S11.E02: Face Yoga, Circadian Optics, Atlas Monroe, Boost Oxygen

[JTMacc99]

Light therapy lamp; portable oxygen in a can; an unusual solution to maintaining a youthful appearance; a plant-based version of a guilty pleasure.

[rhys]

Oxygen in a can seems odd to me but I live at about 1000 ft. I guess I can see it if I went skiing.

Light therapy is interesting & she had a great back story. Hope she does well.

I'm mystified as to why "chicken" couple turned down $1M. 

[mjc570]

21 minutes ago, rhys said:

I'm mystified as to why "chicken" couple turned down $1M. 

I'm more mystified by anyone paying $44 for 6 pieces of fake (wheat) chicken.  is the breading really that good, or were the sharks really hungry?  I couldn't believe they turned down that deal.  They really are terrible business people. 

Liked the facial yoga person, but how could anyone make any money investing in it?  It would have to build up a base so that franchising could be a possibility.  I was surprised none of the sharks identified it as a pre-business (although maybe they did and I wasn't paying attention).  Her outfit was amazing, though.  Amazing and somewhat creepy, I guess.

I liked the air guys, that was a good product and they clearly knew what they were doing.  Glad they got a deal.  I don't think much education is necessary, everyone knows oxygen will make you feel better. 

[KaveDweller]

1 hour ago, mjc570 said:

I'm more mystified by anyone paying $44 for 6 pieces of fake (wheat) chicken.  is the breading really that good, or were the sharks really hungry?  I couldn't believe they turned down that deal.  They really are terrible business people. 

I'm curious what the nutritional info for the chicken was. If it is wheat-based, is there protein in it? The deal included a royalty, so I get them not wanting to take it. But it also sounded like they needed the cash to meet orders, so I hope they had a back up plan.

I felt bad for the face yoga lady. It really wasn't a great investment, but it is never good when the Sharks laugh that much about your product.

[James Moore]

I can't believe no one has commented on this, The first segment tonight was a joke. Did an 8 year old edit it? So all the sharks wanted to invest in a woman because she told yet another one of the countless Shark Tank Sob Stories that the viewing audience hates but for the first time in Shark Tank History, no in-depth financials were needed and the product was not demonstrated at all. Just Boo Hoo Hoo which whoever edited this thinks is enough to get Millionaires to do business with someone. Whoever edited this segment on Shark Tank needs to be fired immediately. If anyone producing Shark Tank ever reads this, the Sob Stories/Crying are an embarrassment and turn off to the average viewer who graduated College.

As to the second episode, these 2 people do not appear to understand basic finance and they were the most naïve people I've seen on Shark Tank, If they do get rich, it will be in spite of themselves.

[sugarbaker design]

It made me smile when light therapy woman quoted Mary Oliver.

[nlkm9]

I understand their recipe is a secret, but I personally wouldnt buy anything without nutritional information--I went to their website and it isnt listed anywhere. the product sounds great, I hope they make it, but they are definitely not business people.

[Jillybean]

I thought the fake chicken sounded gross. The absence of meat in a processed, breaded product does not automatically make it any healthier. Their price point was crazy. To accept a million dollars plus a 10% cut of the profits for life sounded like an amazing deal for a company with $60K in sales. The woman's projection of future sales seemed to be based solely on a single instance of allegedly generating $12K in sales from a single Instagram post, and she stated what that would amount to when done on a daily basis. That's not going to happen. They missed out on a golden opportunity. Let's just see if they prove me wrong.

And what was up with the name of their company, which I've already forgotten? It was poor branding.

Edited October 7, 2019 by Jillybean

[dogdays2]

Agree 100%.  Once the light lady started to tear up, I fast-forwarded through her sob story.  Most people over the age of 25 have overcome some hardship or suffered some tragedy. This isn't Dr. Phil.  I also was shocked that we didn't learn anything about the product, marketing strategy, etc.  I don't recall hearing how the product worked or even what it sold for (though maybe I missed it). 

I could not believe the couple at the end didn't take the deal.  $1M up front and 10% royalties in perpetuity (assuming due diligence was OK).  The fact that the couple didn't understand basic business math doesn't bode well for their future.  The sharks have the resources, knowledge and money to make a success of the product.  Even if the product fails, the couple would be $1M ahead.  While normally the sharks are just that, here I thought they were really trying to help this couple.  Can't recall such a boneheaded move on ST for at least a few years. 

[Blue Plastic]

Okay, it’s good to see I’m not the only one who thought the faux chicken people made the wrong choice. 

Weird name for their company. I kind of want to try the chicken but they need to be in grocery stores imo. 

I wonder if it is a seitan based product. I actually really like seitan.

Just eating a plant based diet isn’t automatically going to fix diabetes I don’t think. This faux chicken is probably still more of a junk food or indulgence than eating a lot of plain salad, beans, whole grains, yada yada yada unfortunately!

Edited October 7, 2019 by Blue Plastic

[Quickbeam]

I kind of thought that the Sharks hand waved away the fact that there are a zillion full spectrum  or seasonal affective disorder lights available on the market. I use one at work. They look roughly similar to lady's products. I loathe the sob stories, I really do. 

[DEL901]

12 hours ago, KaveDweller said:

I'm curious what the nutritional info for the chicken was. If it is wheat-based, is there protein in it? The deal included a royalty, so I get them not wanting to take it. But it also sounded like they needed the cash to meet orders, so I hope they had a back up plan.

I felt bad for the face yoga lady. It really wasn't a great investment, but it is never good when the Sharks laugh that much about your product.

Yes there was a royalty, but the couple would be RECEIVING it.  Basically, Mark and Rohan would own the product and the company.  They understood nothing about business.  Their so-called projections were just them doing math based on what their new production could make.

https://atlasmonroe.com/orderfoodnow

Also agree that just because it is vegan, doesn`t mean it is healthier.  Isn`t it deep fried...

Finally, if something sounds too good to be true, it usually is.  A bunch of years ago, there was a news story about a muffin company who had the most delicious low cal muffins ever.  Turns out they were not low cal.  They were extra high cal.

[hula-la]

1 hour ago, Blue Plastic said:

Just eating a plant based diet isn’t automatically going to fix diabetes I don’t think. This faux chicken is probably still more of a junk food or indulgence than eating a lot of plain salad, beans, whole grains, yada yada yada unfortunately!

I'm not a dietitian (but someone who does have a lot of post-secondary nutrition courses under my belt), but I find it difficult to believe that one month of eating raw, natural, organic, and plant based can "cure" Type 2 diabetes. My mother basically no longer has Type 2 diabetes, but that was after years of hard work, weight loss, and sustained lifestyle changes. It didn't take a month--maybe if she had gone organic it might have?

[Jillybean]

2 hours ago, hula-la said:

I'm not a dietitian (but someone who does have a lot of post-secondary nutrition courses under my belt), but I find it difficult to believe that one month of eating raw, natural, organic, and plant based can "cure" Type 2 diabetes. My mother basically no longer has Type 2 diabetes, but that was after years of hard work, weight loss, and sustained lifestyle changes. It didn't take a month--maybe if she had gone organic it might have?

I raised an eyebrow at this as well.

I've peeked at the ATLAS MONROE Facebook page today and there are lots of comments protesting the shipping fees (which, if I understood it correctly from the episode, are padding their "net" revenues). 

[rhys]

What does Atlas Monroe have to do with anything? Was their last name Monroe?

[saber5055]

2 hours ago, hula-la said:

I'm not a dietitian (but someone who does have a lot of post-secondary nutrition courses under my belt), but I find it difficult to believe that one month of eating raw, natural, organic, and plant based can "cure" Type 2 diabetes.

It's like they were saying that eating real chicken would give you diabetes.

I have a "thing" for chicken strips and fried chicken with lots of crunchy breading on it (I don't have diabetes, either) so those fake strips looked delicious and gave me cravings. I looked at the website (thanks for the link, @DEL901) and it's close to impossible to read, black background with a light typeface that's barely there. But I figured out you can get six "chicken" strips for $22. I didn't go farther. It looks like they have other products, but I can't read the site so can't comment on those.

I couldn't figure out how much a 10-percent royalty on sales would be for those two, but based on their numbers, it should have been a nice income. Unless those numbers were bogus and they were there just for the commercial, like the sharks accused someone of last week.

The "chicken" was in a few restaurants, listed on the website, on Oct. 6 only. I wonder what the unnamed franchise is that was alluded to, the one that wants to sell those strips. I can't imagine paying more than $20 for a few fake strips in any restaurant. But maybe that's just me. I'm a Popeye's girl.

I also think the name is horrible. Sounds like a moving company, not a food company.

51 minutes ago, Jillybean said:

I've peeked at the ATLAS MONROE Facebook page today and there are lots of comments protesting the shipping fees (which, if I understood it correctly from the episode, are padding their "net" revenues). 

The most interesting takeaway was learning six fake chicken strips cost $2 to make.

[saber5055]

Can you call something chicken when it contains no chicken? The milk industry is taking legal action against almond and soy "milks."

I meant to comment that Barbara looked very attractive last night. New hairdo or new face or something. Looked great.

The oxygen canisters gave me not-so-good flashbacks to Dennis Hopper/Frank Booth in Blue Velvet.

[theatremouse]

7 hours ago, Jillybean said:

I thought the fake chicken sounded gross.The absence of meat in a processed, breaded product does not automatically make it any healthier.

,,,,

And what was up with the name of their company, which I've already forgotten? It was poor branding.

I've been a vegetarian for 25 years and I want their product if it tastes as good as the Sharks made it seem. It's not healthy and I don't want it to be healthy. But I don't want to eat actual chicken,and I do remember what fried chicken tastes like and it is GOOD. And sometimes I just WANT it. But not enough to eat the real thing, by a longshot. I've been to vegetarian and vegan restaurants that claim to have vegan fried chicken that's just as good, and it's never good. The breading doesn't look or taste right. It's always like Morningstar Chickn patties. I don't want that. This looks like they've really cracked the code. So I'd totally eat that.

However, the brand sounds like a drag name. And the founders don't seem to understand math.

[nlkm9]

3 hours ago, saber5055 said:

Can you call something chicken when it contains no chicken? The milk industry is taking legal action against almond and soy "milks."

I meant to comment that Barbara looked very attractive last night. New hairdo or new face or something. Looked great.

The oxygen canisters gave me not-so-good flashbacks to Dennis Hopper/Frank Booth in Blue Velvet.

it looks like she had work done I agree she looks great!

[KaveDweller]

10 hours ago, DEL901 said:

Yes there was a royalty, but the couple would be RECEIVING it.  Basically, Mark and Rohan would own the product and the company.  They understood nothing about business.  Their so-called projections were just them doing math based on what their new production could make.

Oh, I totally missed that part of the deal. I think I was half paying attention at the end. If that's the case, I agree. They were idiots to turn it down.

6 hours ago, theatremouse said:

I've been a vegetarian for 25 years and I want their product if it tastes as good as the Sharks made it seem. It's not healthy and I don't want it to be healthy. But I don't want to eat actual chicken,and I do remember what fried chicken tastes like and it is GOOD.

That's funny, because I've been a vegetarian for about 25 years and never want to eat anything that takes like actual chicken/meat. I liked the taste of meat back then, but the thought of eating it now makes me sick. I hate products that try and simulate a meat taste. Obviously everyone is different.

I kind of wonder what the fake chicken product smells like. Fried chicken smells really strong and I'm surprised the Sharks wouldn't have noticed it wasn't real chicken.

[lynxfx]

9 hours ago, saber5055 said:

I meant to comment that Barbara looked very attractive last night. New hairdo or new face or something. Looked great.

We actually noticed that on her single camera shots it looked like they were using the ol' soap opera filter on her which softens her up. She was the only one with that 'blur' on her. 

[JTMacc99]

On 10/7/2019 at 8:37 AM, dogdays2 said:

I could not believe the couple at the end didn't take the deal.  $1M up front and 10% royalties in perpetuity (assuming due diligence was OK).  The fact that the couple didn't understand basic business math doesn't bode well for their future.  The sharks have the resources, knowledge and money to make a success of the product.  Even if the product fails, the couple would be $1M ahead.  While normally the sharks are just that, here I thought they were really trying to help this couple.  Can't recall such a boneheaded move on ST for at least a few years. 

Yeah, it was one of those deals that made sense to me from both sides. Clearly the sharks were saying "in this case, we're not investing in you, but we'll happily pay you for your idea/product."

10% in perpetuity is kind of great. Regardless of how many stars I had in my eyes about my product and all the hard work I had done up until that point, that $1 million + 10% forever deal is the kind of buyout you can only dream of when there is still so much risk in play. They probably could have asked the sharks to let them keep something like a 5% stake, but it seems like they had no interest in giving up their idea at this point.

[saber5055]

1 hour ago, JTMacc99 said:

10% in perpetuity is kind of great. Regardless of how many stars I had in my eyes about my product and all the hard work I had done up until that point, that $1 million + 10% forever deal is the kind of buyout you can only dream of when there is still so much risk in play.

I wonder what the small print is on that deal though. Big companies will buy small competitors, then close the small business so it won't compete against it. So if the  fake chicken company "went bankrupt" in five years, that would be the end of the royalties. Once the sharks made their million (and then some back), would they be inclined to keep the fake chicken business, sell it, or if it wasn't bringing in enough cash, close it. The royalty thing would make me nervous unless I was a partner or still had some say in running the biz.

No one asked about patents on the fake recipe though. Although I think this show has to be edited down radically to fit the time frame, so maybe that was discussed, we just didn't see it.

[eel21788]

On 10/7/2019 at 8:54 AM, Blue Plastic said:

I wonder if it is a seitan based product. I actually really like seitan.

Seitan is made from soy. They said their product was wheat-based.

[eel21788]

21 hours ago, saber5055 said:

The "chicken" was in a few restaurants, listed on the website, on Oct. 6 only. I wonder what the unnamed franchise is that was alluded to, the one that wants to sell those strips. I can't imagine paying more than $20 for a few fake strips in any restaurant. But maybe that's just me. I'm a Popeye's girl.

Since Burger King just came out with their "impossible burger," I wonder if they were looking for a similar chicken product. However, there is no way they are going to pay their prices for it.

[theatremouse]

1 hour ago, eel21788 said:

Seitan is made from soy. They said their product was wheat-based.

Tofu and tempeh are soy. Seitan is wheat gluten. Most of the better mock-chicken I've eaten has been wheat-meat, so I wasn't surprised they said theirs was wheat-based.

[seacliffsal]

Frankly, the reason I don't eat fried chicken is that it is breaded and fried.  Therefore, the deep fried wheat product was not appealing to me in the least.  And the pricing was outrageous.  Also, they started their pitch by emphasizing the health advantages, so I'm not quite sure how that is going to work for them.

I didn't like the first pitch about the circadian lights.  I especially didn't like the sob story.  I was surprised though that Mark didn't start one of his "snake oil" rants about her product like he does whenever someone 'miracle' cures.  And I was really surprised about the lack of questions about patents and competitors.  

Face yoga woman was too much for me as well.  Okay, I just must be extra grumpy...

[JTMacc99]

13 hours ago, seacliffsal said:

And I was really surprised about the lack of questions about patents and competitors.  

Me too, but then I realized that this was a case of "Sales numbers validates their belief in the person". Frequently they invest more in the entrepreneur than they do the product.  Even before the sob story, I think that's what was going on here.

[DEL901]

13 hours ago, seacliffsal said:

Frankly, the reason I don't eat fried chicken is that it is breaded and fried.  Therefore, the deep fried wheat product was not appealing to me in the least.  And the pricing was outrageous.  Also, they started their pitch by emphasizing the health advantages, so I'm not quite sure how that is going to work for them.

...especially when they said on television that the product only costs $2 to make.  I'd certainly side-eye their prices.

And no-way can they pitch deep-fried anything as healthy.  They can pitch it as vegan, but deep frying...

[roctavia]

Didn't Chick-fil-A just do a big meatless chicken thing? I wonder if that was who they were talking about wanting to use their product, especially if it tastes that good. 

I suppose if they had something like that already in the works and who could potentially give them some cash to produce product, they may not have truly wanted a deal, or at least not a deal that made them give up the majority of the company...

[lh25]

On 10/7/2019 at 1:27 AM, James Moore said:

I can't believe no one has commented on this, The first segment tonight was a joke. Did an 8 year old edit it? So all the sharks wanted to invest in a woman because she told yet another one of the countless Shark Tank Sob Stories that the viewing audience hates but for the first time in Shark Tank History, no in-depth financials were needed and the product was not demonstrated at all.

I came here to comment on it!  And didn't they say it was one of the best pitches ever? 

[sasha206]

On 10/7/2019 at 8:37 AM, dogdays2 said:

Agree 100%.  Once the light lady started to tear up, I fast-forwarded through her sob story.  Most people over the age of 25 have overcome some hardship or suffered some tragedy. This isn't Dr. Phil.  I also was shocked that we didn't learn anything about the product, marketing strategy, etc.  I don't recall hearing how the product worked or even what it sold for (though maybe I missed it). 

I could not believe the couple at the end didn't take the deal.  $1M up front and 10% royalties in perpetuity (assuming due diligence was OK).  The fact that the couple didn't understand basic business math doesn't bode well for their future.  The sharks have the resources, knowledge and money to make a success of the product.  Even if the product fails, the couple would be $1M ahead.  While normally the sharks are just that, here I thought they were really trying to help this couple.  Can't recall such a boneheaded move on ST for at least a few years. 

I thought the same thing.  What really was so different about this than other light therapy machines?  That it's not a blue light?  Won't your coworkers still want to poke fun at you (wasn't that her main reason for developing this?)

[aemom]

On 10/13/2019 at 11:07 AM, sasha206 said:

I thought the same thing.  What really was so different about this than other light therapy machines?  That it's not a blue light?  Won't your coworkers still want to poke fun at you (wasn't that her main reason for developing this?)

What I recall her saying is that they picked on her because it was a big light that took up a lot of space on her desk.  The ones she was marketing, were smaller and had some style.  One of the samples she had actually looked quite nice.

So she basically built a better mousetrap - a light therapy machine that had more style.  However, there was no discussion (on air at least) about her cost and what she was selling them for.

I found this where it mentions that they are sold for $45-70.  Not too bad.

https://www.cnbc.com/2019/10/07/shark-tank-why-mark-cuban-gave-this-founder-an-extra-50k-for-free.html

[ljenkins782]

On 10/7/2019 at 8:37 AM, dogdays2 said:

I could not believe the couple at the end didn't take the deal.  $1M up front and 10% royalties in perpetuity (assuming due diligence was OK).  The fact that the couple didn't understand basic business math doesn't bode well for their future.  The sharks have the resources, knowledge and money to make a success of the product.  Even if the product fails, the couple would be $1M ahead.  While normally the sharks are just that, here I thought they were really trying to help this couple.  Can't recall such a boneheaded move on ST for at least a few years. 

Yeah, that was super dumb. It was clear that they had no business sense, "well, we made $12,000 from one Instagram post, so we multiplied that by 12 to project our sales" is NOT a genuine projection of sales.

They did have a point about wondering why the Sharks were so eager to just buy it from them, but what the Sharks could bring to the table is worth more than what they can bring to it. Bird in the hand, and all that. They were just afraid that if it did blow up, they wouldn't get the full profit, but missing the fact that if they didn't have help, it probably wouldn't blow up at all. The best idea doesn't mean much if the idea person doesn't have any means/knowledge to turn it into something.

I looked them up online and there's an awful lot of fighting with their customers going on in the reviews. Also not a great sign for them.

Quote

I also think the name is horrible. Sounds like a moving company, not a food company

It really is a terrible name. No indication of what it is and no apparently relation to the product. They should have taken their million dollars and royalties and let the Sharks run with it, branding and all.

Quote

What I recall her saying is that they picked on her because it was a big light that took up a lot of space on her desk.  The ones she was marketing, were smaller and had some style.  One of the samples she had actually looked quite nice.

So she basically built a better mousetrap - a light therapy machine that had more style.  However, there was no discussion (on air at least) about her cost and what she was selling them for.

Yeah, they seemed to skip over a whole lot of the usual business questions. I'm mildly interested in it, I struggle with the lack of light in winter. I'll have to look at that link. 

ETA: what was the name of her company/product? I can't remember.

Also, reading the above link, it reminded me that it seems like someone at Shark Tank has a preoccupation with immigration. It seems like at least one per show, there's a pitch that references parents coming here with nothing and how it drives the entrepreneur. I mean, it matches the theme of the show, but it seems like they go out of their way to feature those stories.

Edited October 16, 2019 by ljenkins782

[DEL901]

The wings people have posted that they are sold out for Christmas and Thanksgiving but are now taking presale for May 2020!!!  But they will try to fulfill the orders earlier?!?!    See bottom of page  https://atlasmonroe.com/orderfoodnow

And they turned down a million!?!?
 

[Kiss my mutt]

I couldn’t find any nutrition information on the website. It’s really hard to read red text on a black background too. They need to work on it. It doesn’t fit what they are selling. Looks more like a boudoir studio site or worse. 

[ljenkins782]

23 hours ago, DEL901 said:

The wings people have posted that they are sold out for Christmas and Thanksgiving but are now taking presale for May 2020!!!  But they will try to fulfill the orders earlier?!?!    See bottom of page  https://atlasmonroe.com/orderfoodnow

And they turned down a million!?!?
 

Pure greed clouding judgement. The Sharks could have set up a fulfillment process for them and they'd be collecting a nice royalty in the sales they'd have had after the show airing instead of the stress of scrambling to explain why they can't fill orders.

By May 2020, that publicity will have died down and who the hell preorders their food 6 months in advance? They need to get into stores, this Omaha Steak style business model is very limiting. 

[LuvMyShows]

 

On 10/7/2019 at 8:31 AM, Jillybean said:

The woman's projection of future sales seemed to be based solely on a single instance of allegedly generating $12K in sales from a single Instagram post, and she stated what that would amount to when done on a daily basis. 

I was genuinely surprised that the Sharks did not jump all over her when she made that absurdly ridiculous revenue projection/assumption.

On 10/16/2019 at 2:19 PM, ljenkins782 said:

They were just afraid that if it did blow up, they wouldn't get the full profit, but missing the fact that if they didn't have help, it probably wouldn't blow up at all. The best idea doesn't mean much if the idea person doesn't have any means/knowledge to turn it into something.

Well said.

On 10/16/2019 at 2:19 PM, ljenkins782 said:

It really is a terrible name. No indication of what it is and no apparently relation to the product. 

Yes, surprised this wasn't mentioned by the Sharks.

On 10/7/2019 at 4:27 AM, James Moore said:

I can't believe no one has commented on this, The first segment tonight was a joke. Did an 8 year old edit it? So all the sharks wanted to invest in a woman because she told yet another one of the countless Shark Tank Sob Stories that the viewing audience hates but for the first time in Shark Tank History, no in-depth financials were needed and the product was not demonstrated at all. Just Boo Hoo Hoo which whoever edited this thinks is enough to get Millionaires to do business with someone. 

Especially because the Sharks said it was one of the best presentations they'd ever seen, so she must have done a good job providing all that factual info that the Sharks demand and explaining all about production etc., but the producers apparently thought would be too boring for the viewers...not realizing that we need/want that info so we can make our own evaluation.