‘Shark Tank’ entrepreneur with Selena Gomez as investor faces tough crowd — until one judge steps in
‘Shark Tank’ Season 5 premiered and got a lot of love from the viewers. Among the intriguing pitches was one from Josh Brooks, founder of Postcard on the Run. He introduced the Sharks to the show’s first celebrity investor, who also happens to be an active user. The star in question was none other than the highly acclaimed pop star, Selena Gomez, who uses the product to turn smartphone photos into real, live postcards. Interestingly, this app also mails the postcards to the address you pick.
Postcards on the run had made the business over $450,000 in sales. Brooks set foot on the reality business show with hopes of acquiring $300,000 in return for 5% equity in the company, according to Shark Tank Blog. He had a bold valuation for a company that was unique. Explaining the product, the entrepreneur stated to the judges that the user can pick the photos of their choice and have them printed on the postcard, which can be later sent through snail mail. He also added that the cards include a scannable code that allows the user to view a video clip on their smart device.
The contestant then mentioned to the judges that he had already made agreements with investors. However, the cost of ownership these investors shared had put the sharks in a doubtful situation. Coming to the sales, Brooks explained that he had sold $450,000 worth of postcards and had just over 500,000 downloads of the free app. The entrepreneur also explained that he had raised $1.3 million in previous investment funds on a $6 million valuation.
Amongst the judges, it was Mark Cuban who first talked about the product. Calling the $6 million valuation of Postcard on the Run “ridiculous,” the former judge on ‘Shark Tank’ pulled out. Agreeing with Cuban, even Kevin O’Leary exited before he made any offers. Mr. Wonderful also believed that the company was a loss in a monetary aspect. Expressing herself, Barbara Corcoran stated that postcards are a “gift,” also that she loved getting such gifts. However, the limitation of having the message printed in a text typeface “takes the warm and fuzzy out” of getting a photo in the mail. Stating this, another Shark was out of making any deal with the contestant. Lori Greiner straight-up stated that she did not believe the technology is proprietary. It was no surprise that she too pulled out.
Brooks only had hopes from Robert Herjavec now, who intriguingly believed that his kids would love to use the app. He also expressed interest in the product because the ‘Love You Like a Love Song’ artist is its investor. Herjavec loved the idea, but he’s not comfortable with the $6 million valuation. The Shark offered Brooks $300,000 in return for 10% of the company. Countering his offer, Brooks asked to go up to $5 million. To which Herjavec stated that he was willing to go up to $4 million. Brooks came with another attempt in this round of negotiations, asking for $4.5 million. However, Herjavec had already spoken his final offer, leaving no choice for Brooks but to accept the deal.
