S04.E15: Overtone Acoustics

[Amarsir]

Quote

Marcus helps a sound-proofing company, started by two best friends, which has so little cash they must rely on unpaid volunteers.

 

 

Haircuts? And they ended up being 45 minutes late? No wonder Marcus was pissed. At least they got the sale.

 

That's 4-for-4 this season on trade shows. Someone has clearly changed priorities about them. Either Marcus realized it's a good way to test out new companies, or CNBC figured it's a good thing to film for potential drama.

Edited June 28, 2017 by Amarsir

[LennieBriscoe]

I live there! At the 32-minute mark is a street sign that says "W. Market St/Main St." This is THE photo op of Historic Downtown Bethlehem, PA. I've taken many a photo of those street lamps! 

Marcus now has come to this area several times: Coopersburg (miniature bats); a warehouse in Bethlehem (the episode with the surprise flight); and now back to Bethlehem, with the Precise Graphix Co. in Allentown. Yay for the Lehigh Valley! 

In fact, through the magic of Google, I can say that the townhouse Marcus took the Overtone guys to is 4314 (self-edited), Bethlehem, very close to me! Maybe I'll check it out! :-)

I can post a Zillow link if it's cricket, but I don't want to break board rules. 

Edited June 28, 2017 by LennieBriscoe

[Thrifty]

That seemed like a strange episode to me.  For the first half, it seemed like barely a business.  It seemed like two homeless guys making acoustic equipment out of a shack.  It felt like a charity case, especially when Marcus got them into that townhouse.

[ae2]

44 minutes ago, Thrifty said:

That seemed like a strange episode to me.  For the first half, it seemed like barely a business.  It seemed like two homeless guys making acoustic equipment out of a shack.  It felt like a charity case, especially when Marcus got them into that townhouse.

It felt a little strange, until we saw that they were actually generating some revenue and growing year over year. We must also consider how the business fits within Marcus's growing portfolio (and his personal interest). It's no surprise that two of his other businesses were featured in this episode.

I'm still not sure how the two guys could be so bad at selling their product after doing it for 5 (?) years. It seems that this company is one that needs a third partner to come in and be the sales driver, but at that point I'm not sure what value the other two bring. They sure weren't doing a great job at operations, financial management, or production either.

The trade show thing this season is fascinating. You think that Marcus would want to take them to the industry's biggest trade show after fixing their business, rather than wasting the opportunity. Maybe the timing has just worked out that way, or he puts more value on a learning opportunity than a sales opportunity.

[Inspector Bucket]

This was an episode where Marcus provided all the value: money, expertise, marketing, sales, connections, manufacturing, business space AND home space. What did the Overtone Acoustics guys provide? They provided one thing: a really good story that could be on The Profit television program.

[Inspector Bucket]

The weirdest part of the ep was when Marcus returned and found the Overtones still homeless and using intern labor. According to the ep, this was after they had gotten their investment. What complex and bizarre personal problems prevented them from saying -- ok! We're going to pay ourselves $600 a week and get some housing? Drug problem? Huge undisclosed debts? 

Or maybe the producers were misleading us with the chronology of events. The Marcus-Comes-Back-and-Things-are-Bad narrative element is in most eps, right?

[Inspector Bucket]

Finally, based on what we saw in this episode, the Overtones do not know anything about acoustics. I bet everything they learned about physics happened in high school. 

The "test" with the app on the phone was ridiculous.

When the Hard Rock guy said he was going to rely on them to come up with acoustic solutions to shield the hotel rooms from the noise of the club below, I thought "well, they better hire some people who have expertise in sound to handle that for them."  

[Evagirl]

I felt that this episode was about two life-long friends who had a dream.  They've given their all to pursue a dream they believe in.  Neither was married (thank goodness), so they were able to devote their entire lives into the business.  The problem was that they didn't know how to grow it beyond selling locally.  Once that market was tapped out they didn't know where to go from there.  Even Marcus felt their sincerity and passion for the business.

I've not seen Marcus get so personally involved with a business before.  He knew these young guys needed guidance and direction.

I hope they learn from Marcus and that they do well.

[sadtvjunkie]

Overtone is just down the street from Fiamma in Orlando on Forsyth Road where 5 people were shot this month. Maybe that's why they didn't do a lot of exterior shots of the business. Also the guy graduated from Full Sail University. He's probably got $$$ to pay back for his education. From what I understand it's not cheap!

[cooksdelight]

Finally watched my recording last night, and I hope these guys do well. The creativity is there, they just need guidance on where to make contacts. As I watched the guy with the beard suddenly come to life when presenting to the drum store owner, I wondered who flipped his switch. It was great!