Pitching a business to the tough investors on ABC's Shark Tank is daunting. It's hard to get the sharks to bite, and walking away without a deal must be crushing. Thankfully, these plucky entrepreneurs weren't fazed by rejection and defied the sharks by building booming businesses. Read on to discover the hopefuls who were either outright rejected or walked away from offers, but ended up having the last laugh.
Sporting Viking helmets, Mike Kane and David Artuso failed to secure a $160,000 (£119.4k) investment for 20% of their protective cell phone case business when they appeared on the show in March 2013, with Kevin O'Leary telling them to “get on the boat, and float away”.
Luckily, the sharks' rejection didn't do the business any harm as 1,500 Cellhelmet products were sold the night their episode aired. The partners managed to secure investment cash not long after. Business is now booming, and they branched out into creating a range of mobile accessories like screen protectors and battery banks. As reported by Forbes in 2019, Cellhelmet products can be found in 3,000 stores and they have offices in America and China.
Jake Epstein and Joe Lemay's endlessly reusable notebook uploads notes to the cloud and can be microwaved to erase data. A good idea? The investors on 2016's Shark Tank didn't think so, calling the futuristic update of the classic product a novelty.
The futuristic and sustainable product has gone on to become a resounding success, with NASA even buying the product for its employees. After six years in business, the company was acquired by stationery leader BIC for a cool $40 million (£29.9m) in 2020, with scope for more milestone payments in the future.
Tapping into the hipster trend for wooden shades, Idaho brothers Tammer, Brookes and Taylor Dame established their handcrafted sunglasses business in 2010. By 2013, the trendy sunglasses, which were selling like hotcakes, were being worn by celebrities like Beyonce and Snoop Dogg. The brothers needed money to expand their business, so they appeared on Shark Tank in 2013 in the hopes of receiving $150,000 (£111.9k) in exchange for a ten-percent stake in the company. The sharks liked the concept but didn’t offer the Dames the deal they were seeking.
Fortunately, the brothers reported that sales tripled following the episode, and three years later, they were projecting $1.6 million (£1.2m) in sales with a presence in 600 stores across America. Today, the brand is a pioneer in sustainable eyewear and each frame purchased plants five mangrove trees in Africa.
Another sibling-run business, dating and social media app and website, Coffee Meets Bagel, was founded by go-getting sisters Arum, Dawoon and Soo Kang and launched in 2012 in New York, Boston and their hometown of San Francisco. What made the brand unique in the overcrowded online dating market was a smart algorithm that paired people with ideal matches.
Appearing on Shark Tank in 2015, Mark Cuban offered the sisters a whopping $30 million (£22.4m) to buy the business outright, the biggest offer in shows history. They swiftly turned this down, stating that match.com made $800 million (£597m) a year and they intended to be bigger. While the sisters haven’t reached that goal, they did raise $23.2 million (£17.3m) in funding after the episode aired, and today the app boasts around 10 million users.
Husband-and-wife team Steven Sasha and Lena Phoenix, who describe themselves as "ageing hippie athletes," created Xero barefoot running shoes in 2009 and pitched their business to the sharks in January 2013. Their lightweight footwear has soles that contour to the shape of the human foot.
The couple wanted $400,000 (£298.6k) in exchange for an eight-percent share of the company, but Kevin O'Leary would only part with the money if he got 50% equity. Needless to say, Sasha and Phoenix turned him down. Lucky for them, in 2018, the company had sales of $21 million (£15.7m) and is still going strong today.
Oregon entrepreneur James Martin presented his wine-in-a-cup concept to the sharks twice: in season two in 2011 and season three in 2012. The sharks refused to bite, and he walked away without a deal both times.
Described by Kevin O'Leary as "the one that got away", Martin has made a huge success of Copa Di Vino, generating millions in revenues. Beverage giant Splash Beverage Group acquired the business for an undisclosed amount in 2021. They plan to use Copa Di Vinos' patented packaging technology to expand the brand beyond wine.
Appearing in the same season two episode as Copa Di Vino back in March 2011, Shawn Davis' gourmet seafood burger concept was pooh-poohed by the hard-to-please sharks, and he walked away with nada.
More fool them. The seafood fan has overseen a massive sales increase since he appeared on the show in 2011. The one company shark Mark Cuban wished he'd invested in, Chef Big Shake, is now turning over millions in revenues. Shawn Davis has even made several appearances on QVC with his products.
Melissa Butler's vegan lipstick business was mocked and her products compared to clown make-up by the sharks – the last thing you want to hear if you're running a cosmetics company.
Yet, following her disastrous appearance in season six in February 2015, Butler went on to make a success of the business. Her products are now available at retail giants like Target and Walmart.
After his jacket disappeared from the cloakroom of a bar in Bloomington, Indiana in 2011, Derek Pacque invented a unique ticketless CoatChex system that uses photos stored on a tablet to match coats with their owners, and he took his idea to the sharks in September 2011. He was seeking $200,000 (£149.2k) for a 10% stake in his company, but Mark Cuban would only stump up the cash if he could get 33% equity. Pacque declined.
It was the best decision he could have made. Today, the company goes by the name Chexology and counts the Museum of Modern Art, Live Nation, AMEX, and Nike amongst its clientele. The company also raked in a small fortune in revenues by checking in coats at the Mercedes-Benz Fashion Week in New York in 2016.
Mona Weiss and Scott Shields failed to secure $150,000 (£112.7k) in exchange for 15% equity when they pitched their environmentally friendly non-toxic detergent business to the sharks in season four of the show.
Not that it made any difference to the entrepreneurs' success. The media exposure they received from appearing on the show fuelled skyrocketing sales. Eco Nuts has been featured in publications like People, Forbes and The New York Times and has since expanded its product range.
Appearing on the show in September 2013, Jamie Siminoff was after a $700,000 (£522.1k) investment in his company, which makes camera doorbells that connect to your smartphone, so you can see who is at the door before you open it. One by one, the sharks dropped out, and Siminoff was left with a derisory offer from Kevin O'Leary, which he gave a big thumbs-down.
After the episode aired, sales exploded. Dorbot was rebranded as Ring, and garnered a whopping $28 million (£20.8m) in funding from a consortium of investors, including British billionaire Richard Branson. In 2019, Amazon bought the doorbell company for a staggering $1 billion (£745.9m)
Screenwriter-turned-entrepreneur Michael Elliott hit a brick wall when he appeared on the show in September 2014, unable to sweet talk the hard-nosed sharks into investing in his male nail bar franchise.
Kevin O'Leary advised Elliott that his business would never work, but Elliott worked hard to prove him wrong. There are now numerous franchises across America, and the business is recruiting more across the country.
Joel Clark and Cameron Smith pitched their protein-rich pancake mix to the sharks back in 2014. The duo were seeking an investment of $500,000 (£373.3k) in exchange for a 10% stake in the company. When the sharks' offers failed to meet their expectations, the duo walked away with nothing.
The sharks are undoubtedly kicking themselves, as today the company is a roaring success. According to Business Insider, the company boasts $160 million (£119.6m) in annual sales and has expanded its line of products to include things like oat bars, protein balls, and crackers.
Entrepreneur John Tabis entered the tank in 2014, seeking $258,000 (£192.5k) in exchange for a three-percent stake in his online flower delivery service. He failed to impress any sharks and left with zilch.
In a surprising turn of events, shark Robert Herjavec got in contact with Tabis three years later and asked him to arrange the flowers for his wedding. This then led to Herjavec investing in the company. Tabis stated in 2017 that some days the company sold more than $1 million (£746.4k) worth of flowers in a single day.
The tough-to-crack sharks failed to be impressed with Nerdwax, a tube of bee wax-based product that can be applied directly to the nose pad of glasses to prevent sliding. Subsequently, founders Don and Lydia Hejney walked away with nothing.
Fortunately for the founders, the public clearly disagreed with the shark's assessment of Nerdwax, and after the episode aired in 2015, sales skyrocketed to a cool $1 million (£746.4k). Before this, the couple claimed they had made $136,000 (£101.7k) in sales.
MealEnders, a candy lozenge designed to prevent overeating, failed to reel the sharks in. Founder Mark Bernstein's expensive marketing plan, and even the taste of the product were slammed by the investors.
Viewers, however, loved the concept of the diet candy. Within days of the episode airing in 2017, Bernstein raked in $400,000 (£299.6k) in sales. Within a year of the Shark Tank appearance, sales had grown from $1.2 million (£898.7k) to $5 million (£3.7m).
Former NASA engineer Mark Aramli’s Shark Tank pitch couldn’t have gone any worse. Investors called him arrogant and rude, and slammed his product, BedJet, a smartphone-controlled cooling and heating device for beds. It goes without saying that he walked away in 2015 with nothing.
Fortunately for Aramli, his disastrous pitch didn’t stop his business from booming, and in 2020, he sold his 100,000th bed cooling system.
Ray Phillips' and Alvin Uy's ultra-adorable animal washcloths certainly caught the sharks' attention in 2014, with Lori Greiner and Robert Herjavec even teaming up and offering to buy the company outright for $1 million (£746.4k). The pair walked away from all offers, which ultimately ended up being a savvy decision…
Since Shark Tank, the business has gone from strength to strength by expanding its product range, retailing on Amazon, and even collaborating with Disney.
Entrepreneur Justin Kittredge wanted $500,000 (£375.5k) for five percent of his customised slide sandal business when he appeared on the show in 2016. Shark Robert Herjavec was willing to bite, but only for a 20% stake in the company, which Kittredge rejected.
Though Kittredge walked away from a generous deal, the publicity from the show helped his slide business boom. Since then, his products have been featured in major retailers, including the NBA Store and Dick’s Sporting Goods. Kittredge has also scored licensing deals with DC Comics, Nickelodeon, and Major League Baseball, to name a few. Though the company has experienced COVID-related supply chain issues, it's now a global brand with $10 million (£7.5m) in annual revenue.