S06.E09: The 100th Episode: Storm Stoppers, Pipsnacks, Squatty Potty, Heidi Ho

[bilgistic]

The only downside is that the curve around the front is apparently an ideal place for a cat to perch and stare up at you with disdain as you try to do your business.

Cracking up! My two cats HAVE to be in the bathroom when I'm in there; I can only imagine how overjoyed they'd be if I got them a stool (...stool). They already think the Treasure Chest o' Feminine Hygiene Products is their throne.

[bilgistic]

I'll confess, I ordered the SquattyPotty when I watched the show Friday and it came today. (fortunately in the standard nondescript Amazon box.) It delivered as promised (a noticeable improvement) and is much sturdier than I expected. The only downside is that the curve around the front is apparently an ideal place for a cat to perch and stare up at you with disdain as you try to do your business.

Not only is it a Squatty Potty and a Stool Stool, it's also a Shitter Critter Sitter. ::tapdances off stage left::

[Skittl1321]

Has anyone looked at Squatty Potty's competition?  First- the products look identical (which the sharks usually hate)- but there is one called the "Super Pooper". Seriously? (Also a "Step n' Go")  Apparently this market is just all about the cutesy names.

[zxy556575]

Has anyone looked at Squatty Potty's competition?  First- the products look identical (which the sharks usually hate)- but there is one called the "Super Pooper".

 

Oh, brother. Another example of the sharks being ignorant of widely-known products. They always ask about competitors even if we don't see it, so not sure why anyone invested. The squatty has zero to distinguish it from the others, including price. As much as Cuban and others disdain entrepreneurs they think are only on the show for publicity, I suspect sometimes the only reason they themselves invest is because of it -- the item gets a bump, they get their dough back and are out.

Edited November 20, 2014 by lordonia

[A Boston Gal]

My dad said he once had a brain storm of inventing a high end, portable restroom - porcelin, tiled walls, real sink, etc. His name for it? The Hoity Toity! :)

 

ETA: I know such facilities actually exist, but no one else was clever enough to come up with such a fab name.

Edited November 20, 2014 by A Boston Gal

[Flyin.Bryan]

 

Has anyone looked at Squatty Potty's competition?  First- the products look identical (which the sharks usually hate)- but there is one called the "Super Pooper". Seriously? (Also a "Step n' Go")  Apparently this market is just all about the cutesy names.

 

I bought a Step 'n Go (Squatty potty charged exorbinant shipping to my state). Hasn't changed my life or anything, but still adjusting to it.

[RadioActiveRich]

The squatty potty is one of those things that everyone wants but nobody wants to talk about. Genius. The only thing I didn't like was the idea of declaring it a medical device so taxpayers could buy them for everyone. Enough of that already! As for the hurricane dude, has he ever been in a hurricane? Velcro isn't gonna hold corrugated plastic on a window when the wind gets behind it. The reason wood stays is because it's bolted (or nailed) down and no wind gets behind it. It's a dumb idea. And it's probably a pretty bad idea to go full-r***** when a prospective investor asks you a question - even if that guy is Kevin O'Leary.

I bought a Step 'n Go (Squatty potty charged exorbinant shipping to my state). Hasn't changed my life or anything, but still adjusting to it.

 

I think I'm just going to make one. I'm a pretty good woodworker and it's really just a U-shaped step stool (no pun intended). 

Edited November 30, 2014 by RadioActiveRich

[theatremouse]

Velcro isn't gonna hold corrugated plastic on a window when the wind gets behind it.

 

I didn't think it was velcro. I thought he said it was some sort of commercial fastener. I thought it was some sort of snaps that claim to have the strength of screws. So on the one hand, he's relying on the veracity of someone else's claims about the third party product to affix his own, but presumably they've actually tested it or he'd be a bit of trouble for false advertising. Or, you know, he'd have zero customers once word got out they blow right off.

Edited December 1, 2014 by theatremouse

[RadioActiveRich]

 

I didn't think it was velcro. I thought he said it was some sort of commercial fastener. I thought it was some sort of snaps that claim to have the strength of screws. So on the one hand, he's relying on the veracity of someone else's claims about the third party product to affix his own, but presumably they've actually tested it or he'd be a bit of trouble for false advertising. Or, you know, he'd have zero customers once word got out they blow right off.

 

It's hook & loop fasteners - basically big velcro. They are strong, but they don't hold the material flat. The space would allow air behind the plastic which would blow right off. Why they wouldn't just screw the plastic like they did the wood is beyond me. That would work and the plastic would be easier to store and reuse. Not to mention how much easier it is to install.

[RadioActiveRich]

Apparently it's very wind-proof.

 

 

Actually this video doesn't prove much. The guy pulls sideways on the fasteners. This isn't the way they would be tested in the hurricane scenario. I've tried to move sheets of that plastic in a relatively light wind and it blew like you wouldn't believe. The biggest problem with the guy's demo on the show isn't the fastener or the plastic as much as the gap between the plastic and the side of the house which would create a pocket behind the plastic. I could explain it better if I had a white-board and some markers. ;)

[RadioActiveRich]

I think if it's commonly used to affix tarps to boats in strong weather, I personally would be fine with trusting it on my house.  But I also think $6M in prior sales says something and I don't see a gap for wind to get under.  

 

"Strong weather" isn't a hurricane. And a tarp has to be closed to the wind or it'll tear off no matter what fastener you use.

 

The gap is created by the fastener being between the plastic and the house. They don't put a strip of the fastener all the way around. They put it on various spots (notice the hammering during the episode).

[Amarsir]

Industrial hook & loop can secure at up to 1000 psi. A force of that strength would pull the nail head through a board anyway, to say nothing of what's happening to the rest of your house. I grant you that the concept doesn't feel as secure to those of us who know velcro from sneakers. But I trust the product could be made.

[Guest]

It seems like if it required continuous fastener strips all around the edges to work as advertised, he would sell it that way.  

 

I live in the land of stucco houses, where you don't really screw anything into them without big anchors and unsightly holes.  Do people in hurricane alley have wood siding with screw holes around the windows for plywood?  Isn't that bad for the siding, assuming 'exposed wood + coastal area = rot'?  I don't think screw holes would be great in vinyl or aluminum siding, either, or brick?  

[RadioActiveRich]

Industrial hook & loop can secure at up to 1000 psi. A force of that strength would pull the nail head through a board anyway, to say nothing of what's happening to the rest of your house. I grant you that the concept doesn't feel as secure to those of us who know velcro from sneakers. But I trust the product could be made.

 

That doesn't account for shear force. Also, the guy pushed the panel off of the window without using a thousand pounds of force. So ....

[RadioActiveRich]

I don't mind taxpayer money going for Squatty Potties but I have some issue with electric scooters for the morbidly obese.  

 

I think they're both bad ideas, but here's a question - why can't people either pay the $25 themselves or stack a set of phone books? I am so sick and tired of seeing things marked up because the taxpayers are footing the bill. It's a stupid system. It really is.

[Guest]

 A stack of phone books in front of your toilet sounds like an un-hygienic and ugly solution.  Dollar stores and Ikea sell dirt-cheap plastic step stools.  Maybe try it with two of those and if you want a more aesthetic look long term, go for a Squatty Potty.  

[Kel Varnsen]

Something about the Pipcorn offers confused me. (And I usually try to be the one who explains this stuff, even when no one asks. :) ) Barbara said she wanted a proportional withdrawal any time they did a disbursement. To me that seems like standard behavior that wouldn't even merit a mention. Why wouldn't she get $10 for their $90? That's what partnership means. Unless it's agreed upon as a salary, and disbursement would either be matched or dilute their ownership share. If that's not default, what is?

I didn't get that either. I mean if you own 10% of the company and dividends are paid out you get 10% of that money. Why would that need to specifically be spelled out. The only way I could think of that a company could screw with that was if say instead of paying out a dividend they said that the CEO (also the person owning 90% of the company) was getting some kind of performance bonus. 

 

I was also confused by the cheese lady. Would she really be allowed to call it cheese? Then again I live in Canada where Kraft Macaroni and Cheese has to be called Kraft Dinner because they are not legally allowed to call it cheese.

[Amarsir]

I didn't get that either. I mean if you own 10% of the company and dividends are paid out you get 10% of that money. Why would that need to specifically be spelled out. The only way I could think of that a company could screw with that was if say instead of paying out a dividend they said that the CEO (also the person owning 90% of the company) was getting some kind of performance bonus. 

 

I was also confused by the cheese lady. Would she really be allowed to call it cheese? Then again I live in Canada where Kraft Macaroni and Cheese has to be called Kraft Dinner because they are not legally allowed to call it cheese.

I also pondered that question on Reddit and the best conclusion we could come up with there was that it was a roundabout way of saying "don't take a salary."

I don't think the cheese label is a problem in the US. Home of Velveeta and Cheez Whiz.

[bilgistic]

I need a report back from those of you who bought the toilet stools. I don't know that I would necessarily buy one, but I have been thinking an awful lot about it, and (TMI Alert!) have tried using the Treasure Chest o' Feminine Hygiene Products as a footstool, but it's too tall. Also, the cats get mad when I move "their" Treasure Chest.

[Kel Varnsen]

I also pondered that question on Reddit and the best conclusion we could come up with there was that it was a roundabout way of saying "don't take a salary."

 

 

That makes sense I guess. Although it makes me wonder how these deals work otherwise. I mean say I pitch a business to the sharks and someone invests. Say I am a 90% partner and they are a 10% partner. Assuming there is no royalty deal and they have no equal vote board seat or anything like that, what happens if the company takes off and starts making crazy profits. Instead of paying dividends what if I as the majority share holder, decide to pay out the CEO a bonus to myself and not give the shark anything. Is there anything that they could do?

[Shibori]

Bilgistic, I got the Squatty Potty from Amazon, and it made a significant difference the first time I used it, and ever since. Well worth the money. Toilet time when from an average of 15-20 minutes to less than 5, and requires hardly any effort, when that used to be a big issue for me. My friends and family laughed...and then asked for them as Christmas gifts!

[bilgistic]

Thanks! I'm cheap and refuse to pay shipping, and they are carried at Bed, Bath & Beyond, which always has a coupon in the paper, which we get at work, so I can save even more.

[bilgistic]

I went to Bed Bath & Beyond today, and there were no Squatty Pottys in stock. The clerk said they were popular items for Christmas.

[designing1]

 

I went to Bed Bath & Beyond today, and there were no Squatty Pottys in stock. The clerk said they were popular items for Christmas.

 

Wow. I thought my cartoony cat-shaped fake pewter picture frame from the clearance rack at Kohl's was a crappy (pardon the pun) gift.

[bilgistic]

I have a couple of those--they were gifts!

[walnutqueen]

From the mouth of a 40years+ bleeding butthole, it works.  Little stepstool at the ready, y'all!!!  Die young or deal with the consequences.