‘Shark Tank’ review: QuickStop Fire Sprinkler Tool, Taylor Robinson Music, PowerPot, Fun Time Express
“Shark Tank” had its second new episode in two days on Friday night, and we wonder when it comes to the ratings, if the show is really going to suffer to a certain extent because of that. Regardless, we liked some of the pitches and the products in this episode more than in the ones that aired on Thursday. They were more entertaining, more interesting, and created more great banter between the sharks.
As always with our “Shark Tank” reviews, you can click on any of the product names below to head over to their respective websites.
Taylor Robinson Music, valuation of $1 million – It’s interesting how sometimes, just a couple of little mistakes can doom what was a great pitch. We don’t love the name (mostly because nobody knows who “Taylor Robinson” is), but having a vetted system of music teachers is an interesting idea for those who don’t know anyone via a friend of a friend.
The problem here is that he’s totally losing money and earnings by having a set price per every teacher. Some people are willing to pay more for a more experienced teacher, and this system doesn’t allow for that. This, in addition to some issues with the plan itself, are probably why this pitch did not meet a good result in the end.
PowerPot, valuation of $2.5 million – The value on this brand given the sales is insane, and we probably love the idea of the technology more than the power itself. It’s a way to use something as simple as heat and water to producer energy, and that is crazy cool. Has these guys had a more established patent (theirs was pending), or had they had more products to show, interest may have been more widespread.
But, the truth of the matter is that they were able to convince Mark Cuban thanks to some shrewd business skills, and also a knowledge of what further applications could be. It was a complicated deal that involved a spot on the company board and a slightly smaller valuation, but they all seemed to be happy with the end result.
Fun Time Express, valuation of $625,000 – This is a fun product, and we see how kids in a mall could like this. But, this all seems to be pretty limiting. There is no way that this business blows up to where it comes something that makes tens of millions of dollars, largely because once you’ve been on the train once or twice, why go back?
But at least they came into the tank with an understanding of their business and the future, and that made their presentation so good that the sharks were tempted. They even made an interesting offer of repayment to sweeten the deal, and get almost what they asked for eventually (giving away 20% of the company, with a small tweak) from Kevin O’Leary and Lori Greiner.
QuickStop Fire Sprinkler Tool, valuation of $1.5 million – This is a great product. It’s not the flashiest one in the business, and nor is it the one that most consumers will go after. But it’s an interesting way to protect belongings from fire sprinklers under the right conditions. It’s such an interesting idea that we don’t know how this wasn’t thought of before.
This was almost like a relationship, though, that couldn’t work out no matter how much the parties involved wanted it to. Kevin and Lori made him an offer that worked for them and the amount of work they would need to do, but he couldn’t give away 50% of his company to do so, regardless of how much he wanted them on board. We like it when a smart businessman says no, and this surprise was a nice way to end the episode. Grade: B+.
What product were you the most interested in from tonight’s show? Share your thoughts with a comment, and click here to read our full review of Thursday’s episode. Also, be sure to sign up to get even more TV updates via our CarterMatt Newsletter.
Photo: ABC