S16.E08: BroGlo Tanning Spray; TripleLite Flashlight; Hiccup Reusable Cups; PhoLicious

[CrazyInAlabama]

New 1/17/2025

Sharks-Mark, Daniel, Kevin, Lori, Robert

BroGlo Tanning Spray-A self-tanner geared towards men. Seeking $200,000 for 5%. A self tanner that doesn’t leave you orange, water based and goes on clear, not sticky.   There’s an entire beach line, tanner, hair highlighter.  Kevin will put the tanner on a glove and apply it, and 6 to 8 hours the tan will appear.  Sugar Beet derived, lasts 5 to 7 days. You can slather it on, and sleep with it and wake up tanned.  Robert likes the logs and packaging.  Sales are $3.1 million in 2022, sales are online.  All direct to consumer, half on Amazon, average buy $53.  Body tanner and beginning kit are best sellers.   Kevin offers $200,000 5 % equity and $1 royalty per item, until he gets $1 million back.    Robert wants 25%, and he’s out since they won’t go for it.   Lori offers $200,000, with $100,000 cash, $100,000 loan, royalty .50 until she gets her money back, and 10% equity.   Mark $200,000 for 10%, and won’t partner with Lori.  Daniel will do $200,000 for 8%.

Deal with Mark $200,000 for 10%. 

TripleLite 180 Flashlight- a new-and-improved flashlight. Seeking $400,000 for 10%. Improvement on conventional flashlights.  Fantastic amount of light.  180 degree light, crisp LED light, with 3 bulbs.  Light up an entire room, back yard, etc.  Invented in 2012 by Ronnie, the husband.  He’s a golf pro since 1976.  Wife Nancy became the marketer, lifetime sales are $5 million.  It took until 2014 to get the patents and prototypes, really launched in 2020, $1.5 million in 2022.   $4 million in sales since 2020.   Margins are decent, and profitable.   Robert wants to know why the big boys haven’t approached them.  They had an attempt from an investor to steal their company.      The Sharks say develop a bigger version, and they have that now, and the bigger version has the best reviews on Amazon.  (It’s going to be tough to keep up with the various Shark offers for this one.)

Robert is out. Kevin wants 49% equity, for $400,000, and he’ll get them in person meetings with every retailer.  Daniel offers $400,000 for 20%, and Robert will partner with Daniel. Mark  and Lori offers $400,000 for 25%. Lori wants to license it also. (From online reviews on Amazon, the larger size works better than the original smaller one.)

Deal with  Mark and Lori $400,000 for 25%.  Lori will handle licensing too.

Hiccup Reusable Cups for Runners- a reusable cup service for marathoners. Seeking $200,000 for 10%.  Reusable cup service for aid stations for running events, they fill, collect, clean and reuse the cups.  Price difference to organizer vs. paper is twice as much, and 30% more for over 10,000 cups.  Sharks want to know why she hasn't signed with a sponsor on the cups, for ad revenue.  Robert is out. Lori is out. Daniel says it's too early, and not scaleable for him.   Kevin is out, says business isn't a good idea.  Mark says business isn't big enough for him, but sign with big marathons. 

No Deal

PhoLicious Rice Noodle Soup-  an authentic instant pho. Seeking $500,000 for 10%.   Claim it's better than other instant noodle dishes.  Pronounced Fah, not F-o.   Varieties include beef, chicken, vegetarian,  made in five minutes.  They have them in major markets, in the noodle section.   Margins are decent.  Started in May 2021, sales are 2023 $2.1 million, 2014 between $5 and $6 millions, in Sams Club and Walmart.  They have a 47,000 warehouse and production facility in Houston.    To get the money for their business they sold their house, and moved in with their two kids into a camper.   Kevin says he can get them with Target, Costco, etc, and asks if they're open to commercial kitchen co-packers. 

 I did not realize the soup containers do not include the protein, just the broth.   And theer's a list in online reviews of what people added to the basic broth/noodle mixture.   

Lori is out, says Kevin and Daniel's offers are good.  Robert is out.   Mark is out. Kevin offers $500,000 for 15%, and help with social media.   Daniel offers $500,000 for 20%.  

Deal with  Kevin for $500,000 for 15%

Update- Play Maisie portable doll house, deal with Barbara.  White House Historical Association sells an exclusive version.   Sales are just under $400,000.   Not growing and as profitable as founder thought it would be, she now has a Shark Tank type teaching role, with Barbara’s help she’ll sell the company and be a full-time teacher. 

Edited Saturday at 02:05 PM by CrazyInAlabama

[Vermicious Knid]

I'm thinking BroGlo should be sold in a bundle with Dude Wipes. 

The TripleLite lady has no jawline. She has a chin and a face that melts into her neck. Good idea for a product I will give them that. Not sure how they would grow the company though, Bell & Howell already has the LED market for lights and lanterns. Even more sizes of flashlights? 270 degree light coverage? 

Renting cups? You know people are going to throw them out anyway, or they'll get trashed and trampled. She will have to be constanly replacing them. I don't think she mentioned that cost to be factored in. 10, 20, 30% of inventory each time. 

Mmm, pho. 

Interesting they chose to showcase a business that did not suceed. Certainly more realistic. 

[EtheltoTillie]

I love pho. I’d love to try their product. 

[SG429]

7 hours ago, Vermicious Knid said:

Renting cups? You know people are going to throw them out anyway, or they'll get trashed and trampled. She will have to be constanly replacing them. I don't think she mentioned that cost to be factored in. 10, 20, 30% of inventory each time. 

She also said a couple of times she spends so much time washing them. I wonder how they're sanitized, repackaged, and how you scale that operation up.

[atomic]

I meant to watch this episode after our local ABC news station aired a segment about the Houston pho people going on, but forgot to tune in.

Checking out the product, it seems kinda pricy for instant noodles, but in the segment the couple did speak about how they take authenticity very seriously with all the spices they incorporate for a rich, flavorful broth. I'll at least pick it up to try out next time I'm shopping at H-E-B.

[Tango64]

The flashlight is not as revolutionary as they claim. There are a zillion flashlights out there and not having to slightly move my wrist from side to side isn’t really a selling point.

The flashlight lady’s choking up and crying was every bit as scripted and rehearsed as the rest of their pitch.

I’m surprised Mark has never had pho. I live in suburban Georgia and there are pho places all over. It’s really popular. But jet setting billionaire Mark has never come across it?

The pho product may be better than most because of the spice packet, but having to add your own protein really changes the cost and the convenience factor. At that point I’m more willing to just invite Mark to the pho place around the corner. 

[DrSpaceman73]

12 hours ago, Tango64 said:

The flashlight is not as revolutionary as they claim. There are a zillion flashlights out there and not having to slightly move my wrist from side to side isn’t really a selling point.

The flashlight lady’s choking up and crying was every bit as scripted and rehearsed as the rest of their pitch.

I’m surprised Mark has never had pho. I live in suburban Georgia and there are pho places all over. It’s really popular. But jet setting billionaire Mark has never come across it?

The pho product may be better than most because of the spice packet, but having to add your own protein really changes the cost and the convenience factor. At that point I’m more willing to just invite Mark to the pho place around the corner. 

Someone starts crying during the pitch twice I'm not doing business with them. 

[seacliffsal]

Whenever Kevin delivers the truth to contestants, the others all jump in on him.  However, I agree with him about the Hiccup product.  Paper cups are biodegradable and if someone steps on one it will just crush under their feet.  My first thought on this product was that people would step on them and would that lead to potential injuries.  Then my thought was who was going to be responsible for picking up all the cups and getting them back to the woman (are shipping costs included in the price?)?  And when the cups have to be replaced how biodegradable are they?  She would have to have a lot of storage for the millions of cups needed to really be successful.  Kevin spoke the truth IMO but nobody wanted to listen.

The doll house woman was pretty clear-she thought she would be an instant millionaire and when that didn't happen and she realized how much work it was, she wanted out.  I think far too many people think their idea is worth at least a million and they'll be on easy street.  Nope, it's a lot of work and the investment made goes into the product not one's personal bank accounts (or at least it should go into the product).

 

[DEL901]

24 minutes ago, seacliffsal said:

The doll house woman was pretty clear-she thought she would be an instant millionaire and when that didn't happen and she realized how much work it was, she wanted out.  I think far too many people think their idea is worth at least a million and they'll be on easy street.  Nope, it's a lot of work and the investment made goes into the product not one's personal bank accounts (or at least it should go into the product).

 

I was happy to see this reality check.   Her sales did Zoom up and she got great placement, but the fact is, she had a limited market.    And making 10% for herself isn’t great on $350,000 sales.    Good for her for both speaking about something most don’t or won’t AND for parlaying it into a career she loves.

And good for Shark Tank for doing the segment.

[CrazyInAlabama]

On 1/18/2025 at 10:41 AM, Tango64 said:

The flashlight is not as revolutionary as they claim. There are a zillion flashlights out there and not having to slightly move my wrist from side to side isn’t really a selling point.

The flashlight lady’s choking up and crying was every bit as scripted and rehearsed as the rest of their pitch.

I’m surprised Mark has never had pho. I live in suburban Georgia and there are pho places all over. It’s really popular. But jet setting billionaire Mark has never come across it?

The pho product may be better than most because of the spice packet, but having to add your own protein really changes the cost and the convenience factor. At that point I’m more willing to just invite Mark to the pho place around the corner. 

There are a ton of customer reviews of the Pho product.   Some loved it, but most added proteins and other additions that added to the flavor of the product.   I thought from the pitch it was a complete product, like ramen packages.    

 

I looked at the flashlight reviews, only the larger one has great reviews, the smaller, older version has some not great reviews from buyers.    They're available at a lot of big retailer now.  

Edited Sunday at 10:58 PM by CrazyInAlabama

[EtheltoTillie]

I ordered the pho. I will report back.