S06.E19: Sseko Designs, Gold Rush Nugget Bucket, Boobypack, Lumi

[yeswedo]

A Portland, Ore., couple seek financial backing for their customized sandals, which are manufactured in Uganda; a father explains how his daughter inspired him to make a gold-mining bucket; a San Francisco woman pitches a sports bra that she claims is a "fanny pack for your rack"; and the Sharks consider investing in a do-it-yourself kit to develop photos. Also: an update on the Paint Brush Cover from Season 5.

[cooksdelight]

OMG, that last woman gave me a headache!!!

Explain to me how and why the sandal people are losing money when they were making so much in the beginning? Growth too fast or something?

[charlieboo]

I'd just like to thank Shark Tank for being such an educational show. I did not know that gold literally makes the world go round. 

[wisteria]

I'd just like to thank Shark Tank for being such an educational show. I did not know that gold literally makes the world go round. 

 

Especially in a $99 bucket! Did I hear that incorrectly? Who the hell spends that kind of money on a "fun novelty activity for your kids"? I could understand maybe $19.99, but not five times that -- especially given how cheap the bucket looked.

[Samsnee]

Did I miss something? Didn't last week's preview show the Sharks walking out at one point?

Edited February 14, 2015 by Samsnee

[cooksdelight]

Did I miss something? Didn't last week's preview show the Sharks walking out at one point?

Looks like it's next week.

You can buy those big buckets at Lowe's for anywhere from $3 to $4.47. Add in the other plastic parts...which I understood him to say he had to buy or build a mold for, so I figure that adds in another $10 over time. Yeah, he's making a huge margin on those gold-mining buckets.

[TudorQueen]

I loved the guy with the gold panning bucket - the actual product, not so much. I certainly felt it was grossly overpriced.

 

The sports bras looked great and functional and very reasonably priced. However, unless you were wearing the bra as outerwear, the pockets for 'gear' seemed very inconvenient to me. The young lady doing the modeling was adorable.

 

I thought the gals with the sandals would get a deal - they were making good while doing good. I found their explanation of the 'totally for profit" status was quite interesting and I found myself agreeing with them. It goes back to the old saying "Give a man a fish and you feed him for a day. Teach him how to fish and you feed him for life" (If he can eat that much fish)

 

The lumi team had a lovely product but their presentation was too jumbled. I know a lot of y'all thing too many presentations are actually too slick and polished, but this one sometimes verged on incomprehensible.

 

Last lady threw away every opportunity. I was surprised that more sharks didn't drop quickly over her blathering indecisiveness.

 

Great to see the paint brush cover trio do so well, and expanding into rollers. The stores are good fits and the product is practical and inventive.

[roctavia]

I don't blame the last person for not taking a deal... I can get why the sharks though her valuation was too high... and it was on her that she was so set on her equity... but in the end, they weren't actually offering her anything for that equity when all they were giving her was a loan.... While I have no idea what a business loan interest rate is going for now a days, but 8.5% sounds like a lot to me ( but only with student loans, car loans, and home loan interests rates to go off of- which I know are different). I could have even seen someone offering to split it- like we'll give you 100,000 and then a loan for the rest and for that we get 5% or whatever... But to just offer a loan to her for equity seemed weird to me.

 

The products tonight where okay... the sandals look like something I've seen before.. the gold bucket thing didn't make sense to me at all- is that a thing that people do? like enough people to make it a profitable product? The bra seemed okay, since women's clothing always lacks pockets... but it seems like an awkward placement to get at the pockets, and not a good place for like a phone or something not completely flat like cash or credit card.

 

The photo kits are interesting, but the product did seem sort of complicated- since there were so many different items... that it made the presentation harder to follow.

 

I'm curious what next week's fight is going to be about... the sharks get so weird sometimes when it comes to interacting with each other.

[cooksdelight]

The lumi team had a lovely product but their presentation was too jumbled. I know a lot of y'all thing too many presentations are actually too slick and polished, but this one sometimes verged on incomprehensible.

What was the lumi team product? I must have missed that part.

[roctavia]

What was the lumi team product? I must have missed that part.

 

Lumi was the photographer thing, wasn't it? So not really a team... just the one lady- the final product they showed. 

[cooksdelight]

Ah, OK, I didn't remember the name of it. Just that you're using the sun to make a screenprint design on a t-shirt, essentially.

[Jaded]

Please tell me I'm not the only woman who would never pay $50 for that bra with pockets?!?

[cooksdelight]

You're not. Especially one that has pockets under my armpits. One that I'd have to wear without a top over it.

[Lola16]

Hated the name of the sports bra with hidden pockets.  How comfy is it to have a phone under your armpit?  And it looked like zero support.

 

Couldn't stand the voice on the last entrepreneur.

[Jamoche]

Am I missing something with Lumi? It's a sun print. OK, so they've expanded beyond blue dye, but still. Sun print. Something that can be artistic if you're very talented, but looks like crap when done by the other 99.999% of us.

[AndreaK1041]

Was the boogie bag or whatever horrible name it was waterproof inside & out? My phone would get all sweaty it a situation where I would necessitate such a bra (when I couldn't just use a bag). And then if it is waterproof on both sides.. how uncomfortable! I did not like that product at all.

[bilgistic]

You're not. Especially one that has pockets under my armpits. One that I'd have to wear without a top over it.

I'd have to wear a real bra under it and a shirt over it. I'll just keep carrying my cross-body bag, or, you know, wear pants with pockets.

It should've been called the Rack Pack.

[Eolivet]

OMG, that last woman gave me a headache!!!

Explain to me how and why the sandal people are losing money when they were making so much in the beginning? Growth too fast or something?

 

I thought it was because they'd hired sales force in anticipation of sales they didn't have, so they were operating at a loss (too many salespeople, not enough sales). I can see doing it for a year, but I agree with the sharks that if they couldn't scale in two years (2013 and 2014), it was doubtful they would recover.

 

When she said, "Two months into my corporate job, I just bought a one-way plane ticket to Uganda," my husband filled in "Because you come from boatloads of money." Bingo. I didn't think their product was so much about helping the women of Uganda as it was "Look at us for helping the women of Uganda. Now buy our uncomfortable, overpriced sandals because we're doing such a good deed."

[starri]

I thought the gals with the sandals would get a deal - they were making good while doing good. I found their explanation of the 'totally for profit" status was quite interesting and I found myself agreeing with them. It goes back to the old saying "Give a man a fish and you feed him for a day. Teach him how to fish and you feed him for life" (If he can eat that much fish)

See, I read the deal as horribly exploitative.  If I'm doing the math right, they're paying the women roughly $11/day, which might be a fairly decent wage for Sub-Saharan Africa, but that wasn't buying them food and shelter, it was just giving them the chance to go to college.  And that's great, but the doesn't fix the more immediate problem of getting enough to eat and clean water.

 

Also, there was something that just read "White woman goes to Africa, takes photos with locals, fancies herself humanitarian" about her.

 

Bucket-Guy needs to partner with the Seawater/Gold Guy.  But hell, people buy metal detectors.

[Primetimer]

A guy tries to get a deal for his gold-panning kit, making us think we've stumbled upon a Shark Tank rerun from 1849. Then a lady shows up with a sports bra to remind us that it is most definitely 2015.

Read the story

[PRgal]

See, I read the deal as horribly exploitative.  If I'm doing the math right, they're paying the women roughly $11/day, which might be a fairly decent wage for Sub-Saharan Africa, but that wasn't buying them food and shelter, it was just giving them the chance to go to college.  And that's great, but the doesn't fix the more immediate problem of getting enough to eat and clean water.

 

Also, there was something that just read "White woman goes to Africa, takes photos with locals, fancies herself humanitarian" about her.

 

Bucket-Guy needs to partner with the Seawater/Gold Guy.  But hell, people buy metal detectors.

 

Personally, I have an issue with the "white woman goes to Africa..." narrative.  Who is to say that a non-white, western/developed nation woman wouldn't do the same (e.g. someone from Japan)?  Another way of looking at the education thing is that education breaks the cycle of poverty.  Also, do we know if there's some sort of dorm that they live in while they work that is, perhaps, funded by another organization? Ditto with water.  I missed part of their presentation.

 

As for the bra thing:  Love it, but I'm not sure I'd want to have my phone so close to my boobs (though the company sells a phone case that supposedly lowers risks).  I'm quite small framed (i.e. my band size is (usually) smaller than a 32), so I'm not sure if "small" will fit me!

Edited February 14, 2015 by PRgal

[piewarmer]

Please tell me I'm not the only woman who would never pay $50 for that bra with pockets?!?

You aren't. I don't wear sports bras as outerwear, nor do I enjoy digging in my armpits to purchase a latte at Starbucks, so for those reasons, I'm out.

[starri]

Personally, I have an issue with the "white woman goes to Africa..." narrative.  Who is to say that a non-white, western/developed nation woman wouldn't do the same (e.g. someone from Japan)?  Another way of looking at the education thing is that education breaks the cycle of poverty.  Also, do we know if there's some sort of dorm that they live in while they work that is, perhaps, funded by another organization? Ditto with water.  I missed part of their presentation.

They were presenting it as philanthropy, where they were helping these women go to college.  Except that this took the form of the women making sandals for nine months, which is a definition of philanthropy that I'm not familiar with.  Philanthropy would be more akin to what Grace and Lace is doing, which is donating their profits to charity.

 

I'm not saying that providing jobs and college educations is not a good thing to be doing, I'm just saying that it's not philanthropic.

 

And my "white woman in Africa" comment was directed more at how they presented themselves, by flashing a bunch of photos of the woman in villages in the bush in Africa, just like a thousand other "missionaries" or "aid workers" on Instagram.

 

And no, they didn't say anything else about providing for other needs, it was just "work for nine months, pay for college."

[theatremouse]

The other problem with the bra-phoneholder-whateverholder is that phones are getting BIG again. It's not 15 years ago when phones kept getting smaller and smaller. Now people have 5" screens (or bigger, don't get me started on phablets), the better to watch the streamin's with. I am not and have never been the type of person to go clubbing, so clearly I'm not the target audience, but I think an iPhone 4 would be clunky in that pocket, let alone the newer phones. No thank you. I can barely get my phone to fit in a pants pocket since I replaced it. No tiny hidden pocket will work, other than maybe for just ID+credit card.

[Shibori]

My issue with the sun paint thing (besides the fact you've been able to buy similar things at Michaels for years) is that painting a shirt (as opposed to silk screening or airbrushing) leaves a heavy layer of paint that makes it feel like you're wearing poster board. Especially on the thin vintage feel t's that are popular now. And I don't think that a run through a household dryer would set the paint well enough that you wouldn't get some further reactivity if you went out in the sun. Though maybe hipsters don't go out in sunlight?

[roctavia]

My issue with the sun paint thing (besides the fact you've been able to buy similar things at Michaels for years) is that painting a shirt (as opposed to silk screening or airbrushing) leaves a heavy layer of paint that makes it feel like you're wearing poster board. Especially on the thin vintage feel t's that are popular now. And I don't think that a run through a household dryer would set the paint well enough that you wouldn't get some further reactivity if you went out in the sun. Though maybe hipsters don't go out in sunlight?

 

 Didn't she say she was already in places like Jo ann's Fabric and Michaels? Perhaps that was her product that you've already seen :P

 

It looked more like a dye vs something heavy and paint like, but I suppose we'd have to see it in person to really tell.

[TudorQueen]

Apologies to everyone I confused by my reference to a "Lumi team". My thoughts were a little muddled, possibly by the woman's annoying voice.

[shksabelle]

WOW.  That "Look at me; I'm the next Mother Theresa" was one ticked off looking, entitled little blonde in the hall.

[kimberwatch]

I actually thought that the Lumi kit might be fun (in the way that I buy things that will be fun and totally intend to do them while they collect dust in a closet.) What wouldn't be fun at all is partnering with that woman. That voice that just wouldn't shut up as she tried to find a new way to say 5% for $250,000 drove me nuts.

[cooksdelight]

Apologies to everyone I confused by my reference to a "Lumi team". My thoughts were a little muddled, possibly by the woman's annoying voice.

Hey, my confusion was because she was so uninteresting that I totally forgot the name of her company. :)

[bilgistic]

For all of Lori's pouting about people talking over her last week and her not being answered, I noticed she interrupted Mark last night.

[starri]

I'm sorry that I'm stuck on this, but what's sticking in my craw is the incredibly cynical way Sseko was marketing itself.

 

Grace and Lace builds orphanages in India.  Bombas donates socks to the homeless.  Sseko...pays its employees.  If that's all it takes to make something world-changing, than every business that isn't based on slavery is changing the world in the exact same way.

 

Providing jobs to women in a developing economy?  That's awesome.  And I think it's great that the women are using the money for education.  But you strip off the feel-good whitewash, and you're left with a company that's found a cheap source of labor and a great hook for PR.

 

I know we're getting a little far-afield from the episode, and if the discussion needs to continue, maybe we should mosey over to Small Talk.  But I'm kind of shocked by how angry thinking about this has made me.

[Jamoche]

My issue with the sun paint thing (besides the fact you've been able to buy similar things at Michaels for years) is that painting a shirt (as opposed to silk screening or airbrushing) leaves a heavy layer of paint that makes it feel like you're wearing poster board. 

No, it is a dye, not a paint, but further Googling last night turned up another company that apparently has more colors and is cheaper. But that article also goes into the steps involved and it's a lot more than just "send us a picture, get a sheet back from us, expose it to the sun" - and end up with something that looks about as good as using inkjet iron-on transfers.

[cooksdelight]

end up with something that looks about as good as using inkjet iron-on transfers.

I'm surprised none of the Sharks brought that up as being competition. It's waaaaaaay easier and cheaper. I've used those transfer sheets for family events and they worked great.

[NikSac]

You aren't. I don't wear sports bras as outerwear, nor do I enjoy digging in my armpits to purchase a latte at Starbucks, so for those reasons, I'm out.

 

Ugh you just made me feel really, really sorry for Starbucks employees. Ew. I wasn't a fan of the bra pocket thingie to begin with but yuck, hadn't even thought about digging sweaty money out of my armpit to pay for coffee.

 

Separate note... is it just me or was this a really bad episode of Shark Tank?  Overpriced sandals with a basically fake back story ("we're so awesome that we pay our employees!") (and by the way I've seen this changeable sandal concept before), overpriced plastic bucket so you can find gold in Home Depot playground sand, some sort of dye that you have to do a bunch of work to even make your shirt/bag/etc. and I think there might have been something else? I was surprised any of them got offers.

[Amarsir]

I'm sorry that I'm stuck on this, but what's sticking in my craw is the incredibly cynical way Sseko was marketing itself.

 

Grace and Lace builds orphanages in India.  Bombas donates socks to the homeless.  Sseko...pays its employees.  If that's all it takes to make something world-changing, than every business that isn't based on slavery is changing the world in the exact same way.

 

Providing jobs to women in a developing economy?  That's awesome.  And I think it's great that the women are using the money for education.  But you strip off the feel-good whitewash, and you're left with a company that's found a cheap source of labor and a great hook for PR.

It's why I'm fine outsourcing to China. Your iPhone purchase enables workers in low-income regions of China to feed their families!

 

You're absolutely right. If the sourcing had been just one of the things they mentioned I'd have been fine with it; maybe considered it a slight positive. But she was way too anxious to show it off on a product that's utterly unexciting.  Just the idea of making the workers stand in a field for a video piece already had me annoyed.

 

Separate note... is it just me or was this a really bad episode of Shark Tank?  Overpriced sandals with a basically fake back story ("we're so awesome that we pay our employees!") (and by the way I've seen this changeable sandal concept before), overpriced plastic bucket so you can find gold in Home Depot playground sand, some sort of dye that you have to do a bunch of work to even make your shirt/bag/etc. and I think there might have been something else? I was surprised any of them got offers.

I tend to measure episodes less by the quality of the products and more the quality of discussion. Mark went out early a lot but I almost like him better when he's playing my in-the-room surrogate. His comments were good with the Lumi woman and he was delighted when Barbara did the same kind of bid-sniping that he likes to do.

[LeGrandElephant]

I googled sports bras with pockets and it seems like they have a lot of competition. Most of them have the pockets in the front where the bulge can theoretically be hidden in the gap between your breasts, depending on size. Not a bad idea for jogging, but I didnt like the exact one on this show. It looked like it didn't have much support in front and the pockets were awkwardly placed. I have an athletic shirt with a zipper pocket on the side seam that I like,except if I jog the phone is heavy enough that that whole part of the shirt bounces around. Maybe having a pocket on something held tighter to you like the bra would be a better idea. I'll keep my eye out for one I can try on. But mostly they seem overpriced and only sold online.

[zxy556575]

I'm not, but if I was in the habit of going out to exercise and needing to take my keys/driver's license/phone/money to buy a beverage with afterwards, why not just wear one of those cloth money belt thingies that are one step above a fanny pack. Or, you know, an actual fanny pack. Although the Cleavage Caddy is definitely something Lori would have bid on.

 

There's another investment show called All-American Makers on Discovery Science, whose review of the products includes testing and a focus group. Too bad the sharks don't have us as their unfocused, side-eye-giving group in the tank.

Edited February 15, 2015 by lordonia

[bilgistic]

The Cleavage Caddy--no, no, no! Ladies, your breasts aren't lockers. [insert joke about knockers.] You can damage the connective tissue without being properly supported and having KEYS and other sundries poking into your breasts is dangerous and just not okay! Is there a BallSack for men?? Exactly.

[cooksdelight]

"Knocker Locker".... the prospective names for this thing just keep on coming! LOL

[LittleIggy]

There are online places where you can design a tee shirt anyway you want, and they make it for you at a reasonable price.

[KaveDweller]

I'm not, but if I was in the habit of going out to exercise and needing to take my keys/driver's license/phone/money to buy a beverage with afterwards

 

I am not big on exercise, but there are times when I go out to walk/run and I want to have at least an ID and a single key with me.  I have this weird fear of getting hit by a car and no one being able to identify my body or contact my family, so I wouldn't want to have no ID at all. I wouldn't need some huge pocket for a phone and money, but I think a small pocket is a great idea.  I hate the name for it though.

[atir]

I thought the Lumi deal was odd for a couple of reasons. The presenter was annoying and all I could think of when she talked about using the sun to activate the dye was my cloudy, gray 22 degree day. Yay! Fun! Let's go outside and harness the non existent sun to create these one-of-a-kind t shirts. By the way, kids, bring some bricks or large rocks to anchor the shirts to the dirty driveway since the wind is blowing 40mph.

[Lola16]

There's some cloth waist thing that looks like a fold down on a yoga pant where you can put money, id etc. 

 

I don't think the sandals people explained the college funding well at all.   This is what it says on their website:

 

 

Ssseko Solution #1: Sseko Designs provides employment during the 9 month gap between high school and university where high potential young women are able to earn and save enough money to pay for college tuition. 50% of their salary each month goes into a savings account that is not accessible until tuition is due. This ensures that their income goes towards education. This also protects the women in our program from the social pressure they often feel from their families to give away the money the are earning which can perpetuate the cycle of poverty. At the end of each term, Sseko Designs grants university scholarships that match up to 100% of the savings each woman has made during her 9 month session with Sseko.

So they pay the women, put 1/2 in a bank account and then match the savings in the form of a scholarship.  Better than I thought.

 

http://ssekodesigns.com/mission-and-impact/

[starri]

I don't think the sandals people explained the college funding well at all.   This is what it says on their website:

 

So they pay the women, put 1/2 in a bank account and then match the savings in the form of a scholarship.  Better than I thought.

 

http://ssekodesigns.com/mission-and-impact/

See, if they'd said it like when they were in the Tank, I don't think I'd have nearly as strong a negative reaction as I did.  I would still have an issue with characterizing it as philanthropic, and I'd still think of it as cynical, but not quite as viscerally as I did.

[designing1]

 

At the end of each term, Sseko Designs grants university scholarships that match up to 100% of the savings each woman has made during her 9 month session with Sseko.

 

While the fuller description certainly makes it more palatable, that "up to" is the catch. Could be 100%, could be 0% or anything in between. So while it could be philanthropy, if the matched amount is an extremely low percentage or none at all, it could be a job with an enforced savings plan -- which is still better than no job at all.

[needschocolate]

I have nothing to add to the sandal people discussion that hasn't been said, except that when she mentioned that the cost was about the same as if she outsourced to China, my first thought was "so you built your sweatshop in Africa instead of Asia."  

 

Lumi lady's voice sounded okay (high, but not too annoying) in her talking head at the end, but sounded "hollow" during her presentation.  Perhaps she was nervous - she seemed really nervous.  It has got to be rather scary and confusing when all the sharks start talking over each other.

 

I giggle every time I imagine the look on the barista's face when some woman lifts her arm and digs around in her armpit before paying for her latte.  They said it was waterproof, so, in theory, your money will be sweat-free, but the cashier isn't going to know that.

 

It is an awkward place to keep your stuff. And if you put too much stuff in it, you will end up looking like one of those overly muscle-bound guys that can't put his arms down at his sides and has to stand with his hands a foot away from his hips. 

 

I am not big on exercise, but there are times when I go out to walk/run and I want to have at least an ID and a single key with me.  I have this weird fear of getting hit by a car and no one being able to identify my body or contact my family, so I wouldn't want to have no ID at all. I wouldn't need some huge pocket for a phone and money, but I think a small pocket is a great idea.  I hate the name for it though.

 

Okay, I can see how it could be useful for a key and an ID when you are out jogging, especially if it is sweat-proof, but I wonder how long it would be before the EMTs/police would think to check your armpit for your ID.  Plus, depending on your running stance and if you have sleeves, it could rub against your inner arm.  My daughter uses a pouch that straps onto her arm when she jogs - it is big enough to hold her ID, key, and phone (so she can have music to jog to).  I don't thinks she puts her ID in it though - she figures they can get her information from her phone (call any contact number and the person who answers can say who the phone belongs to, but it is better to have someone listed under "emergency" or "ICE"). 

 

You can buy those big buckets at Lowe's for anywhere from $3 to $4.47. Add in the other plastic parts...which I understood him to say he had to buy or build a mold for, so I figure that adds in another $10 over time. Yeah, he's making a huge margin on those gold-mining buckets.

 

He said that most of the money he invested went toward the cost of the mold, so I don't think the "specialized" parts would be readily available.  However, I didn't really understand what made his so special.  I thought he said he has a 30% profit margin, so each one costs him about $30 to make.  

 

When he said what his previous sales were, I thought to myself, "hmm, seems like everyone who would want one, has already bought one."  I don't see much of a market for this.  I can see how this would keep kids entertained for a couple of hours - once, making it $50 an hour fun.

[candall]

I was fully onboard with the sandal people.  There's a Plowsharing Crafts place in St. Louis that's 100% stuff from third world countries and I feel good about shopping there, buying gift certificates.  Some of it's like old plastic bread wrappers twisted, braided and woven into a textile item and some of it's handmade jewelry that will take your breath away.  Llama wool and batik.  Carved instruments.  I believe this is a good thing.  Sweatshops?  I've seen too many women offering me things for US$1 that took them hours to make.

 

I also admired the last woman with the shattered glass voice.  (Find your diaphragm, woman!  Hooow Nooow Brooown Cooow)  It was nice to see someone who knew what she was talking about with the MBA lingo.  The panel really WERE like sharks, bumping her and taking bites out of her.  I'm with Cuban:  good for her.

[starri]

Plowsharing Crafts is a charity, isn't it?  Sseko isn't.

[LeGrandElephant]

For $100 you could just buy some gold dust, dump it in some sand, and have your kids pan for gold the old fashioned way.