks for another exciting episode of Shark Tank!

Brilliant Pad

Starting off this episode was Alan Cook from Chicago with Brilliant Pad. This product has a fresh approach to house training dogs. The unit retracts the pad, inside a base unit after a pet does their business. Included with Brilliant Pad are 27 individual training pads and offers refill packs. Brilliant Pad strives to keep pet homes-and owners hands-fresh and clean!

Asking Investment: $500,000 for 5%

Product Positioning: The majority of Alan’s inspiration for the product was owners of smaller, lap-sized dogs. He explained that with smaller bladders, dog owners are more likely to use training pads. Owners of larger dogs and even cats, could also benefit from this product. According to the 2017 National Pet Owners survey, 68% of households in the U.S. own a cat or a dog. That’s an incredibly wide market!

How We Would Have Helped: While this is a great product, we think that Alan was relying too much on the success of his self-cleaning litter box. Highlighting the exclusive features and attributes of Brilliant Pad would differentiate this product from Alan’s previous product. We would help Alan identify and emphasize the product’s strengths to build a marketing plan completely tailored to the Brilliant Pad.

Shark Tank Feedback: Mark and Alex dropped out, citing a primary concern of the market itself-Mark considered a market based on pet waste too small, while Alex struggled to see how relevant his experience could be. Barbara was concerned about recouping her investment, despite Alan’s success with his similar product line. 

Conclusion: Kevin initially conceded Alan’s asking price of $500k as a loan with 11% interest in exchange for 10% equity, while Lori offered $500k as a loan that she would recoup at $5 per unit sold with an 8% stake. Alan and Lori duked it out until they finally agreed to his original $500k for 5% with $2.50 per unit sold, a line of credit and purchase order fulfillment support.

Bravo

Hector and Maria from Phoenix, AZ presented the Shark Tank with Bravo, an app that lets you tip electronically. The app allows tipping to anyone, anytime, anywhere without exchanging personal information or even needing to have cash or card in hand.

Asking Investment Terms: $150,000 for 5%

Product Positioning: Hector and Maria based this app off of the fact that in today’s digital world, most of us don’t carry cash anymore and with apps like square cash, Venmo, Samsung pay and Apple pay, some of us don’t even carry cards. 

How We Would Have Helped: The majority of the cash flow for Hector and Maria’s app comes from vendors who subscribe to the service for user data intending to improve their businesses. As the business grows, this revenue model may not be able to sustain itself. We would be able to help Hector and Maria redesign their business plan to increase profitability and growth. Higher profit and growth potential make an app much more palatable for investors!

Shark Tank Feedback: Alex and Barbara both dropped out due to their concerns with the business model-in their opinion it was far  too complex, despite the Hector and Maria’s claims of simplicity. Kevin raised concerns over an unestablished payment method-causing him to drop out, as well.

Conclusion: After an indiscreet whispering, Lori and Mark pulled the curtain off of the only deal that Hector and Maria had on the table-$150k for 15%. With no other deals in play, the Bravo founders had little room to negotiate. They managed to squeeze one more percent out of the deal, settling on $150k for 10% plus 2% each as an advisory fee, totaling 14% equity. Bravo, indeed!

HoopMaps

Next up into the Shark Tank were Oakland, CA twins Dante and Dominic with their app, HoopMaps. The app can essentially be described as tinder for basketball players. Although instead of a hot date, HoopMaps will set users up with local basketball pickup games. Users are able to create games and invite others. Additionally, geo-fences send push notifications about games to users who are close by. (Dominic actually learned how to code and build the apps framework himself-impressive!)

Asking investment Terms: $100k for 5%

Product Positioning: The twins definitely did their research-in creating their product, they looked into the spending habits and activity trends of the 18-25 age demographic-but certainly anyone older who is still an active basketball player would be interested as well. With Basketball being the fifth most popular sport-not just in the US but in the world according to Pledgesports.com-that’s a slam dunk target market.

How We Would Have Helped: HoopMaps definitely fills a need-a quick, simple method for connecting players who want to form pickup games. Idea Buyer works with app entreprenuers to develop the app with a focus on an end business model. Revenue generation is where Dante and Dominic are lacking in order to turn the app into a business. Creating opportunities for future premium options is where we see the app becoming profitable. For more information on our app development services, contact us!

Shark Tank Feedback & Conclusion: Unfortunately, the twins were not offered a deal. Each of the Shark Tank investors were concerned that HoopMaps would be unable to produce a significant source of revenue. Adding additional features for a premium version of the app would likely be only a marginal improvement over the free version. Barbara also interjected that publicity would be beneficial for the app’s brand. Perhaps, as Lori suggested, obtained through a partnership with a celebrity athletes.

Glovestix/ShoeStix

Finally, Krista Woods came sniffing around for funding for her product Glovestix and Shoestix, the solution for stinky athletic gear! Instead of using sprays, washes or powders, Krista’s Stix are inserted into gloves, boots, shoes or hats to absorb moisture and eliminate odor causing bacteria.

Asking Investment Terms: $150k for 10%

Product Positioning: We know athlete moms everywhere screamed “goal” when they saw this product! While kids are the ones breaking a sweat, their moms are usually the ones cleaning it. The product appeals to athletes at any level and to the people who care for them too!

How we would have Helped: So far, Krista has done an impressive job of driving revenue for her business-so well in fact that at this point there’s nothing left to do but expand. Having started with intense market research, we would have identified the ideal price point for the target customer. Idea Buyer then would have advised Krista on the best avenues for manufacturing and distribution with the intent to increase profit margins and 

Shark Tank Feedback: Mark and Kevin were not shy about proclaiming Krista’s product to be overvalued. At $29.95 for the base unit and $7.95 for the retail pack, they called it way too expensive. Alex and Mark explained to Krista the need to delegate to her employees. Allowing others to take the lead on aspects of the business would give her business the opportunity to scale.

Conclusion: Lori identified with Krista’s desire to oversee every aspect of her company. Relating to the start up mentality of wearing multiple hats, Lori offered Alex a 20% partnership for a $150k investment. Krista negotiated Lori down to 17.5%. Smells like a deal to us!

How did you feel about this episode’s featured products shark fans? What tips did you pick up on how to build an efficient revenue model? Tune in next Sunday for the next episode of Shark Tank!

Tyiesha Evans is a copywriter for Idea Buyer, LLC. To learn more about our services and how we can help develop your idea, click here!

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