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‘Shark Tank’ contestant quit teaching to solve a 4,000-year-old utensil flaw — but walked away empty-handed

Mylen Yamamoto's company, Cropsticks, just made chopsticks a whole lot smarter

Mylen Yamamoto made an appearance on ‘Shark Tank’ and introduced the judges to a reinvented chopstick model. She was a fourth-generation Japanese-American and a former entrepreneurship teacher from Honolulu, Hawaii, and she left academia to focus on her company, Cropsticks, according to US Weekly. In the episode, she told the Sharks that she was seeking a $75,000 investment in exchange for 12.5% of her company. 

Yamamoto explained how chopsticks are traditionally kept on some sort of resting utensil to keep the tips clean. “But in modern-day commerce, it’s very expensive for restaurants to maintain this rest, leaving chopsticks to lie alone on dirty, germ-y tables,” she said. “Chopsticks have been around for over 4,000 years, and that’s because this ancient utensil is simply amazing, but they’re not without fault,” the entrepreneur mentioned. She even pulled out a pair of chopsticks from her hair and demonstrated how circular chopsticks usually tend to roll off the table. However, the founder pointed out that Cropsticks are the first-ever disposable chopsticks with a built-in rest. All you had to do was snap it apart horizontally, and the top became a rest.

Then the judges were served sushi along with the Cropsticks. Lori Greiner stated that the sticks came apart easily, directly jumping into business talks. The Shark asked Yamamoto about the sales. However, Daymond John then interrupted, stating, ‘Don’t get there yet,” as he was enjoying his meal. The contestant mentioned that the business was kick-started in March 2023. She said, “We sold 21,800 off of that, and right now we have conditional purchase orders for $190,000, and of that, in profit is $125,000.”

This impressed the investors. She also mentioned that her margin was about 65%. Explain further, Yamamoto stated that her business usually worked with a “very large hotel chain,” and to everyone's intrigue, it was the Hyatt. However, that was not it, as Cropsticks was also doing business with a large Asian distribution company. Her product even had a provisional patent. After talking about some numbers, Kevin O’Leary said that the contestant reminded him of "Bambi in the bamboo jungle," who might get squashed by the competition, and stepped away from making a deal. Mark Cuban then expressed that the business seems to be a class project, adding that the product still lacks a little bit of realism, stating, “I am out.”

John liked the product, calling it the best deal for the restaurants, but also stating that it was too early for him, eventually moving away as well. Robert Herjavec, however, appreciated the entrepreneur for how she left her school environment and started the business. But, he agreed with O’Leary and stated that the product might have a challenging time in the future, opting out.  Calling her a “strong, smart woman,” Greiner added that she didn't see it as a business for herself, opting out as well. At the end of the episode, Cropsticks went home without a deal.