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Toygaroo Bankruptcy Update from Former CTO

Toygaroo in the Shark Tank

Toygaroo made Shark Tank news last month when it was learned the parent company, Hutch Toygaroo, LLC  filed for bankruptcy.  In perhaps the most public Shark Tank failure to date, Toygaroo filed Chapter 7 on April 6, 2012- barely a year after being funded by Mark Cuban.

Nikki Pope was the face of Toygaroo in the Shark Tank, but she was a minority owner. The other principles, Hratch Hutch Postik and Rony Mirzaians did not appear on the show.  Nikki evangelized Toygaroo, billed as the Netflix of Toys, all over TV with appearances on countless local TV stations and network shows. Everyone seemed to like the idea, and for a while, things seemed to be going well.

Last fall, the first specters of problems began appearing: negative comments began showing up on various review sites, the company Facebook and Twitter pages disappeared, and Toygaroo posted on their website that they would not be accepting new customers due to “tremendous growth.” Then, the hammer fell on April 2, 2012 with the bankruptcy filing. Phil Smy, former Chief Technology officer for Toygaroo, put up a cryptic post on his blog back in October that foreshadowed the events of this spring. When I asked him about it prior to the Chapter 7 filing, he told me he’d have more to say “in a few weeks.”

Since then, I have been corresponding with Phil, and he recently took the time to answer a few questions about the bankruptcy.

Mr. Smy came on board with Toygaroo in the summer of 2010. “Toygaroo approached me looking for software to run their business. At the time I was running Filmamora (a kind of Netflix) in Spain. I licensed the software to them and at the same time came on board as CTO. My involvement pre-dates SharkTank (and Cuban). ‘Ms. Pope’ has always had a minor share. So, I was hired by the other key shareholders.  I was in Toygaroo from inception (pre incorporation documents) to the present time. I was CTO in name, but in reality I was responsible for all the technology, from custom development of the software to organizing hosting.”

I asked Phil when he thought the business was in trouble. “I would argue that the business was never really ‘in trouble.’ There were issues with the business model that became apparent after running for a few months. Those issues should have been addressed.” He hasn’t elaborated on what those issues were, but I will try to get clarification.

I asked if this was a “legitimate” bankruptcy or a “money grab” by the share holders. “Trying to recover from laughing… There was no money to grab.”

Was it a workable business model that was mismanaged or was the business plan logistically difficult to execute at the price points they were at? “Tweaks to the model were needed. Price points are kind of irrelevant as they always change in any business (look at the fluctuations over time of Netflix).”

The Chapter 7 filing listed Fedex and Uline, a packaging company, as creditors. I wondered if Toygaroo wasn’t paying its bills. “As far as I know Toygaroo always paid its bills up until the last month of operations. What is not listed on those bankruptcy notices is how much was owed. The amounts were small. The business was growing. To be honest, that was the problem. Explosive growth is a difficult thing to handle for small businesses. I thought – and still think – it is a great idea. The business model needs some changing from what we were doing. I would have grown more organically (i.e slower) and also found investors who were willing to go the distance.”

Investors weren’t willing to go the distance? Did you mean Mark Cuban? “I don’t think that the ‘big name’ investors we got really came through with what I had hoped.”

Did he have something to do with the bankruptcy? “Well, of course he had something to do with it, but, if you mean did he cause it, then no. Cuban’s personal role was extremely limited. We did have frequent contact with ‘his people’ but as I was not involved in that side I can’t say exactly what they did for us. It wasn’t obvious to me that we got a lot of help, though I am sure they would argue otherwise.”

My dad always said there were two things financially that can wreck a new business, not enough start-up money and too much start-up money. Small businesses that can be started on a shoestring and generate enough cash to keep going are often better off than businesses that get gobs of VC money and spend it imprudently on things that don’t build a business. Conversely, a business that explodes out of the box needs cash to effectively manage that growth until processes can be put in place and the business matures into being able to manage the growth. Reading between the lines, I would say Toygaroo fell into the latter category. They simply could not feed the growth monster.

What is next for Phil Smy?  “I have several clients around the world… Toygaroo was one. I don’t live in the US, so I don’t think I will pop up on the radar over there for a while! My businesses continue to be in Europe and Japan.”

Wherever he lands, we wish him well. We also hope Nikki Pope continues to dream, innovate, and take action on her ideas. Toygaroo was a good idea that, for whatever reason, was poorly executed. We’ll probably never know the whole story, but just because one business fails, it doesn’t mean the entrepreneur or the concept are flawed. Sometimes, things just don’t work out. That’s why Mr. Smy says on his blog, “Choose your partners carefully.”

There are other toy rental companies out there, so the concept appears workable and it appears there is a demand. If you are a Toygaroo customer looking for similar services, try these sites: Baby Plays or Toyconomy.

 

About Rob Merlino

Entrepreneur, auteur, raconteur. Rob Merlino is a blogger and writer who enjoys the Shark Tank TV show and Hot Dogs. A father of five who freelances in a variety of publications, Rob has a stable of websites including Shark Tank Blog, Hot Dog Stories, Rob Merlino.com and more.

Comments

  1. Mike Lorenzo says

    Great follow up article! Thanks for posting and sharing Phil’s insights. It’s too bad it didn’t work out for Toygaroo and Nikki Pope. The idea was sound and I liked her. I really hope Shark Tank does a follow up segment to show that things don’t always work out for the business on Shark Tank and for the Sharks. This reality call will actually help the shows “reality” credibility as opposed to non-informed viewers thinking everyone who gets a deal will be successful.

  2. I’ve just seen the rerun of this show after seeing some kind of best of shark tank where they listed this as a disappointment ..said their was ownership issues….? OK they filed BK, still not sure why if they had little debt? Is their a patent or something….anyone else doing this? I’d like to help restart this business as a Bankruptcy Remote Structured Funding….LinkedIn ID: IEH. Couldn’t find you there, but sent Phil an invite….let’s talk.

  3. martha subuh says

    i think it ws karma cuz nikki, mark and kevin really stuck it to Robert, that sucked, i love Robert!!

  4. martha subuh says

    its karma!! Nikki, Mark and Kevinleft Robert out in the cold, that sucked!! i love Robert!!

  5. Are there any more recent updates to this? I saw the clip where Kevin and Mark were almost dumbfounded at this business’ failure! Quite a contrast to the usual…

  6. barney pedrino says

    I guess robert H got the last laugh,the mark and kevin screwed him and got screwed in the end. This women was full of crap to begin with ,how come they could not see this? This women probably took the money and ran,. Where was her husband ,why split ownership. Cjhances are her and her husband were not together.

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