S02.E02: Beyond The Tank: Episode 202

[yeswedo]

 

Mark Cuban checks in with Season 4's Lani Lazzari and her Simple Sugars natural-scrub product line. Daymond John holds a tense meeting with Solomon Fallas, creator of a party cup with a built-in shot glass, with the future of their partnership on the line. Abe Geary did not take a deal in Season 6 for his Pet Paint company, and is currently trying to get his product into retail. Stephen Hersh had almost bankrupted his luggage company, Biaggi, but was saved by Lori Greiner's Season 6 investment. Will his shocking half-a-million-dollar investment turn out to be a repeat of past mistakes?

 

[bilgistic]

As much as I hate PetPaint, I think I hate its creator's super-skinny jeans more.

[Shelby]

Pets are living beings in our care, not objects to be spray painted. On a practical level, if I spray painted even that small heart on my dog, that color would end up on my carpet and furniture.

I enjoyed seeing Daymond's break up with the cup guy. After the Jesus Socks episode, I was afraid all of the BtT episodes were going to be filled with manufactured drama with happy endings.

[Gregg247]

The break-up scene with Daymond and the 180 Cups guy was awkward and obviously "TV-ready", but the fact is, they did end their partnership, so I'm glad they showed that and reminded us that real people  appearing on TV don't always have a happy ending.  In this case, I don't think either party was in the wrong, they just had 2 different ways of going about building the business.

 

At first, I thought Daymond had a point about the cups guy being crazy to "turn down a Lil Jon endorsement deal".  Then, it turned out that Lil Jon would get some % of total sales, just for putting the cups in some music video.  That seems.....like a good deal for Lil Jon!  Maybe not such a good one for 180 Cups.

 

Anyway, good luck to both guys (and Lil Jon, too) in their separate endeavors.

[mjc570]

I never thought I would say it, but I really agreed with Lori about the luggage guy,  That was an INSANE amount (half a million) to invest in a product that he has an emotional connection with, but really isn't well-thought out.  I compared it to the SImple Sugar person - she's undertaking a new product line for men, but is investing only $15,000 in it.

Edited January 8, 2016 by mjc570

[DEL901]

I never thought I would say it, but I really agreed with Lori about the luggage guy,  That was an INSANE amount (half a million) to invest in a product that he has an emotional connection with, but really isn't well-thought out.  I compared it to the SImple Sugar person - she's undertaking a new product line for men, but is investing only $15,000 in it.

 

I'm shocked Lori didn't blow a gasket when he said he'd sunk so much money into that other line without even mentioning it to her.  Clearly he knew she's be unhappy and wanted to present her with a done deal, but he was an idiot.  He's damned lucky the other line is doing to well or she'd wash her hands of him.

Edited January 9, 2016 by yeswedo
removed dup text

[anonymiss]

They've really improved this spinoff. It's an engaging show in its own right now. 

 

The 180 cups guy was right about rejecting the Lil Jon deal because Lil Jon's moment in music has long passed and "everybody" wouldn't have seen it because hardly anyone is checking for Lil Jon now let alone what's in his music videos. I can see why Daymond was salty about it though because he called in a favour and I'm sure celebs (even on the D List) aren't used to hearing no from us regular folk so it made Daymond look bad.

[BusyOctober]

I can't speak to the pros or cons of Simple Sugars. I am impressed by the young woman's achievements and her business success. She has a lot of confidence but her way of speaking with that God-awful vocal fry and the constant tossing and shaking her head while talking takes away from her presence. Even if someone has the business acumen this young person has, and even if he/she has an IQ beyond Stephen Hawking's, I can't take that person seriously if he/she speaks and twitches like a Kardashian.

I remember luggage guy from his episode. I remember thinking back then he had daddy issues. I still think he is trying to live up to daddy's legacy and has tunnel vision. There are already enough high-end luxury luggage companies out there. People with that kind of cash are going to go for Coach or Louis Vuitton, not "Biaggi". There are waaaay more folks out there in lower income brackets who could appreciate well made, affordable, light, collapsible travel gear. Stick with the Zipsac and remember to thank God Lori knows more than you do.

[bilgistic]

All that pink at the Simple Sugars place nauseated me. I already have a visceral reaction to pink and the fact that marketers force girls into buying pink products, while boys get to choose blue, red, black, etc. My own eight-year-old niece wears and uses boys' products (and always has; her mom and I were pretty much the same way) because she hates that princessy stuff.

I hope the young woman will move past her pink obsession as she ages a bit because it was enough to make me never want to try her products. The damned floor was pink. I mean, I get it, she can do whatever she wants because it's her company, but she's not going to sell to men or my segment of women straight from the gate. Women who already use the products might get the men in their lives to use the men's products.

[columbot]

Luggage guy seems like if he was born a few generations earlier he'd be a consigliere for the mob. Just has that look.

 

I kept thinking the Simply Sugars owner was named "Lady". If she likes pink, so be it. Many companies try to strongly associate particular colors with their product for branding's sake. Like...the red cups!

[starri]

I continue to be more impressed by Lori's business skills.  I still think we're going to see her on BTT because she has a weekly quota of "Zero or hero" soundbites to make.  For all her idiotic stubbornness surrounding Bagel Stuffins, the way she handled Scrub Daddy in the first episode and Biaggi here was pretty savvy

 

Luggage guy seems like if he was born a few generations earlier he'd be a consigliere for the mob. Just has that look.

I thought the same thing (he also looks more than a little like Peter Scanavino from SVU), but given that one of his childhood photos showed him wearing a kippah, I guess he's Jewish.

 

God, I fucking hate Simple Sugars.  Good for the young lady for doing so well, but it's a health and beauty product, not polio vaccine.  And it's not even that, it's that this is perhaps the sixth time that she's been given an update segment.

 

I'd forgotten Lori's old, ubiquitous side-pony.  

[seacliffsal]

The Biaggi guy is another example of someone who is just too in love with their ideas. He claimed that the luggage had been upgraded and represented the luxury market. No. The colors, the construction, and especially the wheels were nowhere near the current luxury standards. The industry has moved on to fully rotating wheels whereas his product still had the one way wheels. I thought that Lori looked like she would have strangled him had cameras not been present (and that was probably why he had the courage to bring up the luggage). I could just see her thought bubble of what the heck was he doing with their profitable company. He spent quite a bit of the company's profit to produce those bags. Hopefully they will earn that back with their appearances on QVC. I really respected Lori's business sense regarding the luggage and what worked and what didn't.

[bilgistic]

The name of that luggage line--the Cosmopolite or the Commodore (The Strain, heh) or the Cheshire or the Cronkite or whatever--it was hilariously over the top.

And "Zipsac" sounds like a painful accident between a man's privates and his jeans zipper.

Edited January 10, 2016 by bilgistic

[ae2]

This was a much better episode than the first of this season.

 

I'm sure most of this show is scripted, or at least prepared for in advance. But when the Simple Sugars woman sat down and started talking about her men's line, and Mark Cuban jumped to "I'm not happy with how fast you're growing" she looked genuinely surprised. It was disappointing that she jumped to the "I'm so young!" argument.

 

Meanwhile, the advice he gave was sort of run of the mill social media marketing / content marketing tips. Interesting to hear that put out so plainly on television. More interesting that he had to tell her to start doing it.

[Kiss my mutt]

I can't believe she is selling simple sugars scrub for $25. Or better, I can't believe people buy it. Anyone can whip up a scrub with some sugar, jojoba oil and even add s little emu oil for pennies.

And who is lil John?

[ClareWalks]

Huh, I guess I'm the only one who loves Simple Sugars scrubs. I like the owner, she really has her head on straight and it's nice to see that in a 21-year-old. The products are amazing, and I know this because I use them. My mother-in-law brings me scrubs for Christmas every year, since she lives in Pittsburgh and can buy it at Giant Eagle. I suppose I could make my own "for pennies" (dubious), but you could say the same thing about a billion products, and most people don't have the time, energy, or sourcing capabilities to actually make all their own stuff. Also how would I get a super-accurate rose scent on my own? 

[Kiss my mutt]

I wouldn't buy a product that won't list its ingredients. I have sensitive skin so telling me it's proprietary is a deal breaker.

[ClareWalks]

I wouldn't buy a product that won't list its ingredients. I have sensitive skin so telling me it's proprietary is a deal breaker.

 

Yeah I don't blame you, if I had sensitivities or allergies I'd be a lot more careful. That is the one thing I don't like about Simple Sugars, is they are a bit mysterious.

[NikSac]

I can't believe she is selling simple sugars scrub for $25. Or better, I can't believe people buy it. Anyone can whip up a scrub with some sugar, jojoba oil and even add s little emu oil for pennies.

 

Ok, I'll bite - where can one get jojoba oil and emu oil plus all the other ingredients for pennies?  Those seem to me like the type of specialty items that are typically pretty expensive for a small bottle. I do agree with your point you can probably make something cheaper at home, but I wonder just how cheap it'd be. If it's truly pennies I know what I'm making for Christmas gifts next year!

[Kiss my mutt]

Amazon.com. I have a bottle of organic jojoba oil that was $12 and free range emu oil for $20. It lasts me almost a year! I know what's in it which is good for my reactive skin. I'm not sure what extras simple sugars puts in. I'm sensitive to fragrance as well so all the essential oils they add could cause an allergic reaction.

I'm not sure if I can link to products on Amazon but I like Now brand oils and Swanson's emu oil. :)

[bilgistic]

I won't use emu oil because I'm a vegetarian, but I made a nice oil concoction for myself from jojoba oil, castor oil and tea tree oil. If the balance is right, it's absorbable and not overly greasy. You just have to play around with it.

Plain coconut oil alone worked great for me, too. It's trendy right now, so it's everywhere. It would be a nice base for a scrub, I imagine.

[HawaiiTVGuy]

The Biaggi guy is another example of someone who is just too in love with their ideas. He claimed that the luggage had been upgraded and represented the luxury market. No. The colors, the construction, and especially the wheels were nowhere near the current luxury standards. The industry has moved on to fully rotating wheels whereas his product still had the one way wheels. I thought that Lori looked like she would have strangled him had cameras not been present (and that was probably why he had the courage to bring up the luggage). I could just see her thought bubble of what the heck was he doing with their profitable company. He spent quite a bit of the company's profit to produce those bags. Hopefully they will earn that back with their appearances on QVC. I really respected Lori's business sense regarding the luggage and what worked and what didn't.

I know she is not in the "charity" business and probably doeas not want to be an enabler, but seriously how bad would it have been to throw him a bone and let him hock it on QVC one time. Plus they could package the full size luggage with the carry-on as a package deal. Makes perfectly good sense.

[seacliffsal]

It would impact Lori's reputation if she brought a product that didn't sell well or did not provide enough of a profit for QVC. From what I gather, QVC is very tough to get on-if Lori uses her influence for a lesser product it could hurt her sales in the long run. Also, if QVC throws a bone to him they could be liable to the products which were rejected based on concrete criteria.

It is also a really passive-aggressive move on his part to agree not to produce the bags and then, magically, he has 11,000 of them and in order for the company to get backs its investments he is pressuring Lori to sell them on QVC. How about he works with his partner to make smart business decisions.

[cooksdelight]

I just saw the rerun of this episode by accident. Had never watched this model of the show before.

That luggage guy is a dead ringer for a Russian mob guy who was killing women after they had their babies, and selling the babies, on Law & Order: SVU. He gave me chills with that creepy smile.

I read some reviews on the 180 Cup and they all confirmed what I originally thought ... if you do a shot, you’ve got a sticky mess to deal with if you now want to drink a beer or whatever. Not many reviews on Amazon, not many reviews anywhere.

I agreed with Barbara about the pet paint, it’s a Halloween or Christmas novelty. My dog looks like a fawn as it is, all he needs are some spots for Halloween. :D. I was in Florida with him one time and some kids said “Hey look at that dog, he looks like a little deer.” I replied, “He’s a Fawn Dog. It’s a new breed.”