Credit: Green Queen
Highlights
- Pitches like Cousins Maine Lobster and The Woobles find their place in the list of best Shark Tank pitches of all time.
- Entrepreneurs possessed clear knowledge about the market potential, sales numbers, and future projections, demonstrating their passion for their ventures.
- The best pitches led to competitive offers from multiple Sharks, resulting in significant investments and strategic partnerships to propel their businesses forward.
Ever since its inception, Shark Tank has seen hundreds of entrepreneurs present their pitches to the panel of acclaimed investors. While each of these investors possess their individual opinions on their investability, they all agree on the fundamentals of the best Shark Tank pitches.
The best pitches out of the hundred others involve entrepreneurs focusing on themselves and not just their products. They do so through visually stunning presentations and thoroughly researched business plans. This prepares them to answer any and every question of the Sharks.
Below are 4 of the best Shark Tank pitches that have intrigued both the Sharks and viewers alike:
1. Breathometer
What happened when a Silicon Valley veteran came up with an invention claiming to save lives? Here’s a complete detail of this interesting pitch:
The CEO and founder of Breathometer, Charles Michael Yim, introduced the world’s first smartphone breathalyzer to the Sharks. Seeking an investment of $250K for 10% equity, he started with his pitch by serving them champagne and asking if they were safe to drive.
He then compared the age-old bulky breathalyzers with Breathometer, which is smaller and more convenient. Charles then explained its functioning step by step – retract the audio jack, plug it into your phone, activate the app, and blow your breath into it. Within a few seconds, you could find out your breath alcohol level.
Lori volunteered and went to Charles to check how the device worked.
The Sharks were heavily impressed with the short and precise presentation and presented their offers one after the other.
After an intense round of negotiations, all the Sharks joined hands to make the final deal at $1 million for a 30% equity stake. Mark Cuban would invest $500K for 15% and the remaining Sharks offered the remaining $500 for 15%. Charles agreed; this is how he grabbed a deal with all the five Sharks.
2. The Woobles
Here’s how a perfect pitch from a couple managed to convince the Sharks to invest in their business and turned it from $200 to $5.3 million:
Hailing from corporate backgrounds, husband and wife Adrian Zhang and Justine Tiu came up with The Woobles, a DIY crochet animal kit. They started their pitch by stating that dissatisfied with their jobs, they found their lost passion and decided to make it into a venture.
Seeking an investment of $250K for 5% equity, the couple described how the journey for ‘The Woobles’ began in 2020. Within two years, they made over $5 million in sales. In the summer of 2022 alone, they had earned $3.1 million in sales.
Plus, they were estimating another $7 million for the rest of the year. The customer acquisition and average sales were $16 and $57, respectively. Adrian and Justine further revealed that they wanted cash and help with licensing, mentorship, and wholesale sales from the Sharks.
The Sharks were amazed at hearing the numbers and were thoroughly aware of the dynamics of their business.
All of them jumped into the intense negotiation and presented their offers. Ultimately, the entrepreneur couple sealed the deal with Mark and Lori who made a joint offer of $450K for 6%.
3. Cousins Maine Lobster
What happened when an entrepreneur-duo who had watched all previous Shark Tank seasons approached the Sharks?
Jim Tselikis and Sabin Lomac, a cousin-entrepreneur duo, came up with Cousins Maine Lobster. The idea was to bring authentic Maine Lobsters to the streets of LA with their food trucks.
Proposing an investment deal at $55K for a 5% stake in their business, the cousins started their pitch by feeding lobster rolls to the Sharks. After this, they started describing the many differentiators of their company, including a short delivery period of 24 hours.
Further, as they were originally from Maine, they emphasized the proprietary relationships they shared with the lobster wholesalers.
This reflected the preparation level of the entrepreneur-duo, who were religious Shark Tank viewers and understood precisely what they could be interested in.
Captivated by the pitch, Kevin was the first to initiate the negotiation. This led to a small argument amongst the Sharks, who showed interest in learning more about the business.
Jim and Sabin then revealed that they had one truck and had made $150K in sales in two months. They came to the tank to find a Shark who could help them get another food truck. While the other Sharks didn’t seem happy about the business they had made until then, Barbara made an offer.
After a series of offers and counteroffers, the final deal was then locked with Barbara at $55K for 15% equity.
4. Lumio
Find out what was so good about Lumio that all the five Sharks fiercely competed each other:
Max Gunawan, an aspiring entrepreneur, went to Shark tank pitching Lumio. This product was a unique lamp that came in a wood finish and could fold up into the shape of a hardcover book.
Max started his pitch by describing that the company was started in 2013 with a kickstarter campaign through which he raised a little over $578K. Asking for an investment of $250K for 8% of his company, he went on to explain its many features, including its LED light, USB charger, and portability.
The Sharks were amazed at seeing the visually stunning presentation and called it to be “cool.”
He then revealed the economics of the company describing that it had made $1 million including the Kickstarter amount. The Sharks were impressed by the margins of the product as it was built for $65 and sold at $190. Max further projected his sales to go up to $2-2.5 million in 2014.
But he was struggling with completing orders on time. This is why he had come to the Sharks.
Impressed by both the product and the business made, every Shark made their offer. But the deal was finalized with Robert for $350K at 10% equity.
Bottomline
The best Shark Tank pitches of all time share many similar traits, including compelling storytelling, attractive product demos, and comprehensive business plans. Entrepreneurs who manage to leverage any of these traits leave an indelible impression on the Sharks to the extent that they may offer a deal.
Lumio, Cousins Maine Lobster, and The Woobles have emerged as multi-million businesses with annual revenues of $5 million (2023), $39 million (2023), and $7 million (2022), respectively. Breathometer was the only exception that didn’t meet expectations, as Mark revealed to have lost a hefty amount in the investment.
References
1. Lumio: A Modern Lamp With Infinite Possibilities, Kickstarter
2. ‘Shark Tank’ success story: How lobster-truck guys turned $20,000 into $20 million, CNBC
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.
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