S08.E08: Milk Snob, Jack's Stands, Chi'Lantro BBQ, Toor

[yeswedo]

Quote

A Dallas, Texas, real-estate broker's pitch leads to a battle of billionaires about his business model for a way to make house hunting more convenient; a 10-year-old kidpreneur from Broomfield, Colorado, created a lemonade-stand business to help other kids start their own businesses; a mother from Allen, Texas, designs Made-in-America multi-functional covers for infant car seats; and a tenacious man from Austin, Texas, pitches the Sharks his Korean BBQ fusion restaurant food-truck business. Also, a follow-up on Rent Like a Champion, a weekend rental-home business, which Mark Cuban and Chris Sacca invested in during season 7.

[chocolatine]

4 hours ago, yeswedo said:

Quote

a 10-year-old kidpreneur from Broomfield, Colorado, created a lemonade-stand business to help other kids start their own businesses;

In other words, a kiddie pyramid scheme?

[Eolivet]

I've downgraded Uber Guy to Guest Shark. Like Katy Perry's Left Shark, except his sweet dance move is acting smug all the time.

[Amarsir]

Sacca didn't mention Uber or Twitter even once. And I think he was right on everything. And he still managed to annoy me.

That Chi'lantro sounds great. And fast casual is hot. If he didn't get an offer from Barbara I'd have told him to call Marcus Lemonis.

[Wildcard]

I thought the Bulgogi fries looked familiar. If anyone wants to make them, the recipe (from Chi'Lantro) was made available at Food and Wine.  http://www.foodandwine.com/recipes/french-fries-bulgogi-and-caramelized-kimchi

 

I'm suddenly very hungry.

[LittleIggy]

On 11/8/2016 at 11:53 AM, chocolatine said:

In other words, a kiddie pyramid scheme?

I didn't get what the kid was selling.

[chocolatine]

19 minutes ago, LittleIggy said:

I didn't get what the kid was selling.

It sounds like he'll let other kids franchise his lemonade stands and pay them 10% commission? And teach them "business skills"? I don't understand why any kid would want to franchise a lemonade stand instead of opening their own, but whatever. It was just a cutesy kid business (though being $60k in debt is less cute), and I'm sure he'll move on to other things in a few years.

Would any of you who are selling/have sold a house let people tour it without a realtor? I wouldn't, especially if I still lived in the house and all my stuff was in there. And that guy was claiming it would take days or weeks to get a realtor to show a house - that's patently false in my area. The real estate market here is very competitive, so realtors always bend over backwards to accommodate buyers.

The Korean BBQ looked delicious.

I only started watching the show this season, so haven't seen the fake cowboy shirt dude before, but he seems to be a douchebag like many of his Silicon Valley compadres. I want Robert back.

[OpieTaylor]

31 minutes ago, chocolatine said:

Would any of you who are selling/have sold a house let people tour it without a realtor? I wouldn't, especially if I still lived in the house and all my stuff was in there. And that guy was claiming it would take days or weeks to get a realtor to show a house - that's patently false in my area. The real estate market here is very competitive, so realtors always bend over backwards to accommodate buyers.

No!, I wouldn't if it was my personal, current residence. I guess I could see it if the house was empty because I'd already moved out. One of the things that realtors lockboxes supposedly do is keep a record of everyone who has unlocked it, because the realtors have to use a code to get in - so if something is wrong/missing in the house, then at least you can narrow down the likely suspects. 

I, too, am surprised that in some cities it takes a while to get a realtor to show a house to a prospective buyer. That hasn't been my experience. 

Did you all see how/why that guy was such an awesome salesman? All the sharks were raving about him, but I didn't really get why. Maybe a lot of his strong sales stuff was edited out.

[chocolatine]

48 minutes ago, OpieTaylor said:

No!, I wouldn't if it was my personal, current residence. I guess I could see it if the house was empty because I'd already moved out. One of the things that realtors lockboxes supposedly do is keep a record of everyone who has unlocked it, because the realtors have to use a code to get in - so if something is wrong/missing in the house, then at least you can narrow down the likely suspects. 

The Toor system is supposed to have some sort of tracking as well, since the lock box is opened and closed via the app, and the app must be associated with a unique user ID, but unless they're doing a thorough background check and identity verification for each user, I would absolutely not want unescorted people in my house. Even if I've moved all my stuff out, someone could vandalize the house, pour concrete down the drains, all kinds of nasty stuff (I've seen that happen on one of the HGTV house flipping shows).

48 minutes ago, OpieTaylor said:

Did you all see how/why that guy was such an awesome salesman? All the sharks were raving about him, but I didn't really get why. Maybe a lot of his strong sales stuff was edited out.

I just saw him being suave and telling them they were asking great questions. I think he got a much better deal than his business warranted (both the idea and the stage of development), so he's not a terrible salesman.

ETA: I think the Toor app would be more valuable as a sort of Uber for realtors. You drive past a house, decide on a whim that you want to see it, pull up the app, and the closest available realtor comes to show you the house. It would still be of limited use, since most people who are house hunting already have a realtor they're working with, but there could be a small niche for it with the impulsive crowd.

Edited November 12, 2016 by chocolatine

[hkit]

3 hours ago, chocolatine said:

The Toor system is supposed to have some sort of tracking as well, since the lock box is opened and closed via the app, and the app must be associated with a unique user ID, but unless they're doing a thorough background check and identity verification for each user, I would absolutely not want unescorted people in my house. Even if I've moved all my stuff out, someone could vandalize the house, pour concrete down the drains, all kinds of nasty stuff (I've seen that happen on one of the HGTV house flipping shows).

Story time! I had moved to another state and was selling my home empty. It was under contract. My mother in law was checking on the property for us one night when she found two people in our empty house, painting swatches on the wall! They ran off before the police arrived (with the key from the lockbox), but her description of them matched my realtor's description of the couple who had a contract on the house. We had an old fashioned lock box that used the combo code. I filed complaints against their realtor for sharing/not protecting the lockbox, and didn't get too far. The couple backed out of the contract, and the small amount they had in escrow covered the damage they did to my walls and rekeying the locks. I fired my realtor and made sure the other realtor was blacklisted from showing the property. It took me another 6 months to sell my home, and it cost me a small fortune in carrying costs. 

Moral of the story: I don't want ANYONE near my home unescorted. I don't even want a lockbox on the next home I sell, but it seems that is unavoidable. But I like that the Toor seems to have a much better tracking mechanism. I like that I can require an agent present. I like that I can get an alarm if the key has been out for a specified period of time. I don't know if this is unique to his system, but my experience tells me that there is room for improvement. 

[LisainCali]

Of course the Toor lockbox will have tracking on  it.  I'm in the Orange County, CA area which has a very busy real estate market.  Different markets are VERY different in how they do things...our lock boxes do open with a smart phone, and it logs the agent, when s/he opens the box. You can also set specific times the lockbox is unavailable for showings, such as between 6 pm and 9 am.

To contrast Orange County with other cities, as of 2005 La Jolla still had those black and white paper listing books that the agents had to pick up from the Board each week.  And in Los Angeles/West Hollywood area there were no lock boxes and the agents had to physically meet the agents and their clients at each listing.  

It is an antiquated business around here....I believe the Toor requires the keys to be placed back in the box before it closes.  I hope this guy does very well.  

[Primetimer]

Mark Cuban and guest Shark Chris Sacca recreate our current national dialogue by shouting at each other impotently long after everything's been decided. Oh, and everyone gets a deal.

View the full article

[Eolivet]

9 hours ago, Amarsir said:

Sacca didn't mention Uber or Twitter even once. And I think he was right on everything. And he still managed to annoy me.

He was still name-dropping, even if it wasn't the Big Two. "I know the Little Mamas Facebook group" and "I totally work with my wife" was like neo-mansplaining ("Look at all the women things I know, now don't you want a deal with me!") I'm glad the Milk Snob owner was unimpressed by him, and I've never been happier to see Lori get a deal. Then he followed that up with "I'm looking for a house and I saw 15 the other day." Go away, forever, Guest Shark. I'd take GoPro guy every day of the week and twice on Sunday over having to see your face again.

I, too, was confused about Jack's Stands. I thought he just provided the stand and the materials -- like a mom-and-pop competitor to Melissa & Doug. Selling the raw stand, the materials needed for business and a book with helpful tips might have maybe been a viable business, moreso than "Let me share my experience of being alive for 10 years -- coming soon to a Denver mall near you!"

[Wings]

The kid's dad (let's be real) set up a business plan like Amway.   His goal is to have kids buy the stand from him and get a percentage of their sales.  Never going to happen.  Sacco basically loaned the kid some money at 2%.  Okay, I suppose but he is not going to make a big business out of this but do well this xmas. 

I was very happy to hear the woman (baby cover) say she came wanting to pair with Lori right after Sacco gave her his rap and sure she would choose him.  What an arrogant puff ball.  Jesus. 

Toor did not call to Barbara and I certainly bow to her knowledge on anything real estate.  Having someone in your house unattended it nuts. 

[nottopbravo]

Quote

is when Jae goes to exuberantly bear-hug Barbara, causing her skirt to ride up and giving the other Sharks a little too much of a view of her equity stake.

I think the other Sharks are familiar with Barbara's "equity stake" seeing she has told the story (on Shark Tank) of working as waitress and wearing no underwear to get better tips.  Ugg.

[Fatkat]

Did the lemonade kid say how much it costs to franchise? The whole thing was confusing. Why would a kid want to run a lemonade stand with Jack's name on it and only get 15% of sales? Do franchisees make their own drinks or is it Jack's brand? I'm surprised to that Jack didn't let the Sharks sample anything. So many questions!

[Latverian Diplomat]

Lemonade stand: I guess it's not child labor if your boss is also a kid? I realize that the real dodge is that it's a franchise/commission deal, but it still stinks.

18 hours ago, chocolatine said:

I just saw him being suave and telling them they were asking great questions. I think he got a much better deal than his business warranted (both the idea and the stage of development), so he's not a terrible salesman.

He was smooth, confident, and had answers for everything. I didn't think he was the best ever, but in fairness, I had no interest in his product. That said, I humbly submit that if you notice how good a salesman is, maybe he's not the best ever.

I think Chris Sacca was right, if there are bluetooth lockboxes already in use by major realtors, they've got a tremendous lead. But the way to handle this is just to say, "Hey, I've seen similar lockboxes with similar features out there already, so I'm out." and then shut up.

On the other hand, I think Mark was enthusiastic about how this gadget might help people act as their own realtors, so he thought the relatively minor feature of access without an agent present was really important. I don't know how many people would actually be comfortable doing that, but Mark is a true believer in entrepreneurship of every type.

Edited November 13, 2016 by Latverian Diplomat

[bilgistic]

Is the phrase "milk snob" something I don't know about because I find children repulsive? It seems like a terrible name for the product.

[shksabelle]

Jack was a tad too precocious for my taste, and dad needs to get a J-O-B instead of living off his 10-year old.

[Bookish Jen]

1 hour ago, bilgistic said:

Is the phrase "milk snob" something I don't know about because I find children repulsive? It seems like a terrible name for the product.

I agree; Milk Snug seems  more appropriate.

[Wings]

1 hour ago, shksabelle said:

Jack was a tad too precocious for my taste, and dad needs to get a J-O-B instead of living off his 10-year old.

Dad has his own business; he said it was moderately successful.  He is just helping his son and I feel confident that any money Jack raises will go into savings for him.  

[DEL901]

I have never had Korean BBQ but I thought that food looked good.  And the absolute best advertisement for the food: after the sharks had just finished 2 bowls/plates of food the guy had provided them and he'd gotten his deal... as he was leaving you could see Kevin O'Leary in the background filling up his plate with seconds.

Edited November 13, 2016 by DEL901

[hkit]

25 minutes ago, DEL901 said:

I have never had Korean BBQ but I thought that food looked good.  And the absolute best advertisement for the food: after the sharks had just finished 2 bowls/plates of food the guy had provided them and he'd gotten his deal... as he was leaving you could see Kevin O'Leary in the background filling up his place with seconds.

I noticed the Sharks continued eating during his presentation. I can't think of another food product where that has happened. 

I I really wanted him to stand up straight though. And, also, don't try to make being a child of a divorced parent a sob story. 

[marny]

14 minutes ago, hkit said:

I really wanted him to stand up straight though. And, also, don't try to make being a child of a divorced parent a sob story. 

I think it was the immigration aspect of the story, not just being the child of a single mother, but a mother who brought her kids to this country by herself, that was meant to be the meaningful part. 

[Jamoche]

16 hours ago, chocolatine said:

The Toor system is supposed to have some sort of tracking as well, since the lock box is opened and closed via the app, and the app must be associated with a unique user ID, but unless they're doing a thorough background check and identity verification for each user, I would absolutely not want unescorted people in my house.

We'll just let the Uber guy get right on that... oh wait.

[basiltherat]

Dear God, we had Chris Sacca-sh!t being a sacc-sh!t AGAIN??!!  Please get another guest shark.  I would love for them to get John Paul DeJoria again, but I believe he's doing a similar type show to Shark Tank (and Marcus' show and LeBron's show, etc.)

I was also thinking Korean BBQ guy should have gone to Marcus' show -- I think Marcus would like him.  Or that restaurant show with Tim Love. 

Damn, I watch too much TV!

[cooksdelight]

Toor reminded me of that thing the Sharks were fighting over a season or two ago, the thing with which you use your smartphone in order to access and unlock your house. And it allows you to see who's outside. If they could somehow combine these two technologies, I'd not be so afraid to let a stranger tour my house. If I had him on camera and could watch what he does in the house, I'd sleep better.

[LittleIggy]

If they are going to have a guest Shark, I prefer Ashton Kutcher. He is smart and cute!

[annewithaneee]

Oof, that Toor segment. I'm hoping a lot of meat got edited out of that where the guy actually dazzled, because it seemed like a pretty average pitch...and also like Barbara wanted to bang him. Also, after this shit sandwich of a week, I really didn't want to hear him repeatedly refer to Barbara as "my dear". That raised my hackles in a big way.

That lemonade stand -- baby's first pyramid scheme.

[woodscommaelle]

14 hours ago, wings707 said:

 What an arrogant puff ball.  

Lol!

[cmfran]

Can anyone explain what "Chi'Lantro" means? I get that it's a Korean BBQ/Mexican hybrid, but I don't understand the name.

I would destroy those Kimchi Fries, though. Yum.

[Amarsir]

1 hour ago, cmfran said:

Can anyone explain what "Chi'Lantro" means? I get that it's a Korean BBQ/Mexican hybrid, but I don't understand the name.

I would destroy those Kimchi Fries, though. Yum.

Chi as in kimchi, Lantro as in cilantro. At least I assume so.

I'd heard of kimchi fries as being an awesome new trend but haven't figured out how to get them yet. Maybe Barbara will get him to open one in NJ near the Tom + Chee.

[theatremouse]

What's really good, and I don't know if they have there, is a kimchi burrito. Sounded weird when I first heard of it, but was ridiculously good and the food truck that made them is gone. So if this businiess has those, I want one in my town.

[Cherry Cola]

Wow, I never want to see the guest shark again.  Ugh. Annoying.  

Where was Robert? He's my fave! 

[ClareWalks]

The name Milk Snob is horrible. It reminds me of snobby breastfeeding nazis who look down on moms who can't/don't do it.

[lh25]

3 hours ago, ClareWalks said:

The name Milk Snob is horrible. It reminds me of snobby breastfeeding nazis who look down on moms who can't/don't do it.

I agree, and it says nothing about what the product is or does.

[curbcrusher]

On 11/12/2016 at 2:49 PM, Latverian Diplomat said:

Lemonade stand: I guess it's not child labor if your boss is also a kid? I realize that the real dodge is that it's a franchise/commission deal, but it still stinks.

He was smooth, confident, and had answers for everything. I didn't think he was the best ever, but in fairness, I had no interest in his product. That said, I humbly submit that if you notice how good a salesman is, maybe he's not the best ever.

I think Chris Sacca was right, if there are bluetooth lockboxes already in use by major realtors, they've got a tremendous lead. But the way to handle this is just to say, "Hey, I've seen similar lockboxes with similar features out there already, so I'm out." and then shut up.

On the other hand, I think Mark was enthusiastic about how this gadget might help people act as their own realtors, so he thought the relatively minor feature of access without an agent present was really important. I don't know how many people would actually be comfortable doing that, but Mark is a true believer in entrepreneurship of every type.

Which caused me to think? Wouldn't a target market here be vacation rentals and the Airbnb crowd. Imagine showing up in town and not having to find the rental office, just go straight to the condo/vacation home. For Airbnb, no need to arrange to meet the guest, just give them the code to open the key holder.

[Spunkygal]

21 minutes ago, curbcrusher said:

Which caused me to think? Wouldn't a target market here be vacation rentals and the Airbnb crowd. Imagine showing up in town and not having to find the rental office, just go straight to the condo/vacation home. For Airbnb, no need to arrange to meet the guest, just give them the code to open the key holder.

I have rented homes via a vacation rental website (VRBO) about ten times in various parts of the country and Canada and the agent or owner has always given me the lockbox code prior to arrival. I've never had to find a rental office.  Just go straight to the house and enter the code and voila! youre in! I've never encountered a glitch. Of course now I've probably jinxed myself.

[Jersey Guy 87]

On 11/12/2016 at 5:34 PM, DEL901 said:

I have never had Korean BBQ but I thought that food looked good.  And the absolute best advertisement for the food: after the sharks had just finished 2 bowls/plates of food the guy had provided them and he'd gotten his deal... as he was leaving you could see Kevin O'Leary in the background filling up his plate with seconds.

I noticed that too and was surprised to see Kevin be the one to scarf extra food.  Usually Cuban does that.

The lemonade stand idea was bad, I'm glad Sacca is the one to invest in it.  He can afford to throw away $50k.

The lockbox thing sounds kind of interesting until you put yourself in the shoes of the people trying to sell their house - then it's "no way am I letting strangers in my house unescorted."  And if you make them use a realtor to see your house there's not a lot of need for a special lockbox that anyone can get a code for - the realtor will have access to the lockbox.

[lh25]

1 hour ago, Jersey Guy 87 said:

The lockbox thing sounds kind of interesting until you put yourself in the shoes of the people trying to sell their house - then it's "no way am I letting strangers in my house unescorted." 

That's what we were saying watching this.  We would not allow people access without an agent, or us there. 

[Auntie Anxiety]

On 11/12/2016 at 3:00 PM, shksabelle said:

 

Jack was a tad too precocious for my taste, and dad needs to get a J-O-B instead of living off his 10-year old.

 

If you looked closely, you would have seen his father mouthing Jack's post-Shark Tank hallway speech. It was hilarious. Obviously, the speech was well rehearsed and the opposite of impromptu.

Next year maybe we can look for Jack's memoir that follows his hard-scrabble life (all 10 years of it!). Jack's dad really needs to let his son be a kid.

[needschocolate]

I think the lemonade kid would be more successful if he tried to get an acting career.  He did a good job giving his presentation.  

I was surprised none of the sharks said that Milk Snob was a horrible name.  I guess if you have enough sales, they don't care what you call it, but Barbara usually gets hung up on packaging and names.

Speaking of surprised and Barbara -- she has never heard of a car seat cover?  

Still speaking of Barbara and surprised - I can't believe the restaurant guy got a deal.   I think he was there more for the publicity - at least that is what should have been his plan.  The sharks don't usually invest in businesses that don't have a wide geographic base for customers.  It would be different if he were trying to get his specialties into grocery stores, but even then, getting a chrak would have been unlikely..

Instead of a lockbox with a key that can be lost or taken to to the hardware store and get a copy made (I am watching the final season of Breaking Bad), why not invent a door knob that can be opened remotely (and also signal when the door isn't closed within a certain amount of time.  

I still wouldn't want anyone wandering through my house unescorted.

[KaveDweller]

9 hours ago, lh25 said:

That's what we were saying watching this.  We would not allow people access without an agent, or us there. 

I wouldn't let people in by themselves either, but I know some people who moved to another state, and are now selling the old, empty one from afar. This would work perfectly for that scenario.

[Jamoche]

On 11/14/2016 at 5:10 PM, needschocolate said:

Speaking of surprised and Barbara -- she has never heard of a car seat cover?  

I hadn't either; when draping a blanket over the baby works, why buy an expensive specific custom-fitted unitasker?

[lh25]

4 minutes ago, Jamoche said:

I hadn't either; when draping a blanket over the baby works, why buy an expensive specific custom-fitted unitasker?

Didn't she say something about draping blankets over a carseat or stroller didn't work well because they slip off?  I can see this being better for those tasks.

[needschocolate]

21 minutes ago, Jamoche said:

I hadn't either; when draping a blanket over the baby works, why buy an expensive specific custom-fitted unitasker?

I took Barbara to mean that she had never heard of covering a car seat at all - I think she said something about babies needing to look around or get fresh air. 

When my kids were babies (a long time ago) they didn't have car seats that could be separated from the base and we had so much trouble getting the car seat properly installed, that we didn't take it out. We just took out the baby when we parked the car (the the buckles/harness wasn't as comlicated back then).  There were times that I covered the stroller because it was to sunny out and, like you said, a blanket worked fine.  If it is too windy, you can attach a ribbon/showlace/twine to the blanket with safety pins so you can tie it onto the carseat handle or stroller.  

There are a lot of baby items that aren't a vital necessity, but parents will spend the money because they don't want to appear not to be doing the very best for their little one (like the baby would care if the carseat had an official cover or it was just a blanket).

At least the car seat cover on the show can double as a nursing cover (another thing we used a blanket for).

[KaveDweller]

5 hours ago, Jamoche said:

I hadn't either; when draping a blanket over the baby works, why buy an expensive specific custom-fitted unitasker?

I guess because milk snobs like expensive stuff?

[Kiss my mutt]

The milk snob cover looks very simple to make even without a pattern.  I imagine there are many on Etsy already since I don't find this proprietary in any way. 

Plus, the name.  Definitely sounds like it's for militant breastfeeding people who will accuse you of child endangerment if you don't nurse.  She definitely is not a very good face for the company. She looked like she could be a women's prison guard. 

This was generally a sucky episode. The only thing I thought had some merit was the BBQ. Korean meats and food even carving out a niche here in the south where BBQ is known to cause rifts in the closest of families.  Very awkward acceptance hug at the end.  Btw, Tom and Chee didnt even last a few months in the college town I live in  

Toor- like hell are you coming in my house without an agent. I'd need fingerprints, a drivers license and a deposit. 

Lemonade kid?  Why complicate lemonade stands. Just let me buy the shitty lukewarm country time every kid serves for a dime.  I'm not sure how he would mentor other kids on the finer points of mall kiosk management.  Dad-get a job, dude.  At least until Junior makes his first mil. 

[basiltherat]

In quite a few places, it is ILLEGAL for a kid to have a lemonade stand without some sort of  license.  You see stories about this on the local news occasionally.  (Just as in Chicago you need to have a permit from your alderman to have a garage sale.  Because alderman have their own little fiefdoms here.)

[sarthaz]

On 11/11/2016 at 11:51 PM, Amarsir said:

Sacca didn't mention Uber or Twitter even once. And I think he was right on everything. And he still managed to annoy me.

That Chi'lantro sounds great. And fast casual is hot. If he didn't get an offer from Barbara I'd have told him to call Marcus Lemonis.

Thought the same thing about Chi'lantro, but Lemonis probably wouldn't be interested, because it seems to be a steadily growing and well-run business.  Lemonis would want to come in and rename it 1-800-LOVE-CHI, remodel everything in some gaudy stereotype of Asian culture, and paint a big ass mural on the wall.