'Shark Tank': Body-board entrepreneur wins sweet redemption after 'worst pitch ever'
Over the past 10 years, “Shark Tank” has seen many success stories and failures, but Sunday’s episode offered a rare redemption for an electric-propulsion body board entrepreneur.
Jason Woods, the Pleasantville, California, inventor of the Kymera Body Board, was last seen in Season 5, when the sharks ripped him apart for pitching a prototype invention with no salable product or company.
“You’re not an entrepreneur, you’re a want-to-preneur," shark Mark Cuban told him back then. "In 10 years you couldn’t figure out how to go get a product and sell it. Find someone else to run the business, but it’s not going to be me.”
“As you may remember, my last lap around the tank didn’t go so well,” Woods said in a painful trip down memory lane. Standing sheepishly in front of the sharks, Woods and his company were in a much better place than they were five years ago. He took Cuban’s advice and partnered with Adam Majewski, who runs day-to-day operations.
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Majewski had seen Woods on “Shark Tank” and called him while the episode was airing. The two hashed out an agreement and turned Kymera into a company that's sold $350,000 for the year to date, as of the episode's taping, with a projected $2 million in annual sales. Woods also developed prototypes for an electric kayak and surfboard to be introduced later.
“I saw the product and said, ‘I want it. I know other people want it. And I can see a market for this product,’” Majewski said. “And I felt the sharks possibly got it wrong.”
Shark Daymond John, who at the time called Woods’ pitch the worst he'd ever seen, didn’t mince words when it came to Kymera's $5 million valuation: “So we beat you down. You said we helped you. You come back and ask for $250,000 for 5%. This is how you thank me? Thank God you like me, right? Imagine if you were mad at me.”
The valuation was too high and the profits too low for shark Kevin O’Leary, who wondered if he would ever get his money back. He decided to make them an offer that made the other sharks shake their heads in disbelief: $250,000 for the 5%, with a trademark O'Leary royalty of $500 on every board sold, until he made $750,000.
“So when you bankrupt them, how are you going to get your money?” shark Robert Herjavec said at one point.
“Why don’t you just say no?” shark Lori Greiner told Woods.
“I wouldn’t say no until you know you had another offer,” O’Leary said.
Fortunately, John had another offer: $250,000 for 10%. But Herjavec had an even better one in mind: He believed they needed more than they were asking for, and proposed $500,000 for the same 10% stake.
“Yes!” Woods said, instantly accepting the offer.
“I love the second chances,” Herjavec said. “I mean, that’s one of the things that makes this country great. Everybody deserves a second chance.”
This article originally appeared on USA TODAY: 'Shark Tank': Body-board entrepreneur wins sweet redemption after 'worst pitch ever'
