'Shark Tank' judge Mark Cuban calls a female founder 'gold digger' and it didn't end well for him
Budding entrepreneur Yunha Kim had quite a memorable experience on 'Shark Tank.' While appearing in the first episode of Season 9 of the popular business program, Yunha, the founder of Simple Habit was seen seeking $600,000 for a 5 percent in her meditation app. Then, she valued her stress-buster app at $12 million. At that point, Mark Cuban, one of the investors on the ABC show, made a questionable statement, mentioning that Yunha came on the show to gain some exposure rather than funding for her app.
“But from an investment perspective, you don’t need the cash… she’s a gold digger,” he said during the episode, as per Sportskeeda. Throughout the entire segment, the other esteemed Sharks including Lori Greiner, Daymond John, Robert Herjavec, and Richard Branson continued to clash with each other and Yunha became the main topic of discussion among the Sharks. While pitching her business idea on 'Shark Tank', Yunha shed light on the growth of her app.
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Then, Yunha mentioned that her app has managed to garner over 500,000 users within just one year. Along with this, she also revealed that the revenue generated by her app stands at $750,000. Yunha stated that her app was on the verge of hitting $90,000 in monthly revenue and predicted a staggering $5 million in annual revenue. At that time, she specified that her app was not yet profitable but it did have an existing funding of $2.3 million.
For those wondering, Yunha bagged the prior funding for her app from investors in the shape of Foundation Capital and the CEOs of Gusto and Dropbox. This particular topic was a matter of concern for Mark when Yunha shared that she was seeking an investment for her app. Speaking of the funding, Yunha disclosed that it will be used for growing the business and enhancing its market growth. She simply wanted some help and guidance from the Sharks to expand her business.
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On the other hand, the guest judge Richard Branson had a different viewpoint about Yunha's meditation app than Mark Cuban. He cited that the program should focus on promoting the most creative-thinking entrepreneurs. Soon after, the two of them engaged in a heated argument. In the blink of an eye, their fiery feud took an ugly turn when Richard splashed water on Mark. Following her pitch, Yunha got deals from Richard and Robert Herjavec, receiving an offer of $600k in exchange for 20% equity. However, she turned down both offers, emphasizing that she couldn't lower the company's valuation because of the existing shareholders.
Yunha's appearance on 'Shark Tank' did wonders for her app. After the episode saw the light of day in 2017, Simple Habit witnessed a big jump in user engagement. Within a month, the number of app downloads went from 75,000 to over 1 million. By 2020, the app had more than 7 million users. With every passing day, her app continues to thrive and flourish in the market.