S12.E21: Truffle Shuffle; Suds2Go; Salad Sling; Larq

[JTMacc99]

Quote

 

Sharks: Mark, Daymond, Kevin, Lori, Robert

Truffle meals that come with cooking tips and learning alongside them;  A portable handwashing system and handwashing bottle caps; A vegetable drying device where you put your vegetables in the device, gather the device’s handles, and spin the device around like a lasso, using the air pressure to remove the water that comes from washing the veggies; A self-cleaning water bottle that purifies water on the go

 

 

[lorj]

The salad slingwas stupid. 20$ for a towel you spin around.  Use a salad spinner or paper towels. They shut her down quick

[CrazyInAlabama]

One of these has a $50 million valuation, a Shark Tank record.  #4 Larq is the product. 

1. Truffle Shuffle sounded great, until they got to the margins, which suck.  Home delivery of truffles, and other ingredient for live cooking classes.  Robert tells them to become the Peloton of cooking classes, with ingredient delivery services, or maybe not, maybe just the classes.    Kevin wants to specialize in Truffle products.  As Robert says, it's an experience business.    Mark and Robert fight it out.   Mark wants 18% for $501k, Mark makes the deal.   

2. Suds2go-Portable handwashing Device-Fill container with water, an attached container with your favorite foaming soap.   Also, a tinier version that fits on disposable water bottles.   Great margins.   Robert makes the deal, and he'll be a great partner for the company. 

3. Salad Sling-device to clean greens-No deal.    She had no inventory, and I don't see the need to spin salad greens around the kitchen.   I'm kind of a klutz, so I can imagine having to clean up greens from all over my kitchen. 

4. Larq-Self-cleaning water bottle-$50 million valuation, which is a ST record.     Lori gets him down to a $10 mil. valuation.   THe big sticking point is seller has $6.5 mil in the bank.  Kevin, Lori and Robert offer to go in together, for 2% each, at 1.5 million total from the sharks, plus advisory stuff, so valuation is now $33 million.  Robert goes out.  Lori and Robert 2% each, they make the deal.  

[mjc570]

Maybe because I wasn't really paying attention, but I didn't get the point of the self-cleaning water bottle - is it that it purifies the water?  If so I guess it would be good for the camping/developing nation markets. The fact that it's self-cleaning is meaningless to me, I just run mine through the dishwasher.

I thought the salad spinner seemed like an ok product, but the reviews on Amazon weren't great.  I have to admit, I don't spin my greens and  nobody has complained of limp greens.

The hand cleaner thing - I don't know, it didn't seem very well designed.  

Truffle snuffle - not a truffle eater, so that part of the business didn't appeal.  There are a million cooking classes around, and also lots of meal prep kits, all of which have clear instructions and I think some videos.  This might be a good zoom kind of party thing, though.  

The hammock update - there probably is  no item I am less interested in, especially the chair version.  Now that I am older, I don't like anything that sages and offers no support (no personal comments please!)

[Quickbeam]

I’ve got half a dozen microfiber towels that would do the same thing as the salad spinner lady and they were 99 cents each. So....

I get back pain just watching people balled up in a hammock.

[KaveDweller]

26 minutes ago, mjc570 said:

Maybe because I wasn't really paying attention, but I didn't get the point of the self-cleaning water bottle - is it that it purifies the water?  If so I guess it would be good for the camping/developing nation markets. The fact that it's self-cleaning is meaningless to me, I just run mine through the dishwasher.

Apparently there is research saying re-usable water bottles have more bacteria than toilets or something crazy like that.  For my sanity I am choosing to not believe that.

I didn't really get the salad thing. I don't own a salad spinner and have never had an issue just washing lettuce and drying it with a towel or paper towel. 

I don't eat truffles, but good for those guys for pivoting to make money during the pandemic. But I don't understand how they had so little profit. I did laugh when Damon heard the white truffles cost $5,000 a pound and immediately stuck one in his pocket. Are they really good enough to be worth that much money?

[hula-la]

2 hours ago, lorj said:

The salad slingwas stupid. 20$ for a towel you spin around.  Use a salad spinner or paper towels. They shut her down quick

That’s how I used to teach my students how to dry salad greens (using a tea towel). My students never made a mess.

[LittleIggy]

Damon re: the water bottle: “I paid $95 for that?” 😆

[Vermicious Knid]

Don't cook and hate mushrooms so my only comment is Truffle Shuffle is a fun name. I noticed after spinning the lettuce was still wet so, uh, not a great example lady. Do they let bad ideas get on the show just to make fun of them like American Idol? Because that should never had gotten to air. Sud2Go, also a good name, but the world is awash in hand sanitizer right now. Why do you need a specialized, patented nozzle?

The UV exposure in the Larq bottle is supposed to eliminate 99.99% of contaminants. Too expensive for poor communities without access to clean water that need it the most. Main appeal is to people with lots of extra money like Damon.

[DrSpaceman73]

The idea of the water bottle I thought was great and the technology is amazing but I think he is mis marketing it.   It does seem more for camping, traveling, places you need clean water and have no access. Paying $95 for an everyday water bottle I just can't see happening

The soap dispenser thing I guarrantee after two or three uses, you just end up using the soap part and rinse with a regular water bottle.  The rinse mechanism seemed sketchy. 

 

I don't care about mushrooms and won't pay for fancy ones. Whatever.  

 

Salad thing.....don't see the need

 

 

[KHenry14]

I'd be interested in the Truffle Salt, but not the classes.

The soap thing is way too expensive

The salad wrap was kind of a joke. No way I'd ever use that.

And the water bottle thing was just too expensive for my blood

 

[SG429]

5 hours ago, KHenry14 said:

The soap thing is way too expensive

And the water bottle thing was just too expensive for my blood

 

A couple of solutions looking for a problem?

A pump bottle of SoftSoap and one of those germ-laden re-usable plastic water bottles for rinsing seems just as reasonable.

The $95 water bottle - yet another rechargeable gadget with electronics that probably can't endure the normal abuse a "dumb" sports bottle gets.

[eel21788]

3 hours ago, SG429 said:

The $95 water bottle - yet another rechargeable gadget with electronics that probably can't endure the normal abuse a "dumb" sports bottle gets.

I also wouldn't trust it to decontaminate water the same way boiling it for 20 minutes would.

I have what was supposed to be a single-use bottle that I have traveled all over the world with for more than ten years. I know better than to fill it with tap water in Mexico or India. However, I have had zero problems with germs or chemicals anywhere else.

I didn't know clean water could spoil so easily.

Edited April 18, 2021 by eel21788

[eel21788]

23 hours ago, mjc570 said:

The hand cleaner thing - I don't know, it didn't seem very well designed.  

They never explained how you are supposed to dry your hands after you use it either. Are you supposed to carry a towel with you that would quickly become germ-laden which is what they claimed their product prevented? If I'm somewhere where I don't have access to paper towels, I'd rather use hand sanitizer or wet wipes than have to wipe my hands on my pants. I also don't see their product as being even slightly necessary post-pandemic. They were just really lucky with their timing. We may have temporarily all been turned into germaphobes, but that is already on the waning side. They said nothing about after washing for 20 seconds, you'd use a awful lot of water to rinse. In that case, I don't see that bottle lasting for 30 washes the way they claimed it would.

[eel21788]

On 4/16/2021 at 7:00 PM, CrazyInAlabama said:

Truffle Shuffle sounded great, until they got to the margins, which suck.  Home delivery of truffles, and other ingredient for live cooking classes.  Robert tells them to become the Peloton of cooking classes, with ingredient delivery services, or maybe not, maybe just the classes.    Kevin wants to specialize in Truffle products.  As Robert says, it's an experience business.    Mark and Robert fight it out.   Mark wants 18% for $501k, Mark makes the deal.   

They were so incredibly rude to Robert and Kevin. As soon as they asked Mark, who was already out, to go in on Robert's deal, the snarks both should have said, "screw you," and gone out. Then when they asked Mark for either less equity or more money, he should have reminded them that he had already gone out once, and they were going to lose Robert's offer which is the only one they still had left. I also don't know why Robert didn't go out when he had to tell them, "I'm interviewing you. You're not interviewing me."

Kevin probably would have been a better partner for them. Their business was essentially Plated with videos and truffles. Kevin already would have had the experience to give them the guidance they needed.

Edited April 18, 2021 by eel21788

[eel21788]

On 4/16/2021 at 7:00 PM, CrazyInAlabama said:

One of these has a $50 million valuation, a Shark Tank record.   Larq is the product. 

Why would producers even let someone on the show who thought that they could get away with only giving up 1% equity? It wasn't just a beginning negotiation point for them. They were still balking when they had the snarks down to 4% equity.

[LittleIggy]

1 hour ago, eel21788 said:

I also wouldn't trust it to decontaminate water the same way boiling it for 20 minutes would.

I have what was supposed to be a single-use bottle that I have traveled all over the world with for more than ten years. I know better than to fill it with tap water in Mexico or India. However, I have had zero problems with germs or chemicals anywhere else.

I didn't know clean water could spoil so easily.

I have had a tall, metal Aladdin insulated mug with lid for many years. I use it daily for ice water. The most I do is rinse it out (no soap). It has never gotten stinky or nasty. BTW, you should see my The Big Lebowski coffee mug with its rich brown inside patina from years of use. It’s like a seasoned cast iron skillet. 😁

What are advisory shares?

[Koalagirl]

The other day the chef who is the hosting the tv show Chef Boot Camp was on another show, possibly The Kitchen, and demonstrated how to use a simple kitchen towel as a salad spinner. I laughed at the timing of this episode. 

[JTMacc99]

"I'm Mister Truffle!"

[LOL] "You're Mister Potato."

Heh.

[marny]

It seems that Mark and Damon are the only ones who remember why this show started— to give entrepreneurs who may not be able to get investors or help any other way a chance to succeed. The fact that a company with $6.5 million in the bank and a $32 million valuation was able to get a slot on this show and get an investment grossed me out. I was glad to see Mark and Damon acknowledge that this show isn’t meant for him and the producers shouldn’t have cast that bottle company. 

Edited April 18, 2021 by marny

[DrSpaceman73]

8 hours ago, LittleIggy said:

I have had a tall, metal Aladdin insulated mug with lid for many years. I use it daily for ice water. The most I do is rinse it out (no soap). It has never gotten stinky or nasty. BTW, you should see my The Big Lebowski coffee mug with its rich brown inside patina from years of use. It’s like a seasoned cast iron skillet. 😁

What are advisory shares?

I've had the same question for a long time, what are advisory shares?  I keep meaning to look it up and never have

 

I mean I kind of know what they are but I don't understand how they are different financially from regular shares

[CrazyInAlabama]

 

I found a definition for advisor or advisory shares.    I still don't get the point of them though, because it sounds like more equity/stock whatever you call it.  I really wonder if they're another kind of stock, that's separate from equity, and an ownership type instead of just stock?     It was for the Larq bottle I guess.   Maybe the sharks see the Larq water purifying system could be applied to large scale purifications in emergencies?   The seller did say the Larq works instead of boil water orders. 

One common class of stock is advisory shares. Also known as advisor shares, this type of stock is given to business advisors in exchange for their insight and expertise. Often, the advisors who receive this type of stock option reward are company founders or high-level executives.

Advisory shares are an incentive offered to company or start-up advisors, often in lieu of cash or salary. Advisory shares are a kind of stock option usually given to company or start-up advisors as a reward for their contribution to the company. 

 

Edited April 18, 2021 by CrazyInAlabama

[DrSpaceman73]

40 minutes ago, CrazyInAlabama said:

 

I found a definition for advisor or advisory shares.    I still don't get the point of them though, because it sounds like more equity/stock whatever you call it.  I really wonder if they're another kind of stock, that's separate from equity, and an ownership type instead of just stock?     It was for the Larq bottle I guess.   Maybe the sharks see the Larq water purifying system could be applied to large scale purifications in emergencies?   The seller did say the Larq works instead of boil water orders. 

One common class of stock is advisory shares. Also known as advisor shares, this type of stock is given to business advisors in exchange for their insight and expertise. Often, the advisors who receive this type of stock option reward are company founders or high-level executives.

Advisory shares are an incentive offered to company or start-up advisors, often in lieu of cash or salary. Advisory shares are a kind of stock option usually given to company or start-up advisors as a reward for their contribution to the company. 

 

Yes like you I get that part of it. 

Just don't understand how they figure in the valuation or how they are different from other types of stock shares. 

[seacliffsal]

All of these would have been a big "NO" for me had I been a Shark.  Part of the sud n go presentation was that hand sanitizers don't smell good.  So?  And, actually, a lot of hand sanitizers smell better as the COVID has gone on and manufacturers have addressed this complaint.  I carry a small, spray sanitizer in my purse and it works great (and is small [refillable] so I don't have to carry a bottle contraption with me.  However, even in the demonstration it didn't look like it worked easily or well.

Truffle guys?  A big question I had when they said how much net profit they had was 'how much are they paying themselves?'  I wish someone had asked how much of a salary they each received.  A big problem with the Sharks is that they forget how most of us live.  Harkening back to Ring, they couldn't understand why anyone would want a video doorbell.   As they all have gated homes/communities or a doorman to stop unwanted visitors/intruders, they just didn't understand why the rest of us would be interested in such an item.  The same with the truffle guys-a lot of people don't even care for the taste of truffles let alone want to order a box of special ingredients in order to cook along with the chefs.  People who want ingredients to cook (without shopping for them at the store) probably already have a food subscription.

The other item that I think they misjudged was the water bottle.  I use the single-use plastic bottles for YEARS as I keep refilling them and reusing them.  If they start to 'smell' I just get another one.  Many of us use reusable bottles so this isn't a real issue.  And, the price is just too high.  Very telling that Damon already has two and the Sharks didn't even bat an eye at the cost.  I think the appeal of this was the technology and, as I have stated many times in the past, new technology doesn't necessarily mean better (yes, many technological innovations are amazing, but that doesn't mean they all are).  

Salad spinner?  Unnecessary.  I tried a salad spinner once when they were first introduced (new technology) and found it really unuseful.  So, like others, I use dish towels/paper towels.  

Although 3/4s of the presenters received offers, I didn't think any of them were worthwhile.

[needschocolate]

On 4/16/2021 at 5:44 PM, lorj said:

The salad slingwas stupid. 20$ for a towel you spin around.  Use a salad spinner or paper towels. They shut her down quick

 

On 4/17/2021 at 10:55 AM, DrSpaceman73 said:

The idea of the water bottle I thought was great and the technology is amazing but I think he is mis marketing it.   It does seem more for camping, traveling, places you need clean water and have no access. Paying $95 for an everyday water bottle I just can't see happening

The soap dispenser thing I guarrantee after two or three uses, you just end up using the soap part and rinse with a regular water bottle.  The rinse mechanism seemed sketchy. 

 

I don't care about mushrooms and won't pay for fancy ones. Whatever.  

 

Salad thing.....don't see the need

 

 

 

On 4/17/2021 at 8:03 PM, eel21788 said:

They never explained how you are supposed to dry your hands after you use it either. Are you supposed to carry a towel with you that would quickly become germ-laden which is what they claimed their product prevented?

If the inventors see your post, they are going to add a mini roll of paper towels to the side of the bottle.  Eventually, that portable hand washing station is going to need wheels to cart it around.  

On 4/18/2021 at 9:09 AM, DrSpaceman73 said:

Yes like you I get that part of it. 

Just don't understand how they figure in the valuation or how they are different from other types of stock shares. 

I don't know for sure, but think the point of advisory shares is that they don't figure into the valuation - the sharks can get the shares they want and the entrepreneur doesn't have to lower their valuation.