Highlights
- Marc Furigay introduces Classroom Jams, a music-based educational tool aimed at enhancing student engagement with Shakespearean literature.
- He seeks $250,000 for 10% equity but retains full control over the copyrights to his songs, sparking negotiations with the Sharks.
- After intense negotiations, Furigay accepts a deal with the Sharks for $250,000 in exchange for 100% of the publishing rights, with a 5% royalty and a buy-back option for equity.
Overview
| Category | Details |
|---|---|
| Name | Classroom Jams |
| Founder | Marc Furigay |
| Industry | Education, Music |
| Product | Music-enhanced educational materials for Shakespeare |
| Funding | Sought $250,000 for 10% equity on Shark Tank |
| Investment Ask | $250,000 |
| Equity Offered | 10% |
| Valuation | $2.5 million |
In episode 102, Marc Furigay introduces Classroom Jams to the Sharks. Furigay has been teaching public high school for eight years. He was frustrated at the lack of engagement in his students, especially when studying Shakespeare. He brought a new idea into the classroom, in order to change the dynamic of how the students interacted with the literature they were reading.
They say music soothes the savage beast, but will Furigay’s tune entice the ears of the Sharks, or will he leave the Tank without the deal he needs to bring his Classroom Jams to the market?
Classroom Jams Shark Tank Recap
Furigay enters the Shark Tank looking for a $250,000 investment in return for a 10% stake in the company. He presents his company; an educational music studio and publishing company. Furigay was impressed by a student’s request for “something we can relate to.” In response to the student’s desire, he came up with a song, “Jubilee for Juliette.”
He plays the first verse for the Sharks, who are impressed by his performance. Furigay has copyrighted all of the songs on the album. He’s offering a stake in the publishing house and studio, but not control over the copyright, a revelation that Kevin O’Leary responds to with a noise of pain, calling Furigay a “nasty, nasty man.”
Furigay has a complete album available, which costs the schools $499 to purchase. The set includes the complete Shakespeare album, student materials and a teacher’s guide.
In an unusual move, O’Leary asks Furigay to leave the room so that the Sharks can consult among themselves. With Furigay out of earshot, he suggests that the investors team up, rather than bid against one another. It’s clear that Mr. Wonderful likes the product and sees potential in the business, but he’s not about to allow Furigay to keep full possession of the copyright to his songs – the real value in the business.
Will the Deal Go Down?
O’Leary wants to offer Furigay the total amount of the investment, but he wants 100% of the publishing rights, with 5% royalties on the songs once the $250,000 is recouped. Furigay wants to hang on to his company, not give it up to the Sharks. O’Leary asks him; “Do you want to be rich, or not?”
Daymond John asks “Do you want to be involved in the day to day marketing and sales?” Furigay is enamored of the idea of running his own company, an idea that John shoots down. He wants to keep some equity in the company. The Sharks aren’t budging. He gives a counter-offer. He wants to retain a stake in the company. Robert goes out on a limb, offering Furigay the full investment for 100% of the company, with the option to buy back in up to 49% of the company, but with no royalty option.
When Furigay still waffles, Herjavec offers the $250,000 for 51% of the company, giving him control. Furigay asks for a recap of the 5 Shark offer. O’Leary repeats the details, and adds the buy-in option Herjavec had added.
Furigay accepts the deal.
Classroom Jams Shark Tank Update
In spite of a follow-up with Houghton Mifflin, a major educational publisher, which resulted in an agreement to test Furigay’s albums nationally, the company seems to have dried up. The only sign of Classroom Jams online is Furigay’s personal LinkedIn account and a website with a non-functional store. There is no website or Facebook presence. Classroom Jams seems to have closed shop, unfortunately for the students who must study Shakespeare unaccompanied by music.
Furigay moved on to become the educational director for Street Level Youth Media, “a program for inner-city youth in Chicago that educates about media and technology to build self esteem and critical thinking skills,” In 2011. In 2016, he became an English teacher at the Dyett High School for the Arts in Chicago. He resurrected his website and now sells the album The Shakespeare Sessions for $9.99. He also sells teaching guides for Hamlet, MacBeth, Romeo and Juliet and poetry. As of July, 2021, he’s planning on getting back to school after a year and a half of remote learning due to the Covid-19 pandemic.
Classroom Jams Information
All of the Sharks seemed so confident that this teaching aid would fly. The Sharks don’t impress me, especially Kevin. What happened? Why did they fail?
I think they just didn’t make the sales they thought they would.
As I see it they got what they deserved: they tried to be greedy with the business idea stealing the money of his success but in the end they got nothing in return of their invest. They said in the end of the show: wow that was a good deal, but not for him (Marc). Thats called karma and I like it!
Flocabulary.com has been doing this for years and makes money.
Entertaining segment, but horrible decision by the Kevin to be so enthusiastic over this.
As I suspected, nothing came out of this, and now the music is being sold straight to the public via a free Wix website instead of a network of schools directly. Probably makes $0 a month.
Trying to get money out of a school board is hard.