S15.E03: Bot-it; Wellingtons; Glove Wrap; Dating by Blaine

[JTMacc99]

Quote

Fanatics Chairman and CEO Michael Rubin makes his guest Shark debut and is presented with potentially game-changing businesses including a bot service for consumers, frozen beef Wellingtons, a baseball glove wrapper and a dating advice service.

 

[CrazyInAlabama]

Season 15, episode 3, 13 October

Sharks-Guest Michael Rubin (Fanatics, Topps and other companies), with Kevin, Barbara, Mark, Lori.

Bot-It- a bot service for consumers. A way for consumers to compete with technology, it uses AI to compete with online bots for concert tickets, reservations, and online purchases.    They want 150k for 10%. The bot is undetectible by software that weeds out bots.  Sales are subscription based, $30k for 3 months.   Sub is $40 up to $300.  Very easy to program it, and you're online.   The only competition is for businesses, not for consumers. This works the best for something with a specific beginning time, such as concert tickets, tee times.   Mark  makes an offer, and refuses to partner with Michael, so Michael. makes an offer. Lori is out, Barbara is out, and Kevin is out.  (This is the only way consumers have a chance at a lot of tickets, reservations, or special clothing or sneaker releases). 

Deal with Mark and Michael. $300k for 30%.

Wellingtons- frozen beef Wellingtons. $200k for 10%.  A traditional Beef Wellington, prepped for home gourmets, shipped to your home, and you bake it. They have a classic full sized Wellington for 35 minutes, Classic Welly, Cheeseburger and breakfast Welly, and bite sized varieties too. Saves consumers a lot of effort making a Wellington.   Most sales are on Goldbelly, 4 pack for $169 plus $36 shipping.    Kevin is out, it competes with his food lines, and tells them to get to direct to consumer on their own website. Michael is out, Mark gives them great advice and he's out.   They have a deal with a professional food service business. Lori is out.    Barbara is the only Shark left (with her Cousins Lobster business she's their best bet for a partner), and she's out.   (There is no way in hell I would spend over $200 for four servings of Wellington, so I was always out). 

No Deal. 

Glove Wrap-  a baseball glove wrapper. An easier way to prepare for baseball games.   $50k for 20% of 8-year-old Gavin's invention.   It breaks in a new baseball glove.  An elastic band to break in your new glove and form a perfect pocket.   Put a ball in the glove pocket, wrap the glove wrap around the entire glove.  It's the only product that wraps the entire glove.   They've sold $90k for 1,000 glove wraps.  They've pitched to a major retailer, Big 5 Sporting Goods. The family packs, ships and labels orders.   Mark suggests pitching to minor and major teams for batch purchases to give to their fans.    Kevin and Lori are out, Barbara is out.   Michael wants to invest because Gavin is going to keep inventing.   

Michael and Mark partner for the deal. $50k for 22%.  The family will give Michael and Mark a chance to invest in their future companies too. 

Dating by Blaine- a dating advice service.  100k for 2% of her company.   She helps single men attract great partners over dating websites.  Started in 2020, with $2.2 million lifetime sales.  She's a dating coach, has online self-paced classes, one-on-one coaching.   She did over $1 million last year. She doesn't know her numbers.   She wants a male shark for her partner, and spokesman. Michael is out, Mark is out, Kevin wants more %, Lori and Barbara are out because they were insulted.   Blaine wanted a deal with Mark, not Kevin.  Kevin offers $100k for 15%. Blaine won't do 15%, and offers 8%

Mark makes the deal at 10%.  

Profile of Michael Rubin. His story of starting so many successful businesses is so inspiring to me.   

 

Update:  Best earning products: #9 Lovepop, #8 Tipsy Elves #7 Dude Wipes.

Edited October 14, 2023 by CrazyInAlabama

[dmeets]

So now we’re in the “if you can’t beat ‘em, join ‘em” stage with bots? F that.

[hifihifi]

I don't get the deal for the Dating Service, Why is it worth Cuban's time? There is nothing special about her service whatsoever & who in their right mind are spending such ridiculous amounts for lessons that she says its a million dollar business? 

I couldn't stand that kid. Sorry I'm honest! I don't see anything wonderful about the product that anyone can't do themselves with similar material.

[JTMacc99]

I don't mind the personal bot thing. Back when I lived in a more densely populated area, it was disheartening to call into the public golf course line at exactly 7 PM on a night to make weekend tee times and end up with nothing. Especially when it seemed like the same guys always got the good times. I can see being willing to pay for something that gave me a better chance. 

The beef idea was never going to get an investor. They'd have to be showing up with big time sales to get anybody to want to get involved with a food service like that. (The food did look good, but all I could picture was Gordon Ramsay making a face about it...)

The glove thing had nothing to do with the product. Shark Tank is a family show, and a few times a year they need to trot out some kids because it's good for the TV show. They need kid viewers or parents viewers to keep watching, and making viewers think they can get on the show with their crappy ideas is good for ratings.

Plus they obviously saved this kid to be on the show with the guest investor who started down his path as a child. So whatever. The TV show has got to TV show sometimes.

And dating lady. I'm pretty sure I've seen her in some sort of Instagram feed. I don't remember any offer for services, but people selling stuff on social media usually goes completely ignored by me to the point where it barely registers.

4 hours ago, hifihifi said:

who in their right mind are spending such ridiculous amounts for lessons that she says its a million dollar business? 

If you're old enough, and spent enough time on dating apps, several things tend to happen to you. You become disillusioned, cynical, tired of trying, and you get to a point where you need to figure some stuff out. You can either delete all the apps and drop out of the game, going with "if I find somebody, I find somebody, but I'm done with this game." Or you can go with "Whatever it is I'm doing is NOT working, so I need to figure out what I should be doing."

It depends on how badly you want to find a partner. You can do some internet searching for free advice, maybe listen to some podcasts. Or you can cough up some money and get personal help.

And some people have a lot more money to cough up than others. I look at the casual games I play on my phone, and there are people who have clearly spent hundreds or thousands of dollars to be the top players. I'm not surprised at all that she's found a revenue stream from people who want to win the dating game.

[4N6MAL]

5 hours ago, hifihifi said:

I don't get the deal for the Dating Service, Why is it worth Cuban's time? There is nothing special about her service whatsoever & who in their right mind are spending such ridiculous amounts for lessons that she says its a million dollar business? 

I couldn't stand that kid. Sorry I'm honest! I don't see anything wonderful about the product that anyone can't do themselves with similar material.

I felt like the dating lady was super fake. Did you catch that? She said she purchased $100,000 car because that’s where she films her videos with her iPhone?

[jcbrown]

1 hour ago, 4N6MAL said:

I felt like the dating lady was super fake. Did you catch that? She said she purchased $100,000 car because that’s where she films her videos with her iPhone?

Yeah, she was ridiculous. I could not stand her or the guest shark.

[bilgistic]

18 hours ago, CrazyInAlabama said:

Profile of Michael Rubin. His story of starting so many successful businesses is so inspiring to me.

Meh. "I grew up very middle class." Yet he knew how to repair skis at 12? I knew exactly one kid in my school who skied, and her family was very well off. Skiing is not a cheap pastime.

[bilgistic]

2 hours ago, JTMacc99 said:

If you're old enough, and spent enough time on dating apps, several things tend to happen to you. You become disillusioned, cynical, tired of trying, and you get to a point where you need to figure some stuff out. You can either delete all the apps and drop out of the game, going with "if I find somebody, I find somebody, but I'm done with this game." Or you can go with "Whatever it is I'm doing is NOT working, so I need to figure out what I should be doing."

It depends on how badly you want to find a partner. You can do some internet searching for free advice, maybe listen to some podcasts. Or you can cough up some money and get personal help.

In my experience with online dating over 20-some years, 90% of straight men make the least amount of effort possible. I mean, like, messaging, "Hey", or a profile that says only, "Ask me what you want to know." I gave up several times over the years. The men with whom I connected/had short- or long-term relationships over the years had not the most polished pictures and profiles but were the most genuine and had clearly put in effort. I met my boyfriend online in 2014, and we dated for a month. We broke up for reasons but reconnected in 2019 and have been together ever since. We moved in together right after the pandemic hit.

[EtheltoTillie]

Very uninspired week. But I’d love to taste the beef Wellington. I might order it. 

[eel2178]

5 hours ago, bilgistic said:

In my experience with online dating over 20-some years, 90% of straight men make the least amount of effort possible. I mean, like, messaging, "Hey", or a profile that says only, "Ask me what you want to know." I gave up several times over the years. 

On the radio program I listen to, the recently divorced guy said all the questions he gets out of women on dating sites are "what kind of car do you drive?" and "are you invested in crypto?" Once he answers the questions and they figure out he isn't planning to be a Sugar Daddy, they immediately ghost him.

I don't see how her services are going to get anyone past that, but it is probably one of the "pay your money up front and we won't guarantee any results" type business model, so why would she care what success you have after she has already swiped your credit card? Since she had no clue what her sales have been, there is no way to gauge how many paying customers she actually has had. One of her services was $6200. If that made up her entire lifetime sales of $2.2million, that means she has only had 354 customers total.

Also, nobody mentioned competition. I'd been very surprised if I Googled "online dating coaches" and didn't come up with 1000s of hits.

I think Mark partnered with her because she knows how to be super manipulative, and he was thinking with his little head much the way Robert fell for the You Smell soap woman.

[bilgistic]

17 minutes ago, eel2178 said:

On the radio program I listen to, the recently divorced guy said all the questions he gets out of women on dating sites are "what kind of car do you drive?" and "are you invested in crypto?" Once he answers the questions and they figure out he isn't planning to be a Sugar Daddy, they immediately ghost him.

Ew. It was an immediate no for me for any man who posed next to his car/motorcycle/boat.

[Lurk]

3 hours ago, EtheltoTillie said:

Very uninspired week. But I’d love to taste the beef Wellington. I might order it. 

Beef Wellington sounds fancy, but I don't see the allure of having a piece of beef wrapped in puff pastry, coated with pate or mushroom paste? I don't know exactly what they spread on it. I just see it on Hell's Kitchen. Most of the things they cook on Hell's Kitchen seem overrated to me. Or maybe overexposed. I love scallops though. But the Wellingtons and risotto (which to me is water/goopy rice) don't appeal to me.

[30 Helens]

1. Bots: I expected Fanatics guy to kick this company to the curb after talking about how much he hates the way they disadvantage the average consumer. Because what is this bot but another disadvantage? It’s not free. So if you can’t afford the bot subscription, you’re still at a disadvantage to the person who does. This is hardly the Great Equalizer the pitchmen made it out to be.  Hard pass for me, and extreme side eye to Mr. Fanatics.

2. Beef Wellington: I have a recipe that allows me to make delicious beef wellingtons in about an hour, using store bought frozen puff pasty. I’m sure it’s not authentic, because I don’t make the pastry myself, but it is damn delicious and probably tastes just as good as the similarly frozen product this company would ship to me. And my wellingtons don’t cost anywhere near $45 each. Another hard pass, with an eye roll.

3. Glove wrap: I never played baseball, never had a glove, don’t know anything about glove wrapping. So I have no interest in this product. Another thing I have no interest in? Precocious kids who are trotted out by their opportunistic parents in order to make a humdrum product seem more appealing than it is. Barbara was right— just grab any elastic band and get on with it. Hard pass with a judgmental stare for bad parenting.

4. Dating service: I have no idea how this would scale, or how a shark could even help her, given it’s a one-person service dependent on that one person and how many hours she can find in a day. I also don’t understand making a deal with someone who doesn’t know her numbers, something Mark Cuban would ordinarily blast an entrepreneur for. But I guess if you fawn over Mark enough, he’ll see past it. Hard pass with a look of disgust.

This episode wasn’t for me. And it made my eyes very tired.

[Quickbeam]

I’m a big fan of Goldbelly as it’s my only source for New York area foods living in the Midwest. I’m not surprised that’s a big source of revenue for the Beef Wellington people. I hate mushrooms so it’s a no go for me. 
 

I found the kids super obnoxious. Especially the sister. The glove wrap is just a theraband….not sure why anyone would go in on that but ok. 

[Lurk]

15 hours ago, 30 Helens said:

1. Bots: I expected Fanatics guy to kick this company to the curb after talking about how much he hates the way they disadvantage the average consumer. Because what is this bot but another disadvantage? It’s not free. So if you can’t afford the bot subscription, you’re still at a disadvantage to the person who does. This is hardly the Great Equalizer the pitchmen made it out to be.  Hard pass for me, and extreme side eye to Mr. Fanatics.

2. Beef Wellington: I have a recipe that allows me to make delicious beef wellingtons in about an hour, using store bought frozen puff pasty. I’m sure it’s not authentic, because I don’t make the pastry myself, but it is damn delicious and probably tastes just as good as the similarly frozen product this company would ship to me. And my wellingtons don’t cost anywhere near $45 each. Another hard pass, with an eye roll.

3. Glove wrap: I never played baseball, never had a glove, don’t know anything about glove wrapping. So I have no interest in this product. Another thing I have no interest in? Precocious kids who are trotted out by their opportunistic parents in order to make a humdrum product seem more appealing than it is. Barbara was right— just grab any elastic band and get on with it. Hard pass with a judgmental stare for bad parenting.

4. Dating service: I have no idea how this would scale, or how a shark could even help her, given it’s a one-person service dependent on that one person and how many hours she can find in a day. I also don’t understand making a deal with someone who doesn’t know her numbers, something Mark Cuban would ordinarily blast an entrepreneur for. But I guess if you fawn over Mark enough, he’ll see past it. Hard pass with a look of disgust.

This episode wasn’t for me. And it made my eyes very tired.

I agree with you on the kids. I really wonder if the kids really "invented" whatever they're pitching or if they're just trying to use the kids for the cute/age factor to pull at someone's heart strings. (not mine)

 

For the dating service person, wasn't there another contestant this season that was just 1 person company. One of the sharks made a comment about what happens to the company if he gets hit by a bus? Same thing here, she's the main and only thing in this business. What happens if something happens to her or she gets bored with it?

[seacliffsal]

I see the glove wrap thing as a total licensing/give away product.  Large manufacturers would really bring the cost down.

The food industry is so tough to get into.  I didn't think the Wellingtons would get an investor but they did get exposure.  I really wanted to know how large each Wellington was as they said Goldbelly sold groupings of 4, so they may be smaller servings that the one he cut open to show (which looked to be fairly large).

I am so against the whole "AI is coming so you may as well join in" idea.  But, I guess there's a market for their product.  I am amazed at what the big concert tour tickets cost so am surprised that these events sell out so quickly. 

Could NOT stand the dating woman.  And, as noted by another poster, you play up to Mark enough he'll throw some money in.  And, also as noted by another poster, the same things they found 'cute' about her they would rip in another presenter.

I don't really comment very often about the fashion choices Lori makes but that dress was soooo wrong for her.  She has a short neck and that dress with the raised shouldars really made it look like she didn't have a neck at all.  During the earlier seasons it seemed like she made better fashion decisions.  

[bilgistic]

10 hours ago, Lurk said:

I agree with you on the kids. I really wonder if the kids really "invented" whatever they're pitching or if they're just trying to use the kids for the cute/age factor to pull at someone's heart strings. (not mine)

For the dating service person, wasn't there another contestant this season that was just 1 person company. One of the sharks made a comment about what happens to the company if he gets hit by a bus? Same thing here, she's the main and only thing in this business. What happens if something happens to her or she gets bored with it?

I'm a child-hating shrew, so trotting out kids to sell a product has the opposite effect on me. I instantly hate whatever it is and doubly hate the parents for using their kids as props.

The Sharks are nothing if not inconsistent. Sometimes, one product is only "a product, not a company", and other times, they invest in the one-product company. I'll never get over and stop bringing up the Wedding Flask as long as I live.

5 minutes ago, seacliffsal said:

I don't really comment very often about the fashion choices Lori makes but that dress was soooo wrong for her.  She has a short neck and that dress with the raised shouldars really made it look like she didn't have a neck at all.  During the earlier seasons it seemed like she made better fashion decisions.  

Her clothes are hideous. Supposedly, she designs them, which makes sense. I've said her pointy-shoulder dresses look like Count Chocula. We call those "cold-shoulder" tops "Lori shirts".

[eel2178]

3 hours ago, seacliffsal said:

I don't really comment very often about the fashion choices Lori makes but that dress was soooo wrong for her.  

It's also not her first dress with cutouts in the front that look as though her boobs were going to be forcibly ejected through them. I was deeply concerned (sarcasm) for her as she leaned forward to drool over her bites of beef Wellington.

[eel2178]

19 hours ago, Quickbeam said:

I’m a big fan of Goldbelly as it’s my only source for New York area foods living in the Midwest.

What has happened to the good, old-fashioned deli? Even in Las Vegas, you can't get a bowl of matzo ball soup, a decent pastrami sandwich or a knish anymore. I'm suffering.

[Shrek]

27 minutes ago, eel2178 said:

What has happened to the good, old-fashioned deli? Even in Las Vegas, you can't get a bowl of matzo ball soup, a decent pastrami sandwich or a knish anymore. I'm suffering.

Didn't there used to be a NY style place in the Mirage? I seem to remember getting this sandwich there years ago.

 

[KaveDweller]

On 10/14/2023 at 8:30 AM, hifihifi said:

I couldn't stand that kid. Sorry I'm honest! I don't see anything wonderful about the product that anyone can't do themselves with similar material.

I had the same thought as Barbara...that thing looked just like a exercise band I have lying around. Also, people have been breaking in baseball gloves for how many years now? If they have managed so far,

The dating lady annoyed me. Her business seems decent enough for her own business, but not sure it is right for a Shark. Also, did she say if her coaching was specifically for straight men? It sounded like it based on some of her comments and pictures, which seems limiting for a business. Surprised no one asked.

[Vermicious Knid]

Bagel Deli is pretty good. And I think there is another NY style deli coming to a downtown casino soon. 

Quote

I’m a big fan of Goldbelly as it’s my only source for New York area foods living in the Midwest.

Have you checked the Zabar's website? They ship direct and for what it is it's not a bad shipping price. 

[lh25]

On 10/16/2023 at 5:42 AM, seacliffsal said:

I really wanted to know how large each Wellington was as they said Goldbelly sold groupings of 4

I wondered too, so went to the site.  Each one has a 6 oz. fillet inside, they say they are about 10 oz. total.  So would be 1-2 servings?  They also say they are "Gordon Ramsey inspired".  Wonder if he knows they are name-checking him?

[aemom]

I HATED Blaine and her dating pitch.  She irritated the ever loving shit out of me.  I wonder if that deal will actually come to pass.

The baseball glove.  I rarely agree with Barbara, but I did in this case.  If I played baseball, I would probably wrap a towel around my glove, and then wrap duct tape it around it.  You really don't need that special band - a bunch of other things will work just fine.

The beef wellingtons looked yummy.

Bots! I hate bots!  And I agreed with an above poster who said that it's still going to limit who can cash in on stuff because people who can afford the subscription will still have an advantage.  My music career will never amount to a concert with ticket sales, never mind people fighting to buy said tickets, but in that alternate universe, I would find a way to make sure that no bloody bot would ever be able to buy them, so that true fans would have access and would not have to face scalpers to get them.

[eel2178]

On 10/16/2023 at 11:16 AM, Shrek said:

Didn't there used to be a NY style place in the Mirage? I seem to remember getting this sandwich there years ago.

 

 

Once upon a time. It hasn't been a deli for at least 5 years. It is now just your standard hamburger place.

On 10/17/2023 at 11:03 PM, Vermicious Knid said:

Bagel Deli is pretty good. And I think there is another NY style deli coming to a downtown casino soon. 

Bagel Mania is so far off the strip it is hard for tourists to get to. It also has very short hours of operation.

Circa downtown has a deli, but it isn't a very good one. The menu is very limited, and they don't even have brown mustard available.

[EtheltoTillie]

On 10/16/2023 at 12:45 PM, eel2178 said:

What has happened to the good, old-fashioned deli? Even in Las Vegas, you can't get a bowl of matzo ball soup, a decent pastrami sandwich or a knish anymore. I'm suffering.

Sad to say, even here in NYC they’re a dying breed in terms of sit down restaurants. But yes Zabar’s is still going strong. 

Edited October 21, 2023 by EtheltoTillie

[Vermicious Knid]

Bagel Deli and Bagelmania are completely different restaurants.

For an out-of-the-box option, the Rampart Buffet does NY Deli night on Mondays, with quite a few options. Some better executed than others. They do have the most authentic blintzes I've come across out here. And Brooklyn's Best has knishes they get from from back East. 

[eel2178]

13 hours ago, Vermicious Knid said:

Bagel Deli and Bagelmania are completely different restaurants.

For an out-of-the-box option, the Rampart Buffet does NY Deli night on Mondays, with quite a few options. Some better executed than others. They do have the most authentic blintzes I've come across out here. And Brooklyn's Best has knishes they get from from back East. 

Thankx for the info. I can't find Bagel Deli in Las Vegas on a Google search. but Brooklyn's Best Pizza definitely looks worth checking out.

[Vermicious Knid]

Well that's because I was thinking 'deli' which it is, but the name is actually Bagel Cafe. Sorry for my brain dead moment. 

[Vanderboom]

On 10/16/2023 at 8:53 AM, bilgistic said:

I'll never get over and stop bringing up the Wedding Flask as long as I live.

For me, it's the Wine for Cats.  I just . . . 

Anyway, Mark isn't even consistent in his appreciation for sucking up.  There have been times when you can tell he hates it.  Unfortunately, Dating Lady was able to flatter him in a way he liked.  I don't get how her "business" is investible, either, but I have to admit I didn't really pay attention.

The glove band is such a basic idea that I think the kid did come up with it.  I wonder at the parents for wanting to take it to Shark Tank.  I know they want to encourage their kid, but they can do that without resorting to commercialization.