Entrepreneur makes a huge mess on 'Shark Tank' set and still managed to get a life-changing deal
Pitches on “Shark Tank” are known to be fun, slick, and innovative, but no entrepreneur would ever want to get messy on the sets while asking for an investment. But a founder named Alfonso Tejada was not worried about making a mess, as he sought $300,000 for a 10% stake in his company OA Foods. The product that he hoped to impress the sharks with was called Palmini.
Palmini is supposed to be a healthy alternative to pasta. It’s made with the heart of palm that is masterfully cut into the shape of spaghetti and has none of the harmful elements. Tejada had a mascot join him on stage who destroyed four piñatas that had the names sugar, gluten, carbs, and calories, and uncooked pasta came out of those, making a mess on the floor.
The cleaners might have had a hard time after this pitch, but the Sharks loved it. However, there is a big difference between liking a pitch and liking a product. Robert Herjavec, Daymond John, and guest shark Bethenny Frankel believed that it did not taste like pasta. Rather, it was nothing more than strips of a vegetable cut into the shape of spaghetti. The fact that the entrepreneur had a patent pending for the product did not fill them with confidence either.
Even if the product went big, all three sharks believed that a bigger company could easily replicate it and take over the entire market. For those reasons, all three of them decided not to invest in the company. However, Lori Greiner offered hope as she already liked hearts of palm and loved how this product tasted. Mark Cuban was also a fan of the product, but knew that there was a lot of work that had to be done. He teamed up with Greiner to make an offer, but it was a lot more than what Tejada had expected. They said they’d give the $300,000 for 30% of the business. The entrepreneur clearly wasn’t expecting this and asked if they would consider going down to 18%, which was obviously too low.
The two sharks countered with 25%, which everyone felt was a good deal. “Gotta say yes right now,” Cuban said, highlighting the urgency of the matter. With only $50,000 in sales in three months, Tejeda did not have a lot of options. The entrepreneur saw that this was the best offer he was going to get and took the deal.
“I’m super excited. It’s a little bit more equity that I wanted to give, but if it’s Mark and Lori, I would have done 30%,” he said afterwards. Seems like the sharks missed out on an opportunity for a bigger stake with this one.
