'Shark Tank' contestant makes the judges play ball, then scores a $300,000 deal from three of them
Entrepreneurs on "Shark Tank" have done everything from making sharks dance to riding in on a unicycle during their pitches. One founder decided to play catch on the stage and got three sharks to offer him a $300,000 deal. The founder of QBall, Shane Cox, impressed the Sharks with his innovative microphone that doubled up as a soft foam ball. He presented the product as a revolution in the education and corporate world. In the end, he managed to secure a $300,000 deal with not one, two, but three Sharks in Mark Cuban, Lori Greiner, and guest judge Rohan Oza.
In the episode, Cox entered the Tank seeking $200,000 in exchange for a 15% equity in his company. During his pitch, he presented the QBall, a wireless microphone embedded within a soft foam ball. He demonstrated that the microphone could easily withstand tosses, drops, and a game of catch during meetings, Q&A sessions, and even classroom environments. After his pitch, he threw the product to each of the Sharks, who were quite intrigued by the innovation.
He shared that the product, which cost him $52 to manufacture and was sold for $179, included a rechargeable battery offering up to ten hours of use, and it offered a range of approximately 75 feet from the receiver. He further added that the QBall had a unique “quiet toss” feature that automatically mutes the microphone upon movement.
He further disclosed that QBall had done $177,000 in sales, with schools accounting for 90% of that total. He further revealed that a patent application was pending for the motion detection technology. He also projected $850,000 in sales by the end of 2017, with positive response from schools. Cox sought the expertise of a Shark to navigate overseas manufacturing and inventory management.
With everything laid out, the Sharks started making moves, with Robert Herjavec decided to drop out first. "I'm going to be old and gray by the time this thing scales. I'm sorry I'm out," he said. However, Greiner saw the product as a potential replacement for Polycom, as she had some problems with the popular product.
Cuban and Oza believed that corporations were a better sales channel. After a little back and forth, the three Sharks decided to team up and make a joint offer of $300,000 for 30% equity. With this, Barbara Corcoran decided to drop out, and Cox turned his focus to the offer. He countered with 25% equity, but the Sharks refused to make that deal. Ultimately, Cox gave in and struck a three-Shark deal.
According to "Shark Tank" Recap, the deal was closed with the Sharks. Shortly after the episode was aired, the company incorporated Alexa compatibility into the QBall, and the company went on to do over $3.9 million in sales in the next two years.
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