Tired of messy desks, these ‘Shark Tank’ founders created simple snack tool — and bagged $200K deal
Over the years, many popular celebrities have appeared on 'Shark Tank' and sealed some life-changing deals with budding entrepreneurs. During an episode of 'Shark Tank' Season 13, Kevin Choi and Edwin Cho presented their company Snactiv, which designs a snacking tool to keep fingers clean while eating in front of the esteemed Sharks Mark Cuban, Kevin O'Leary, Barbara Corcoran, Lori Greiner, and celebrity investor Kevin Hart. In the episode, Choi and Cho were seeking $200,000 in exchange for 10% equity in their company. In the end, the founders of Snactiv managed to impress Hart and Greiner, and they walked away from the ABC business program with a great deal.
During their pitch, Cho said, "We revolutionized snacking and created the snacking tool of the future." Soon after, Choi explained, "That's right, Sharks, working from home the past year, I got tired of being such a slob at my desk, like many, I love to enjoy a snack while I'm gaming or working, but keeping your hands and devices clean all at the same time is a challenge. I even tried using these chopsticks, but they're super inefficient, so I asked myself, there's gotta be a better way, and that was Snactiv. It streamlines snacking and keeps your hands and devices clean while you're working."
Furthermore, the duo revealed that they did $187,000 in sales within five months. While sharing his thoughts on the snacking tool, Hart said, "I got to be honest with you. I like it and I like the simplicity of it, it's just easy, simple, and fun." Then, O'Leary chimed in, "I like it. I'm going to make you an offer since it fits into my portfolio of crazy chicken deals, got to be a royalty, guys. $200,000 I give you that I want a buck a unit till I make back a million, then the royalty goes away completely, but I get 10% of my concerns in case we sell this to IBM."
Following that, Cho and Choi received a second offer from Greiner and Hart. They offered the same amount for 20% of the company. As per Market Realist, before making the offer with Greiner, Hart said, “As a personality, I think the idea of marketing behind this product, that's what I do very well. I market. I know how to reach consumers." Shortly afterward, O'Leary revised his offer and stated that he would give $200,000 for a 5% stake in the company with a royalty of 50 cents per unit until he made a million.
Hart then told the entrepreneurs, "Listen to what you're doing and look at the opportunity. You clearly see where the advantages are in your favor from taking this deal, we don't want to go back and forth." At that point in time, Cho and Choi weren't happy with O'Leary's royalty structure, and they ended up accepting Greiner and Hart's offer. After sealing the deal, the 'Jumanji: The Next Level' actor told Greiner, “Let’s go talk to our partners and give them a handshake."
