'Shark Tank' contestant pitched an alarm clock that cooks bacon and it went as expected
Entrepreneurs on "Shark Tank" often impress judges and viewers with innovative spins on everyday products to make life easier. Some of them get deals, but others also leave judges amused. That’s what happened in an earlier episode of the show, which saw an entrepreneur who brought an alarm clock that cooks bacon while you’re asleep. The contestant was a man named Matty Sallin, and he sought $40,000 for a 25% stake in Wake N' Bacon.
The way the product works, as per the entrepreneur, is simple. One has to set their alarm for a certain time, say 7 AM. They have to put a few pieces of pre-cooked bacon in a compartment inside the box the night before. Ten minutes before it is time for the alarm to ring, the oven turns on and heats the bacon until it’s crispy.
Sallin said that he had the idea for the product while he was pursuing his Master’s degree. He had asked people at his college what their favorite way of waking up was. He could not say the number one answer on TV, but said that waking up to the smell of crackling bacon was a close second. Therefore, he came up with the idea. Apparently, he had received several e-mails from potential customers asking him to sell them the product.
While waking up to the smell of bacon might be an experience that the sharks love, the product had a lot of issues. The biggest one was safety. “So, Matty, what happens when you’ve sold 10,000 of these and the 10,000 first catches on fire and burns the couple to death in their bed?” Kevin O’Leary asked. The entrepreneur had no answer to the question for a moment.
He then said that it would have to be approved by the authorities and used the Easy Bake Oven as an example of such an item. That was not the worst part. That would be the fact that Sallin had no projections. None of the sharks liked that. Mr. Wonderful said no to a deal as a result as well as Robert Herjavec. Barbara Corcoran said it was a novelty gift item and wasn’t interested in cutting a deal.
Daymond John was more impressed with the taste of the bacon than the product itself, but said no to a deal. Mark Cuban was the only one remaining, and at one point, it seemed like he was interested in the product. However, the $40,000 asking price was too less for him. He felt that the entrepreneur did not have a vision for the long-term future.
When asked later if he’d make an offer and the asking price had been higher, Cuban said that he’d bring one of the other sharks in on the deal with his powers of persuasion.
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