Adriana Montano channels her “inner crazy cat lady” in Shark Tank’s season six finale when she pitches Gato Cafe, her “cat cafe” concept. Montano likes cats and she likes the growing, world-wide trend of the cat cafe. Popular in Asia and gaining momentum in Europe, a cat cafe is just a coffee shop with a […]
3 Wheel Scooter – Sway Motorsports
Joe Wilcox wowed the crowd at this year’s CES in Las Vegas when he showcased his 3 wheel scooter powered by lithium batteries. The three wheel tilting trike is the signature product for Wilcox’s Sway Motorsports. It’s designed for urban transportation and has more maneuverability than standard trikes and scooters. The secret is in the sway – […]
New Game: Spike Ball
What do you get when you cross volleyball with foursquare – you get a whole new game: Spike Ball! Chris Ruder first created the game back in 2007 and since then, there are over a quarter million active players on over 1000 teams in the USA. Regional SpikeBall tournaments occur every year and a champion […]
Square Wheels – SharkWheel
Wheels are supposed to be round, but SharkWheel inventor David Patrick doesn’t think so! He spent a long time coming up with the first square wheel for skateboards and went through a lot of failures. Once, he ordered $10,000 worth of useless wheels from a manufacturer, but he, along with business partner and former tennis […]
Personalized Action Figures – You Kick Ass
Action figures are a ubiquitous toy in the USA. Just about every movie aimed at kids comes complete with a line of action figures to further the brand and increase revenue for the franchise. I know someone who has a Star Wars action figure collection appraised at over $1 million! Keri Andrews and Alesia Glidewell […]
Sun Screen Misting Stations
If you’ve ever gone to the beach and forgotten sun screen, Tony Fayne and Josh Kaplan have the solution. They invented Sunscreen Mist, a sunscreen application station for beaches, amusement parks, and just about any other outdoor venue you can imagine. Only about one-third of people properly apply sunscreen when participating in outdoor activities; this leads […]
Virtual Interior Design – ZOOM
Madeline Fraser, Elizabeth Grover, and Beatrice Fischel-Bock think Zoom Interiors is the next step in interior design. The three young women created their virtual interior design service to provide an alternative to expensive, $400-$600 an hour designers. Their online platform creates a profile of what a customer wants for a particular room based on a […]
Synthetic Cadavers – SynDaver
Entrepreneur Christopher Sakezles commented to me that he wants people to tune in to episode 625 to watch him pitch SynDaver Labs so they can see “what happens when a mad scientist runs a business!” SynDaver Labs makes synthetic human cadavers for medical research and – not surprisingly – TV and movie medical dramas. The cadavers […]
Striper Lures – World Record Striper Company
Greg Myerson doesn’t usually go Shark fishing, but he will when he pitches his patented striper lures in Shark Tank episode 626. Myerson is a living legend in the fishing world and he holds the record for the largest striped bass ever caught: 81.8 pounds. Striped bass, once a highly protected species, are plentiful in the […]
Air Pod Compressed Air Car – Zero Pollution Motors
Ethan Tucker believes the future of motor vehicles is his Air Pod, a car powered by compressed air. Tucker’s company, Zero Pollution Motors, is the USA “Dealer – Manufacturer – Partner” of Luxembourg-based MDI (Motor Development International), the company that developed the compressed air engine that powers the Air Pod. Tucker is taking deposits for Air Pods […]
Paleo Diet Bar
Shauna Sledge is no stranger to health and nutrition, this is what led her to spend “countless hours in a commercial kitchen week after week” developing the Paleo Diet Bar. Shauna, along with husband Todd, are into the cross fit scene and are proponents of the Paleo Diet: a diet based on the notion that […]
Interchangeable Eyeglasses – Frameri
Frameri founder Konrad Billetz became acquainted with eyeglasses after he lived the cliche about BB guns: “You’ll shoot your eye out, kid!” When he was 11, his friend shot him in the eye with a BB gun, causing him to need to wear corrective lenses. Being an 11 year old boy, he ripped through eyeglasses […]
Custom Fan Magazines – Zine Pak
Kim Kaupe and Brittany Hodak took the old fan magazine (Fanzine) concept into the new millennium with Zine Pak (pronounced ZEEN PACK). The women are New York advertising execs who’ve taken an idea and executed it perfectly. The describe Zine Pak as an “audience engagement platform.” Basically, they put together a custom, glossy magazine for […]
American Men’s Clothing – Buck Mason
Sasha Koehn and Erik Shnakenberg are trying to brand an iconic, All-American men’s clothing line and they hope a Shark will give them a boost in episode 624. The vibe they’re looking for is an existential, modern-day brindle stiff: the lost archetype of the independent, sensitive, rough-hewn, hard-working American male. The clothes reflect that effort. Buck Mason […]
Bar Stool Reservations – SnagaStool
When Detroit native Jamie Manning came to Boston, he made bar stool reservations by paying someone to save him a seat at his favorite bar so he’d have a good seat for a Bruins playoff game. That’s how SnagaStool was born. He got together with Adriano Varassin and they created an App that saves seats at […]
Sweetened Face Wipes – Neat Cheeks
“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
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
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
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, […]
Lightweight Running Shoes – Forus Athletics
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
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
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 […]
Lost Pacifier Solution – Pully Palz
Whether you call it a binky, sussy, or paci, it’s a pacifier and babies always spit them out. A pacifier does what it says: it pacifies babies by inducing the sucking reflex that calms and soothes them. Unfortunately, babies are always spitting out their pacifiers, which causes them to squirm and fuss. When this happens, […]
Online Reputation Management – BrandYourself.com
BrandYourself.com is banking on two things: people will Google their name and NOT like what they find. These days, whether you’re looking for a date or a job online, somebody is going to Google your name to find out more about you. That being the case, it’s good to make sure the person searching for […]
Lemonade Stand in the Shark Tank – Bee Sweet
Nothing says “entrepreneur” like a kid at the side of the road selling lemonade from a makeshift lemonade stand. For many kids, running their own lemonade stand is their first introduction to business. Mikaila Ulmer is one such kid. The cute 10-year-old girl with the bright, infectious smile is taking the roadside stand to whole new […]