- Hi everyone, I'm Emily Canal.
I'm Inc.'s resident Shark Tank expert
and this is Tips From The Tank.
So, on the most recent episode of Shark Tank,
a founder named Lisa D'Amato came on
and pitched her company, Dare-U-Go!,
which is this line of reusable children's bibs
that basically have storage compartments.
And if your child doesn't finish the food,
you can seal it up and close it.
- No more waste, there ya go sharks.
- Lisa D'Amato told the sharks that she sold
a $100,000 worth of product in the last three months.
And that's the three months coming up
to her taping the show.
She said that's the three months
that she's also been on the market.
So, that's pretty impressive, they were really
into those sales figures especially
since she's a brand new company.
- If you see any other bib on the market,
their price point is exactly the same as mine,
and it's only one function, this is four in one.
- She went on the show seeking $350,000
for 10% of her company, and she mentioned
that she's a big fan of Shark Tank.
The sharks are really digging it,
she has this very compelling personal backstory
about overcoming an immune disorder,
and that's why she wants to have this product.
She wants to be a good mom.
- I got through it all, and I'm now
the mom that I never had.
- And then the sharks asked, hey,
where do you see the growth of your company going?
And she mentions, based on global market statistics
of the children's apparel industry...
- Just the bib industry, within that number, is 7.7%.
- Got it.
- [Lisa] Which equals.
- There you go.
- $15 billion.
- And Mark Cuban just starts shouting,
"You're a liar, you're a liar."
- [Mark] You lied to us.
- When?
- [Mark] You lied to us.
- When?
- You lied to us.
- When?
- She looked completely puzzled as to why he's doing that.
And here's the thing, if you're someone
who's a huge Shark Tank fan, like myself,
or maybe even watched five episodes,
you know that if you mention global statistics
of a market to the sharks, they immediately
stop listening to you because that doesn't
really show your company's growth.
Your company would be a sliver of that, so it's really
not indicative as to how much your company can advance,
or how much promise it might have.
Basically, Mark goes out right after that.
- So, for those reasons, I'ma have to pass.
- Kevin offers her a deal.
He says he'll give her a $100,000 in cash,
plus the $250,000 in debt for 15% of her company.
And she doesn't seemed to thrilled by this.
So, Barbara asks for 50% of the company,
and she said it was because she needed
to be an equal partner in business.
- You're all over the place, and I'm concerned
of you being half of what a business needs to grow,
so I think you need a partner.
- Lisa D'Amato, who has a background in reality tv,
she was on America's Next Top Model.
She was a great front face of the company.
She was passionate, energetic, but she didn't seem
to have the business savvy that the sharks
wanted to see in an entrepreneur.
She had a great idea, she had a good looking product,
and an ability to sell it, but they didn't see
the other aspects of a founder that they wanted to in her.
- Because, if I were to go through every one
of my top businesses, every one of them
is headed by an entrepreneur
that came through hell and back, interesting.
- In that time, Barbara Corcoran offers her a deal.
The same sorta structure, a $100,000 cash
with $250,000 in debt, and she proposes 35% equity.
Lisa takes the deal and leaves the Tank pretty happy.
- Okay, Barbara, I'll make a deal with you.
I think that sounds great.
- Congratulations.
- The three main takeaways from this episode are,
one, make sure when you're pitching the sharks,
or any investor, that you balance a personal story
and really sell your product because these people
wanna invest in you, as in yourself,
and the company that you created.
Secondly, don't over value your company.
It's a very, very quick way to get the sharks
asking a lot of questions to raise the amount
of equity they want in your company
because they feel like you need some business sense.
And honestly, it shows that you
don't know what you're doing.
Lastly, don't cite market stocks
as a way to showcase your company's growth.
It doesn't work, and as you can see,
it really pisses off the sharks.
You could totally blow your chance to work with Mark Cuban,
who is almost everyone's favorite shark, so don't
screw up a chance to have him invest in your company.
When you talk about your company's growth,
talk about yours, not the market.
I'm Emily Canal, that was Tips From The Tank,
and remember, don't ever cite market statistics.