Melni Connectors walked away with a coveted deal from Mark Cuban, but they came dangerously close to wasting this golden ticket in front of the Sharks. The Sharks unanimously bashed their presentation. As potential investors, the Sharks need to understand the product and its potential. Let’s look at the key ingredients in a successful pitch. […]
Sweetened Face Wipes – Neat Cheeks
April 14, 2015 by Leave a Comment
“Momtrepreneurs” Danielle Stangler and Julia Rossi are like most moms: they want parenting their small children to be a little bit easier – that’s why they created a business out of Neat Cheeks. The sweet-flavored face wipes do just that. Instead of making a kid squirm with yucky, alcohol scented face wipes, Neat Cheeks make […]
Peat Moss Substitute – Pit Moss
April 14, 2015 by 4 Comments
Mont Handley invented his peat moss substitute, called Pit Moss, way back in 1994. He recognized the problem with over harvesting peat bogs to obtain peat moss for gardening and decided to do something about it. Peat moss bogs trap about 30% of the carbon in the earth’s atmosphere, so over harvesting, or losing them […]
Electrical Connectors – Melni Connectors
April 14, 2015 by Leave a Comment
Even though Mark Melni runs a family electronics store, he probably never thought he’d be making and selling electrical connectors. Mark’s a concert pianist – not an electrician. Nonetheless, his familiarity with electronics led him to an “AHA moment” when he saw how much labor went into crimping wires for making electrical connections or splices. […]
Bink your Book – Beneath the Ink
April 14, 2015 by 3 Comments
Alex Milewski and Sherisse Hawkins want to Bink your book with their new technology for eBooks. Their business, Beneath the Ink, uses technology to provide “enhanced content” while reading a book in electronic formats. A bink is like a link within an eBook that leads readers to additional, supporting content – whether it’s a video, […]
Kickstarter Fraud
April 10, 2015 by 1 Comment
Kickstarter fraud is a growing problem, and it’s something any small business trying to raise money on crowdfunding sites should be concerned about. Kickstarter is “becoming the best way to get on Shark Tank. They’re recruiting heavily from Kickstarter and if you have a successful campaign, they want you on the show.” Those are Caleb Light’s […]
Julie Thompson Interview – Pully Palz
April 7, 2015 by 2 Comments
Julie Thompson is excited about pitching Pully Palz, her solution for lost pacifiers, in Shark Tank episode 629. I caught up with Julie before the show aired to find out a bit more about her background and her product. She started the conversation by saying “I didn’t know what I wanted to be until my […]
Lightweight Running Shoes – Forus Athletics
April 6, 2015 by 11 Comments
The world is full of entrepreneurs who want to build a better mousetrap and the folks at Forus Athletics are taking that attitude toward building better lightweight running shoes. Forus athletics was founded in 2009 when five Indiana University grads decided their lightweight running shoes “sucked.” Thus began the journey of building their version of the […]
Custom Stuffed Toys – Budsies
April 6, 2015 by 1 Comment
Every kid loves stuffed toys, but Alex Furmansky thinks they’ll like Budsies, his custom stuffed toys, even better. He hopes the Sharks feel the same way when he pitches his business in Shark Tank episode 629. Furmansky got the idea for Budsies from his little sister’s artwork. She was always drawing colorful pictures and one day […]
Bee Keeping Supplies – Bee Thinking
April 6, 2015 by Leave a Comment
Matt and Jill Reed didn’t initially set out to sell bee keeping supplies, they just wanted to educate people about bees and their place in the ecosystem on their website. Their noble idea quickly turned into a business when people saw the beehives they were making for themselves on the site; the Reeds have over […]
