‘Shark Tank’ preview: Pipcorn, Heidi Ho, Squatty Potty, Storm Stoppers, and the Living Christmas Company
Tomorrow night, we’re getting more than just the standard episode of “Shark Tank” over on ABC; it is actually the 100th episode of the show! That is an opportunity to really celebrate the success of what is a pretty fantastic show, and is a beacon to some small businesses out there.
We’re not going to get sappy in this article, though: We’ve got products to discuss! We’re going to start here, as always, with the official synopsis for this episode:
“…In the episode, a mother and son from St. George, UT suggest a healthier way to get things moving along when you do your business in the bathroom; a man from Orlando, FL has an easy-to-use alternative to using plywood for storm protection; a brother and sister from Brooklyn, NY are looking for manufacturing help and distribution outlets for their organic mini-popcorn; and a chef from Portland, OR pitches her dairy-free line of plant-based cheeses. In a follow-up segment, Scotty ‘Scotty Claus’ Martin from Torrance, CA gives an update on Living Xmas, which allows you to rent a live Christmas tree for the holiday season and enjoy it year after year — a business venture that Mark Cuban invested in during Season Five.”
Now, here’s our first impression on the products.
Squatty Potty – We’ll be honest in saying that this is only the second product in “Shark Tank” history that we’re familiar with going into the show, with the first being Bare Ease from a while back. The reason is that both have “Survivor” connections. We remember at one point Richard Hatch being linked to this.
Anyway, the product is designed to make it more natural for you to use the restroom (to put it mildly), and helps to improve posture and making taking care of your business easier. It may work, but it’s a tough sell to consumers.
Storm Stoppers – We’re not going to even pretend that we know a whole lot about this product, mostly because we’re not an expert on hurricane prevention in the slightest. There are many homes and businesses that could use proper home protection, but we envision the challenge here being educating these consumers that they need this particular product. Also, this is geared mostly to a select number of states.
Heidi Ho – Love the website, and even love the name for some reason. We know there’s a huge market for specialty food, especially since we’ve found that many vegan foods simply are not particularly tasty. That’s the trouble judging this product; outside of the numbers, it’s all about the taste. If it’s good, it has a good shot.
Pipcorn – We know even more about popcorn than we do about non-dairy cheese products, and we’d probably buy this miniature popcorn if we saw it in the story (especially the kettle flavor). Of course, the question of if it is worth an investment is another story. This particular industry has so many other big players in it, and their product will have to be out of this world.
We’ll be back tomorrow night with an extensive review of the episode, but for now, why not check out all the rest of our coverage? Head over to the link here to read our latest review, and sign up today to get further updates on all we cover via our official CarterMatt Newsletter. (Photo via ABC.)