S08.E14: Getaway House, Chirps, Vibes, PopUp Play

[Tara Ariano]

Quote

A Massachusetts couple pitch an idea that capitalizes on the tiny house trend; the Sharks are asked to invest in buggy snack chips; a Minneapolis concertgoer sings the praises of his protective earplugs; and a Texas couple try to win a deal for their modern version of a favorite childhood toy. Also: A profile of real-estate mogul Barbara Corcoran includes a visit to her hometown of Edgewater, N.J.

[cooksdelight]

Not one Shark mentioned the cricket flour guy who was on (and got a deal) a few seasons ago. Why not ask the women if they get their flour from him? Pricey buggy chips.

I sort of zoned out on this episode because nothing jumped out at me. Until the two cabin guys showed up at the end. That guy in the dark green plaid shirt had the most dumbass look on his face the entire time. 

[sadiegirl]

Apparently the vibes have competition.  I really need some of those for my effing exercise classes.  They play the music so loud.  Does anyone know who the competition is (since they are apparently cheaper)?

I hope the cricket ladies sell some chips, but it really bothered me that Harvard had to be part of the story.  She could have just said they were college roommates.  And I found the red-head really annoying.

I like the idea of the getaway - but not for $100 a night.  If I'm going to pay $100, then I want to be pampered.  Since you get nothing but quiet in those tiny homes, they should be a bit cheaper.  I can't believe they are being valued at 15 mil.  That's just crazy.

[mjc570]

That was an ok episode, at least better in my opinion than the last several.  I liked the Chrip young women and am glad they got a deal.  I'd eat those chips (I'm all about the protein) and would use cricket as a protein source, although I am not into smoothies.  Are there cricket farms?  Are there crick harvesters?  Will this lead to an over harvesting and shortfall of crickets?   I'm surprised; (1) no mention of the prior cricket flour guy (Now there's an update I'd like to see); and (2) no social/educational cause tie-in. 

So the tiny house idea is just a distributed hotel?   Instead of having all the rooms in one place, they are placed throughout a campsite, positioned to seem alone?  Maybe because I don't work and my children are grown, but it seems pretty boring to me. 

I didn't get Chris's objection to the Vibes guy - sure it makes sense to have them available at concerts and clubs, but there are people like me who actually know where they are going and, thinking ahead,  could bring them with me.  I didn't think $23 for a pair of ear plugs and a case seemed all that expensive.

I didn't get how the pop-up couple tied in that "major automotive company" (or manufacturer).  Obviously, it was for a product other than a pop up castle, but what?  If they really are a software/manufacturing company (I assume 3D?), then why have a toy-based name?  It seems kind of limiting, but I'm the first to admit that I know very little about it.

I'm really glad not to have the sharks shouting (or even spending much time talking) at each other, or being really awful to the entrepreneurs.  This episode seemed more low-key and professional, which I liked.

Edited January 28, 2017 by mjc570
forgot to mention

[hkit]

53 minutes ago, sadiegirl said:

Apparently the vibes have competition.  I really need some of those for my effing exercise classes.  They play the music so loud.  Does anyone know who the competition is (since they are apparently cheaper)?

Etymotic. I had a pair for 10+ years. I lost them this summer when they fell out of my pocket at a music festival. It was sad, like losing an old friend. Mine were also clear, and had a flanged tip, which is way more comfortable. I doubt I paid more than $15. 

That was my biggest issue with the deal. It isn't unique. It isn't affordable. It isn't even new. His only chance for success is to get a deal with Coachella or Bonaroo where you have a captive audience for a weekend and sell them there. 

Edit: the Etymotic plugs are $13 on Amazon. 

Edited January 28, 2017 by hkit

[Jamoche]

When the "we've already done the fun part" cardboard box people mentioned Kickstarter, I thought I'd seen them before - on KickFailure. But it turns out to be another company with a similar idea. Still, give your kid a big shipping box (Amazon seems to love them) and a pack of markers. It's cheaper and a lot more fun.

[cooksdelight]

8 hours ago, sadiegirl said:

Apparently the vibes have competition.  I really need some of those for my effing exercise classes.  They play the music so loud.  Does anyone know who the competition is (since they are apparently cheaper)?

@hkit mentioned Etymotic, and there are a few others. There's even a company called Vibe, and Vibes Juicy. The guy's about a day late and a dollar short, but Kevin could have done a good job for him. Renaming the product would be my first move, and getting the price down.

Selling on Amazon for $23.95 plus $4.50 for shipping. Good reviews overall, but he's not selling many at that price, I don't think.

Edited January 28, 2017 by cooksdelight

[ae2]

The pop up / display manufacturing company... I have no frickin' idea what their actual business is, or what they want to do with it. They didn't seem to want to manufacture for kids any more, but we got no explanation what the corporate site entailed. And they brought out a kids demo! That whole segment was a gigantic mess.

Chirps... If they want to be a replacement for whey protein why are they starting with chips? Shouldn't they start with protein shakes (i.e. target people who care about protein) and then expand into broader markets?

I guess there's technically 5 servings in a 5 ounce bag? Hmm. Not sure who eats a fifth a small bag of chips. 20 grams of protein in a bag, 4 grams per 1 ounce serving. That isn't particularly high - 1 ounce of black beans has 6 grams of protein. 1 ounce of corn has 3 grams. Those are the first two ingredients, so how much miracle cricket flour is actually in these things?

It seems that cricket flour is 58% protein by mass, while whey is 71% by mass. I wish they'd explained more about what makes crickets better. (They might have gotten there, but it seemed Mark swept in pretty quickly on this, unusual for him!)

[Guatemama3641]

9 hours ago, mjc570 said:

Are there cricket farms?  Are there crick harvesters?  Will this lead to an over harvesting and shortfall of crickets?

Yes! There are cricket farms, believe it or not. My dad owned a pet store for many years and he ordered crickets of all sizes from a cricket farm in Louisiana. People would buy them to feed to their lizards. I remember seeing their displays at industry trade shows. 

[starri]

10 hours ago, cooksdelight said:

Not one Shark mentioned the cricket flour guy who was on (and got a deal) a few seasons ago. Why not ask the women if they get their flour from him? Pricey buggy chips.

Mark did.  He invested in Chapul and mentioned it when he was listing his products that are in the same space.  I actually tried Chapul, and they're not bad, but have waaaay too much sugar in them.

Getaway provides a great service to upper class, white urban-dwellers don't they?

Also, remember Chris Sacca doesn't like the scum-sucking capitalists that sit next to him.  Fuck you, Chris Sacca.  Not so much because I'm all "go capitalism" but because that's a really hypocritical attitude for a billionaire to take.

[Primetimer]

The maker of a pair of headphones designed to lower decibels without impacting sound quality walks aways without a deal on this episode. But that's not a bad thing when Chris Sacca is sitting in one of the guest chairs.

View the full article

[sadiegirl]

9 hours ago, hkit said:

Etymotic. I had a pair for 10+ years. I lost them this summer when they fell out of my pocket at a music festival. It was sad, like losing an old friend. Mine were also clear, and had a flanged tip, which is way more comfortable. I doubt I paid more than $15. 

That was my biggest issue with the deal. It isn't unique. It isn't affordable. It isn't even new. His only chance for success is to get a deal with Coachella or Bonaroo where you have a captive audience for a weekend and sell them there. 

Edit: the Etymotic plugs are $13 on Amazon. 

Thanks for the info.  I'll be getting some today.

[basiltherat]

Will they pleeze stop trying to shove Chris Sacca Sh##$t down our throats.  It ain't working, Mr. Poseur Billionaire-But-I-Don't-Dress-Like-One-Because-I-Am-In-Fact-Cooler-Than-You.  Go take a Uber off the edge of a cliff.

[annewithaneee]

My rage instinct has been basically a hollowed-out husk for several weeks now due to overuse, but if I could still feel things I would have yelled at my TV when Sacca attempted, poorly, to read the other Sharks for being "scum-sucking capitalists". Because Uber is curing cancer, right? Oh wait, no, it's brazenly breaking laws, and repeatedly attempting to cover up their sexual assault problem, all in the name of the bottom line. 

This was a super bleh episode for me. Green plaid Lurch was slightly amusing to stare at, and I'm bummed they got any offers. "RV park but for, like, hipsters" is an irritant for me. If I were the type of person who liked forgoing amenities on a weekend escape (first of all, I'd be crazy) and didn't want to simply camp, I'd buy and Anthropologie-fy my own Airstream.

[Jamoche]

Quote

"When you come out with a version that filters out Kevin," Sacca begins, as if everyone watching weren't thinking the exact same thing about him.

Oh, Chris, don't you know that only family are allowed to pick on each other?

[slowpoked]

I really like the Chirps women. Articulate, intelligent and knows their business inside out. They have a good comeback to Kevin's "why would any large store give you 2 feet of linear space?!" I wasn't even bothered by the Harvard name drop - heck, that is something they should be proud of. And it didn't come off showy to me, just as matter-of-factly. Sob stories not needed either.

I also like that they countered immediately to Mark's offer. I have a feeling Mark's their target shark anyway, given that one of the women kept on saying cricket flour, I would think she's well aware of Chapul. So really no sense in starting a bidding war and potentially losing your target shark in the process.

[guilfoyleatpp]

I felt like she was hoping for a reaction to the Harvard name drop, which she didn't seem to get. It doesn't matter though. Cute marketing (those shirts!) and neat idea. Although Barbara (I think it was Babs) was completely legit in calling out that the first two ingredients in the chips were corn and beans.

Chris Sacca is completely annoying. Completely. Annoying. Does he ever invest in anything?

The tiny homes were a cute idea. $100 a night is completely legit (even a steal on the west coast). I don't completely get how you scale that bicoastally. It would require so much scouting and permitting...it's no walk in the park.

[theatremouse]

On the one hand I suppose it's fair to point out the first two ingredients are other things when they're pushing the "eat crickets" angle, but on the other hand, they'd literally just said they were trying to ease people into it. So knowing that, not shocking? They never claimed it to be just crickets. If part of their point is to incorporate more bugs into the American diet, then it makes sense. Their point wasn't "eat nothing but bugs!" but "sometimes choose something bugier!" They know they have some convincing to do with consumers.

[slowpoked]

2 hours ago, guilfoyleatpp said:

I felt like she was hoping for a reaction to the Harvard name drop, which she didn't seem to get. It doesn't matter though. Cute marketing (those shirts!) and neat idea. Although Barbara (I think it was Babs) was completely legit in calling out that the first two ingredients in the chips were corn and beans.

Chris Sacca is completely annoying. Completely. Annoying. Does he ever invest in anything?

It was Lori who pointed out the ingredients.

I am not highly annoyed by Sacca, as most everyone is, it seems. But I'm just glad the producers haven't thought of putting him and GoPro guy together in one episode.

He does invest significantly though, for a new and part-time shark. I think even what I personally think are bad businesses (like the kiddie lemonade stand franchise thing), he invests in. But he's the millionaire and I'm not, so I'm sure he sees something that I don't.

[seacliffsal]

As for the tiny house camping-it looked like a compost toilet when they showed the interior.  I highly doubt that their target audience wants a compost toilet.  And, it seems to me that if one wants luxury in a mountain setting there are many other options, including house rentals.  Too much maintenance especially when there will be large distances between units.

[me5671]

10 hours ago, starri said:

Mark did.  He invested in Chapul and mentioned it when he was listing his products that are in the same space.  I actually tried Chapul, and they're not bad, but have waaaay too much sugar in them.

Getaway provides a great service to upper class, white urban-dwellers don't they?

Also, remember Chris Sacca doesn't like the scum-sucking capitalists that sit next to him.  Fuck you, Chris Sacca.  Not so much because I'm all "go capitalism" but because that's a really hypocritical attitude for a billionaire to take.

LOL!  Thank you!!! That pissed me off too.  Chris Sacca-shit never fails to grate when he's on this show.  Why do they keep bringing him on?  So hypocritical of him to call the other sharks cold-hearted capitalists.  Especially when he turned around in the very next segment and jacked up his offer on the Getaway guys once he was the only shark still in.  Pretty "cold-hearted capitalist" of you, Uber-boy.

[chocolatine]

1 hour ago, me5671 said:

LOL!  Thank you!!! That pissed me off too.  Chris Sacca-shit never fails to grate when he's on this show.  Why do they keep bringing him on?  So hypocritical of him to call the other sharks cold-hearted capitalists.  Especially when he turned around in the very next segment and jacked up his offer on the Getaway guys once he was the only shark still in.  Pretty "cold-hearted capitalist" of you, Uber-boy.

This 100%. Anyone who knows how a VC deal is structured knows how ruthless those firms are. They don't just get a chunk of equity, in most cases they also get liquidation preference, which means they get to recoup their investment before the founders or employees. I've seen several cases where founders and vested employees ended up with nothing (or less than nothing if they exercised their options).

Edited January 29, 2017 by chocolatine

[starri]

Chris Sacca gave the ACLU $150,000 tonight.

Now I can't quite hate him quite so much.

Goddamn it.

 

Edited January 29, 2017 by starri

[chocolatine]

Quote

I'm inspired by all who are barely scraping by

*barf*

[UsernameFatigue]

I was nodding off during parts of this epi so maybe I missed it, but I am still in the dark (no pun intended) regarding tiny house camping. So they have 10 houses currently. Are they all near the same city? Where do they actually park them? It didn't sound like at existing campsites to me as how could they know ahead of time that there would be availability? And they said there would be someone nearby in case they needed anything. So are they renting land from people  who have land to spare and are the people/person who will be nearby if anything is needed? I kept waiting for one of the sharks to ask those questions but no one did. Maybe I fell asleep and missed it but I don't think so. In any case I don't see the draw - just rent a trailer, cabin, or buy a cheap tent and provide your own tiny space.......

Edited January 29, 2017 by UsernameFatigue

[Kiss my mutt]

I'm not sure why the auto industry would want to invest in the Pop Up Play houses. What am I missing?

[LittleIggy]

I liked the profile on Barbara. I wonder where her douche ex-boyfriend (you'll never make it without me) is today? 

[theatremouse]

11 minutes ago, Kiss my mutt said:

I'm not sure why the auto industry would want to invest in the Pop Up Play houses. What am I missing?

I think the implication is they'd want to invest in on-demand pop-up cardboard whatevers. The demo and name of the company was very confusing given their whole "we're not a toy company, we're a software company" pivot, but they may still have been in the middle of shifting when the taping arrived.

[cooksdelight]

7 hours ago, UsernameFatigue said:

So are they renting land from people  who have land to spare and are the people/person who will be nearby if anything is needed

I think that's how it works. I like to camp, I have a cot with a mattress and a very nice, snug tent. Doesn't cost me much more than $10 a night. The campgrounds have heated bathrooms with hot water for showers, some campgrounds even have a general store if you forgot something. I'll stick with my tent.

7 hours ago, Kiss my mutt said:

I'm not sure why the auto industry would want to invest in the Pop Up Play houses. What am I missing?

I think they want these people's software capabilities. I don't think they want anything to do with those cardboard houses, they want whatever is proprietary about that software. For other uses. The woman was rattling off a list of what kind of software they've designed and the various applications, but she lost me.

Edited January 29, 2017 by cooksdelight

[marny]

On 1/27/2017 at 11:05 PM, sadiegirl said:

I like the idea of the getaway - but not for $100 a night.  If I'm going to pay $100, then I want to be pampered.  Since you get nothing but quiet in those tiny homes, they should be a bit cheaper.  I can't believe they are being valued at 15 mil.  That's just crazy.

Damn, where are you staying that you get pampered for $100 a night? That's the cost of a cheap hotel in most places-- certainly not a place you'll get much more than a bed and a bathroom.

[starri]

10 hours ago, chocolatine said:

*barf*

Eh, I'll give him a pass on that one.  But only that one.

[Amarsir]

Leave it to real estate expert Barbara to nail it on "Getaway": they were valuing their company at $1 million per tiny cabin. It's ridiculous.

[cooksdelight]

42 minutes ago, marny said:

Damn, where are you staying that you get pampered for $100 a night? That's the cost of a cheap hotel in most places-- certainly not a place you'll get much more than a bed and a bathroom.

I stayed in Chattanooga for $90... king-size bed, jaccuzi tub, beautiful view of the city.

I guess the Getaway guys charge that to the people who think they're "roughing it in style" and that amount isn't anything they'd bat an eye at.

[basiltherat]

In other words, the Getaways are catering to self-applauding, smug, fuzzy bearded douchbags like Sack'o who think they invented bacon.   Wonder if Uber drivers will venture out into the woods of Catskillia to pick up Sack'o or if he'll have his limo driver take him home.   Stop trying to make Sack'o happen, Show!  We ain't investing in that bulls#!@t

[lh25]

4 hours ago, cooksdelight said:

I stayed in Chattanooga for $90... king-size bed, jaccuzi tub, beautiful view of the city.

It varies a lot by area.  Even a Motel 6 near Boston is $80 a night. 

[chocolatine]

Did they say the tiny house campsite is 1-2 hours drive from NYC? 100$/night is definitely considered cheap in that area.

[Bookish Jen]

18 hours ago, LittleIggy said:

I liked the profile on Barbara. I wonder where her douche ex-boyfriend (you'll never make it without me) is today? 

He's in the Oval Office perhaps? But what a jerky thing to say.

[cooksdelight]

My ex husband said that to me. I showed him. :)

[yourdreamer]

So I read that Sacca will be in "significantly" more episodes next season. Just warning y'all.

At concert venues, if it's loud and I have a headache, I would willingly pay $20-25 for those earplugs.

[Jersey Guy 87]

On 1/27/2017 at 11:45 PM, hkit said:

Etymotic. I had a pair for 10+ years. I lost them this summer when they fell out of my pocket at a music festival. It was sad, like losing an old friend. Mine were also clear, and had a flanged tip, which is way more comfortable. I doubt I paid more than $15. 

 

Etymotic has a proven track record and sells a similar product for less.  They've got a number of ear plugs available, designed for musicans.

On 1/28/2017 at 8:53 AM, Guatemama3641 said:

Yes! There are cricket farms, believe it or not. My dad owned a pet store for many years and he ordered crickets of all sizes from a cricket farm in Louisiana. People would buy them to feed to their lizards. I remember seeing their displays at industry trade shows. 

Pet stores buy lots of crickets.  I'm sure the cricket farmers would love to expand to providing food companies as well.

The pop up toy houses company was clearly not in the pop up toy house business.  It would have been nice to understand what they were really selling to figure out if they were worth an investment or not.

I think the tiny houses guys can probably do okay renting to hipsters.  Because for hipsters $100/night is a cheap night out, and staying in a tiny house in the middle of the woods is something they would probably like to do because it's authentic.

[basiltherat]

But will said hipsters be able to take selfies out in the woods to prove that they were there?  If a hipster stays in the forest and no one sees it, did he still stay there?

[questionfear]

On 1/28/2017 at 0:47 AM, Jamoche said:

When the "we've already done the fun part" cardboard box people mentioned Kickstarter, I thought I'd seen them before - on KickFailure. But it turns out to be another company with a similar idea. Still, give your kid a big shipping box (Amazon seems to love them) and a pack of markers. It's cheaper and a lot more fun.

We currently keep tripping over carseat box, because when we replaced our carseat our preschooler claimed the box for himself-in the past week it's been a fire truck, fire house, rocket, race car, and lately has been the inexplicable home of all his dinosaurs. No idea why the dinosaurs live in a giant box, but it makes him happy. 

[scootypuffjr]

^^ Lol - ain't nothing better than a giant box. I'd love to play in one even now, if I could find one big enough!

[starri]

11 hours ago, scootypuffjr said:

^^ Lol - ain't nothing better than a giant box. I'd love to play in one even now, if I could find one big enough!

Forget play, I'd like to hide in one.

[questionfear]

13 hours ago, scootypuffjr said:

^^ Lol - ain't nothing better than a giant box. I'd love to play in one even now, if I could find one big enough!

Totally! This isn't the first time he's adopted a giant box as a plaything. His last one was big enough to just fit an adult if I really squished, so it made for fun games of hide and seek. 

I have fond memories as a kid of hoarding all sorts of cardboard, especially shoeboxes, and building all kinds of toys-skis, ghostbusters guns, lightsabers...so I am very excited to see my son go down the same path!

(See, now THAT would be an awesome kids toy idea-very toughened cardboard or very flexible plastic that was just a blank slate for kids to cut, build, and play with however they wanted. Michaels or AC Moore needs to get on this, they could make a fortune repackaging existing posterboard as a toy).

[LittleIggy]

The most awesome boxes to play in were those big wardrobe boxes moving companies packed hanging clothes in.

[cooksdelight]

When I was a kid, appliances were delivered in a big cardboard box. It was so funny to watch kids chasing down the street when they'd see the truck, waiting hopefully for the box to remain intact so we could build a fort.

[rubinia]

If I can remember high school health class correctly, ingredients are listed by greatest to least amount. So if you have cricket-fortified corn chips, it makes sense that corn would be the first ingredient. That seemed like a weak nitpick to me.

[ae2]

10 hours ago, rubinia said:

If I can remember high school health class correctly, ingredients are listed by greatest to least amount. So if you have cricket-fortified corn chips, it makes sense that corn would be the first ingredient. That seemed like a weak nitpick to me.

The nitpick is not that there are other ingredients, but that they are promoting cricket flour as this amazing source of protein, and the whole reason to use it is for its protein, yet much of the protein is coming from other ingredients.

And that cricket flour is less protein dense than the whey that they want to replace in the athletic market. 

We weren't given any reason in this pitch as to why crickets are better than the alternative. (And as I indicated, this could have been because Mark swooped in so quickly. Or it could have been poor editing and not their pitch. But it was incomplete.)

[retrograde]

I wasn't wowed by PopUp Play on the show, but I went on their website and their platform for designing the playhouses is super fun and easy to use.

I still don't buy their argument that they're bringing digital and real-world play together, because once you've designed the house that's basically it - you have a cardboard toy - but that component of it is definitely well done.