S16.E04 : Fysh Food; Terrashroom; Moonies Swimsuits; 1920 Clothing

[CrazyInAlabama]

New 11/08/2024

Sharks- Mark, Kevin, Lori, Robert, Guest Shark is Daniel Lubetzky (soon to be a regular Shark when Mark leaves)

Fysh Food-A new plant-based seafood-Seeking $150,000 for 10 %.  Plant based seafood, from algae, plants.   Cuts and handles like real fish. Cheaper and safer than real fish.  Safe to eat raw.   They sell direct to restaurants and food companies.  Sales $50,000 in one year only to restaurants, and in the L.A. area.   Kevin says he wants sales to consumers, not just restaurants, and he’s out.   Robert is out, poor sales.  Lori is out, it’s too early for her.   Mark says too hard to scale and he’s out. 

Daniel asks about competitors, there are two, and the competitors don’t have good products, he says food is amazing, offers $150,000 for 40%.  They counter at $150,000 for 20%.  Daniel offers 30%.

Deal with Daniel $150,000 for 30%.  Accepting Daniel’s deal was a good decision.

 

Terrashroom-an intelligent chamber that grows mushrooms. Seeking $175,000 for 2 1/2%. Hard to find mushrooms grown in a fully automated mushroom grower for the home market.  They sell the growth chamber for chambers $399, plus $31 for the mushroom growth blocks.  6500 paying customer presales, 22,500 on the wait list backorders.   Sales are $780,000 in 18 months.   They haven’t shipped any yet. They will ship 1, 140 by July 2024.   Mark is out, product isn’t viable yet.  Daniel says valuation sucks, and he's out.  Robert is out. Lori is out, it’s over engineered. Kevin is out, $175,000 for 15%. 

No deal.   

 

Moonies-unconventional men’s swimwear .  Speedo style suit with ‘cleavage’ from a hole to expose the male butt crack– Seeking $150,000 for 35%.  (I don’t imagine this as a successful product, I’m not seeing any reason to have this product). Yes, I bet they’re super comfortable, until you get a sunburn.   They have to blur the butt cracks for TV.  I would like to thank the person who blurred so many butts.   The hole is patented.  

They sold $1,000 so far, waiting on the patent to be granted.  Margin is decent.  Mark is out.   Lori wants to know about marketing, and is out.   Daniel is out. Robert says market it, and he’s out.  Kevin says partner with Rounder Bum, a line for gay men, Kevin wants to buy the patent, $150,000.   Seller says it would work with women’s swimwear, and Lori agrees.  Lori says Kevin should buy the patent for $150,000 but give the sellers a $5.00 royalty on each sale.  Counter offer is patent for $500,000, and Kevin says no.

No deal.  

 

1920 Clothing- convertible clothing designed to fit one's lifestyle.  Seeking $250,000 for 10%. Outerwear, multifunctional convertible jackets and snow wear.  Jackets zip off the bottom, and it's a blanket, or a tote bag.  They also make convertible windbreakers, with hoods that can turn into a crossbody bag.  All direct to consumer, margins are good.  Lots of social media, with millions of views.  2023 $267,000 sales, over $500,000 in sales since December 2022.  They only do one drop per quarter, and no debt.  Every drop sells out.  Projecting $750,000 in sales for the current year.   $350,000 in gross profit, and will put most back into the company.   Patents oending. Shipping is expensive.    No paid advertising, all sales are direct to consumer. Mark is out.  Daniel says it's a too competitive market sector, and he's out. Lori is out.   Kevin offers $250,000 for 30%.   Robert offers $250,000 for 25%.  

Deal with Robert for $250,000 for 25%. 

Update-Cakes Body nipple covers invested with Emma, they’ve been very successful.   $47 million in sales since partnering with Emma.

(Thanks to bilgistic, I missed some items.   I appreciate the help). 

Edited November 9 by CrazyInAlabama

[DrSpaceman73]

What an awful show. 

Only decent product was last one.  And that woman kept crying. 

[Quickbeam]

Ugh, stop crying, I can’t stand it (although I love Robert and his story is quite moving). The mushroom guy reminded me of Theranos….all concept, no product. He also had a con artist smoothness to him. 
 

I can’t see straight men wearing those swimsuits. 

[KeithJ]

Omg, where did those waterworks come from?  My mom died 20+ years ago, wah, wah, wah. Wtf?  I’m glad Robert didn’t fall for it.

[KaveDweller]

I seriously thought those bathing suits were a joke.

The convertible jackets looked cool, I missed how much they cost though.

[bilgistic]

2 hours ago, CrazyInAlabama said:

New 11/08/2024

Sharks- Mark, Kevin, Lori, Robert, Guest Shark is Daniel Lubetzky (soon to be a regular Shark when Mark leaves)

  Hide contents

Fysh Food-A new plant-based seafood-Seeking $150,000 for 10 %.  Plant based seafood, from algae, plants.   Cuts and handles like real fish. Cheaper and safer than real fish.  Safe to eat raw.   They sell direct to restaurants and food companies.  Sales $50,000 in one year only to restaurants, and in the L.A. area.   Kevin says he wants sales to consumers, not just restaurants, and he’s out.   Robert is out, poor sales.  Lori is out, it’s too early for her.   Mark says too hard to scale and he’s out. 

Daniel asks about competitors, there are two, and the competitors don’t have good products, he says food is amazing, offers $150,000 for 40%.  They counter at $150,000 for 20%.  Daniel offers 30%.

Deal with Daniel $150,000 for 30%.  Accepting Daniel’s deal was a good decision.

 

Terrashroom-an intelligent chamber that grows mushrooms. Seeking $175,000 for 2 1/2%. Hard to find mushrooms grown in a fully automated mushroom grower for the home market.  They sell the growth chamber for chambers $299, plus $31 for the mushroom growth blocks.  6500 paying customer presales, 22,500 on the wait list backorders.   Sales are $780,000 in 18 months.   They haven’t shipped any yet. They will ship 1, 140 by July 2024.   Mark is out, product isn’t viable yet.  Daniel says valuation sucks, and he's out.  Robert is out. Lori is out, it’s over engineered. Kevin is out, $175,000 for 15%. 

No deal.   

 

Moonies-unconventional men’s swimwear .  Speedo style suit with ‘cleavage’ from a clear plastic insert to show off men’s rears– Seeking $150,000 for 35%.  (I don’t imagine this as a successful product, I’m not seeing any reason to have this product). Yes, I bet they’re super comfortable, until you get a sunburn.   They have to blur the butt cracks for TV.  I would like to thank the person who blurred so many butts.   The hole is patented.   They sold $1,000 so far, waiting on the patent to be granted.  Margin is decent.  Mark is out.   Lori wants to know about marketing, and is out.   Daniel is out. Robert says market it, and he’s out.  Kevin says partner with Rounder Bum, a line for gay men, Kevin wants to buy the patent, $150,000.   Seller says it would work with women’s swimwear, and Lori agrees.  Lori says Kevin should buy the patent for $150,000 but give the sellers a $5.00 royalty on each sale.  Counter offer is patent for $500,000, and Kevin says no.

No deal.  

 

1920 Clothing- convertible clothing designed to fit one's lifestyle.  Seeking $250,000 for 10%. Outerwear, multifunctional convertible jackets and snow wear.  Jackets zip off the bottom, and it's a blanket, or a tote bag.  They also make convertible windbreakers, with hoods that can turn into a crossbody bag.  All direct to consumer, margins are good.  Lots of social media, with millions of views.  2023 $267,000 sales, over $500,000 in sales since December 2022.  They only do one drop per quarter, and no debt.  Every drop sells out.  Projecting $750,000 in sales for the current year.   $350,000 in gross profit, and will put most back into the company.   Patents oending. Shipping is expensive.    No paid advertising, all sales are direct to consumer. Mark is out.  Daniel says it's a too competitive market sector, and he's out. Lori is out.   Kevin offers $250,000 for 30%.   Robert offers $250,000 for 25%.  

Deal with Robert for $250,000 for 25%. 

 

Update-Cakes Body nipple covers invested with Emma, they’ve been very successful.   $47 million in sales since partnering with Emma.

A couple corrections: the mushroom chamber is $399, and the bikini bottoms for men have a hole with no insert; it's just a hole through the fabric.

[EtheltoTillie]

Those Moonies are ridiculous. Who would wear that?
 

They remind me of the silly comedy So Fine, where Ryan O’Neal saves his father’s failing company by producing women’s jeans that reveal the wearer’s behind with plastic panels. Does anyone remember this movie?  

Edited November 9 by EtheltoTillie

[tired and hungry]

10 hours ago, KeithJ said:

Omg, where did those waterworks come from?  My mom died 20+ years ago, wah, wah, wah. Wtf?  I’m glad Robert didn’t fall for it.

He did tho. seems like He offered them a deal because of it. But I agree with Kevin too. Lot's of people have struggles, they aren't the first person to work multiple jobs or put their dreams on hold to support their business. 

The 1920 products were innovative for sure but did they mention if they have any patents on the designs? Otherwise it seems like any outerwear clothing brand can easily knock them off.

Moonies folks were way too delusional about their product. "Oh there was a woman who came running upto me and asked where can I get one?" Like sure lady, that happened. Cracked me up when Lori asked "so just one woman?" Atleast their counter deals made sense, 500K for the patent seemed reasonable or they get royalties. Cheeky Mr. Wonderful! Always wants royalties when making offers but he didn't want to give any royalties away in this case..

Nice to see Alix still in the food business. Been a long way since those Buzzfeed Tasty videos. I instantly recognized her when they walked in. I think they got pressured into taking the deal because of Kevin's "living by the river" comment.

For the Therashrooms, I don't seem to understand what more engineering they needed to do? Product looked fine as it was. Why wait till next year to ship everything? Can't they ship out a small batch and get feedback? At this rate, I don't think the customers who paid will ever get a product. 

[DrSpaceman73]

That terrashroom guy has fraud written all over him.  How did he raise so much money for a mushroom grower?  They grow wild in the yard is it that hard to grow them?  Granted they looked kind of cool but I'm nit paying for something to grow big mushrooms  Orders for two years and nothing shipped?  

 

Fraud

 

 

[KeithJ]

12 minutes ago, tired and hungry said:

He did tho. seems like He offered them a deal because of it. But I agree with Kevin too. Lot's of people have struggles, they aren't the first person to work multiple jobs or put their dreams on hold to support their business. 

I thought Robert offered 25% and she countered with 20% and then the waterworks started hoping to get him to come down to 20% but he stuck at 25%.

[DEL901]

I laughed at the Moonies people.  I’m sure people on the beach ran over and wanted photos…not because they loved the product, though.   They were taking photos to go home and show their friends for a good laugh. 

[Shrek]

2 hours ago, DrSpaceman73 said:

  How did he raise so much money for a mushroom grower?  

Fraud

 

 

The same way he grows his mushrooms, he keeps his investors in the dark & feeds them bullshit.

[CrazyInAlabama]

22 hours ago, bilgistic said:

A couple corrections: the mushroom chamber is $399, and the bikini bottoms for men have a hole with no insert; it's just a hole through the fabric.

Thanks.   I appreciate the help, sometimes I just can't keep up.  I don't have recording capability, because I refuse to pay the TV app service $20 a month for recording.   

1920 coats are $200 to $278 for women or men.   Windbreakers are $88 to $128, $128 is a longer version.  

I was not impressed by the Moonies, or the mushroom growing device.   I loved the coats and the versatility, I think it's going to be a great seller.   Fysh Food, not interesting to me. 

Edited November 10 by CrazyInAlabama

[jcbrown]

Man, Kevin was even more of a jerk than usual this week and that's saying something.

[ChristmasJones]

Is there a large group of people who a) want to look at other men's butt cracks and/or b) want to show off theirs?    It seems um... different... than seeing a woman's cleavage ....?  

[seacliffsal]

The Moonies thing was ridiculous IMO.  And they really thought highly of their 1 idea.

The mushroom thing looked cool, but way too expensive and I guess...nonexistent.  If he was serious about his business he should have taken Kevin's deal.  However, he seems to be rolling in money (pre-sales and investors) so maybe he doesn't really care.

The coats were clever, but we've seen variations of zip/unzip and how you have a carrying bag, etc.  Robert was the right investor-he seems to do well with his clothing investments.  They were lucky that he went down to 25% as I think his people will have to do a lot of work to really get the business going.

Lori sure went after Kevin when he disagreed with her about something (he was making an offer and she wasn't).  I do agree with the idea that if a Shark isn't going to make an offer they should stand back from an actual offer being made.

[Tango64]

The grow your own mushroom kits already exist and look almost identical to the monthly starter block he'll sell you for $31. I tried a couple of them a few months ago, just as a lark. You order the kit, mist it with water ever day or so, and it grows mushrooms. I think I paid about $20 to $30 each for two different varieties. You don't need a $400 contraption to put it in. It just sits on your kitchen counter in the box it's packaged in (with pre-made holes you open to let the mushrooms emerge).

It was novel and kind of fun to watch them grow, with one kit producing a fairly good amount of mushrooms and the more expensive kit producing almost none. Even when they produce a good amount of mushrooms, you've paid a big premium for the joy of watching them grow. I decided one experience was enough.

The guy is very scammy. I don't think he will ever deliver one of those devices and he went on Shark Tank hoping the monthly subscription model would get the sharks all eager to jump in. He would have taken their money and run off to some tropical country with no extradition agreement. 

Edited November 12 by Tango64

[ljenkins782]

On 11/9/2024 at 8:51 AM, DEL901 said:

I laughed at the Moonies people.  I’m sure people on the beach ran over and wanted photos…not because they loved the product, though.   They were taking photos to go home and show their friends for a good laugh. 

Yeah, it seemed like a gag gift type of product, like that weird "send a potato" thing that actually got a deal a few years ago.

But then they were insisting this product was a goldmine, I just did not understand it. There isn't even that big of a market for American men who want to wear speedos, so the market for men who want their asscrack hanging out has to be even smaller. 

Depending on how much of their own money they've put into it, $150k to sell it entirely might have been a decent deal. I can understand why they wanted a royalty or more money, but jumping straight to $500k seemed destined to fail. If they'd asked for $250 or $300k, maybe that would have worked. 

Agreed that the mushroom guy was too slick for his own good, I'm not surprised he didn't get a deal.

As for the clothing, it was an interesting idea but I guess I'm just not sure how often I'm in a situation where I need convertible clothing. For example, if I want a blanket and I'm wearing a long coat, I'd just take it off and lay it over myself. 

And their bookkeeping seemed so messy, I was surprised they got a deal. 

Quote

Nice to see Alix still in the food business. Been a long way since those Buzzfeed Tasty videos. I instantly recognized her when they walked in. I think they got pressured into taking the deal because of Kevin's "living by the river" comment.

I don't know, a lot of these food products that the sharks love so much in the moment don't necessarily have a big reach in the real world market. Especially a lot of these healthy alternative types of food, they don't always catch on.

I feel like most of the really successful food products from Shark Tank are more of the novelty foods, like Wicked Good Cupcakes and things like that.

[eel2178]

On 11/10/2024 at 5:18 PM, ChristmasJones said:

Is there a large group of people who a) want to look at other men's butt cracks and/or b) want to show off theirs?    It seems um... different... than seeing a woman's cleavage ....?  

There are thongs for men if they want to show off their cheeks; however, I have yet to see one at any pool or beach anywhere in the world. Furthermore, I can see showing off your ass crack quickly being banned by any place that is occupied by children or wants to think of itself as couth. All I can see it producing is more restrictions as to what you can wear in public. I'm a little surprised that they didn't say an added benefit was the ability to take a dump without removing your suit, as if someone would also consider that to be a benefit.

[eel2178]

On 11/11/2024 at 2:21 PM, ljenkins782 said:

a lot of these food products that the sharks love so much in the moment don't necessarily have a big reach in the real world market. Especially a lot of these healthy alternative types of food, they don't always catch on.

4% of the US is vegan, and they already have many alternatives at a sushi restaurant. If I didn't want to eat raw fish, I wouldn't want to eat fake raw fish, either. I just don't see this as being attractive to customers.

Maybe selling it to people for home use would be the better way to go since it doesn't spoil as quickly as real fish. I just can't think of any other major selling point.

Still, I wonder what it would do to the product if you tried to cook it. Again, that might be a selling point if it really gave you the idea that you were eating tuna or salmon, but it stayed stable longer and didn't taste like fish that had been frozen (a pet peeve for someone who grew up in the Pacific Northwest). 

[eel2178]

On 11/11/2024 at 2:21 PM, ljenkins782 said:

Agreed that the mushroom guy was too slick for his own good, I'm not surprised he didn't get a deal.

If he ever starts shipping them to customers, I figure I can pick one up at the Goodwill roughly a year later at a very heavily discounted price. Then I only have to pay for the seeded growing blocks.

[Sir RaiderDuck OMS]

On 11/11/2024 at 7:36 AM, seacliffsal said:

The Moonies thing was ridiculous IMO.  And they really thought highly of their 1 idea.

The mushroom thing looked cool, but way too expensive and I guess...nonexistent.  If he was serious about his business he should have taken Kevin's deal.  However, he seems to be rolling in money (pre-sales and investors) so maybe he doesn't really care.

Kevin offering to buy the patent outright from the Moonies people was basically him saying "I can make money with your idea, but you're a couple of idiots I never want to see again." Also, remember that a standard Shark Tank pitch is about 45 minutes or so, edited down to 8-10 minutes for the show. My guess is Kevin wanted to market it to gay men exclusively and they pushed back. He then offered to buy the patent outright so he wouldn't have to care what they thought about anything.

As for the mushroom grower: Robert was 100% correct that he shouldn't have had to cross-examine the guy to discover he hadn't shipped any units yet. And the owner turning down Kevin's decent offer over valuation concerns means he likely raised a bunch of working capital by selling shares that were based on his inflated valuation. If he sells a chunk of the company to Kevin for a hefty discount, he's looking at lawsuits or at least some unhappy investors on the phone saying "I paid you $350,000 for 5%. Why is O'Leary getting triple that amount for half of what I paid???"

As others have pointed out, he screamed "shady" from the get-go.

Edited 18 hours ago by Sir RaiderDuck OMS