S12.E03: Sleep Pod; Cereal Killerz; Chirp Wheel; Animated Lure

[JTMacc99]

Quote

A husband and wife from Milwaukee, Wisconsin, try and get in bed with the Sharks as they pitch their adult swaddle design. Entrepreneurs from Plano, Texas, try and reel in the Sharks with their inventive approach to fish luring. A husband and wife from Las Vegas, Nevada, share their killer idea for a retail franchise that serves a variety of cereal-centric treats.

 

[CrazyInAlabama]

Hug Sleep, the sleeping compression thing for adults looked potentially dangerous.   Poor Robert!    He's lucky he didn't break his nose, not just scratch it.    I don't understand why they had a combined deal for it with Robert, Kevin and Daymond.    That thing would be awful to get in and out of when you're sleepy.   I can see someone doing exactly what Robert did, and not taking the thing off before trying to move around the room in it, or slipping when you get up, and do exactly what he did, and falling.     Or what happens during some sudden issue in the middle of the night?   Smoke alarm goes off, some fool at the wrong house rings the bell, etc., and you really want out of the Hug Sleep right now.     For $100, it's not happening for me.  

I wonder if the compression, and being so wrapped up will result in waking up way to hot, after you are asleep for a while?      They have it available for $100, or on sale for $90, and I can buy a lot of blankets for that price.    I'm probably not the market for this, because the weighted blankets didn't appeal to me either.       I can see someone who gets up more than once a night hating this.     

Cereal killerz, great idea for a local business, but not scalable in my opinion.   Those two nice people will lose their shirts.  I'm not surprised that they didn't get a deal.   I didn't like the idea at all.   It sounded like most of the fast food places with their milkshakes with add ins, and I can get those any time I want, in all kinds of cereal flavors.       

Fish Lure (Animated Lures)-Interesting idea, and I like the Shark who suggested they would be good for those fish tanks that are mostly display, in restaurants or offices.    Kevin will be a good partner, and I'm surprised Daymond didn't join in. 

Chirp-A back pain wheel.     How did they sell 1 million wheels?    It really didn't look that different from other items on the market.      The sellers are saying they're worth $45 million valuation.    They also have no partners, no debt.    Lori scores the win.   

 

Edited October 31, 2020 by CrazyInAlabama

[bilgistic]

"Chirp" was ridiculous. There have been yoga wheels for decades. How did none of the Sharks, who most certainly have personal trainers, know about yoga wheels? I've never seen one in real life, but I know what they are and thought that's what the kid was selling before he started talking. I wondered why no one asked him what made his idea unique or proprietary.

I actually liked the sleep pod thing, but would it be long enough to wrap over the top and sides of my head so I can keep my ears warm?

I didn't understand what the cereal bar was. They serve milkshakes with cereal in them? What?

[Vermicious Knid]

Cereal Killerz has closed their first location, opened in a second and have a third on the way. They are obviously angling to franchise. 

My immediate thought at the fish lures was to also sell them as toys. For kids and cats.

[DrSpaceman73]

The cereal bar I can see working in Vegas in the right location on the strip.   But not really anywhere else.  It's one of those gimmicks I think you visit once on vacation but not on a regular basis. 

 

Hated the sleep thing.  It did look dangerous.   And I'd hate it. I don't like being compressed and limited in movement all night. 

Fishing lures not interested and don't care

Back thing.....yeah something didn't add up there.  Doesn't seem unique enough for those sales and that much profit.  There are dozens of back pain devices out there not sure why it is any better

 

[LakeGal]

The Hug Sleep people said they walked in wanting Mark & Lori.  My question is why didn't they ask one of them to try it out then?  If I was Robert I would be a bit upset.  They ask him to do the demonstration when they didn't even want him as a shark.  Let Mark or Lori fumble around in that crazy thing.  

[Eve93]

5 hours ago, LakeGal said:

The Hug Sleep people said they walked in wanting Mark & Lori.  My question is why didn't they ask one of them to try it out then?  If I was Robert I would be a bit upset.  They ask him to do the demonstration when they didn't even want him as a shark.  Let Mark or Lori fumble around in that crazy thing.  

The HugSleep people clearly wanted Mark & Lori and that's why they had to whip out their sob story since uptil that point M&L hadn't made them any offers....

3 sob stories in 1 episode, that must be a record!! I also don't appreciate this new sad music that plays in the background for the people who cry...

[KaveDweller]

On 10/31/2020 at 10:07 AM, LakeGal said:

The Hug Sleep people said they walked in wanting Mark & Lori.  My question is why didn't they ask one of them to try it out then?  If I was Robert I would be a bit upset.  They ask him to do the demonstration when they didn't even want him as a shark.  Let Mark or Lori fumble around in that crazy thing.  

People seem to like asking Robert to try things out, I think because he seems to get excited about a lot of products. Kevin gets asked a lot too, probably because he has the reputation for being the mean one and so people think it is funny to put him in weird situations.

I would be annoyed if I was Robert too. They also didn't seem to care much about him bleeding, but maybe parts were edited out.

[CrazyInAlabama]

I really hated that they still were filming without fixing Robert's boo-boo.   I know it was a minor scratch, but everyone sitting there laughing about it was mean.   

I read an interesting 1 star review on Amazon, the buyer said their Hug was way bigger than the original one they tried that ran small.    And his didn't have the bottom access to put one foot out.    I'm wondering if there's a supply and standardization issue?  

 

[dogdays2]

First, I’m tired of sob stories.  Seems like the entrepreneurs realize crying is key.  Fact is that most adults have experienced some sort of hardship, loss, etc. in their lives.  While sad, most of us don’t break down in tears years later.  Especially not in a situation where it’s not prompted.  It’s as if they realize things aren’t going their way, so time to cry.  

Second, the Huggy thing — I can’t think of anything worse than being constrained while sleeping.  As others have said, what if you need to get up up in the middle of the night?  But maybe it’s great for somebody. 
 
There’s a lot of inconsistency with the sharks on whether something is a product or business. Seems like an easy excuse for something in which they don’t want to invest.  

[DEL901]

Swaddling works with babies because they are in a crib and can’t accidentally roll out and onto the floor by accident.  Adults... well we saw what happened to Robert.   Wonder if they should start a secondary business in bed rails?

[Gregg247]

That HugSleep thing seemed incredibly claustrophobic to me.  I'd hate to be all bound up like that, trapped is some canvas sack like a kidnapped hostage or something.  Plus, what happens if you wake up in the middle of the night and have to go to the bathroom?  You have to struggle to get out of that thing, go do your business, and then get back into it in the dark.  By then, you'll be wide awake.  Not to mention, for older consumers, that hassle may be repeated multiple times a night!  Also, parents with young children need to be able to get out of bed much quicker than this thing would allow.  I'm glad they've seen some success with it, but I can't imagine EVER using it myself.

I was confused about the cereal restaurant.  Do they serve lots of cereals, plus home-made milk shakes, or just home-made milkshakes? Can I buy a bowl of Count Chocula cereal for them, or is it a Count Chocula "inspired" chocolate milkshake? It seems like a limited idea.  I buy a hamburger from McDonalds because, even though I can grill a hamburger myself in my backyard, I'd have to buy the ingredients and go to all the trouble to cook it and clean up later.  With cereal, I just buy the cereal (and maybe the milk) and that's it.  Not much advantage to buying it in a restaurant vs. at a Kroger.  I'm glad they're in Las Vegas, as a quick cereal restaurant may work for all-night gamblers/early morning risers along the Strip.  In these cases, some type of easy-to-hold cereal "product" would be a good idea, so gamblers/on-the-go customers can hold their food item in just one hand. 

The animated fishing lure was interesting, but the battery seems to run out pretty fast.  A 30 minute charge on the small lure isn't very long, since most of the time, you'll be settling in to fish for at least a few hours.  Otherwise, it was pretty cool.

[Madding crowd]

I also thought the short battery life of the lures will derail sales. Most people I know who like to fish enjoy being out on the water for a few hours so a lure that “dies” after 45 minutes wouldn’t be worth it. For the same reason you couldn’t have these in a home or business fish tank unless you want to recharge them constantly.

The sleep sack thing would make be feel claustrophobic and it doesn’t seem safe. The cereal thing is very faddish and has been done before. I’m tired of sob stories too.

[MoreCoffeePlease]

On 11/1/2020 at 10:35 PM, dogdays2 said:

I’m tired of sob stories.  Seems like the entrepreneurs realize crying is key.

Hug Sleep lady was extra annoying because they had already gotten an offer, right? and then she probably thought, "Wait a minute! I didn't get to tell my sob-story yet!"  

[I Want My MBTV]

2 hours ago, MoreCoffeePlease said:

Hug Sleep lady was extra annoying because they had already gotten an offer, right? and then she probably thought, "Wait a minute! I didn't get to tell my sob-story yet!"  

I think by this point they actually had two or three offers just not from their "chosen" ones of Mark and Lori.  You could tell when the other Sharks were making offers and the entrepreneurs kept looking at Mark without countering or anything.  I'm so sick of people wanting to work with Mark.  I don't get it.  He's my least favorite along with Lori so of course those two are NEVER gone.  They're on every dang show.  

I also thought Hug Sleep was horrible.  I was so surprised (especially after what happened to Robert) that all the Sharks wanted in on this death trap.  I thought it looked like a straight jacket and it would be laughed off the carpet.  Sigh - I remember when I used to want to the products on this show. I can't recall the last time I was interested in anything.

Oh, I saw Chirp (I don't understand that name) on QVC or HSN like the day after and they made it clear the product had been on before so I really don't get what they were doing on the Tank.

[BusyOctober]

The Hug Sleep thing sounded interesting in theory.  But I was confused by one thing in particular...are you supposed to sleep in the cocoon, then under covers? Or is the compression wrap supposed to keep you warm without sheet/blankets?  I sleep with some kind of covers all year long...I need the feel of at least a sheet, even in a heat wave. And in fall/winter, I like the weight and warmth of my quilt.  So I think I would be too hot in the summer and the winter if I used the wrapper.  But mostly, I wouldn’t buy it because I’d be afraid I’d hurt myself getting out of bed!  I have a very high bed, so it’d be a long hard fall onto a hardwood floor if I had to get up to pee or get out of the house quickly.  I am considering putting a weighted blanket on my Xmas Wish List though.  At least I can toss that off if it gets too hot or to get out of bed without Herjavec-ing my noggin.

So tired of the sob stories.  It’s friggin’ 2020, people. We ALL have sob stories.

I had hoped the Shark Bubble in Vegas would mean fewer Guest Sharks, but guess not.  I am sick of hearing these Guests shoehorn in their company’s origin story every time they open their mouths. “When I started XYZ, blah blah, struggles, blah, no money, blahddy blah, no respect, closed doors, bootstrapped,blahblah, nobody believed in me because I was young/ a minority/a woman/ didn’t have a degree blahblaaaaaahhhh.”   Shut it!  We hear your bio at the beginning of the episode.  If we are as interested in you as you are interested in you, we can Google for a deeper dive, thanks.

[yourdreamer]

Watching this episode, I remarked to my SO that I wish that sob stories immediately voided the opportunity to get any deal. I would prefer to see professional entrepreneurs acting as if they are at a business meeting, not in a soap opera (small window of being okay if entrepreneur is a youngish child or a super recent loss). I cannot imagine that any of these Sharks would be okay with crying in the middle of normal business meetings. 
 

I agree also - the product vs business is a very malleable line, used whenever there is no other way to say no. 

[DrSpaceman73]

39 minutes ago, yourdreamer said:

Watching this episode, I remarked to my SO that I wish that sob stories immediately voided the opportunity to get any deal. I would prefer to see professional entrepreneurs acting as if they are at a business meeting, not in a soap opera (small window of being okay if entrepreneur is a youngish child or a super recent loss). I cannot imagine that any of these Sharks would be okay with crying in the middle of normal business meetings. 
 

I agree also - the product vs business is a very malleable line, used whenever there is no other way to say no. 

If I were a shark and someone cried during the presentation, I'm out right then. Just for the reason stated. It's a business meeting.  If they do it there, it's going to happen more.  

[jabRI]

And just because you have a sob story doesn't mean your product/business is any better.  Some of the most successful deals didn't need that at all, in fact just the opposite: the lobster deal, scrub daddy, something elves sweater, mench on a bench... bring people like that back.

[CrazyInAlabama]

I keep seeing Chirp wheel TV ads.   I'm still not impressed.