S02.E12: Beyond The Tank Episode 212

[yeswedo]

Quote

Mark Cuban encourages the Bon Affair entrepreneur from season 5 as she searches for the right winery partner for her wine spritzers. Daymond John delivers some tough love about expanding Mission Belt, a business pitched during season 4. Floating Mug didn't get a deal in season 6, but Lori Greiner may yet invest.

[Zahdii]

That Mission Belt guy worried me.  He's already living in a mansion while his business is experiencing problems with bookkeeping, filling orders, shipping, etc.  If he were my partner, I'd be ordering an in-depth accounting, because I suspect he's taking too much of a salary and could easily run the company into the ground.

[designing1]

That house was ridiculous. Ten thousand square feet? Maybe wait till your business is well established before graduating to your cookie-cutter mansion.

[bilgistic]

That GUY was ridiculous. When Daymond John is telling the guy that his kids played in his own spacious house the same way the guy's kids are, there's a problem. Daymond John is mad rich. That guy is selling belts out of a tiny space in an industrial park. Priorities, guy, priorities. That fucking basketball court and "box office" in his house made my blood boil. What an asshat. I wish Daymond John would have really reamed him instead of treating him with the kid gloves he did.

I also can't deal with the coffee cup guy who isn't making any money but, hey, let's have another kid!

I just don't know about the wine spritzer situation. I can't figure out why the "company" needs a social media staffer AND a marketing staffer--how are those roles not the same thing? In the branch of the commercial real estate company I work in, which has 100ish people out of 70K, that person is one and the same. I rewound that part a few times to make sure those were indeed two different jobs I was reading on screen. And why the CEO/founder hugging everyone she just met at that company? Oh, wait--I forgot these shows are staged recreations of what really happened.

[Gregg247]

I don't blame Daymond for not jumping all over the belt guy for buying the huge mansion.  That guy looked so INTENSE that I wouldn't want to say anything to set him off!  Did his "little" brother and best friend have houses like that, too?  How many belts has that guy actually sold in order to afford that massive home, anyway?  Didn't he say that a portion of each sales went to charity?  Hmmm.......

I felt bad for the cup guy, but his product fell into the category of "a solution is search of a problem" for me.  How hard is it to put a glass on a coaster (or just a paper towel)?  Plus, all the parts that need to be put together on it, and you have to clean it afterwards.  Too much hassle (and I'm sure the final cost won't be cheap).  Lori offered to invest, for 51% equity, and the guy had to dramatically pause for the commercial break.  Since he had just told us that he was broke and about to just walk away from the business anyway, I was reasonably sure Lori's offer would be accepted!

I had no opinion of the wine spritzer company, except that I'm glad she's getting some good sales.  I think her "VP of Social Media" and "VP of Marketing" are really a couple of her friends from school who help out a few times a week (or whenever the cameras show up at the office).  I was surprised that this was a Mark Cuban deal, rather than a Kevin deal.  Did Kevin look down his nose at the idea of a wine spritzer company rather than a fine wine snob company? haha

[seacliffsal]

I had a hard time with the Mission Belt guy.  He seems nice, but not only did he had a 10,000 foot home (why?  who needs that much space?), he had s uper expensive Mercedes which worried me even more.  As mentioned above, he must take most of the profits for himself rather than re-investing in the company.  I hope Daymond and the other guys are getting their shares.  I think Daymond hit it on the head when he said that all this could disappear in a moment.  I can't imagine the stress that guy is under trying to expand his business and keep up with all of those bills at the same time.  This segment reminded me of the shows about lottery winners who end up in debt because they spent too much without any long-term planning.

[RemoteControlFreak]

Mission Belt guy is headed for a big fall. Blowing all the company money on a (tacky) McMansion is stupid. His whole business is based on one specific belt buckle design. What happens when that style goes out of fashion?  He's stuck with his home theater and basketball court and a big debt.

Bon Affair has a good product and the owner is appealing. She should get a nice kick up in online orders following this episode.  I don't know how well the taste of the wine will hold up in aluminum bottles but it will be a good product where people walk around drinking like in Las Vegas and at golf tournaments.

Edited May 5, 2016 by RemoteControlFreak

[ae2]

It's going to sound like I'm trying to justify this guy living an exorbitant lifestyle, but I'm not I swear.

A 10,000 sq ft house in Provo, Utah, where Mission Belts was founded, appears to cost around $1mm to $1.5mm. It's not unrealistic for someone earning, say, $200k a year to afford that.

If the company is doing a few million a year he could easily be paying himself that. The company seems to be doing fine and continuing to grow.

All that is to say his lifestyle seems well within his means.

Now, the issue is more about why the show felt the need to show off the extravagance. It seems they think that's the American Dream that Shark Tank loves to propagate. While I'm sure most people would love to be able to afford that, and they might dream it the same way they dream about being the star quarterback for the Broncos, the real goal is something more... down to earth.

[psychoticstate]

I'm with everyone else in the shock at how the Mission Belt guy is living.  Compare that to the lady from Bon Affair - - granted, the Bon Affair lady lives in Solana Beach and Mission Belt guy is in Utah but still . . . 

I don't fault the guy if he wants a big ass mansion and a Mercedes and can afford it.  More power to you.  My worry is that he is only 2 years in.  As Daymond said, wait until you're 5 years in and the company is still strong.  In the meantime, get yourself a nice family home, upgrade your 1997 car to a newer model (not necessarily a luxury vehicle) and sink your profits in the bank in case the market slows or dies.  The company definitely seems as though it needs a GM or someone to keep track of the inventory and get things organized.   The main guy needs to devote himself to sales, since that's what he does best - - and/or come up with another product.

[starri]

I just ordered my fourth Mission Belt this afternoon.  I wonder if I would still have done if I'd watched this already.  It's your money, and you earned it, but I reserve the right to think you're an idiot who's headed for personal bankruptcy sooner rather than later.

I'm curious as to what (besides controlling interest) Lori is getting out of the cup deal.  I mean, in zero-to-hero terms, that seems a lot work for not very much reward.  She took a majority share of ReadeRest, but she also got the patent on it as well, IIRC, and more people need glasses than need coasters.

[Amarsir]

You guys don't know the half of it on the Mission Belt guy.

First, the belt was not an original idea. It's a copy of an older company called "SlideBelts". Which is run by this guy's (Nate Holzapfel) cousins. Now it's hardly the first product to appear on Shark Tank purporting to be more original than it is. But stealing the idea from family is something special.

Second, this:

Spoiler

Yes, that's a commissioned painting of the Mission Belt guy as Moses. When he's not selling belts, the guy sells books about "The 10 Commandments of Selling". I wonder if Daymond knew this when he made the "best salesman" statement because I'm pretty sure Holzapfel's going to be quoting him on that forever.

http://utahvalley360.com/2015/02/06/mission-belt-co-creator-films-shark-tank-spin-off-provo-shares-success-entreprenuers/

All of which makes me hope Daymond is getting his money out of that as well, because all the warning signs are there that this is not a long-term business.

Edited May 9, 2016 by Amarsir

[bilgistic]

Oh, Utah.