‘Shark Tank’ review: DDP Yoga, Spy Escape & Evasion, Short Stacks Pancake Mix, Moberi
Sometimes, we like to work hard to find little themes within an episode of “Shark Tank,” but you really could not do that at all with the one that aired on ABC Friday night. Instead, what you really had was an episode that had silly smoothies at one moment, and then spy survival tips the next. It couldn’t be any more random, and that is a little bit of what made it fun. Basically, you could have a smoothie, do some yoga and some CIA training, and then have some pancakes at the end of it.
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Moberi (asking for $50,000 for 15% of the company) – This is so Portland, and by that we mean (as said in the preview) that it’s quirky, strange, but kind of cool. You basically pedal your way to your own smoothie. We do like the concept, and we actually think that the guy who runs this should feel pretty good about himself. He’s managed to find a way to make a profitable business in his first year doing something that he loves.
We do actually disagree with the sharks here in that this is something that can be scaled, but probably will not be a $10 million business someday. We would just, at least if we were in Moberi, try to get carts in places like Venice Beach, Seaside Heights, South Beach, Maui, or any other major resort town. It’s a fun little thing for people to do on vacation or want to make a fun memory. It’s not something we could see somebody going to do every week like heading to a Jamba Juice. No deal.
Spy Escape & Evasion (asking for $100,000 for 15% of the company) – Basically, this is a guy who was in the CIA who apparently just wants to tell you its secrets. Some of his tricks were almost like magic, and they were cool! We’ll give him that. But the idea of turning this into a two-day seminar-like event? Kind of crazy. This seems better as a video or a book series, mostly because getting people to show up for the event is pretty hard.
This is the biggest problem with the business, and it’s a fairly simple one: The guy wants to build a ranch in Utah and have people come out to see him. Who in their right mind is going to pay to do that? No disrespect to anyone in Utah, but that is far, far away. We actually think that Mark Cuban had the best idea: To turn this into an entertainment experience that people can enjoy, and maybe learn a few things from to take into the real world. But, he got a good offer elsewhere and Mark didn’t really put up one. Daymond John invests $150,000 for 45%.
DDP Yoga (asking for $200,000 for 5% company) – This was a surprise to us, mostly in that the reaction to it was what it was from the sharks. We agree that exercise programs are super-risky, but what you have at the center of this one is a guy in Diamond Dallas Page who is a popular wrestler and a guy we grew up watching. If you actually got this guy to appeal to the non-yoga audience (jocks / dudes drinking beer all the time), you could make some serious money. Maybe the sharks just are not wrestling fans at all. No deal.
Southern Culture / Short Stacks Pancake Mix – First things first, there is some work that really needs to be done here when it comes to the name. This is pretty awful, even if the food looks really delicious, and we love a good pancake like one else.
The thing is here that we would be more likely to invest in probably any other products tonight before this one, mostly because we know about the uphill battle for food, especially one that has nothing really that innovative about it other than quality ingredients. With that, this is a company fortunate to have a deal with someone like Barbara Corcoran, even if it came at a high price in $100,000 for 38% of the company. Barbara has proven to be great in the food industry, even if it is hard at times. Episode Grade: B+
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Photo: ABC