'Shark Tank' offers 6-figure deal to founder who made Mark Cuban use a flame-thrower in fiery pitch
Investors on “Shark Tank” are known for using some fiery language when it comes to criticizing a business or negotiating a deal. But one entrepreneur managed to get Mark Cuban to literally play with fire by operating a flame-thrower on the sets. The founder, Jordan Stern, was seeking $100,000 for a 5% stake in his company, The Ice Cream Canteen. His product was a double-walled steel jar that could keep a pint of ice cream frozen for up to four hours, so that customers could carry the dessert wherever they travel.
This was a simple idea, but the entrepreneur claimed that he was the first to think of this, before conceding that there were a couple more very similar products in the market. He did, however, call them inferior to his. His numbers were decent too, with a profit margin of more than 50%. At the time of recording, Stern claimed that he was on course to make more than $400,000 from sales, and half of that would be profits. The fun part of the pitch, however, was when he asked Mark Cuban to join him on the stage to test out the product. He gave the shark a flamethrower and asked him to do his best to melt the item inside the steel container. Cuban seemed to have the time of his life as he cranked up the flames and acted like a super villain, shooting flames at the steel container.
“Get in there, Mark, it’s not gonna melt itself,” Stern said. “Back off,” came the reply. As soon as the flamethrower was turned off, Stern saw that the temperature of the jar was more than 400 degrees. But the ice cream inside was still frozen solid. The sharks were impressed by this demonstration, and almost everybody wanted a piece of the business. Kevin O’Leary was the first to make an offer, but he wanted 30% of the company for $100,000. This was too high for the entrepreneur, and Daymond John agreed as well. The shark, however, seemed a little offended when the entrepreneur said that no one gets exactly what they want from “Shark Tank,” even though that was true. John felt a lack of respect there and backed out.
Cuban, who had a ton of fun with the flamethrower, teamed up with Lori Greiner to offer Stern $100,000 as a line of cash and $100,000 as a line of credit for 25% of the company. John then came back into the picture, speaking about what this offer would do to the valuation of the company. That’s when he and Greiner had an argument. “You know what? Are you making an offer right now?” she asked. John said that he would even after backing out earlier.
Amidst all this chaos, Daniel Lubetzky wanted to make an offer as well, but the entrepreneur said that he’d like to counter Greiner and Cuban first. Stern asked if the sharks could come down to 15%. Cuban then said that they were willing to do it at 20% and would also give him $200,000 as a line of credit. This was an agreeable option, and a deal was struck.
