'Shark Tank' Season 14: Daniel Lubetzky honors father with emotional investment in HummViewer
LOS ANGELES, CALIFORNIA: Season 14 Episode 8 of ABC's 'Shark Tank' introduced us to entrepreneurs John and Joan Creed, who presented their product, HummViewer, in the hopes of receiving a life-changing investment from the sharks. Fortunately for the "crazy man in the mountains," Daniel Lubetzky was able to find an emotional attachment to the product, causing him to go in for a deal even though every other Shark on the panel instantly backed out.
While the hummingbird is an amazing natural creature, bird observers have always considered them to be elusive. They flee at the first indication of disturbance, and seeing them feed in their native surroundings is difficult. The HummViewer seeks to overcome this problem with a novel solution that quickly piqued our interest. John saw a documentary in February 2017 that featured a man wearing a motorbike helmet with an artificial hummingbird feeder affixed to the visor. This inspired him to create the HummViewer, and he completed the first prototype in May 2017.
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On Friday night's episode of 'Shark Tank,' John and Joan Creed asked for $75,000 for 10% of their firm. Shark Lori Greiner was curious to know what one needs to put inside the product in order to attract the birds. John told her one can use sugar water as nectar and let it sit till the bird gets used to it. Shark Mark Cuban goes straight to logistics and asks for the product's cost pricing, which turns out to be $10 and subsequently sells for $59.95. In addition, John informs Mark that he has sold around 500 pieces of the product to date.
In July 2017, John forced his brother to wear the prototype before submitting the photo to Denver's 9News. The news station was so taken with the innovative product that they decided to interview the designers live on air. Furthermore, 9News named HummViewer one of the 9 Most Inspiring Stories of 2017, giving them a huge increase in popularity. As soon as the story aired, they received a call for approximately a dozen orders. Lori enquired further if the device was patented, to which Johnny replied that the folk living above their cabin was a patent agent, who advised the pair to submit a patent application. The pair then thought they could turn it into a business. Lori then asks whether they have tried to promote the product by putting out videos or asking anyone in the community for help in selling the items, knowing that there is a hummingbird-loving community out there. Joan said that last fall they reached out to a TikTok hummingbird influencer who wore the mask and had his fourth-greatest number of views (approximately 5.4 million).
Shark Kevin O'Leary, who professes to be a Greek mythology aficionado, has declared that he is not interested in making a deal. Shark Daymond John, who categorizes it as a "business/hobby," stated that he would want to use the product but he too is out. Mark states that the product or business is not something he is enthusiastic about, despite the fact that he is quite impressed by the concept and believes it is investible for him. Lori thinks the idea is super novel and cute, and she can completely picture people gifting it to bird enthusiasts, but she views it as a "hobby" like her fellow Sharks, not something that would rake in millions of dollars.
Daniel was one of the Sharks who was yet to make a choice. He tells his story of how he can relate to the product. He starts by explaining that after his father died, his family saw a bird in the area where his father and mother lived. Furthermore, he says that his father adored hummingbirds, so whenever he or any of his family members see one, they call each other in memory of his father. Likewise, he also considers the deal to be "fate." Daniel believes the product could be sold at novelty stores or on Amazon. He asks the Creeds if they have any debt, and they claim they don't have anything but a home equity loan to assist pay for the patent.
The pair also states that they have already invested roughly $40,000 in the company. Daniel asks what they want from a Shark investor, to which John responds that he has spent his whole life in the electrical industry and has no expertise in retail and marketing. As a result, they are searching for someone to assist them to set up the firm and marketing it. They only have 1,500 units remaining in stock, although they started with 2,000. Daniel, who was having difficulty determining the value of the products, counters the couple's offer with $75,000 for 35%. It didn't take long for the Creeds to jump in on the deal with Daniel.
'Shark Tank' Season 14 airs on ABC on Friday at 8 pm ET. Missed an episode? Been wanting to catch up? Episodes can also be viewed the next day on demand and on Hulu. Not just that, you can also watch old seasons and episodes on Amazon Prime Video and iTunes.