yeswedo February 17, 2015 Share February 17, 2015 Business ideas and products started by entrepreneurs while they were in college are featured, including a couple who provide microloans to those in need. Also: Interest in a Philadelphia student's scholarship app leads three of the Sharks to walk out of the Tank; and the inventors of Bottle Breacher, which was invested in by Kevin and Mark during Season 6, offer an update. Link to comment
cooksdelight February 21, 2015 Share February 21, 2015 Keen Home interested me when I heard the name, as I wear Keen sandals and shoes year 'round. I looked at their website and they are taking pre-orders, at a reduced price. I am not sure that's a sign of success. I like the concept, but I wonder how many homes would go for this, as opposed to commercial buildings and hotels. Loved the backpacks. And I appreciate they are keeping the manufacturing here to give people jobs who might not otherwise have a job. The Scholly guy got over a million dollars in scholarships by searching the web? Can't anyone do that with the time and drive to search? For 99 cents, I can download the app now and begin looking. I thought Damon was going to break down and cry. I could see Mark about to explode, and Robert and Kevin made sense wanting to know more about how the system works. It's not sour grapes, in my opinion. This may backfire on Lori and Damon by not knowing more about the app, in their zeal to grab the deal. 2 Link to comment
mtlchick February 21, 2015 Share February 21, 2015 WHY ARE THE PARENTS FIGHTING?!?! Oy. That said I get why Robert and Mark got upset; they're the tech guys. They want to know what the back end is like so they can make a call on it. I think the kid would have gotten a better deal if he got a chance to explain and if they liked what they heard. But DAMN. $1.5 Million in scholarships?! That's impressive. 3 Link to comment
Shibori February 21, 2015 Share February 21, 2015 Lori is such a joke. I wouldn't want $40k if it meant I had to listen to her patronizing, condescending drivel. I really wish they'd replace her, because she brings nothing to the table but QVC and hate, and the show doesn't need that drama to be a hit. 10 Link to comment
Eolivet February 21, 2015 Share February 21, 2015 (edited) According to someone on Twitter, the backpack people don't even have a fabric from Uganda. They can team up with the sandal couple from last week to form the Assuage Your Rich White Guilt company! It's not just a product, it's a business -- funded heavily by the Bank of Mom and Dad. Edited February 21, 2015 by Eolivet 2 Link to comment
augmentedfourth February 21, 2015 Share February 21, 2015 It's not sour grapes, in my opinion. This may backfire on Lori and Damon by not knowing more about the app, in their zeal to grab the deal. Normally I might agree with you, but let's face it, $40K is pocket change for the two of them. If they lose it, they shrug and move on. I could see both sides of the argument, but I'm leaning towards Lori and Daymond and don't think they did anything egregious. Come on, every single shark on the show has done the "take my deal right now or I'm rescinding my offer" bit. Sometimes it works, sometimes it doesn't. I agree that it would have been nice to hear more about how the app actually worked, but if Lori and Daymond were willing to put up the money without that information, that's their problem. (Not to mention if they go forward and a technical issue does arise, I'm sure they each have plenty of contacts to call up and/or hire to fix it.) And Kevin's argument that the guy could have walked away with more money from another shark was just ridiculous - just because Lori and Daymond are giving him a certain amount now doesn't mean they can't put more money into the business in the future. Meh. Just another reality TV moment that was totally blown out of proportion by the commercials and promos for it. It's not going to change anything on the show in the long run, and I doubt it'll affect any personal relationships (for better or worse) that much, either. 9 Link to comment
hoodooznoodooz February 21, 2015 Share February 21, 2015 Was this the third product/brand starting with "Lumi"? There was the cool light that fans out like a book, the photo-print service and now LuminAid? 2 Link to comment
BMGepinniw February 21, 2015 Share February 21, 2015 (edited) I could see both sides of the argument, but I'm leaning towards Lori and Daymond and don't think they did anything egregious. Come on, every single shark on the show has done the "take my deal right now or I'm rescinding my offer" bit. Sometimes it works, sometimes it doesn't. Too true, but I can't be unbiased because I really dislike Lori, and Daymond is one of my favorites. I hope the entrepreneur doesn't regret his decision. Lori's big complaint a couple of weeks ago was when she felt a pitcher wasn't listening to her. Now she does basically the same thing to Robert, Kevin and Mark, with her sing song "sour grapes, sour grapes" chant. It will probably blow over. The deal was personal to Daymond, but I'm not sure exactly what Lori's motivation was, other than perhaps being somewhat fearful that a technology discussion would leave her out. Edited February 21, 2015 by BMGepinniw 4 Link to comment
Guest February 21, 2015 Share February 21, 2015 They never ask the questions I want to hear anyway. Like, "aren't there a whole bunch of scholarship sources that do the same thing" (I haven't researched it but I think there are, though possibly on the 'net, not the phone) and "what do you mean by $1.3M in scholarships?" There is no way he COLLECTED that much. He might've applied for ten different full ride scholarships and got offered six and figured, "OK, if I went totally top-end, I might spend $200k on a full ride. So I'll call that $1.2M." When in truth he can only accept ONE full ride and he probably picked a program/school that wasn't the most expensive in the world, because that's not how you pick a school. So maybe he actually got 10% of what he bragged about. Which is great but hardly legendary. So three sharks stormed out... because they were done filming. Ok. If any salesman ever tries to force me to decide now (or today or this week), I run. Daymund, you and about 11 other people would pay $200 for a cute backpack. College kids... 99% of them- no way. Plus it was the puny drawstring style you can't even fit a 3-ring binder, textbooks and a laptop in. You can get cute, roomy Jansport packs all day for $35. I wish they'd asked more of Keen Home. I'm going to their web site. I really need new vent covers but I'm 99% sure they won't make offbeat sizes. What would be cool is if you could set the vents to effectively 'follow you' (or your phone) around the house. When you go to bed, the A/C or heat is concentrated there (or in all bedrooms, if you set it). In the living room, there. Not home? Turn it all to low. Coming home- tell it so it cools/warms the house. Link to comment
KaveDweller February 21, 2015 Share February 21, 2015 Daymund, you and about 11 other people would pay $200 for a cute backpack. College kids... 99% of them- no way. Plus it was the puny drawstring style you can't even fit a 3-ring binder, textbooks and a laptop in. You can get cute, roomy Jansport packs all day for $35. When Damond suggested raising the price, I was thinking how I'd never spending $100+ on a backpack. And I am not a college student, or even young adult by those kids' standards. I thought it was kind of rude of Lori and Damond to insist the kid make a decision when the other Sharks were still asking questions, BUT I don't think it was that terrible. Every Shark has asked someone to make a quick decision without hearing other offers. And if they don't care about profiting off this deal (although I'm sure they do) that's their choice to make. 3 Link to comment
anonymiss February 21, 2015 Share February 21, 2015 (edited) WHY ARE THE PARENTS FIGHTING?!?! My thoughts exactly. I enjoy their play-fighting but this made me uncomfortable. I actually really like Lori but Robert & Mark were making a lot of sense. Edited February 21, 2015 by anonymiss Link to comment
NikSac February 21, 2015 Share February 21, 2015 LumiAid (hope I got the name right) seemed like a neat idea, but I'm curious what they actually have that's proprietary. Maybe they explained and I didn't understand the explanation, but to me it sounded like pretty much LED light+parachute type material to diffuse and/or reflect it. I thought Keen Home was interesting too, but I didn't understand enough about how it worked. I know homes vary but we have those adjustable vent thingies at home (though yes, it involves getting on a stepladder to adjust them to open/closed/in between). Was the Keen Home only different because you could adjust it with your phone? I can definitely see commercial buildings and hotels going for it, but I couldn't see spending whatever amount it would cost to wire our house like that plus replace all the vents. I liked the backpacks, and agreed with the sharks that they're probably a bit underpriced. That Scholly guy struck me as shady, personally. I liked the idea, but... really? Maybe times have changed but back in the day when I was looking for scholarships almost all of them were need-based or partially need-based, and for around $20 I got a book that listed thousands of possibilities. Thing was if you had other scholarships coming in, that reduced your "need." Plus you couldn't accept multiple free-ride scholarships to multiple places. Like I said maybe times have changed but the idea that someone got $1million+ made me think he either lied on at least some of the applications, or lied to the sharks. 2 Link to comment
starri February 21, 2015 Share February 21, 2015 They can team up with the sandal couple from last week to form the Assuage Your Rich White Guilt company! It's not just a product, it's a business -- funded heavily by the Bank of Mom and Dad. See, my reaction to Taaluma was 180 degrees from my reaction to Sseko. They're employing disabled people in the United States to do the actual labor, and making sure that profits get recycled into the source country. It's no more a charity than Sseko, but seems less exploitative by a factor of approximately infinity. I liked them, I liked the idea, I loved the backpacks, and I bought one made of a beautiful blue-green Guatemalan fabric. I didn't hate any of the products, I didn't hate any of the people pitching the products, and frankly, that's one of the few times Lori has never bothered me. Good episode all around. 3 Link to comment
cooksdelight February 21, 2015 Share February 21, 2015 Oddest thing about the backpacks, they aren't mentioned anywhere in the Richmond Times-Dispatch. Not a whisper. The kids said the factory making them is located there, and I used to live there so I was sure the local newspaper would have a story about them appearing on the show. Nothing. 2 Link to comment
Shibori February 21, 2015 Share February 21, 2015 (edited) Though I don't have a problem with the concept of Scholly, I do have some issues with it in practice. The main one being that the guy seemed to be perpetuating a lot of misinformation about how financial aid formulas work. (I'm simplifying a bit here.) Everyone seeking financial aid does a FAFSA, the government form for student aid that determines what you "could" pay. Say school, including living expenses, books, etc. are estimated at $50k, and the formula decides your family can afford to pay $10k of that each year (actually paying, not taking out loans). The $40k difference is your "need". Any savings the student has in their own name, outside scholarships, etc. reduce the need first, so in this example you'd have to come up with $40k plus a year in scholarships before it makes a dent in your $10k family/student contribution. Now, if you're from a poor enough family, you might have a minimal contribution under the formula, so scholarships help reduce your needs for loans, which is certainly good. When I applied to colleges (in the dark days of the 1990s), I got into 7 schools, all around the country, ranging from the local state school to Ivy League. The financial aid packages I got from all seven were remarkably similar, and closely followed the FAFSA determination. So I guess I'm actually questioning whether the Scholly guy just assumed he couldn't afford school or whether he made that decision after seeing financial aid offers from schools where he was accepted. Because most schools, esp. more prestigious ones will come up with need based money and loans for students that have a demonstrated need. The other issue I have is that the more people using the service, the less valuable the information gets. If they have 50,000 scholarships and 100,000 users and grow to 500,000 users without adding more scholarships, the competition for the ones in their database will significantly increase. Also, the reality is that the more "unique" you are, the more luck you'll have. An orphaned minority student in a science major with a 4.0 GPA who plays an obscure sport is going to find more options with fewer students competing for them than a middle class white kid with a 3.0 who's third string on their HS football team. Edited February 21, 2015 by Shibori 6 Link to comment
Cranky One February 21, 2015 Share February 21, 2015 I thought Keen Home was interesting too, but I didn't understand enough about how it worked. I know homes vary but we have those adjustable vent thingies at home (though yes, it involves getting on a stepladder to adjust them to open/closed/in between). Was the Keen Home only different because you could adjust it with your phone? I can definitely see commercial buildings and hotels going for it, but I couldn't see spending whatever amount it would cost to wire our house like that plus replace all the vents. My understanding was that for the house, you'd have to have a thermostat that you can control with your phone. If I wanted to use it, I'd definitely have to by a new one. But, I could see it being a feature in new homes that are being built. I'm curious if Laurie and Daymond let the Scholly kid answer the questions, they would be out. I wanted to know more about the back end of how it works also. I liked the Luminaid ladies. But for emergencies, you'd have to make sure it was charged and not in a drawer somewhere. I have a solar powered mouth thermometer and when I needed to use it recently, I had to wait a bit for it to charge under a lamp as I had it shoved in a drawer. I get the backpack idea, but no, I would not pay $200 for it. 1 Link to comment
starri February 21, 2015 Share February 21, 2015 Oddest thing about the backpacks, they aren't mentioned anywhere in the Richmond Times-Dispatch. Not a whisper. The kids said the factory making them is located there, and I used to live there so I was sure the local newspaper would have a story about them appearing on the show. Nothing. Come on, Maureen McDonnell got sentenced yesterday. That's the biggest news out of Richmond since her husband received his sentence. I get the backpack idea, but no, I would not pay $200 for it. I could see it being a trendy thing for a while and them getting away with those kind of prices, but I think the $72 with shipping I paid is pretty reasonable. Unfortunately, it's a bit small for my current needs, but those should be reduced shortly. Link to comment
Guest February 21, 2015 Share February 21, 2015 Another reality of scholarship shopping is the process of applying isn't simple. You write targeted essays (so no writing one and sending it in for ten apps), submit transcripts and forms, go on personal interviews and submit letters of recommendation. They're like applying for jobs or graduate programs. It's not like you check off the 30 Scholly recommends on your phone and hit 'apply' and they send you money. The guy struck me as shady, too. I was kind of glad Lori pressured him because I didn't like him. But I wanted Robert and Mark to expose his weaknesses, too. I think Daymund and Lori thought "$40k is worth it for me to just look good to the public so QUICK accept before you don't look so good anymore, entrepreneur." After reading the Keen Home site and some articles about it, I'm not interested, plus they didn't have sizes I'd need. Link to comment
designing1 February 21, 2015 Share February 21, 2015 I liked the Luminaid ladies. But for emergencies, you'd have to make sure it was charged and not in a drawer somewhere. I have a solar powered mouth thermometer and when I needed to use it recently, I had to wait a bit for it to charge under a lamp as I had it shoved in a drawer. The solar-powered aspect was certainly its blessing and curse. No batteries to die out? Great. Toss it in your car, as I believe someone on the show suggested? Use it for life jackets? Fine, but where do you leave them so they can be charged and ready to go if you need them? I can easily see it catching on as a pool/picnic/outdoor party light, but for emergency situations the charging issue can be tricky. 2 Link to comment
cooksdelight February 21, 2015 Share February 21, 2015 I guess if you put your LuminAid on the dashboard so it's in the sun all the time it would be ready. In your boat, put it out on deck somewhere. In your house, a windowsill. 1 Link to comment
Primetimer February 21, 2015 Share February 21, 2015 Six seasons in, and only now is someone getting around to telling Lori and Daymond that maybe they shouldn't invest in a company if they don't know how it works. Read the story Link to comment
Tunia February 21, 2015 Share February 21, 2015 (edited) Daymund, you and about 11 other people would pay $200 for a cute backpack. College kids... 99% of them- no way. Plus it was the puny drawstring style you can't even fit a 3-ring binder, textbooks and a laptop in. You can get cute, roomy Jansport packs all day for $35. Yeah, I kinda looked at that as more of a "grandma price" - you know, the price where only a grandma would buy it for her adored grandchildren, despite its size or other limitations. Some of the Vera Bradley backpacks are over $100, and I see many of those around. Of course, they're pretty roomy, but don't have the backstory to go with them... http://www.verabradley.com/category/handbags/backpacks.uts Edited February 21, 2015 by Tunia Link to comment
Guest February 21, 2015 Share February 21, 2015 I guess Luminaid works best for non-nighttime emergencies, or multi-day ones. Or maybe you can charge it once and keep it in your glove box for a year and it'll work. Link to comment
starri February 21, 2015 Share February 21, 2015 The point to Keen Home is…well, I suspect the point to Keen Home is to be acquired by a bigger company for at least ten figures Yes. If Google doesn't buy it and pair it with Nest once they actually have sales, I'm going to be very, very surprised. Daymund, you and about 11 other people would pay $200 for a cute backpack. College kids... 99% of them- no way. Plus it was the puny drawstring style you can't even fit a 3-ring binder, textbooks and a laptop in. You can get cute, roomy Jansport packs all day for $35. According to the Taalum website, you can get a 17" laptop in it. And a tablet would take up less space and would also serve as a storage device for textbooks. Link to comment
TimetoShine February 21, 2015 Share February 21, 2015 As someone who thinks Lori is an actual shark, I'd never take one of her deals. I don't trust her. More importantly, I agree that all the sharks (or almost all the sharks, including Robert and Mark) have done the, "take my deal right now or it's off the table" bit and I hate it. I think Damon and Lori were foolish though because they don't know anything about the app. And, something must be up because it's not available in the iTunes store right now. 2 Link to comment
yeswedo February 21, 2015 Author Share February 21, 2015 luminAID how it works - says it will hold the charge for 4 months. They have a couple of variations that weren't shown in the episode and a Give Light, Get Light program where you buy a light and sponsor a donation to a partner organization. I lost power for 3 days during Hurricane Irene a few years ago and this would have been great instead of candles and lanterns. During the day there was plenty of sunlight to recharge. 6 Link to comment
marny February 21, 2015 Share February 21, 2015 (edited) I think the other three's issue with the Daymond/Laurie offer to the Scholly guy was that it came across as super-patronizing. They heard a guy who came from a poor background, who worked hard to get scholarships to college, who created an idea to help other kids get scholarships-- and immediately threw money at him. They asked him nothing-- nothing about the app, nothing about the amount of debt the company probably has, nothing about how the money will be spent, nothing about how they expect to grow the company, literally zero. They've never let a single other entrepeneur get away with explaining so little-- even when their ideas have been much better and more obviously lucrative. So it came across like "Aw, poor little cute college kid-- here's some money." It teaches the young man nothing, and it sets a terrible example. And every time Laurie kept saying the bullshit about, "You guys are just mad because you got scooped," she sounded dumber and dumber. Edited February 21, 2015 by marny 8 Link to comment
piewarmer February 21, 2015 Share February 21, 2015 I feel like the Keen Home design we saw is mostly residential. I don't recall most hotels having the same size venting as home ducts. Maybe my judgment is colored by the fact that I've been living in a long-term stay hotel for three months after some water damage to my house, and my room has one of those great honking wall units that controls the temp. I don't really think the concept of controlling the air flow room by room is that complex. My house, for example, has the common areas all in the front, and bedrooms in the back, and during a cold/hot time it would be great to be able to say "I'm going to bed, stop heating/cooling everything except my bedroom" Link to comment
zxy556575 February 21, 2015 Share February 21, 2015 I hope the Keen vents are better than mine, because all those do when I close them is make a loud rattling noise as the air tries to force its way out. I'm also not buying the savings claim. My rooms with the closed vents are still perfectly cool (Florida, so it's always A/C with me) while my bedroom that I want to be cool is always 5-6 degrees hotter than it is in the hallway where the thermostat is haphazardly deciding my fate. 7 Link to comment
Shibori February 21, 2015 Share February 21, 2015 I wondered about the vent sizes too. I only have one vent that's that size in my house, the rest are other shapes and sizes. Link to comment
Katmai February 21, 2015 Share February 21, 2015 (edited) Lori is such a joke. I wouldn't want $40k if it meant I had to listen to her patronizing, condescending drivel. I really wish they'd replace her, because she brings nothing to the table but QVC and hate, and the show doesn't need that drama to be a hit. I sooooooo agree. And who in the Sam hill told her she rocks the side-pony???? It's not flattering to her. Is it a wig because I've never seen her wear her hair any other way? Not a fan of anything Lori, but I do like Barbara. Eta - Lori is always the first one to ask about patents, too. Makes me think that's mostly what she's really interested in, seeing as though she's got over a hundred. Eh. Edited February 21, 2015 by Macthekat Link to comment
Shibori February 21, 2015 Share February 21, 2015 (edited) Or that patents are the only thing she knows much about. She seemed awfully confused by the wireless vents, which I think my cats could understand. She seems to zone out when the conversations get technical. And I don't remember her ever doing anything unusual with her offers, Kevin and Mark are the ones more likely to offer venture debt or something beyond the standard equity or loan (or in Kevin's case, royalties). I may be projecting because I don't like her, but it seems like the only maneuvers she does use (you have to accept now, or maybe a royalty offer) she's picked up from the other sharks. Edited February 21, 2015 by Shibori Link to comment
bilgistic February 21, 2015 Share February 21, 2015 ::Shaking cane:: All I think about when new things are invented that use wifi are that it's a trimph enough most days for my phone, laptop and DVR to stay connected to my router/modem combo at the speed the ISP tells me I'm getting (liars). Do I really want to deal with more things going offline? And after the power goes out, which happens about weekly on my early-1970s-era apartment, I have to get everything back online. I'd venture to say that most municipalities' ancient power grids just aren't set up to handle all of the demand we put on them with new technology. I don't think cities want to invest on upgrading, even if it will mean eventual savings. Just this week, we had an ice storm and had warnings on TV and the radio about lowering power consumption because of lines being down. 5 Link to comment
cooksdelight February 21, 2015 Share February 21, 2015 I think Damon and Lori were foolish though because they don't know anything about the app. And, something must be up because it's not available in the iTunes store right now. ::Dum dum duuuuuuhhhhhhh!!!!:: music of doom. Either they are revamping it to sell it for a lot more money, or they finally figured out the algorithims that Mark was talking about and realized they've been snookered. 1 Link to comment
Guest February 21, 2015 Share February 21, 2015 Re. "sour grapes"... I don't think Mark would bother with any deal for $40k. Or a $.99 app that is going to have six competitors within 2 weeks, if it doesn't already. I read a Consumer Reports article on Keen Home and another, more sophisticated system. They said Keen wanted you to put the electric registers in little-used rooms and rooms hard to get right, so I'm thinking all it's mainly doing is saving you the step ladder job when you need to use the guest bedroom a couple times a year or need to tweak things to fix a hot or cold room. http://www.consumerreports.org/cro/news/2015/01/heating-vents-that-direct-warmth-where-you-want-it/index.htm And I'm with ya on the wifi load. On my home wireless now: printer, two phones, Ipad, Kindle, DVR, two laptops, television. Maybe that backpack is bigger but we bought a cute, drawstring style one at PacSun for my high school kid this year and had to return it because a 3", 3-ring binder didn't fit in. That was by Brandy Melville (a popular juniors designer right now) and was only $50, I think, maybe $60 not on sale. The Vans store and Pink have a lot of cute, roomy ones for around that amount. Link to comment
DayPlayerAtKellys February 21, 2015 Share February 21, 2015 I found it odd that none of the sharks would not even entertain the backpack idea (which, for better or worse, was spelled out fairly clearly and seemed to me to have some additional business venues such as clothes, computer cases, strollers, etc) but two were jumping on the ap idea when it was so obviously something that, as many have said here, felt a little shady. Seems like the backpacks (and potential like items) have a wider appeal than an ap for college students. Still not entirely sure what the sharks were even talking about when they poo poohed the backpack couple - that they are too nice? too green in the ways of business? The whole walk off thing felt more "Apprentice" than "Shark Tank" but given how unreasonable Lori was being, understandable. I guess since I live in an apt, I don't really get the whole Keen Home thing although I thought that they are a cute couple. 1 Link to comment
starri February 21, 2015 Share February 21, 2015 I found it odd that none of the sharks would not even entertain the backpack idea (which, for better or worse, was spelled out fairly clearly and seemed to me to have some additional business venues such as clothes, computer cases, strollers, etc) but two were jumping on the ap idea when it was so obviously something that, as many have said here, felt a little shady. Seems like the backpacks (and potential like items) have a wider appeal than an ap for college students. It may be because they have trouble getting enough fabric. Their website mentions that if you like a particular design (especially if it's marked as a limited edition) to jump on it, because they will most likely not be able to get that exact fabric again. They do offer wristbands as well and anyone who purchases a backpack this weekend and then either tweets about it or shares it on Facebook gets three free. I declined, as I'm long in the tooth for that. Link to comment
LakeGal February 21, 2015 Share February 21, 2015 I think one of the biggest problems with Lori and Damon were they jumped in before they knew anything. Yes, most of the sharks have used the "decide now or I am out" strategy. But we hear about the product first. They jumped in before the viewers heard about the product. I thought this show was really for the viewers or they would do this in a room somewhere without cameras. Lori and Damon did not let the audience in on the product. 2 Link to comment
LeGrandElephant February 22, 2015 Share February 22, 2015 The app is in the itunes store now. Are you sure it wasn't there when you posted? Link to comment
JayCutler February 22, 2015 Share February 22, 2015 Lori is the worst. Does anyone else get annoyed when a shark offers (for example) 100k at 15%, she'll jump in and say she'll offer 100k for 25%? She did it last night with the first group and Cuban and Damon started laughing at her. 1 Link to comment
Dots And Stripes February 22, 2015 Share February 22, 2015 I think the other three's issue with the Daymond/Laurie offer to the Scholly guy was that it came across as super-patronizing. They heard a guy who came from a poor background, who worked hard to get scholarships to college, who created an idea to help other kids get scholarships-- and immediately threw money at him. They asked him nothing-- nothing about the app, nothing about the amount of debt the company probably has, nothing about how the money will be spent, nothing about how they expect to grow the company, literally zero. They've never let a single other entrepeneur get away with explaining so little-- even when their ideas have been much better and more obviously lucrative. So it came across like "Aw, poor little cute college kid-- here's some money." It teaches the young man nothing, and it sets a terrible example. And every time Laurie kept saying the bullshit about, "You guys are just mad because you got scooped," she sounded dumber and dumber. I added emphasis because something didn't sit right with me about Robert's explanation about hating to feel like a charity case. Scholarships, while often based on merit or accomplishments, are also at times based on your background. A kid who earned that much scholarship money almost certainly received some of it for reasons other than merit or skill. (That's not intended a criticism. I received a very small scholarship from my home town.) I'm not sure that the people building an app to help people get "free" money is exactly the right case to rail against charity. One of the reasons I like Daymond is that he does sometimes make small deals because he wants to give the people a shot. Is it charity? Maybe at times it is. I kind of wonder if maybe there aren't other issues at play though since Robert never seemed to have an issue with it before. Mark should also be the last one to talk about when and how people can offer deals. Mark always looks out for his own interest above all else. He's also the guy who I thought was super condescending when he offered two women a deal with the condition that they spend time with his daughter. Something about that app just didn't sit right with me. I think the post above about how the more users the app gets the more difficult each scholarship will be to win is part of it. I don't think it was worth the argument though. 2 Link to comment
nobodyyoucare February 22, 2015 Share February 22, 2015 In regards to scholarships I recall a story a teacher of mine told. He had applied to a several hundred dollar scholarship in which he had to write an essay. He won it and then years later had a chance to look through the applications of various scholarships. He was the only one that applied that year so he won by default. In regards to making people pay for what is public info. There are people have made money doing this. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Matthew_Lesko Have you ever noticed in comments on videos etc that people ask about things that they could easily learned in ten seconds of googling or just reading the other comments on the same page? People are just lazy and don't want to learn by going out and spending some mediocre amount of effort, they want to by hand fed every scrap of knowledge that their bird brains will forget in ten seconds. In regards to the solar inflatable lamp there are other companies on the market that make those. One of these companies has patents. I don't think the Lumi girls were asked about patents or it wasn't aired. https://www.mpowerd.com/products is one such company and there lanterns don't look like a pillow. 2 Link to comment
lonerafter February 22, 2015 Share February 22, 2015 I'm normally more of a lurker, but as someone who's dealt with the college process in the last 10 years I can't help but join in the conversation this time. There are websites that do something similar to Scholly, but I'm thinking the simpler look of the app, and assuming it has push notifications that alert students to new scholarships added, may appeal to high school kids more than logging into a website every day to check for new scholarships. Now as far as FAFSA/need based and all of that goes, I'm fairly sure most of what y'all are thinking of falls into the categories of grants, need based scholarships, or institutional scholarships. There are many what I guess would be 3rd party scholarships, ones that come from non government organizations that could be applied to any, or at least many different, colleges. I know that my friend received a hefty chunk of change in the form of a scholarship she won from an organization she had been volunteering at for 7 years. Had nothing to do with the college she went to or her family's financial status. Also, it is possible to receive a large amount in scholarship money, I'm not sure that $1.2(?) million is easy for everyone to receive, as he did say he was raised by a single mom and had been working for a while, things that could either make him eligible for more scholarships or win someone over in an essay. However, I do know that schools, at least in my area, apply scholarships a certain way. First the money goes to tuition/fees, so the actual classes, then if you have enough to cover that and still have leftovers it goes to dorms, if there's more left it can go to a meal plan, then it can go to books, etc. I remember in high school they had a college fair to encourage everyone to apply, and there was a girl there who went to the local state university who spoke, and she was getting gas money from scholarships she had so many. As opposed to getting a job in high school like her friends, she would spend hours each day after class looking up scholarships online and applying, even if she was not qualified. She ended up winning some of the ones she wasn't qualified for because no one else applied. So yeah, you still have to apply and write essays, and these scholarships the app features may not be worth much, but if you add up one $500 scholarship here, and another $250 there, and you use it consistently, you could make a dent in your tuition payments. I like the idea of it being available for students on their phone, so they have no excuse to not use it since the phones are constantly in their hands anyway. I wasn't a huge fan of Lori and Daymond cutting him off, but they seemed to understand the purpose/vision, which always makes me happy. Okay, that ended up being longer than intended, sorry. But I still have some (much shorter) impressions from the rest of the episode: I thought Daymond was insane to suggest people pay, what, $200 for those backpacks? Especially if the target audience is the average college student. They didn't look very sturdy or like they had much room, though I did like the different designs. For some reason I really liked the light, especially that it was rechargeable. I didn't see the solar thing as being a huge issue, if I put one in my car for emergencies there's no reason why I couldn't just leave it on my passenger seat or back seat. I guess if you had kids in the back or people who ride with you frequently you'd have to figure something else out, but it seemed like a good idea to me. I loved that it was being used for emergencies as well, I don't know why but I prefer the showcases for products that also help people as opposed to just selling a product. I mean they're obviously still selling it, but it just makes me like it even more. As for the vents, I see more uses in the hotels like they mentioned rather than in individual homes. I think the people who would like a more technology friendly house are also the people who can't afford $400+ for something as simple as a vent. Link to comment
Lola16 February 22, 2015 Share February 22, 2015 Not all scholarships are need based. And some are really obscure. I haven't researched scholarships in a while (since the 00s) but the sites I remember, you had to give them a lot of personal info, and even pay. If this app is only 99 cents and no one is going to be calling you, then it would be worth it to get a targeted list of scholarships. The flaw I saw with the program was that it was all labor intensive in that they had 1 guy researching and typing the info in. The presenter made it seem like once it was input, it wasn't revalidated. Still 99 cents makes it a cheap buy. Link to comment
nobodyyoucare February 22, 2015 Share February 22, 2015 (edited) Not all scholarships are need based. And some are really obscure. I haven't researched scholarships in a while (since the 00s) but the sites I remember, you had to give them a lot of personal info, and even pay. If this app is only 99 cents and no one is going to be calling you, then it would be worth it to get a targeted list of scholarships. The flaw I saw with the program was that it was all labor intensive in that they had 1 guy researching and typing the info in. The presenter made it seem like once it was input, it wasn't revalidated. Still 99 cents makes it a cheap buy. Mark and Robert were demanding to know how this algorithm the guy spoke of worked to validate and find scholarships. So it may have been more then guy just looking up info and tying it in. Also I think Daymond and Lori were thinking of ways to get more money from this then .99 cents for an app. Edited February 22, 2015 by nobodyyoucare Link to comment
KaveDweller February 22, 2015 Share February 22, 2015 I found it odd that none of the sharks would not even entertain the backpack idea (which, for better or worse, was spelled out fairly clearly and seemed to me to have some additional business venues such as clothes, computer cases, strollers, etc) I think they thought it was just too small a business. Sharks often don't make deals for what seems to be a good business run by smart, hard working people. The company might make enough to be a living for those kids, but not enough to be worth an investment for the sharks. I don't think the Lumi girls were asked about patents or it wasn't aired. They were asked about patents, that's when they said that the patents were filed through Columbia and so the school got 2%. 1 Link to comment
nobodyyoucare February 22, 2015 Share February 22, 2015 I think they thought it was just too small a business. Sharks often don't make deals for what seems to be a good business run by smart, hard working people. The company might make enough to be a living for those kids, but not enough to be worth an investment for the sharks. They saw it as a small business not ready for a huge investment. Sales were small and the margin wasn't high enough. Daymond seems to be an exception and his objection was price point. They were asked about patents, that's when they said that the patents were filed through Columbia and so the school got 2%. Okay I missed that part. But as I noted there are similar lanterns out there so the they do that pillow shape to have their product sold instead of being sued out of existence. So this is a case where a patent doesn't really help them out in getting an investment. Its just they got the chance to pitch instead of another company with a similar product. Link to comment
KaveDweller February 22, 2015 Share February 22, 2015 Okay I missed that part. But as I noted there are similar lanterns out there so the they do that pillow shape to have their product sold instead of being sued out of existence. So this is a case where a patent doesn't really help them out in getting an investment. Its just they got the chance to pitch instead of another company with a similar product. I don't exactly know the requirements for getting patents, so I assume there is something technically different about how the products work that allowed there's to go through. Lori tends to make a big deal about patents, but I don't think they'll always make or break a company, or that they should be required for getting an investment. Link to comment
zxy556575 February 22, 2015 Share February 22, 2015 (edited) In regards to the solar inflatable lamp there are other companies on the market that make those. One of these companies has patents. I don't think the Lumi girls were asked about patents or it wasn't aired. https://www.mpowerd.com/products is one such company and there lanterns don't look like a pillow. Oh, those are so much nicer! And for about the same price. I'm interested to see what Cuban's product development plans are (and if they involve sports giveaways), but if I needed one now, I'd definitely get the Luci Light version. I was at a state college in the mid eighties and as I recall, tuition was $60/unit or around $720 a semester. So, different times. But I was supporting myself and did get a few small $300-$500 scholarships over the years from private sources like the local Optimist Club, which only required their own application. I had to dust off my one good blazer and give a thank you speech at their luncheon. Which, hey. Free meal on top of the money! Maybe it's different now, but I personally didn't get around to college until I was 31. The FAFSA application had a focus on my parents' income that was not in any way applicable to someone who'd been on her own since 18. Maybe that has changed, but I didn't pursue government programs except student loans for that reason. Edited February 22, 2015 by lordonia 1 Link to comment
cooksdelight February 22, 2015 Share February 22, 2015 Am I the only one who uses the flashlight app on my phone for light when the power goes out? I also have a waterproof bag (a kayaker's thing) for my phone and money. And I go camping and anytime I need to find the communal restroom, I use my phone app. 1 Link to comment
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