S01.E02: Beyond The Tank: Episode 102

[yeswedo]

 

The entrepreneurs behind Plated have a chance encounter and a new investment that could revive their dream; Mark Cuban and the owners of The Red Dress Boutique have a disagreement; the latest on Ryan's Ruffery.

 

Description updated, original one was incorrect!

[mjc570]

Wow, I will NEVER order anything from Red Dress - what an obnoxious woman!  And if she mentioned her father one more time, I was ready to jump.  What a contrast to Ryan's mom.  Barbara must be doing something right with them, because I see the Ryan's Ruffery products in a lot of stores.

 

As the family cook, I would love to order from Plated - no shopping, no thinking, no leftover ingredients.  I bet my family would appreciate the chef-designed meals.

[zxy556575]

I didn't mind the Red Dress owners and even agreed with them about the website.You can zoom in a bit on the clothes now and see different views, and the site looks a lot less clunky. It didn't cost that much in the grand scheme of things and I didn't understand, even though he explained it, why Mark was so adamant. Not my style of clothes at all, but I wish them well.

 

The sniffle-y Ruffery mom got on my nerves but Barbara's empathetic mentoring style seems to be a good fit for her (and "Ryan", but let's be honest).

[phoenix780]

Mark's interaction with the Red Dress people reminded me of every conversation I've ever had with IT people at work when I want to incorporate updated technology.  As an end-user I want something new, because I'm tired of existing issues and/or because I've seen something cooler functioning elsewhere and I think it shouldn't be difficult to replicate.  They take a conservative approach, arguing that "mostly working" is good enough, and reminding me of the catastrophe that could happen venturing into new tech territory.  Oh, and everything is always very, very, very hard to execute- lots of time and money spent- so I should just be grateful for whatever I get.

 

It's kind of odd to see it from him, because he's known as an innovator.  But, I got where the Red Dress people were coming from...not necessarily because of what they said, since they didn't articulate very well, imho, but by overlaying my own experience.  They want the shiny new thing.  IT doesn't want the blame/responsibility when it doesn't work.  Have to admit, it was comforting to see it play out on TV (even if my brain is twisting the reality of it).

[bilgistic]

I'm no website designer (I've done maybe three, ever), but I sure as hell didn't understand how making an improvement to an existing website makes it more unstable--unless the foundation upon which it's built is crap. I get it's an e-commerce site, but Mark's guys didn't invent the technology, and I doubt they were hosting it. (If that was such a problem, which it seemed to be, there are plenty of larger hosts that could do the job.) They aren't running Amazon.com, FFS. They were acting like making a change was doing open-heart surgery. Get over yourselves.

[LotusFlower]

Didn't the Red Dress people want a completely new website, as opposed to improvements on the existing? I think that was Mark's concern.

[readster]

 As an IT person I saw both Mark's side but I also saw Red Dress's side too. Here was the problem with both. Mark was right, the constant update on the website wasn't helping. Even web giants like Amazon or Fingerhut, there are always new items going up every moment but they allow a search algorithm that allows it to naturally pop up as a related item when you are looking at another item. Their website was lacking that and people looking and clicking on various items and videos was kill it. They had a poor server host. Never once did I hear Mark say: "It's not the webpage itself its your host service." On Red Dress's side, they said how they wanted to build the new webpage but I never once heard: "We can't do a design like this on our main host so we need to go to a new one that can." It was more of: "We can't do this, so we'll pay someone who can." 

  Ryan's mom, saw where she was coming from and if I understand right, Ryan is the middle of the three boys and the dad has to pay the rest of the bills with his job. Plated? Wow, felt real bad for those guys and from what I understand from friends in the that type of business, it is the real estate and logistics that will kill you even if you are successful. More money goes out than in despite how successful you are. You either break even, make a profit or go under in a few years if you keep spinning.

[starri]

The thing that I took away from this episode:  Kevin may be a bastard, but he knows his shit.

[Dots And Stripes]

Didn't the Red Dress people want a completely new website, as opposed to improvements on the existing? I think that was Mark's concern.

That was part of it, but he also said the Red Dress people making frequent changes to the old site made it less stable. On a shallow note, Mark has never looked worse. Is the Shark Tank lighting magic or what? The difference was startling.

 

This show feels like the Hills meets Shark Tank. Every conversation feels like it's been had before but is being recreated for the cameras.

 

I loved Barbara for telling Ryan to leave the room before her staged heart to heart. Good for her for realizing it wasn't appropriate to bring Ryan in on that conversation and for giving the mom a pep talk. 

 

I hated the Plate guys, esp the one with longer hair. The whole thing with them and Cuban sounded weird too. I just don't trust those guys.

[zxy556575]

Here's my takeaway:

Plated guys: "The deal fell apart, unfortunately."

Cuban: "They were greedy assholes."

 

I didn't feel a bit sorry for them, myself. Partly because of their cockiness and partly because their business model seems unsupportable with such huge, ongoing capital expenditures. Hundreds of warehouses and thousands of employees across the entire country? I mean, I'll go back to the well of Amazon as an example -- this is from January of this year, about 2014: "Amazon had a loss of $241 million for the full fiscal year, as operating expenses climbed 20% to $88.8 billion, essentially wiping out $89 billion in sales."

 

The Plated site won't let you see pricing or much of anything until you create an account, but I remember it being pretty expensive for not much. I'd be very interested to see their customer retention rates. My guess is that the majority try it for a week or two then "cancel at any time."

[AyeshaTheGreat]

 

This show feels like the Hills meets Shark Tank. Every conversation feels like it's been had before but is being recreated for the cameras.

 

Yes.  I just can't get into this show.  While I don't really mind the boring scripted nature of the show, I have others watching and it becomes much more notable.

 

As for this episode, I really couldn't get into any of the follow-ups.  I guess Ryan's business is doing well but Mom is really the one running it yet is not well enough to handle that task.  And there were far too many tears this episode.

 

Overall, I would have liked to see how these founders are actually running their businesses.  I know they do not talk to the sharks so I'd prefer to see the point person they actually work with introduced to the show and carry on like a normal running arrangement.  I hate seeing them meet with the shark and springing info on them that would already be known to an investor.  I think the show was a good idea but the execution needs major help.  For me, I don't feel it is as much of a learning experience as Shark Tank,

[starri]

The Plated site won't let you see pricing or much of anything until you create an account, but I remember it being pretty expensive for not much. I'd be very interested to see their customer retention rates. My guess is that the majority try it for a week or two then "cancel at any time."

I've actually seen one of my neighbors getting boxes from them.  I realize I'm probably their target market--an urban-dweller who likes to cook but doesn't have a lot of time--so it's not without its appeal, but as I remember looking at their pricing, it was ridiculously high for what you get.  It would make a good date night activity for a couple, but at a certain point, I'd almost rather go out on an actual date.

 

They're also not the only people doing the same thing.  I've seen a similar service called Blue Apron advertised around town, and I think I got a flier from a third iteration on the same idea in the mail a few weeks ago.

 

I do have to shamefully admit that I do think the two guys were kind of hot.

[basiltherat]

You can purchase a "meal kit" from Peapod for between $12-$20.  They all seem to feature Barilla products. Foods range from pasta dishes to fish.   But, if you order Peapod, you can have these kits delivered along with  your other groceries.  And, if  you don't want to cook, you can buy any number of prepared meals from any grocery store or deli.  Or you can order hot food from GrubHub or any local pizzeria. 

 

Plated and its ilk seem like the meals themselves -- a lot of work and cost for the "thill" of cooking from "scratch."

[saber5055]

Ryan's mom was a twin for actress Diane Wiest, same eyes and face. She was still really pretty, and must have been a real beauty in her younger days.

 

It amazes me that people pay a premium for dog treats for animals that will eat baby birds right out of their nests, but good on Ryan for making his business profitable. Barbara also was pretty cool with him.

 

I think Mark is a jackass on ST and even more on this show. He could have at least put on a clean t-shirt to meet the Red Dress couple, both of whom were dressed for a business meeting. Mark, on the other hand, was dressed for changing the oil in his pickup.

Edited May 11, 2015 by saber5055

[bilgistic]

It amazes me that people pay a premium for dog treats for animals that will eat baby birds right out of their nests...

Or their own poop, or cat poop out of the litter box.

[silverspoons]

After watching the Plated and Red Dress segments, I wonder how in touch the sharks are with the consumer. I live in a city with well over 100k population and very little retail. Besides normal grocery shopping and pants/jeans I buy almost everything else online. The best example of how widespread online shopping is, on Christmas eve there were well over 1,000 people at the UPS hub and over 100,000 undelivered amazon packages alone for us go through(UPS opened up the warehouse and trailers for angry customers to find their Christmas gifts).

Red Dress, I wouldn't buy from them because of the return shipping policy. I refuse to pay for high return shipping costs. I understand not every company is large like amazon, or has an affiliate store for returns(We have one small old navy in town that will take back gap and Banana republic online orders). There are store like Soma, that after you spend a certain dollar amount over a lifetime you get free shipping for life and free returns.  I know when I or my neighbors or friends go to buy any clothes online, we go down the list of companies that offer free shipping and returns first and the list is long. I just can't imagine with Red Dresses' off brand clothing that it fits every customer great everytime. I haven't met a women who doesn't say I take a medium at this store and a large at this store, or I wear a 8 in this brand jeans and a 10 in this brand. I don't care about their website organization or redo, offer a return shipping deal!

 

Plated is shady. Lots of the competition do not deliver to my city. I wanted to find out if plated did. They make you put in your email and start an account to check if they service your area? Then I check under FAQ , under delivery area and it has a vague answer, we deliver to 90% of the country and asks if that was a helpful answer. I want to say no because it is not but you have to have an account to vote so the only feedback is all positive. I'm not giving out my information just to find out it is not available. I would actually use one of these service once in awhile, but I know others who would use it often. We have no chef owned type resturants just chains. One local grocery store puts together a few home cooked gourmet meals but you have to pay and sign up for a slot months in advance sometimes. anniversary I wanted a meal from and I tried to book my slot 6 weeks ahead of time and it was sold out.

 

The dog biscuit business is the mom's. She used her son for the cute factor and got lucky. If it were really the son's passion he would have some time for it. At 14, I worked a full time job 3-11pm and went to high school and graduated with honors. It wasn't easy but it was what I wanted/needed to do to reach my goals. We have seen other kids spend a great deal of time on their business and seem invested at least in the concept and packing. Ryan seemed disconnected, like a prop. I wondered why the mom needed the dog biscuit business so bad since she had multiple strokes before shark tank. She lived in a huge house in CT (couldn't be cheap) so was she trying to keep up a lifestyle?

Edited May 11, 2015 by silverspoons

[saber5055]

I'm not giving out my information just to find out it is not available.

 

 

Wow to this. If any site asks me to sign up even with an email addy much less credit card info just to access the site for more information, I'm out in a big way. It would be good to tell a company our thoughts on this, but we have to sign up first! Such a conundrum!

[NikSac]

You can purchase a "meal kit" from Peapod for between $12-$20.  They all seem to feature Barilla products. Foods range from pasta dishes to fish.   But, if you order Peapod, you can have these kits delivered along with  your other groceries.  And, if  you don't want to cook, you can buy any number of prepared meals from any grocery store or deli.  Or you can order hot food from GrubHub or any local pizzeria. 

 

Plated and its ilk seem like the meals themselves -- a lot of work and cost for the "thill" of cooking from "scratch."

 

My preferred grocery store is now promoting this whole line of "Chef's Menu" items (I think that's the name, something like that).  The idea is gourmet chef/restaurant quality meals prepared from "scratch" in less than 15 minutes. Everything's raw but it's pre-cut/prepared and ready to go.  I haven't tried it out yet but it looks like generally you could put together a really good meal for two for $15 or less. It's a chain store with about 140 locations in California and Nevada so it's not nationwide, but if it does well I could easily see other stores doing something similar (if they haven't already). Seems like if that caught on it'd make Plated obsolete almost before it even had a chance to catch on.

[nobodyyoucare]

 

At 14, I worked a full time job 3-11pm and went to high school and graduated with honors.

Except that type of job no longer exists for those in high school. Its often outright illegal to do such work for a teenager going to school. 

[cooksdelight]

I got a gift certificate for Plated but there was no way to redeem it for a free meal unless I joined and bought other meals. There are other businesses out there which do the same exact thing. I don't mind going to the store and buying my own ingredients. This must have been thought up by someone who never leaves their home and doesn't want to interact with the public.

[Kel Varnsen]

 

This show feels like the Hills meets Shark Tank. Every conversation feels like it's been had before but is being recreated for the cameras.

I am feeling the same way. The Red Dress segment was the worst. Not sure whose side I agree with, but at the same time are they trying to tell me that Mark gave them all kinds of free IT work and they don't bother to tell him (the dot-com billionaire) that they have hired a company to redesign their website until after that deal is signed and they are all on camera together. It just makes no sense. 

[nobodyyoucare]

I am feeling the same way. The Red Dress segment was the worst. Not sure whose side I agree with, but at the same time are they trying to tell me that Mark gave them all kinds of free IT work and they don't bother to tell him (the dot-com billionaire) that they have hired a company to redesign their website until after that deal is signed and they are all on camera together. It just makes no sense. 

Yet it happens all the time in the real world.  

I got a gift certificate for Plated but there was no way to redeem it for a free meal unless I joined and bought other meals. There are other businesses out there which do the same exact thing. I don't mind going to the store and buying my own ingredients. This must have been thought up by someone who never leaves their home and doesn't want to interact with the public.

Or by people who due to liberal policies never had home economic courses. Most people under 40 have no idea how to actually read a cookbook, shop for ingredients and prepare the meal. 

[NikSac]

I got a gift certificate for Plated but there was no way to redeem it for a free meal unless I joined and bought other meals. There are other businesses out there which do the same exact thing. I don't mind going to the store and buying my own ingredients. This must have been thought up by someone who never leaves their home and doesn't want to interact with the public.

 

Are you serious?  That is really bad!  I can see how you'd need to sign up because of course they need to know where to deliver your stuff, but I can't believe they required you to purchase more meals to even use it. I'd be pissed if I were the gift giver (and if I were you, of course). Interestingly that grocery store chain I mentioned that is now offering the "Chef meals" - basically the same thing Plated is selling - even has a service where you can order online and then go pick it up in the parking lot, without even getting out of your car. The only interaction you even have with a person is when they ask you to pop the trunk, and when you pay for the groceries. I'd do that before I'd ever consider Plated, especially if they're pulling shady stuff like that with the gift certificate.

[LeGrandElephant]

I sort of liked this followup admitting that it was really Ryan's mom doing everything and that she was the one Barbara invested in. I kind of hate when they act like the kids are totally doing these businesses. Though if she has other kids and Ryan isn't even the oldest, I wonder why it's him and not the others? Maybe he did have some interest in it that they didn't. Wonder if the other kids are jealous.

[nobodyyoucare]

Are you serious?  That is really bad!  I can see how you'd need to sign up because of course they need to know where to deliver your stuff, but I can't believe they required you to purchase more meals to even use it. I'd be pissed if I were the gift giver (and if I were you, of course). Interestingly that grocery store chain I mentioned that is now offering the "Chef meals" - basically the same thing Plated is selling - even has a service where you can order online and then go pick it up in the parking lot, without even getting out of your car. The only interaction you even have with a person is when they ask you to pop the trunk, and when you pay for the groceries. I'd do that before I'd ever consider Plated, especially if they're pulling shady stuff like that with the gift certificate.

Actually pretty much every retail online store offers free gifts or promotions that you have to purchase something in order to use or pay shipping. 

I sort of liked this followup admitting that it was really Ryan's mom doing everything and that she was the one Barbara invested in. I kind of hate when they act like the kids are totally doing these businesses. Though if she has other kids and Ryan isn't even the oldest, I wonder why it's him and not the others? Maybe he did have some interest in it that they didn't. Wonder if the other kids are jealous.

Apparently he did because he wanted to create treats for his dog barkely the beagle. He then wanted to sell the treats and of course for legal reasons his Mom did the work that he couldn't legally do. 

[NikSac]

Actually pretty much every retail online store offers free gifts or promotions that you have to purchase something in order to use or pay shipping.

 

Yeah, this I can totally understand, but requiring this to use a gift certificate??  I can see shipping, but not making someone purchase other stuff.  If it were just a promo or freebie offer that'd be one thing, but a gift certificate?  I can't imagine taking my $5 Starbucks card I got as a gift and being told "sorry, you'll have to buy two more coffees to use that."

[nobodyyoucare]

Yeah, this I can totally understand, but requiring this to use a gift certificate??  I can see shipping, but not making someone purchase other stuff.  If it were just a promo or freebie offer that'd be one thing, but a gift certificate?  I can't imagine taking my $5 Starbucks card I got as a gift and being told "sorry, you'll have to buy two more coffees to use that."

I have received gift certs after purchasing memberships on certain websites. These gift certs had a expiration date and were a listed part of the membership . I also recieved free gift notices that said I had to buy something in order to get free gift. Its quite legal for companies to do this. They may call it a gift cert when in reality it is a promo. Its all a come on or hook to get people there. 

[NikSac]

Cooksdelight maybe you can clarify for us, if you don't mind?  What kind of gift certificate did you get? Was it some sort of promo thing, or was it an actual paid for gift certificate for Plated?  It doesn't really matter I guess, but I'm just curious at this point.

[Kel Varnsen]

Yet it happens all the time in the real world.  

I am sure that kind of dealing happens all the time, but the fact that it was on camera and it was like "surprise Mark, we already signed with a web site developer without mentioning it to you or even getting a recommendation" seemed so staged and made it look completely fake. 

[nobodyyoucare]

I am sure that kind of dealing happens all the time, but the fact that it was on camera and it was like "surprise Mark, we already signed with a web site developer without mentioning it to you or even getting a recommendation" seemed so staged and made it look completely fake. 

If the meeting was scheduled and they knew it was on camera they would have done the same thing as if it wasn't on camera. Odds are Mark would have not been so calm about matters though. 

[LeGrandElephant]

It was interesting that Barbara was being really hand-holding and supportive, while the others were pretty much being like "you screwed up." I don't always like Barbara on the show but I liked her helping out Ryan's mom by being nice to her and by essentially giving her permission to get someone to help her with her overwhelming work. 

 

This show has convinced me that I never want to go into business for myself. It seems so incredibly stressful and risky. If I invented something, I would jump at a chance to license it to someone else who would do all the work. 

[bilgistic]

I have some limited experience with "in business for myself", as I was kind of forced to freelance b/c I couldn't get a job in the economy downturn (no matter what the Sharks say!). I do graphic design and research and basically whatever other support work (non-broker) for commercial real estate. It was miserably hard and I made peanuts (my hourly rate was good, but no one had money to spend on freelancers; I made less than $10K a year for about four years). I finally got a full-time job a year ago. I wouldn't wish on anyone what I went through. Being poor is INCREDIBLY hard. People who think it's easy and you get a government ride or some shit are DELUSIONAL.