Sabri’s Shark Tank roundup: Breaking down the greatest pitch of all time
Sabri Suby breaks down what he’s calling the “greatest Shark Tank pitch of all time” as two businesses showcased their innovative use of water to the sharks.
Join Shark Tank Australia shark Sabri Suby for a weekly roundup of each week’s king or queen of the tank and the pitches that were eaten alive. This week, he breaks down what he’s calling the “greatest Shark Tank pitch of all time”.
Contour Cube
I’m coming right out and saying it: this week’s Contour Cube pitch was the greatest Shark Tank pitch of all time. Founder Sarah Forrai and her partner Lewis Battersby were absolutely fire.
Contour Cube, a revolutionary product that makes ice facials easy, opened up with an ask of $250,000 for 10% equity. After their absolute stormer of a pitch, Sarah and Lewis walked away with $375,000 for a 30% share of the business split between Robert, Jane, Davie and myself.
So what were the exact elements that ended up reeling in four sharks?
Presentation is everything
First up, before the pitch even began, the setup was beautiful. There’s about a minute or so before the entrepreneur steps out into the tank where we get to see their setup, and we already start judging. After seeing hundreds of these pitches, the ones that have put the time and effort into their presentation are already one step ahead.
Social proof
I was already excited by the presentation, and then Sarah went in with two of the most important elements of a pitch: a bold claim backed up by social proof.
Here’s a direct quote from the pitch:
“You’re looking at one of the most viral skincare products on TikTok with over 200 million views.”
Not only is there a big bold statement, but there is a big bold statement intertwined with social proof. That immediately got me to pucker up and stand up in my chair.
Then they whacked us over the head with even more social proof:
“Console cube has created a brand new category in the beauty market and is used by 70,000 people around the world… and it’s even used by the Kardashians.”
Every single step of the way, they’re sprinkling on layer upon layer of social proof, just having us completely salivating.
Problem and solution
Contour Cube gave us two things that are surprisingly all too often lacking in a pitch: a clear explanation of the problem, and how the product is positioned to uniquely solve that problem.
Sarah’s mum had introduced her to ice facials, but they had both struggled with slippery and messy ice cubes. A clear problem.
Sarah had looked everywhere for something that would help her grip the ice without freezing her fingers off but couldn’t find anything. She had found a gap in the market, which provided the perfect opportunity for Contour Cube to become the category king: because they had created the category.
It might seem simple, but so often the ‘unique solution to a common problem’ part is solely lacking from a pitch, and Contour Cube absolutely nailed it.
Multiple, strong use cases
Next up, they hit us with multiple use cases:
“Great for post-workout redness, to soothe sore muscles, reduce anxiety, migraines, and for cosmetic aftercare.”
Just when I had thought ‘okay, this is just for facials’, I suddenly realised that this is so much more than that. Instead of burying the lede of all the different use cases, they went straight out the gate and just gave it to us without us having to ask.
Specificity
Saying ‘this went viral’ isn’t enough. We need specifics, and the more specific, the better. That’s why when Sarah said:
“Our first video hit over a million views in 24 hours.”
I knew we had something special on our hands. They didn’t just say ‘the thing blew up.’ They told us how many views it got in the first 24 hours.
Specificity adds depth to your claims. It’s the difference between saying ‘here’s how to lose weight’ and ‘here’s how to lose 12 kgs in five and a half weeks’. It makes your claim so much more believable and so much more tangible.
So not only did they keep lathering on that social proof at every single turn, but they also kept on layering more and more specificity as time went on. It was a genius strategy and one that ended up reeling in four sharks for more money than they had originally asked for.
With a pitch this good, is it any wonder four of us took the bait?
Fire Halo
Next up were Frank and Frank from Fire Halo, who came in with a quicker, safer and easier way to protect homes from bushfires by flooding the home’s gutters before an ember attack.
They were asking for $100,000 for 20% equity and walked away with $150,000 from Robert for one-third of equity in the business. While this wasn’t quite the business for me, I could see the huge potential and importance of what these guys were doing, especially with another harsh bushfire season on the horizon.
Money loves speed, and the speed to market that Robert can bring to Fire Halo will be what brings momentum to their profitability over the long term. I can’t wait to see how they get on.
Pum’s Kitchen
Pum’s Kitchen came to us with home-style Thai sauces and ready meals, asking for $200,000 for 20% of the business. Unfortunately, they failed to reel in any sharks.
Logistically, theirs was a very complex business to scale and very capital intensive. The market is already highly fragmented and very competitive, which is immediately a red flag for me.
It’s not only the capital-intensive nature of merely stocking the inventory in all the different outlets, but the investment required to market the sauces so they actually sell. For that reason, I was out.
Tiny Science Lab
Tiny Science Lab was an interesting pitch from the duo Jacob and Mickey, with a business aimed at spreading the fun and magic of science.
They were asking for a sizable $1 million for 20% but ultimately failed to lure in any sharks. Robert initially called it the ‘best pitch ever’, that was, until it was time to talk numbers. After probing Jacob and Mickey, we discovered that their margins were low, and their valuation was further away from reality than Barbie’s dream house.
Ultimately, the product was great, but the valuation wasn’t. He was talking like a crazy chicken, and I wouldn’t want to work with a great product that’s missing the business savvy to support it.
Read more about Shark Tank Australia here.
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