Todd Graves On Shark Tank Season 16
Highlights
- Todd Graves appeared as a first-time Guest Shark in the sixteenth season.
- His business plan for the successful Raising Cane’s was initially rejected by multiple bankers.
- Raising Cane’s is scripting new success stories with every passing year.
Shark Tank has been inspiring countless viewers with stories of regular and guest Shark investors appearing on the show. Their passion and commitment to fulfilling their business goals, as shown through episodes, have lived on for years. A recent motivational story that got attention was of Rasing Cane’s founder Todd Graves.
Although appearing for the first time as a guest investor on Shark Tank, Todd Graves impressed audiences with Raising Cane’s success story, deals made, and advice for pitchers. Before getting into the ‘Todd Graves Shark Tank Season 16’ details, here are insights into the company’s success story.
The Inspiration Towards Food Industry
Todd Graves’s inspiration for the food industry did not occur instantly. Instead, from a young age, he spent a lot of time with his mom in the kitchen. Doing so helped him appreciate the art of food closely. Raised in Louisiana, the Episcopal High School alumnus learned new recipes quite often.
These daily experiences helped him understand that creating a good meal allows one to show their friends and families that they love them. Fuelled by this spirit, he got into the food business because this was his expression of love for people.
Beginnings And Setbacks For Raising Cane’s
While growing up, Todd worked in multiple bars and restaurants, which instilled in him the inspiration to come up with his own restaurant business. He wanted to create a happy space where people could enjoy food in a fun way. But he was firm about having only chicken fingers as the food item on his restaurant’s menu.
To work on his dream business, Todd started the groundwork during his graduation period. During his senior year, boneless chicken was becoming highly popular. Every food outlet, including large chains to moms-and-pops, had this chicken offering on their menu, which made it a hit trend.
Realizing this, Todd, along with one of his good friends, enrolled in a business planning class. The two of them spent that semester writing the business plan for Raising Cane’s. However, much to his surprise, the plan got the worst grade in his class.
Todd’s professor felt that a restaurant in South Louisiana that only served chicken-finger meals would never work. But this did not deter him from his path, and he approached different bankers, who, too, held the same opinion.
Todd still did not agree to budge, as he was confident in his vision of being the best at making and selling chicken fingers.
Todd Graves’ Struggle Story For Starting Raising Cane’s
After being rejected by banks, Raising Cane’s founder knew that he had to make money himself. He had a friend who was a boilermaker in an oil refinery and told him that he was earning money by working for more than 90 hours a week. Todd landed a job with his help.
One of the boilermakers, named Wild Bill Tolar, told him to further come to Naknek, Alaska, so as to make more money by fishing for sockeye salmon in Bristol Bay. Todd agreed and worked for 20-hour a day during the peak season. Despite the potential dangers due to bad weather, he kept working to bring Raising Cane’s to life.
Raising Cane’s Final Takeoff And Continued Success
Through this job in Alaska, Todd managed to make $50K and headed back to Baton Rouge. After this, he talked to a small group of investors and managed to convince them to pour money into Raising Cane’s. Plus, he found an old, dilapidated building at the North Gates of LSU for starting the resaurant.
Within the first two weeks, Raising Cane’s first restaurant (Mothership) became an instant hit in 1996. There has been no stopping the chicken finger-selling food venture since then.
The restaurant has LSU game days, during which business does not stop all day. After serving for about 28 years, Raising Cane’s has found its reach grow to more than 800 locations. With the dedicated service of over 60,000 crew members, the company has made more than $24 billion in sales.
The ‘Todd Graves Shark Tank Season 16’ Journey
The Raising Cane’s founder made his debut as a guest investor in the second episode of Shark Tank Season 16. Despite no previous experience in the show, he won over the audience with his proactive approach during deals, thoughtful advice for entrepreneurs, and bonding with fellow Sharks.
Here is a quick recap of Todd’s investments in the second episode:
Topsail Steamer
Danielle Mahon is a Topsail Island-based entrepreneur who made her way to the investors on Shark Tank Season 16 with Topsail Steamer. The venture offers steamed seafood in single-use pots, having andouille sausage, sweet corn, red bliss potatoes, and proprietary seasoning. She entered the show seeking $350K for 8% equity.
Topsail Steamer made $4.5 million in 2023 and projects $5.7 million in sales this year. The entrepreneur appeared on the show to get help setting up a franchise system for the future.
Did Todd Graves Offer A Deal?
Yes, Todd did make an offer. As the most interested Shark, he made an offer of $350K for 20% equity. However, he believed the franchising concept would not do well for Danielle because, according to him, franchises cannot run a business as well as a founder can. He added that he could help her the right way owing to his food background.
Lori Greiner showed an interest of joining him in the deal, which Todd agreed to. The final deal was then locked for $350K for 18% equity.
View this post on Instagram
RigStrips
The entrepreneur duo of Steven Graf and Zhach Pham approached the Shark investors with RigStrips seeking $300K for 7.5% equity. The company focuses on the problem of scratches caused on vehicles due to skis or snowboards. Presenting a solution to the pain area, the entrepreneurs present ‘SnoStrip’ and ‘SunStrip.’
The duo stated that sales from 2020 to date are $3 million, which highly impressed the investors. Further, they are projecting $2.7 million in sales this year. 62% of sales happen in November and December.
Did Todd Graves Offer A Deal?
Although apprehensive about the $4 million valuation, the Raising Cane’s founder did make an offer of $300K for 20% equity. As no other panelist made an offer, the entrepreneurs counter it for $300K for 10% equity. However, Guest Shark Todd Graves did not agree to the counteroffer.
After some discussion, the deal was finalized for $300K at 15% equity.
View this post on Instagram
Conclusion
The journey of Raising Cane’s Todd Graves is an inspiration for many. His food venture is an exemplification of resilience, passion, and unmatched belief. Despite rejections, he stayed committed to his vision of offering chicken fingers at his dream restaurant, which is now a humongous success.
The Todd Graves Shark Tank Season 16 journey has emerged as another milestone in his exemplary career.
References
1. Raising Cane’s founder Todd Graves reveals his path to building the wildly popular restaurant, Trading Secrets Podcast, YouTube
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.
Speak Your Mind