‘Shark Tank’ review: Urbio, Teddy Needs a Bath, Sub Zero Ice Cream, Coffee Joulies

For the first time ever while watching “Shark Tank,” we found ourselves actually wanting one of the products immediately. Why? We were drinking coffee during the show, and it was starting to get cold. Just from the standpoint of the products offered during the show, this was our favorite episode of the entire season: all four businesses were something that we could see there being a market for in the future, which is a far better track record than what we are generally accustomed to seeing.

As always, we’ve done our best to include links to all of the individual products sold here, just in case you want to check them out while also reading some of our initial impressions.

Coffee Joulies – This idea is something that we would legitimately buy. A pretty good percentage of Americans drink coffee on a pretty regular basis, and for those who want to actually keep it at a steady temperature without having to put in the microwave, this is a great way to do it.

The guys who ran this company really should feel pretty happy about themselves right now. Not only did they get all five sharks to put in an offer, but they left the tank with four of them in tow: Lori Greiner, Kevin O’Leary, Robert Herjavec, and Daymond John. Not only that, but they managed to secure $150,000 without having to give up any part of their company at all. Suffice it to say, these two are probably going to be extremely rich in a year’s time.

Teddy Needs a Bath – This is once again a smart idea, even if there are probably not as many potential customers for this as there is for a coffee that stays warm. We remember being a kid and seeing our teddy bear get mangled in the washing machine, and this could actually help parents combat this issue in the future. Plus, it’s also practical in that Teddy can bust up the dryer unless they are protected.

The big reason we think that this business intrigued Mark Cuban, and he paid $100,000 in return for 30% of it, is simple: he’s a health-conscious guy, and it’s something that filled a need in his own life as a dad. One thing that has not also been mentioned here is just how important this product could actually be just from the standpoint of bringing families together. Kids may actually want to give Teddy a bath, and this facilitates imagination so much more than jumping a bear in with blue jeans and boxer shorts.

Sub Zero Ice Cream – This, to us, was the real surprise of the show. It was a business that was all about making ice cream out of liquid nitrogen, and while it appeared as Daymond John hated this stuff in the preview video that we posted for the episode yesterday, this turned out to be a big ruse. Sadly, the owners of the company couldn’t get a deal done.

As for the reason why the sharks all said no to the product, our answer is simple: we don’t really get the feeling that they like to be too involved in regional franchising, and prefer businesses that can be licensed, sold online, or taken into other retail outlets. It’s a competitive industry to be a part of right now, and it’s seasonal in that not too many people out there (save for maybe Florida, California, and Hawaii) have a real hankering for ice cream in the middle of January.

Urbio – First things first, we had an interesting situation here that we don’t remember ever seeing on the show before: Mark Cuban withdrawing himself from consideration, as he had met the founders before and talked with them about their business. While not everyone is the gardening type, we do think this is a rather cool way for people living in an enclosed space to still feel as though they can have a little garden for themselves.

To be fair, we’re not sure we would have stayed “in” on an evaluation of $1.5 million on the product, mostly because a good percentage of people in small apartments are not the gardening type. However, they did receive some great offers from Robert, Kevin, and Lori, and they decided to work with the latter since she offered up the smallest equity in the company.

What product did you like the most this week? If you want to read some other highlights from “Shark Tank” this season, you can do so over at the link here.

Photo: ABC