'Shark Tank' viewers stunned after founders asked for possibly the lowest amount ever on the show
“Shark Tank" is one platform where people come to fulfil their entrepreneur dreams by bagging massive investments from celebrity investors. The ones that are lucky enough to get that opportunity usually do not ask for any amount less than six figures from the sharks. However, in an earlier episode of the show, two entrepreneurs came asking for only $10,000 for 20% of their company. The sharks were taken aback by this, but their sales figures probably explained why they were asking for so little.
Adam Chaudry and Josh Conway were the founders of the company Handy Pan. It manufactured cooking pans with a strainer-like grill attached to its side, through which one can drain all the oil and grease without much hassle. Even if one doesn’t require straining anything, it can work as a regular pan as the strainer doesn’t get in the way of that. At first glance, it seemed like a brilliant product that could benefit millions.
Well, the low ask was actually a smart move since Adam and Josh had only made a little more than $7900 in sales in more than three years. That’s not flattering at all, to anyone. Therefore, they devised a deal in their heads that would make it a no-brainer for the sharks. They had a lot of things covered, despite the poor sales figures, including having three patents issued and one pending. The risk was small, but the reward could be huge. Kevin O’Leary, however, had his doubts and was brutal in his assessment of the low sales figure. “I’m going to tell you why it’s $7955 or whatever it is. Nobody cares. This is not a product that’s every going to sell,” he said. That’s when Mark Cuban jumped to the entrepreneurs’ defence, and it was revealed that they had only spent a little over $550 in advertising and hadn’t tried selling the product via Amazon.
Marketing clearly wasn’t either of the entrepreneur’s strong suits, and they were honest about it. Much like Mr. Wonderful, Rober Haerjavec also gave them a brutal assessment of their sales. “We’ve had people here with three jobs, no experience, never knew how to do video, never knew nothing about social, but when they needed and their back was up against the wall, they made it happen. You haven’t done anything in three years,” he said.
Cuban once again came to their defence, stating that they had other jobs, unlike the entrepreneurs Herjavec was talking about. Josh was a real estate agent, and Adam was a criminal defence attorney who also worked as a server at a restaurant. “Because they got other jobs. Your back is not against the wall,” he said to Herjavec’s statement.
By now, Lori Greiner had heard enough and cut to the chase. “I don’t even care about all this. You asked for $10,000 for 20%? I’ll give it to you. I have nothing to lose,” she said. That was exactly what the entrepreneurs were looking for in a partner, and they left “Shark Tank” as happy as they could be.
