‘Shark Tank’ review: Mo’s Bows, Rugged Maniac, Cerebral Success, Crio Bru
“Shark Tank” continues to bring out some interesting products, and on Friday night’s episode we saw a mixture of heroes as well as pitches that ended so abruptly, it’s hard to know what to make of them. The first product featured suffered from a ton problems, and at least things got better from there.
As always with our episode reviews, we’ve included links for all of the product names to go along with our take on all of the pitches.
Crio Bru (asking for $1 million for 10%) – This may have been one of the shortest and worst pitches we’ve ever seen. We do think that there is a market for a coffee replacement so long as it does taste okay and it does also possess the benefits that they claim. But this valuation is awful, regardless of what you think potential may be. Even asking for $100,000 for 10% would be tough, since you are dealing with a grocery producer that is a risk to begin with, coupled with trying to educate an entire demographic of people who have never heard of you.
Rugged Maniac (asking for the same valuation as above) – This valuation is something that we rolled our eyes at, but this business is a little more success than Crio Bru. But, these guys seemed to be all over the place, and they seemed to be way more interested in their insane running of the bulls business than the initial business than the one they actually came into the company to pitch.
Somehow, though, these guys got what we feel is a pretty generous offer as a result of a funny negotiation. Mark Cuban spent a good while browbeating Robert Herjavec for overpaying … and then he gave them the same offer! After negotiations, he eventually got 25% of the company for $1.75 million, which ultimately feels right.
Cerebral Success (asking for $75,000 for 20%) – It’s very hard to come on the show with anything that is a supplement. There are so many ethical issues here for one, and we’re not trying to pass judgment on this guy or say this product is a fraud. We just don’t know. We have a hard time taking stock in any product that comes on the show and claims that it is going to legitimately help to improve a function that is hard to tangibly measure. We don’t understand how Barbara Corcoran invested in this, even if it was for 40% of the company. She did protect herself with a contingency, but this just feels too risky.
The biggest problem we had with this was the claim that the pitch seemed to suggest that desperate students were the market. It doesn’t have to be like that.
Mo’s Bows – We love Mo. He’s a great kid! he also seems to know his business, has charisma, and really loves making bow ties! We still feel like he is charging way too much money for his bow ties, but we understand why since they are all being made by hand.
The moment that Kevin O’Leary said the words “royalty deal” here while trying to figure out what he wanted to do here, we wanted to throw up in our mouths. The result of this presentation was actually the right thing for him. The 11-year old didn’t need an investment and that pressure. Having a mentor like Daymond is great to teach him what to do in the future, and that is what was offered to him.
What did you think about these products, and was there a favorite of yours? Share below, and click here to see some other highlights from this season. You can also sign up to get further TV updates from our CarterMatt Newsletter.
Photo: ABC