'Shark Tank' contestants impress Kevin O'Leary but reject his offer for guest judge and Lori Greiner
Entrepreneurs simply need an efficient business model and a product that provides innovative solutions to get an investment on "Shark Tank," irrespective of their age or experience. Dropping out of college to start a sweet tea business is a gutsy move, but a duo who did that had already recorded sales of more than $10 million. Of course, Kevin O’Leary wanted a part of it, but things didn't work out the way that he imagined they would.
Darien Craig and Brandon Echols have been friends since their school days, and they even dropped out of college together. The two claimed that they had never been in a fight over the years. The only thing they didn’t agree on was who made the better sweet tea. Unable to settle the argument, the two combined the recipes and came up with ‘Y’all Sweet tea.’
The entrepreneurs wanted $500,00 for a 5% stake in their company. At the time of taping, they claimed that they’d already recorded $3 million in sales and were on course to make $5 million. One of the reasons behind their immense success was effective social media marketing.
Craig and Echols collaborated with several influencers who were “southern grandmas.” One of them was Mama Sue, an influencer with more than a million followers on social media. She helped the company reach several thousand customers and even appeared on the show to make a case for the product and the entrepreneurs. The entrepreneurs said that they were already in 600 stores in the southeast but wanted to expand into bigger stores such as Walmart and Costco.
Mark Cuban was not fond of this plan as he believed stores like Walmart needed Y’all Sweet Tea and not the other way around. However, the entrepreneurs said that they wanted to make the company as big as possible and then look for an exit strategy. Cuban said that guest shark Rashaun Williams would be perfect for the path the entrepreneurs wanted to take before pulling out, and Barbara Corcoran quickly followed suit.
Williams offered the entrepreneurs a deal, seeking 10% of the company for $500,000. However, he wanted to see if the remaining sharks wanted to join, as he knew the value they’d bring. Kevin O’Leary wanted to partner with the guest shark, but the two of them would take 20%. Lori Greiner also said that she’d partner with Williams and the two would take 15%. Upon hearing this, Mr. Wonderful lowered the equity to 15% as well.
Mr. Wonderful believed that he’d bring a ton of value to the company, but the entrepreneurs had different ideas. “There is only one Mr. Wonderful. We appreciate your offer. But we are going to decline at this time to accept Lori and Rashaun’s offer,” Craig said.
More on Market Realist:
'Shark Tank' guest judge goes against everyone's advice to invest $500,000 in wonder drink company
Mark Cuban took a million dollar gamble on this 'Shark Tank' product and it went as expected
