- Hi, I'm Emily Canal.
I'm Ink's resident Shark Tank expert,
and this is a special edition of Tips from the Tank.
Today, I'm reviewing a company called Pooch Selfie,
which was a really great concept
and a really compelling founder,
but the pitch wasn't so great.
Here's three ways it could have been better.
On season 10,
Jason Hernandez was pitching his company, Pooch selfie,
which basically, is an attachment to your cellphone
that gets your dog's attention so he looks at the camera.
He was seeking $100,000 for 20% of the business,
which is based in San Diego.
He came in with his dog and his wife and showed the sharks
that he loves taking pictures of his pet, Logan.
But he couldn't always get Logan
to look at the camera clearly.
That's why he created this product.
The ball at the top of his phone grabs Logan's attention
and even has a squeaky capability,
and he gets great pictures with his dog.
Jason's pitch wasn't the best I've seen on Shark Tank.
It wasn't because he didn't have a good product.
He just didn't know how to make his pitch great.
First off, he was really nervous.
He knew all the numbers of his business,
but when the sharks asked him,
he couldn't really recall them
and said he needed to take a minute.
- How many units was that?
Do you know how many units you've sold, total?
- Off the top of my head,
I have a little bit of deer in headlights,
so I don't know what was...
- [Blonde Woman] That's all right.
- Take a breath. but do you know?
I mean, if you weren't nervous right now,
do you have a good handle on the numbers?
- Yes, I would.
- So take a breath and give us the whole picture.
- The sharks were pretty interested in this product,
but as they started asking him questions,
he was getting a little nervous and stumbling a bit.
When asked if this was his sole priority,
if this was what his job was, he said no.
He's an electronic salesman, He has a one-year-old at home,
he has a spouse, he has Logan he needs to feed,
and this is where things start taking a turn for him.
He starts getting really emotional,
talking about the fact that people
are trying to copy his product,
and that's really hard for him.
He's put so much effort into this,
and he knows that his pet won't be around forever
and wants to take good pictures
and wants other people to be able to have that opportunity.
He's breaking down.
He's crying.
He's talking about the frustrations
that so many entrepreneurs face on a daily basis.
And that seems to tug at the heart strings
of one shark in particular, the people shark, Daymond John.
Daymond admitted that he had lost his dog, Spartan,
not too long ago,
and didn't have any pictures
like the ones Jason had of Logan,
and Daymond made him an offer.
He's like, "Look, I will give you the $100,000,
but I want 33 and a third.
Jason made the classic mistake
of asking if any other sharks were interested
in offering him a deal, which didn't go well.
All the sharks said no, and thankfully,
Daymond didn't change his offer or also back out.
He kept his offer terms,
and Jason ended up accepting Daymond's offer for $100,000
for 33 and a third percent.
- Daymond, I'd love to partner with you.
- All right. Smart man.
- Woo, I would love to take it back.
I would becuase I wanted you to be decisive, okay?
- Thank you.
- All right, congratulations.
- Thank you.
- So Pooch Selfie was a great product,
but the pitch needed a little work.
Here's three ways we think it could have been improved.
So one, practice your pitch.
This is a pretty basic thing,
and I'm not saying that Jason didn't do it,
but he obviously didn't feel comfortable.
You need to feel comfortable and know your numbers
and be able to recall anything,
even if you need to take a breath.
Jason even said himself,
he was feeling a little bit like a deer in headlights.
And that's totally fine.
He's on TV.
But I think with a little more practice,
he would have felt more fluid with those basic questions
that he knew they were going to ask him.
Two, hone in on what you want the investment for.
In Jason's case,
he wanted to do three things with the $100,000.
He wanted to redesign his entire product
so it had more compatibility with other cell phones.
He also wanted to redo the packaging
so there was less of a need for customer education.
And third, he wanted to expand his next product
which held a dog treat instead of a ball
at the top of a phone.
You need to hone in on what you need the money for
and how you're going to use that to scale your business.
One thing is enough.
And three, engage and connect with your investors.
Jason talked about how much he loved his pet, Logan,
and how he wanted good pictures with Logan
because Logan wouldn't be around forever.
He missed a critical opportunity
to ask the sharks if they were pet owners.
If he had done this,
he would have been able
to focus his pitch towards that investor.
We now know,
because Daymond John offered up this information,
that he had just lost his dog, Spartan,
and that was a soft spot for Daymond.
If he had engaged the investors, asked a question,
participated with them a little bit more,
he would have gotten that information up-front
and been able to just target Daymond towards his pitch
or anyone else who happened to be a pet owner.
I'm Emily Canal,
and thanks for watching this episode of Tips from the Tank.