‘Shark Tank’ revisited: ZinePak, Buck Mason, Noene, Snag a Stool, Pork Barrel BBQ
Tonight’s episode of “Shark Tank” is definitely one of the most interesting ones when it comes to variety, and in revisiting it now we’ve got a chance to look back and see if any of these businesses have really made headway since the show. We’d say that one of them has improved pretty significantly in Buck Mason, but beyond it we’re really not that high on any of the other featured products looking back.
For the record, the update in Friday’s episode is on Pork Barrel BBQ, one of the most successful of Barbara Corcoran’s food business that we’ve seen her invest in. There’s not really anything else we can say about this that we haven’t already, other than just that it looks delicious.
Buck Mason – Probably one of our favorite overall clothing brands on the show. We’re not so much speaking from whether or not we would but them, but more about the sole fact that they are so much easier to invest in than other clothing lines on this show. They’re not so concerned about appealing to the latest trends; instead, they are classic, quality designs made in America, designed for function and for guys who want to look good no matter when or where they are wearing the clothes. It seems like since the show, they’ve only added to their line.
Noene – It’s a good product in theory, and we’re curious to see if a repeat airing of the show will bring more attention to it. The problem that we still see them having is that unlike Buck Mason, it’s harder to sell an insole on TV. It’s something that people want to know works properly, and we’re not seeing as much success online as we have with other products in the past.
Snag a Stool – We’re fine if they can find a way to prove us wrong with this app, but to us it’s just so much harder to get people to reserve seats at bars than it is at restaurants using OpenTable. Going out to eat is something that you want to plan long in advance; drinking is more spontaneous, and patrons can stay for just a few minutes, or a few hours. We do appreciate the technology, though, and maybe if they can find a way to use this for another platform, it could work very well.
ZinePak – This is clearly a company full of people who work hard to produce great promotional products for “superfans” of various things. They’ve done some really cool stuff, and we’re not going to argue that their business works. Even after seeing some of what they’ve done since the show, though, we still argue that they will be doing even better had they founded this business ten or fifteen years earlier when people cared more about hard copies of things.
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