S15.E05: Thrill Builders; Chamoy; Maniac Pumpkin Carvers; Ghost Walks

[JTMacc99]

Blumhouse CEO and founder Jason Blum joins as a guest shark. 

[DEL901]

I really like Jason Blum.  Very down to earth.  Willing to give sensible advice.  And willing to invest.  

[CrazyInAlabama]

Season 15, episode 5, 27 October

Sharks-guest Jason Blum (CEO and founder of Blumhouse), Kevin, Barbara, Lori, Mark.  Halloween themed show, Sharkoween.  

Thrill Builders-they make escape rooms, mini golf, haunted houses, and other thrilling attractions. He wants $250,000 for 20%.   Building “Thrill Factory” an indoor entertainment center for kids and adults.  It will include animatronic monsters, a maze, haunted house, interactive.   Haunted houses don’t make money, limited time open, lots of costs, so they want to do the year-round Thrill Factory.   Total investment, 50,000 sq ft, $7.2 million total cost, loan for $5 million from the SBA,$1.7 million was sold for 17% to an investor.   They expect to gross $5.5 million the first year.    They charge per attraction/game, not an overall admission price.   Thrill Builders will insure the investment.  

Kevin wants both businesses, $300k for 25%, Lori says she’ll partner with Kevin on the deal.  Jason Blum wants to partner with Kevin and Lori, for 10% each.    Kevin wants to do international expansion too.  

   So, 30%, 10% each, $300k investment Lori Kevin and Jason make the deal.  If anyone can make Thrill Factory a reality the three Sharks will. (apparently I wasn't paying attention, so $300k was the deal.  Thanks to Vermicious Knid for correcting that. Since I don't know how to record yet, I miss some things). 

I Love Chamoy-a Mexican sauce, mixing sweet, tangy and spicy.   Annie Leal from Monterrey Mexico, offers $300k, 5% of the company.    A sauce that is sweet, tangy, and spicy traditional sauce over everything.  Sugar free, calorie free, based on Mexican candy.   She has a mariachi band playing the Shark Tank theme.   It’s sweetened with Monk fruit, sugar free, carb free.   They have several varieties of sauce.   Jason Blum is going to break the pinata.  They also make a candy line.   Selling direct to consumers $550k in sales, this year over $1 million, and anticipate over $3 million next year.    She has 500k followers, in many stores over the country.   Doesn’t need refrigeration.   They’re in Walmart, HEB,  and a lot of other stores.   Barbara doesn’t want retail, so she’s out.   Lori is out too. Jason Blum is out.   Mark doesn’t like the taste, so he’s out.

Kevin  offers $300k for 15%.   Kevin goes to 12.5% $300k, Annie turns the deal down.  I think Kevin made a mistake.  

Maniac Pumpkin Carvers-They carve artistic, elaborate pumpkins for you. They are professional carvers.  They want $150k for 8%, for doing online courses, pumpkin carving kits.   The business changed from live in-person events, and so they changed to online courses, and tool kits, they want to do their own proprietary tools.   They do custom work too.   They ship all over the country.   Barbara is out, Kevin is out, Mark is out, Lori is out, Jason is out.  Their business is only 4 months per year. 

No deal.  

American Ghost Walks-$250k for 15% of the company.   They claim Cornelius Vanderbilt relied on psychics.   They do in-depth research for tours of ghostly sites.   Live guided haunted history tours, in seven states and Puerto Rico.     They usually do them in the summer.  They spend a lot to make a profit, with net very little, and some losses.   Jason says they’re spread way too thin, so he’s out.   Lori is out, Barbara is out.  Mark is out. Kevin is out.

No Deal

Top 15 Shark companies : 3. Scrub Daddy   , 2. Everlywell  , 1. Bombas

There is no chance that either the pumpkin carving or ghost tours will be national franchises.   

Online pumpkin carving classes, is not going to expand.   Eventually you'll run out of people who want to spend the time learning how to do it, and have the artistic talent.   

 I wish Kevin had made the Chamoy deal, it could be a game changer for people with diabetes, or other issues that want taste, but not calories.    

 

There are local historic tours and ghost walks, but most are run by local historical societies, and commercial ghost tours that use local attractions.    They don't work everywhere. 

Edited October 30, 2023 by CrazyInAlabama

[DrSpaceman73]

My god the last two such awful ideas. There is no way to scale those. Online pumpkin carving lessons?  

[Bookish Jen]

14 hours ago, DrSpaceman73 said:

My god the last two such awful ideas. There is no way to scale those. Online pumpkin carving lessons?  

You could easily find pumpkin carving classes and demonstrations on YouTube for free.

And I cringed over the last presenters because they're from Milwaukee like me. Our local ABC news affiliate mad a big deal about them being on Shark Tank.

[Tango64]

I think the show tends to suck when they decide to do a holiday episode and then look for pitches to shoehorn into it. No way those would have made into a normal episode. 

[eel2178]

23 hours ago, CrazyInAlabama said:

Thrill Builders- Building “Thrill Factory” an indoor entertainment center for kids and adults. 

I wish they had given a tentative completion date for this place. I'd already be making my reservations.

[eel2178]

23 hours ago, CrazyInAlabama said:

 I wish Kevin had made the Chamoy deal, 

I don't think she was really looking for a deal. She came in asking for 5% and said she wouldn't go a penny over 7.5% which was totally unrealistic. Kevin's offer was more than reasonable.

Direct to consumer sales were only 42,000 units. Not even 10% of her "followers" have bought her product once. Her projections to sell $1million dollars' worth are still less than 90,000 units. Considering how many stores she said she had in TX, that isn't a lot of sales.

[CrazyInAlabama]

The Chamoy sauce is also sold in Walmart, as well as H.E.B. grocery stores.   I don't know what the price is in the stores, but the online price is high. 

$16.99 at Walmart, but most stores are sold out. 

Edited October 29, 2023 by CrazyInAlabama

[seacliffsal]

I think the Chamoy presenter made a huge mistake.  Kevin with his "Chef Wonderful" marketing could have really helped her expand her market and he could show people how to incorporate the sauces.  I agree with an above poster that she wanted exposure not a deal.

I really like Jason Blum and his backstory.  Would like to see him again, but this episode was probably the best fit for him.

Really enjoyed the set decorations.  There was quite a bit there and the tombstones were quite clever (and reminded me of the tombstones at the Haunted Mansion at Disneyland/Disney World).  Overall an enjoyable episode for me (and producers, please take note that this is the type of guest Shark who 'works').

[eel2178]

4 hours ago, seacliffsal said:

Really enjoyed the set decorations.  There was quite a bit there and the tombstones were quite clever (and reminded me of the tombstones at the Haunted Mansion at Disneyland/Disney World). 

I wonder who designed them. It is exactly what Thrill Builders advertises on its website.

Maybe they told producers, "As long as we're going to be on the Halloween show, why don't you let us create the whole set not just for our own presentation?"

[LakeGal]

Mark ate the entire Chamoy jar very quickly.  He then announces it wasn't for him.  

[CrazyInAlabama]

6 hours ago, eel2178 said:

I wonder who designed them. It is exactly what Thrill Builders advertises on its website.

Maybe they told producers, "As long as we're going to be on the Halloween show, why don't you let us create the whole set not just for our own presentation?"

Or since ABC = Disney, I wouldn't be surprised if Disney did the decorating too.   However, I think the Thrill Factory could do very well in a lot of locations.   It sounds like fun. 

[Quickbeam]

I’m in WI and I’d bet money that Thrill Builders are based in The Dells, Wisconsin’s answer to theme parks. It’s where everyone goes who wants a water park or concession. There is nowhere else in the state that would draw big enough for profit, IMO. 

[Vermicious Knid]

The props department was clearly enjoying themselves. 

I thought the first deal ended up at $300K for the 30%? Jason Blum was an odd pick for a shark except of course, this was a Halloween episode. Would be interesting if they bring him back for a regular show. He certainly knows what he's doing; 'Five Nights at Freddy’s’ Breaks Blumhouse and Halloween Box Office Records With $130 Million Worldwide. Off a $20 million budget. 

[CrazyInAlabama]

5 hours ago, Vermicious Knid said:

The props department was clearly enjoying themselves. 

I thought the first deal ended up at $300K for the 30%? Jason Blum was an odd pick for a shark except of course, this was a Halloween episode. Would be interesting if they bring him back for a regular show. He certainly knows what he's doing; 'Five Nights at Freddy’s’ Breaks Blumhouse and Halloween Box Office Records With $130 Million Worldwide. Off a $20 million budget. 

Thanks for catching that.   I don't know how to record yet on my new Roku streaming set up, so I miss a lot.      

I really enjoyed Jason Blum's enthusiasm, and willingness to make deals, and partner, not all of the guest Sharks are like that.   I'd like to see him back again.  

[eel2178]

16 hours ago, CrazyInAlabama said:

Or since ABC = Disney, I wouldn't be surprised if Disney did the decorating too.   

Thrill Builders has done designs for Disney, so it is circling back to them again.

[eel2178]

14 hours ago, Quickbeam said:

I’m in WI and I’d bet money that Thrill Builders are based in The Dells, Wisconsin’s answer to theme parks. 

They're building their Thrill Factory in Madison, WI.

[aemom]

Did not see at all how Chamoy fit into a Halloween themed show, but. 

The pumpkin guys. They didn't even have tools ready to sell. There was nothing to invest in.

The thrill seeker place will probably do well.