Shark Tank Australia recap: A Bachelor’s Pash, pets’ teeth gnash and Paire pair wants cash
On the latest episode of Shark Tank Australia, a sip of a Bachelor’s non-alcoholic beer, a zap to promote a heat pack and a sniff of non-smelly socks.
This week on Shark Tank Australia: a dreamboat from The Bachelor returns to TV, a shark gets an electric shock, and everyone is blown away by the biggest business the show’s ever seen.
Pash
Remember The Bachelor’s Dr Matt Agnew, the dreamboat astrophysicist who was fascinated by the search for life on other planets?
He’s back.
This time he’s on our TVs in search of $95,000 for a 10% stake in Pash, his non-alcoholic beer brand.
Things got hectic for Dr Matt after The Bachelor — he had to deal with mental health challenges and stop drinking. That’s when he came up with Pash, a beer that he hopes removes the stigma of not drinking alcohol.
This is also why the branding on the beer cans is very bright, very pink, definitely not a butch blokes’ brand. But it confuses the sharks. Who exactly is this beer for?
Dr Matt has plugged Pash a few times to his 300,000 followers on Instagram. He’s got more influencers onboard to spread the word, but the sharks are confused as to why the new beer isn’t the total focus on his feeds.
The sharks all take a swig and while they like the beer’s flavour, the branding confusion leaves a nasty taste in their mouths.
Shark Maxine Horne doesn’t see a stigma if she goes out and orders a glass of water with a bit of lime in it. Sure, she might tell her friends that it’s vodka, but that’s hardly life-changing so she’s out.
Nick Bell is brutal. “The challenge I have with this business: I don’t think it’s very good, to be honest with you.” He wants more of a selling point than a pretty can, so he taps out.
Davie Fogarty also can’t see differentiation between Pash and what’s already a crowded non-alcohol drinks market.
Jane Lu, a Bachelor fan, was charmed from the moment she laid eyes on him. Her heart wants to give him a rose but her head tells her that the branding and marketing isn’t quite right so she’s out too.
So, sadly Dr Matt doesn’t find enough love on the shark island tonight.
He’ll be fine.
Kosi
Kellie Johnson, came up with Kosi, the world’s first wrap-around heat pack for endometriosis, to deal with her own pain. She’s after $50,000 for 10% equity in the business.
Kellie calls on both Davie and Jane for a demonstration. Davie jumps out of his seat because pink is his colour. In less than a minute later, he wishes he hadn’t.
“So, Davie, you know how I just said endometriosis is one of the world’s most painful conditions? Yep, we’re gonna give you a taste of that.”
Wait. What? A pain demonstration? Bring it on.
She sticks a couple of electrified stickers on his tummy, Jane is given the controls, and before she’s given a rundown on the level to set the shock to… ZAP.
It’s only on three.
Fellow shark Rob Herjavec yells “GO TO FOUR” and Davie doubles down in pain.
It’s torture on TV and it’s fun. Davie is in agony but founders run on pain.
The Kosi packs are selling like hot cakes — $150,000 in revenue so far, and it’s just about ready to go to retail. Amazingly, Kellie achieved this success while on maternity leave.
Jane thinks she can grow the business quickly, but she wants the $50,000 in exchange for a 25% stake.
Nick mentions his friend who owns a big pharmacy chain again. His offer is the same money for 25%, dropping down to 20% in two years.
Maxine makes an offer of $50,000 for 20% of the business, plus a $100,000 line of credit.
“Gosh, these sharks are so greedy!”
Of course that’s Rob. He makes Kellie an offer nobody could refuse (understand): $50,000 for 10% of the business, plus a royalty of $10 a pack. The royalty goes once he’s doubled his money.
Nick Beautiful Minds the figures in his head, and matches Rob’s offer.
Jane tweaks her offer to $50,000 at 20%, down to 15% after two years.
What about 15%? Karen asks.
Jane yells, “I’ll do it”, and just like last week jumps up and hugs the deal in. The other sharks don’t have time to counter.
Yes, guys. You’ve just been Lu-ed… AGAIN.
Cutting Edge
Animal dentist Brian Borg says 80% of dogs and cats have periodontal disease. Apart from the fact that pets can’t brush their teeth (I reckon that’s because they don’t have thumbs), dental treats on the market don’t do a great job.
So he’s invented a food bowl that has two rubber tubes that extend from the sides. You buy snacks from his company to put into the tubes and your pet has to gnaw at the tube to get them. This cleans both sides of their teeth..
He wants $200,000 for a 10% stake.
He says that he’s put $600,000 of his own money into getting patents. When grilled, he admits that $200,000 of this figure is time he’s spent.
Factoring in time spent into the value of his business shocks and annoys the sharks. If only there was a bowl they can sharpen their teeth on.
Rob says: “There’s a reason it’s called sweat equity, and I find it offensive that you would even try to think, as an investor, I would value your sweat equity.”
It gets even uglier when the sharks find out that the only bowl in existence is the 3D printed prototype in front of them.
No offers.
The voiceover even has a shot when the feeding frenzy ends, saying: “Brian leaves with his tail firmly between his legs.”
However, all the sharks seem sad to see Brian go, proving that entrepreneurs do have an affinity with each other.
“I hated that,” says Davie. “I hated every minute of it.”
Paire
Paire’s Nathan Yun and Rex Zhang have a simple idea that’s already making millions.
“Imagine a world where clothes are so comfortable you feel like you’re wrapped in clouds, all the time,” they begin their pitch.
Paire develops the most comfortable basics and underwear imaginable, and they want $500,000 for 2.5% equity. That values the business at $20 million!
Maxine zings: “You know we’re the sharks, right!?”
The reply is stunning. Last year Paire did $6 million in revenue and will do $20 million this year. They also have 10,000 five-star reviews and 70% of their customers will come back again. To give you a feel for that, Oodies’ return rate is at 60%.
Paire is selling 20,000 units of undies each month alone, and their socks don’t smell.
Demonstration time again! Who’s going to smell my socks? Rex takes a sock off and Maxine has a sniff and survives. Couldn’t smell a thing.
The secret is their own fabric blend, a mixture of merino and tree fibres, made possible with their families’ expertise from over 40 years in the textile industry.
The sharks are blown away. Rob announces that it’s the most successful company that’s ever been on Shark Tank.
Maxine asks about fashion but to Nathan and Rex it’s all about “Comfortable, comfortable, comfortable.”
Maxine thinks that’s a classically daggy male attitude. They don’t even do leopard prints!
Rob wants to invest but 2.5% equity deals are below him. Nathan strikes back with, how about $2 million for 10%?
Jane knows first-hand what they’ve been through so she offers $500,000 for 10% equity.
Nick matches it but if the money is paid back, his stake goes back to 5%. Davie matches that.
Rob is in love with this pair. He calls them Bambis for some reason and offers $500,000 for 10%. But then in an almost sinister voice he wants the 10% in non-dilutive shares.
Nathan and Rex go into whisper conference mode and come back with $500,000 for 4%. Anyone?
Rob counters: $500,000 for 7.5%, non-diluted.
Because they go back into whisper mode, Rob changes his offer BACK up to $500,000 for 10%.
How about 5%?
But Rob’s out. He wants to teach them a snooze/lose lesson, and besides, he’s always wanted to kill a Bambi.
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