Shark Tank Australia recap: Potions, glitter and a whole lots of buts
Potions, fairy glitter, pink tents, deadly dust and our youngest founder so far… magic happens in the Shark Tank this week.
Potions, fairy glitter, pink tents, deadly dust and our youngest founder so far – stay tuned because magic happens in the Shark Tank this week.
Flyypod
Andrew Schofield, the creator of Flyypod, has already made it big in the fashion industry. He’ll smash this pitch; it’s just another in his 30 years as an entrepreneur.
You’ve got this, Andrew!
He flies in, announcing that he’s about to revolutionise the way we travel, and that he wants $150,000 for a 20% share of his business.
It’s a confident first couple of sentences.
Sadly, sentence number three fails to take off. He’s stalled. This pitch won’t come home in time.
Each word is harder than the previous. He’s started to say he travels in planes a lot but it’s no use. He needs air traffic control to get those words off the runway.
The sharks look uncomfortable, but luckily, the most experienced Shark, Rob Herjavec saves the day.
Rob jumps up: “Andrew, I gotta try it! How does it work!?”
It’s a sweet gesture, and in that instant, the Flyypod pitch is back in the air.
The Flyypod is a small sleeping bag that you attach to your seat on the plane – kind of like an Oodie for air travellers. The Sharks agree that the bag and its branding – “Upgrade your journey” is a great tagline – is beautiful.
The problem is they also agree that the $300 price tag is a bit much for economy travelers to spend, so nobody makes an offer.
Jane Lu almost pleads to Andrew to drop the price down to $199, and if you go to the website now, you’ll see he’s done just that.
Tilda Outdoors
Camping is so hot right now. Popular outdoors influencer, Maddy Bockett, and her best mate, navy medic Kali, saw a gap in the market – there wasn’t enough camping gear for what they call, “the everyday Aussie girl”.
So they came up with Tilda Outdoors, a brand that sells swags designed for women to “feel included and empowered to go camping”.
In their first two months, they’ve already got 60,000 followers and sold 120 swags, including 45 to camping retailers.
From many hours of on-screen experience, making social media content, Maddy and Kali’s presentation is sunny and flawless.
Well, perfect until Rob asked the question everyone in Australia watching was thinking: “it’s a swag, mostly like any other swag, just in pink?” .
There’s a pause so long it turns into an ad break.
Rob grinning at the chutzpah of it all adds: “So the difference is the colour?”
“Yes,” Kali answers. Awkward as.
It’s Maxine Horne’s turn to rescue the vibe so she jumps into one of the swags. In her leopard print outfit, she growls like a leopard, and the other sharks start calling her a cougar.
On further Googling, I see some cougars with leopard spots so they get a pass…this time.
Then there are questions on the business’ $500,000 valuation and its low sales. Maxine and Rob are out.
Tech giant Nick Bell sees they are highly investable business founders, but he can’t see how their brand can be a big business.
Oodie founder Davie Fogarty gets back to the awkwardness from minutes ago, saying, “There’s nothing unique about the product…”
And then there’s tonight’s first big reality TV but…
“But I love investing in great entrepreneurs. I love investing in entrepreneurs that understand content.”
He offers $100,000 for 33%. Jane matches Davie’s offer and who do you think they went with?
“Davie, we do really appreciate and we love everything you do so so so much…BUT…”
Another reality TV but… they go with Jane.
Guarda Systems
Steve Terpstra and Craig Penty have invented the world’s best dust suppression for masonry saws. When you cut into stone, massive amounts of dust spew out, which when inhaled, can cause the deadly dust disease called silicosis.
Their award-winning fix can save lives and, if used on most of the world’s construction sites, can make incredible amounts of money. That’s why they’re asking for $250,000 for just 3% equity in the company.
It’s demo time and Steve cuts into a brick wall. Nothing spectacular. Compared to footage of other saws that use water to suppress the dust, there’s no dust on set.
They’ve sold $250,000 worth of product in four years but the big money comes when they can land a licensing deal with one of the two power tool giants they’re meeting with: $90 million if they pull it off!
But there are 45 other owners who will need a cut.
Maxine gives us more reality TV but work: “I think it’s great. I think it’s got potential. But a very wise manager of mine told me once everything before the but is bullshit, so here it comes. But there’s two things that scare me…”
She doesn’t like the 45 other owners and she would want a bigger cut. She’s out.
The buts are running this episode.
Nick loves boring businesses that solve problems. They’re the ones that make truckloads of money… but he would want a bigger cut that they won’t accept. He’s out.
Rob sees an angle to grind.
He offers the exact money they want but only if they win a licensing deal. He’s one of the great deal makers so he’ll go in there with them.
If they win a deal, he gives them the cash. If they don’t, they go on alone.
There’s nothing to lose so they shake on it.
We’d all love to be a fly on the wall for those licensing meetings.
The Little Potion Co.
I love it when things you own appear on Shark Tank.
Sisters Jacinta Evans and Alicia Gordon are the brains behind The Little Potion Co. They make fizzing, bubbling and lovely magic potions with positive, life-affirming messages, and my kids love them.
They want $400,000 for a 10% share in their magic business but the Sharks take notice when the sisters cast their best spell yet… the sales figures.
They hit $2 million in the past financial year in sales and $1.3 million, the previous. The big jump was when they learnt how to conjure Facebook ads.
Amazing figures and I have my own revelation: my kids make magic potions too. Let’s get rich, kids! I’ll watch the rest of this episode and then we’ll get to work.
Maxine wonders what makes their potions different from all the other magic potions around like… she didn’t give examples like Panadol and Nurofen.
The answer is magic in itself: they’re the first to include affirmation cards and make it a mindfulness product.
It’s a huge idea but the catch is that they’re hesitant to go big with a licensing strategy. This spooks all the Sharks except Maxine.
She knows they’re ready to scale up and she’s just the right businesswoman to help. They negotiate to $400,000 for 20% if she gets her investment back in two years, and SWISH, it’s a deal.
See, magic can happen in the Shark Tank.
Glitter Girl
As I’m thinking about all the money we can make when the kids start making potions, into the Shark Tank walks 16-year-old Sophia Rizzo and her mum Megan.
Sophia started Glitter Girl, her eco-friendly, vegan glitter makeup brand, when she was 10. From selling her first batches of glitter at school to now, they’ve sold $980,000 worth of the stuff – $240,000 in the past year alone!
It’s a glorious pitch and story, and now she wants $60,000 for a 10% stake in her business.
Sophia and Megan demo their “Stardust Shimmer Puff”, a little ball filled with shimmer that the Sharks just love, and everything is just going beautifully…
But…
… they’re asked about how much profit the pair has made.
Mother and daughter put on a brave face but they’ve gone blank on the numbers.
“You know,” says mum, but Sophia doesn’t.
While the Sharks love the story, the tiny thing of not knowing how much profit they’ve made scares them off.
Mum Megan whispers “sorry” to stoically, sunny-faced Sophia.
With brave, happy faces on both, this, SME fans, is real courage. You and I would be in tears by now.
“It’s okay,” Sophia whispers back.
They leave, and Rob shows that even though we’ve seen tonight that he can be lovely, he’s a Shark at heart.
“Wow, she should have fired her mum!”
That’s so Rob.
Never miss a story: sign up to SmartCompany’s free daily newsletter and find our best stories on LinkedIn.