'Shark Tank’ offers life-changing deal to a 12-year-old boy who came up with a simple glue idea
Among "Shark Tank" investors, Kevin O'Leary has a penchant for tearing through flimsy pitches with harsh criticism that can leave founders devastated. But a few such as 12-year-old Tripp Phillips, get to see why he is called Mr. Wonderful when he shows his generous side. The boy pitched his temporary glue, 'LeGlue in season 10 of Shark Tank as an invention that holds Lego builds together. This sparked interest among the Sharks who were impressed by the young entrepreneur's spirit.
Focusing on Real Problems
With the help of his scientist dad, Lee, and sister Allee, Tripp pitched his non-toxic, non-permanent glue, made for kids by a kid, and sought an investment of $80,000 for 15% of the company.
Tripp revealed that he found inspiration for the invention after he was fed up with his Lego builds falling apart and so he made a glue to hold the pieces together. Users can simply soak the builds in water to take the pieces apart again.
The pitch impressed all the Sharks who asked for the backstory of the invention. Tripp shared that he was given an assignment to invent something and his father encouraged him to solve a problem to get to that. He noticed that while playing with his Lego airplane, the wing would often come off. That's when he decided to make a glue that held the wing in place. The middle schooler further shared that he had a utility patent on the product, and he was one of the youngest Americans ever to hold a patent at the age of 10. He further impressed the judges with Le-Glue’s sales numbers as well.
The young entrepreneur shared that his company raked up $52,000 in sales last year and in the current year, they had hit the $32,000 mark by May. Since its founding, Tripp's company sold glue worth more than $125,000. The numbers, the product, and Tripp himself sparked interest among the judges. Kevin O'Leary was the first to make an offer and it was so wonderful that other Sharks decided to drop out.
When Mr Wonderful Made a Wonderful Offer
O’Leary liked Le-Glue’s plan to approach the top toy brick manufacturers. He said he knew all the toy manufacturers and would be able to get a licensing deal for LeGlue, something the company hadn’t done yet. O’Leary offered the $80,000 but for a 50% share of the licensing deal until the money was paid back. After that point, he would drop the royalty and settle for a 20% stake in the company.
“I’ll go make those calls for you, but you’re going to have to come with me to pitch it to the CEO,” O'Leary said. “If I don’t deliver the big guy, then I don’t have any stake,” he added. At this point, 'Ring' founder Jamie Siminoff dropped out saying that Mr Wonderful was being wonderful and his deal would be better for the company.
Daymond John then jumped in making another offer for Tripp. He offered $80,000 for a straight equity deal of 25%. He stayed firm when Tripp countered with a 20% equity offer. After a quick discussion with his dad, Tripp decided to accept O'Leary's deal.
Mr Wonderful congratulated Tripp saying that he did a great job in the tank to bag two offers which isn't easy.
