‘Shark Tank’ review: MTailor, SmartPlate, Bee Free Honee, and Float Baby
Tonight’s all-new episode of “Shark Tank” is one with a strong tech twist to it … or at least it does with two of the products. Can you really be surprised with Chris Sacca in the Tank? There were many businesses going into this episode we felt could be contenders for investments, but that was without knowing some of the finer details, including valuations and whether or not the entrepreneurs handling the Q&A session particularly well.
As always, we’re going to update this article as the night goes on.
SmartPlate – Is this a way to change the food industry forever? It’s at least a way to determine the weight and nutritional information for many food items that are out there. We do think that the idea here is supremely ambitious, but the issue is that this came into the Tank far too early in order to really get an investment. It was also extremely confusing, and we have no clue when anyone would get their money back, especially at a valuation this high and a price that was not really worth what the product was. No deal.
Bee Free Honee – Is this a nice solution to get the taste of honey without tormenting bees? We really like almost everything about this product, namely that it’s a smart, vegan solution to a problem and it is apparently also tasty. That’s not often true with things that are effectively substitute products. The words “no-brainer” really are perfect to describe what ended up happening here: They got a deal with Mark, Chris, and Barbara, which covers pretty much all of their basis moving forward. If this is cheap enough to produce, it’s going to be huge as a way to give people a nice alternative to bee honey.
Float Baby – Can this business actually help to relax your baby? It might. We don’t argue with the concept so much as we do the idea that this is somehow a business that is worthy of an investment. It works great as a small, local spa-of-sorts to help babies relax. How do you scale it, and how do you convince people to go along with the concept? We just don’t think that this is the focus or the speed of this company right now. No deal.
MTailor – Is this a better way to get in fashion with tailored shirts? We’re really interested in the technology here, which makes it significantly easier to get a tailored shirt than it would be otherwise. The clothing is also more affordable. The issue? A super-high valuation, for starters.
This was possibly one of the more contentious segments that we’ve seen, and we’re going to go ahead and throw a crazy theory out there: Maybe this wasn’t about the deal so much as the exposure. Would the company have taken on an investor if the conditions were met? Probably, but the bar was set so high and there was so little flexibility (Kevin O’Leary actually made a pretty good offer based on venture debt) that we don’t know there was ever a big chance of that happening. Like the product, but as a consumer watching the arrogance here was somewhat off-putting. No deal.
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