'Shark Tank': Why did Mark Cuban close $235K deal with Wondry wines when other Sharks backed out?
LOS ANGELES, CALIFORNIA: Dallas-based entrepreneurs Chazz and Whitney Gates managed to accomplish what most entrepreneurs can only dream of -bagging an investment from Mark Cuban on 'Shark Tank'. The husband-wife duo who are the founders of a fruit-infused wines brand Wondry also went home with a deal worth $235,000 though they stepped into the tank seeking just $185,000!
The Gates was looking for a Shark to help them with not only expanding their business but also hoping to use their investment to better optimize their production by automating the bottling process. After presenting a great pitch highlighting the higher alcohol level content in their wines and the superior quality ingredients used to produce the wines, the duo offered the Sharks to sample the products. The Sharks were instantly smitten by the delicious Wondry wines. Unfortunately, Lori Greiner, Peter Jones, Daymond John, and even Kevin O'Leary, decided to sit out from making a deal. Citing reasons from the saturated beverage sector to intolerance for sugary drinks, the harks had several reasons to refrain from making an offer.
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Despite his fellow Sharks' refusal to even roll out an offer, Mark didn't think twice before making an offer. The billionaire Shark was moved by the Gates' inspiring backstory of putting in the hard work to make their business a success and leave their legacy. He was further pushed into making the deal as he felt that they were locals, since they hailed from Dallas, and wanted to support them.
But instead of handing the $185K, the duo came in seeking, Mark decided to sweeten the deal further by offering to invest $200K instead but wanted 15% equity instead of the 8% they were offering. The Gates were happy with Mark's offer but decided to try their luck by making a counteroffer of asking the Shark to raise his investment amount to $250K for the 15% stake. Mark countered it by saying he wouldn't go any further from $235K. The duo immediately accepted the offer and left the tank feeling pleased.
After watching Mark close the deal, the other Sharks praised him and assured him that his newly acquired business would be a huge hit!
'Shark Tank' Season 14 airs every Friday at 9/8c on ABC.
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.