S08.E11: Sealed By Santa, PolyGlide Synthetic Ice, Hand Out Gloves, DigiWrap

[MrSmith]

On 12/10/2016 at 3:25 PM, Bookish Jen said:

"Struggling Single Mom"

Agreed about this. Personally, I'm sick of women claiming they're a "single mom" because they're divorced. No, you idiot! You're not a single mom. You're a divorced mother. There's a difference, and that difference is that a single mom has never been married. My youngest sister-in-law is a single mom, while several of my friends are divorced moms. And please don't try to argue that it's just semantics. It's not just semantics. Words have meanings and those meanings are important. If they weren't important, then every word we utter all day long might as well be "cat" because we would just change the definition to suit the circumstances.

[MrSmith]

16 hours ago, Shellie said:

Are men complaining?

Well, I think it was inappropriate. If a woman (other than my wife) tried that on me, she would not enjoy the reaction. However, in the situation in this Shark Tank, she might get a more neutral reaction simply because she's got control of the money. And that is exactly why Barbara needs to avoid doing that. Eventually, it's going to put her in a bad situation, possibly a lawsuit. It's sexual harassment (and, in some states, assault).

[guilfoyleatpp]

I saw a blind item about Barbara (this was a year ago or so) where she was bragging about her new lover. 

I mean, the dude was in awesome shape, especially for 83, but still, cupping his buttock was a bit beyond the pale.

The mompreneur would have looked better with not-blonde hair, but she had obviously invested a lot into that look, so maybe that's part of what she was going to use the 100k for?

[hkit]

1 hour ago, guilfoyleatpp said:

I saw a blind item about Barbara (this was a year ago or so) where she was bragging about her new lover. 

She did a Reddit AMA some time ago where she talked about wanting to see Mark Cuban naked and how she thought he'd be a very satisfying lover. It was gross, so I'm not going to search for it to link it here.

I love it when she calls out a female entrepreneur for crying. It's either an inability to control emotions, or worse, manipulative. Neither have a place where a woman is trying to be taken seriously and conduct a business transaction. But I wonder if she is aware that her cougar/horn dog act is just as damaging to how a woman is perceived as the waterworks are. 

[psychoticstate]

While I enjoyed the "This is Your Life, Mark Cuban," the rest was kind of boring.  Only 3 entrepreneurs?  Was that right? 

The Santa letter business is probably a nice little seasonal business for parents/grandparents who either don't want to do it themselves or are last minute people but the summer thing seems crazy.  You might be able to get a little side business from the Easter Bunny but I really don't see it scaling.  I'm not sure why she chose Lori, when she made such a big to do about having a guaranteed salary and Robert gave it to her.

The ice guy - seems like a good business but really costly.  I think that would be the largest issue with it.

The glove guys - seems like a good idea in a saturated market.  The older man was in phenomenal shape.  Daymond is in the retail clothing arena; wonder what he would have thought about it? 

I also can't stand it when the entrepreneurs get overly emotional.

 

p.s. - The gift bag guys.  I could see it being a very, very niche market with weddings.  It would make for an interesting gift to the couple if you had pics of them on the bag but otherwise . . . a lot of money to spend for something that ends up in the trash very quickly. 

[psychoticstate]

On 12/10/2016 at 6:42 AM, seacliffsal said:

Elf-mom?  Ridiculous.  And she needs at least $100,000 per year to support her children.  So, the ex doesn't pay child support?  I was surprised that she received any offers.  Kevin perked up with his suggestion of Birthday letters.  But I don't see it.  If kids want to hear from Santa, it is around Christmas.  I don't think it would mean as much on their birthdays.  Someone mentioned the Tooth Fairy, but, again, the tradition is some money, not a letter.  Letters are too easy for others to write for this business to explode.  Oh, and her deal with Lori?  Horrible.  Lori gets 22% of the business for a $75,000 investment which is way worse than the $175,000 for 10% that she was seeking, and it is also worse than the $150,000 for 33% that Kevin offered.  That right there shows me that she is not a good business partner.  Oh, and she'll have to pay interest to Lori on the $75,000 that is a loan.  Sigh.

 

On 12/10/2016 at 8:18 AM, starri said:

See, I was kind of onboard with the Santa woman... Also, you made the wrong deal.  

The Santa/Elf mom strikes me as one of the many people I've seen on the show who have one particular shark in mind they want to work with and that's the person they choose, regardless of how good the deal is for them or their business. 

Robert would have given her the $100K as salary off the top, which would have been a better deal, given how important that figure was to her.  I don't recall his percentage.  Maybe the same as Kevin's? 

Kevin's deal would have been better from tie-ins with his other businesses if she wants to expand somehow. 

I think Santa/Elf mom wanted Lori from the start.  I also think maybe she just heard the 22% equity without figuring in the percentage she'd be paying on the loan for half the amount she wanted.  Maybe too she was thinking Lori, with her HSN?? connections would be able to push the product there.  No idea.

[Tara Ariano]

In case you missed it, here's the Previously.TV post on the episode!

Shark Tank Wages War On Christmas

It's a holiday-themed episode whose pitches diverge more and more from the holidays as the evening wears on, and the Sharks put the 'oh, Christ' back in Christmas.

[KaveDweller]

9 hours ago, psychoticstate said:

While I enjoyed the "This is Your Life, Mark Cuban," the rest was kind of boring.  Only 3 entrepreneurs?  Was that right? 

No there were 4. The santa letter lady, the ice rink guy, the tissue paper/bag people, and the glove people.

One thing I realized about Mark is how old he is.....58. I had him pegged as younger, especially since he is always mentioning having young kids.

9 hours ago, psychoticstate said:

The Santa/Elf mom strikes me as one of the many people I've seen on the show who have one particular shark in mind they want to work with and that's the person they choose, regardless of how good the deal is for them or their business. 

Robert would have given her the $100K as salary off the top, which would have been a better deal, given how important that figure was to her.  I don't recall his percentage.  Maybe the same as Kevin's? 

Kevin's deal would have been better from tie-ins with his other businesses if she wants to expand somehow. 

I think Santa/Elf mom wanted Lori from the start.  I also think maybe she just heard the 22% equity without figuring in the percentage she'd be paying on the loan for half the amount she wanted.  Maybe too she was thinking Lori, with her HSN?? connections would be able to push the product there.  No idea.

I don't think the Santa mom made the right deal either. I know lots of people want Lori because of the QVC connection, and she is a really good match for a lot of products, but no one is going to buy Santa letters off QVC. Also, I get not wanting to give up a lot of equity in some situations, but this is really a case where 80% of zero is worth a lot less than 66% of a thousand. No one is going to become a millionaire off this kind of business.

I want to know if she is currently making $100K off of her Santa business, or if that was her goal. Because if she's making $100K and only paid her entire staff  $10K last year, something seems wrong. 

[Angeltoes]

Quote

I used PNP free Santa videos for several years for my nephews. 

I have used them for adults.  Always a hoot to watch their faces when Santa says,"Santa hears you've been swearing a lot."  For a split second you can see "how does he know that" go through their mind.

Quote

She did a Reddit AMA some time ago where she talked about wanting to see Mark Cuban naked and how she thought he'd be a very satisfying lover. 

Interesting because I would have thought just the opposite.  Robert looks like the type that likes to dress up in costumes..."wait, naked lady, Batman will save you!"

Edited December 13, 2016 by Angeltoes

[Jesse]

18 hours ago, KaveDweller said:

I don't think the Santa mom made the right deal either. I know lots of people want Lori because of the QVC connection, and she is a really good match for a lot of products, but no one is going to buy Santa letters off QVC. Also, I get not wanting to give up a lot of equity in some situations, but this is really a case where 80% of zero is worth a lot less than 66% of a thousand. No one is going to become a millionaire off this kind of business.

I want to know if she is currently making $100K off of her Santa business, or if that was her goal. Because if she's making $100K and only paid her entire staff  $10K last year, something seems wrong. 

If she paid a few people $10/hour to help her stuff envelopes a couple of weekends, I can see it.

But I totally agree about 80% of zero -- and I kind of think Team Wonderful would have been right for her. An online platform full of people who like to spend too much on dumb shit? Sign me up!

[augmentedfourth]

1 hour ago, Jesse said:

If she paid a few people $10/hour to help her stuff envelopes a couple of weekends, I can see it.

But I totally agree about 80% of zero -- and I kind of think Team Wonderful would have been right for her. An online platform full of people who like to spend too much on dumb shit? Sign me up!

As soon as Lori offered a deal that would result in her losing the least amount of equity, I knew she'd be all over it, regardless of what the rest of the terms and conditions were. And like everyone else, I'm not convinced it was the right decision. I feel like for people who come on marketing THINGS (especially ones that might need a demonstration), Lori often is the best shark to make a deal with, and I understand why presenters would come on with her specifically in mind. However, for things like services, or food, or even clothing, there might be better options.

[AuntieDiane6]

Quote

Interesting because I would have thought just the opposite.  Robert looks like the type that likes to dress up in costumes..."wait, naked lady, Batman will save you!"

Nowadays it would be, "Oh, look, it's a naked dancer who lost her dress on the dance floor!"

[aemom]

I live in Montreal where our NHL hockey team is like a religion you follow. It's more common to find kids playing hockey than not. And especially in the more affluent areas, people make hockey rinks in their yards every winter. Canadian Tire even sells kits to help create/maintain your rink.

So, I can totally see parents willing to drop the cash to convert their basement playroom with this or build a year-round rink in their backyard - at least in this city. I would venture that this would also be true in other hockey crazy cities.

I was also surprised he didn't get a deal. They could have hired a decent salesman. 

Santa lady also got on my last nerve. I also used to use PNP until last year when we watched the video, and there was no naughty or nice ruling at the end. They failed to mention that the free video no longer included that. I forget exactly how the video ended, but I recall that it made Santa look somewhat suspicious asking for money or something.  I unsubscribed. But i digress. I would never buy the crap from that lady. Canada Post answers letters to Santa for free and they were always good enough for my kids.