Past Seasons Talk: Previously on Shark Tank

[yeswedo]

A place to discuss particular episodes (that do not have specific episode threads), arcs and moments from the show's run. Please remember this isn't a complete catch-all topic -- check out the forum for character topics and other places for show-related talk.

 

And feel free to create episode threads for previously aired shows if you want to have an in-depth discussion.

[Lola16]

Q&A with Shark Tank Judge and Entrepreneur Mark Cuban plus 14 of his companies on zulily todaytmblr.co/ZT2Pmx1GUgJtX

 

Products featured:

KaZAM

Veggie Mama

U-Lace

lollaland

Monkey Mat

My Own Fingerprint

Game Faces

Hot Tot

Simple Sugars

stellavalle jewelry

Kisstixx

Chapul

Nuts 'N More

Power Practical

 

 http://www.zulily.com/?ns=ns_808731686|1400689493075

[Lola16]

I don't know what season this was on but there was a vitamin spray that promised weight loss.  Well they are being sued for using Jennifer Love Hewitt's image and name without permission.  In her suit, JLH mentions Shark Tank.

 

http://www.tmz.com/2014/06/04/jennifer-love-hewitt-lawsuit-slim-spray-used-image/

[90PercentGravity]

One of the FB friends just posted a picture of a store shelf with a bunch of rapid ramen cookers on it, so I guess that's still a thing. They were $5.99. I don't remember how much they were when they were on the show.

[Juneau Gal]

They did an update last night on the Marzsprays, the one Jennifer Love Hewitt is suing. They pitched the spray to the sharks as a vitamin spray and Lori partnered with them. The update made it seem as though everything was going well and no mention was made of a diet spray. Interesting that they would go the weight loss route if the vitamins were indeed selling.

I remember a pill that another man pitched that the sharks equated the man to a snake oil salesman, perhaps TMZ has confused the two pitches in the article linked above.

[Lola16]

They did an update last night on the Marzsprays, the one Jennifer Love Hewitt is suing. They pitched the spray to the sharks as a vitamin spray and Lori partnered with them. The update made it seem as though everything was going well and no mention was made of a diet spray. Interesting that they would go the weight loss route if the vitamins were indeed selling.

I remember a pill that another man pitched that the sharks equated the man to a snake oil salesman, perhaps TMZ has confused the two pitches in the article linked above.

If you click through to TMZ, you'll see a copy of the ad with JLH and Marzspray.

[zillabreeze]

Am I the only person that still cracks up ever time the "I want to draw a cat for you" guy does his little shoulder dance? 3 watches, and I still crack the hell up!

[atir]

I've no idea if this is the correct place to post as I've been watching reruns. I don't know the time frame for the episodes I've been watching. I'm enjoying the show, however. Anyway, there was a couple (?) who "invented" a photo printing deal called groovebook. I finally took the plunge and DLed the app and uploaded my 100 photos for $2.99. I should have them in 7 days. I'll report back after I receive them.

[Juneau Gal]

Atir: Please do report back on how the groove book turned out. I looked into that last week to make a book to send to my mom who has recently at the age of 85 decided to eschew all these "new fangled gadgets" such as her computer and Facebook, yet wants to see photos that I take. Sigh......

[atir]

Juneau gal, I still havent recd my book yet and we leave 9.30 on vaca for 2 wks. Grrrr. I've asked my son to watch for it.

I uploaded my second batch of photos for October. Groovebook's instructions stink as far as sending a book to another address. So I emailed and got a CS rep who might b a tad unfamiliar with English. Le sigh. Who knows how mamy books theyll send me and my other kid.

BTW, I had to get a new password/user name for this site. So some of my posts appear as atir and newer ones appear as Portia.

[cooksdelight]

I saw a commercial for the Rapid Ramen cooker on TV the other day, so it's still selling. Probably in the "as seen on TV" aisle at most drugstores.

Atir, good to hear back from you about Groovebook. I think I'll pass. I've used Shutterfly for years and their photo books are awesome, and fun to set up. Dozens and dozens of page designs so you can do themed books. Hardcovers, very professional. They also offer freebies now and then. I got a free hardcover book of photos I took at my niece's baby shower, she loved having them like that instead of me just emailing her the photos. Shutterfly will also offer prints in a variety of sizes, sometimes for free when you pay shipping.

[cooksdelight]

I'm watching the Fuzzy Buns lady and I can't stop laughing.

Liz Lovely cookies are sold near me. But like Kevin, I think I'll skip the sand.

[cooksdelight]

Spatty!! Spatty Daddy!! OMG, I'm dying over here!

[portia7]

Back from vacay! The first groovebook photo book arrived while we were gone. It's pretty nice and well worth the 2.99/month. The paper cover isn't terribly sturdy and has an odd texture to it, but it's ok by us.

[cooksdelight]

I'm watching an old episode about the m3 jewelry company, and the lawsuits that followed. Wow.

[designing1]

GrooveBook was just acquired by Shutterfly for $14.5 million:

 

https://gma.yahoo.com/shark-tank-success-story-groovebook-snapped-shutterfly-14-134527085--abc-news-personal-finance.html

[zxy556575]

So O'Leary and Cuban paid $150,000 in exchange for 80 percent of licensing rights ... wonder how much they'll get out of the sale. Since the show loves to crow about even middling successes, I'm sure we'll get an update.

[cooksdelight]

Good for them! I use Shutterfly all the time, but for hard-bound photo albums, with all the neat artwork they offer for backgrounds.

[portia7]

I have a groovebk subscription. I wonder what this will do to the pricing schedule.

 

I saw an old version of ST last nite. There was a southern bell who had a shoe idea: removable heels and magnetic attachments. This would lighten the load of a traveler. I think she should have gone in that direction. Daymond took her company (an idea actually as she had no sales) for 70%. They need to partner with travelsmith or other catalog/online companies for travelers.

[cooksdelight]

I saw that episode also, and thought the same thing. I travel a lot and I want to be comfortable on the plane, yet be presentable when I have a business meeting on the other end.

[Amarsir]

Women's shoes with changeable features is another one of those ideas that's been invented numerous times.  The method varies which is why they each get patents, but the fact that there's no well-known version out there proves to me that they just don't go far.

[starri]

Wicked Good Cupcakes has expanded its product line to include pies, brownies, cheesecake, and gluten-free cupcakes in jars, as well as macarons (not in jars).  

 

Still too expensive, however.

[cooksdelight]

The flammable Cooking Carp girls are on. I am dying once again, laughing my ass off at those two.

[atir]

Omg, cooksdelight, I have to mute those 2. Yikes they hurt my ears, however I do laugh at them too. What a doofus of an idea.

Marathon today!!

[cooksdelight]

I guess those girls never watched a single cooking show, in which the chefs and cooks wear a variety of things on their heads....readily available in stores. I think they had a drunk night out, wound up back at the hotel and put on the shower cap, took selfies, and a dumb idea was born.

[susannot]

OK. gurlz, I just watched ST for the very first time tonight.  Who are the carp girls?

[cooksdelight]

They had these bonnets that looked like glorified shower caps which they said would prevent your hair from smelling like fish when you cooked and then wanted to go out for a night on the town.

[zxy556575]

They had these bonnets that looked like glorified shower caps which they said would prevent your hair from smelling like fish when you cooked and then wanted to go out for a night on the town.

 

If anyone thinks cooksdelight is joking or mocking, let us disabuse you. She speaks truth.

[Lola16]

OK. gurlz, I just watched ST for the very first time tonight.  Who are the carp girls?

Cap. Carp. Crap.  Whatevs.

 

http://sharktanksuccess.blogspot.com/2013/09/kook-n-kap.html

[cooksdelight]

I just watched the rerun with the plastic ring thing guys who called Mark "Cubes." Boy did that tick him off.

Whatever happened with the ZOMM guy, the guy who blew through 9 million?

[cooksdelight]

Good episode on CNBC, the toy recycler lady and the guy with the nose thing to prevent airborne illnesses.

[psychoticstate]

Just watched the segment on Toygaroo (the toy rental biz) and in doing a quick online search, because I did think it was an interesting concept, the biz apparently filed for bankruptcy a year after Nikki Pope appeared on the show.

 

As someone who was royally screwed over by my ex-husband, when she said that her husband had 50% of the business while she had 10% (and she came up with the model and concept), I literally felt my insides shredding.  WHY?  Why would you do such a thing? Why wouldn't you be equal partners?  A moot point since the company went belly up but all I could think of was that if the business hits and the husband decides he's gone from the marriage, he walks away with the lion's share of the equity and the money.  I just don't get it.

[starri]

Toygaroo was a flop (and by Cuban's own estimation, the worst investment he'd ever made) simply because she was more interested in being on TV than running the business.  Cuban's been very blunt about it.

[cooksdelight]

Watched the Chord Buddy guy again, which always makes me cry with joy. I've never seen Robert so happy to get an investment deal, and the guy giving him the big bear hug and swinging him around was just plain fun.

[psychoticstate]

I absolutely love watching Robert's reactions when dogs, children and/or interactive products are brought into the tank.  He is just so darn excited, it's wonderful to watch.

[Lola16]

Toygaroo was a flop (and by Cuban's own estimation, the worst investment he'd ever made) simply because she was more interested in being on TV than running the business.  Cuban's been very blunt about it.

I thought Toygaroo was a flop because it was a bad idea with high costs.

[theatremouse]

Why can't it be both?

[Lola16]

Why can't it be both?

I don't think Toygaroo would be a success regardless of the founder's motivations. 

[starri]

I thought Toygaroo was a flop because it was a bad idea with high costs.

Standard "I have no kids disclaimer."

 

Cuban said that his kids loved it, and I think, marketed towards parents who are looking to providing their kids with toys and not being stuck with them once the kids age past them, or spending a fortune on toys that will be played with for a month and then forgotten.

[Lola16]

Right.  Now on the operations side:

 

1) High shipping costs

2) Need to know what products will be popular and have those in stock

3) Cleaning of products

4) Checking products for defects/breaks/missing pieces

5) Liability of # 3 and 4

6) Cost of replacing products, getting rid of products that don't rent

7) Customer acquisition costs of a niche market

8) Customer turn-over as kids age out

9) Inventory - if you warehouse it, you have to forecast very well to know which products and how many to stock; if you don't warehouse it, you need to get a great supplier because no-one will want to hear a product is late or back-ordered

 

That's a lot to figure out and get past    I could see there being a niche market (especially city folks and poor folks) but a mass market?  Nah.

[starri]

I'm sure people might have made the same forecast about Netflix.  I get that the shipping costs are lower on DVDs, but back in the dark ages (pre-9/11) they had one fulfillment center in California (and also rented porn!) and if you lived on the East Coast, the service was slower than Christmas.  Then once 9/11 happened, and more specifically the anthrax attacks happened, it got even slower.  They survived.

 

I wouldn't have written off Toygaroo if they'd been willing to put in the work.  Maybe it would have gone under anyway, maybe not.

 

I'd never have expected much of Ava the Elephant, but Tiffany Krumins and Barbara have turned that into an entire line of products which are made in the United States.  "I Want To Draw A Cat For You" seemed utterly insane, and in terms of return-on-investment, it's probably been the best deal in percentage, if not in dollar amount.

 

I guess what I'm saying is that it's hard to predict what is or isn't going to be a hit.  All I know for sure about Toygaroo was that it was poorly managed.

[psychoticstate]

I just watched Chord Buddy . . . wow!  The inventor was most definitely the major selling point.  He seemed like a truly nice guy and, like Mark, I loved that the product is made in the USA and he's insistent on that in order to provide his community with jobs. 

 

And yes, watching Robert so happy to play the guitar and then getting bear hugged . . . great segment!

[sarthaz]

Curiosity finally drove me to try a "glass" of Copa di Vino.  Wow!  It really is like drinking urine.  I got the Moscato, and there's not even a hint of sweet.  It's like a really dry Chardonnay ... after passing through someone's liver.  It's very difficult to imagine this novelty item ever getting repeat business.  It's about 6 ounces of liquid total, and I've barely been able to finish 1.

[psychoticstate]

WTF was up with the lady with the Hot Mama maternity gowns??  I just watched the epi last night and I wanted to jump through my tv and throat punch her. 

 

She says she's working as a pharmaceutical rep during the day and caring for her kids at night since her husband is away M-F.  She then workes on her gown business from the time her kids go to bed until 2 am.  So Barbara makes her offer for 40% and she refuses?  Is she insane?  And this is after crying about how much she wants this and how hard she works (and lies, IMO, about being open minded about Barbara's suggestions)   As they say, 60% of big sales is better than 100% of small or no sales. 

 

I think the product is probably a fairly good idea.  Her price point was waaaaaay too high though.  And Barbara was probably right with scaling down the sizes to be S, M or L.  SMH.

 

I was also floored by the TurboBaster lady - - maybe same episode.  She had a prototype, no sales, no idea what her product would cost to make, no idea how many regular basters were sold last year.  I cannot believe that not only did the Sharks not tear her apart but she got 2 offers.  I am wondering if she fully understood the offers.  Daymond offered her the same royalty deal as Kevin H. (2%) but was taking a 51% stake, whereas Kevin H. was taking 100%.  She took Kevin's deal - - I think I would have taken Daymond's and retained equity in the business.  Confused.

[PRgal]

Women's shoes with changeable features is another one of those ideas that's been invented numerous times.  The method varies which is why they each get patents, but the fact that there's no well-known version out there proves to me that they just don't go far.

 

Interchangeable heels were featured in the Canadian version, Dragon's Den, as well.  The line is apparently doing fairly well in Europe and the designer recently opened the first North American boutique in Toronto (she is from Ottawa).  I actually own a pair, along with two pairs of heels.

[Guest]

I thought Kazam was a slam dunk.  My kid learned to balance on a Razor scooter.  You couldn't find a household with kids without at least one Razor 5-10 years ago, I'm not sure about now.  But I wish I'd invented them or something like them.  

[cooksdelight]

Really early episode on CNBC, a vet who claims he can prevent cancer in animals???

[NikSac]

Really early episode on CNBC, a vet who claims he can prevent cancer in animals???

 

I'd love it if that were true! Haven't seen that episode, but I'll look for it.

[cooksdelight]

He's a quack. He couldn't support any claims with any type of research or reports. He's selling an herbal food that he says keeps pets alive longer and can keep them from getting cancer. Robert asked him why he's not presenting his findings at major medical centers to help people....and he just stood there with his mouth open, saying he wants to help animals that he treats at his vet clinic.

[NikSac]

Aw that's too bad. I kind of figured, but since I lost my "baby girl" to cancer I've always wished there was something more out there for pet-parents to hang onto that actually worked. Sadly even without valid research I bet he could sell a ton of that to desperate owners at the specialty oncology vet clinic I was taking her to (and others). I saw the same people in there all the time and we were all just trying to find anything at all that might help and not hurt. It's a prime market for getting people to overspend on stuff that may or may not work, unfortunately.