'Shark Tank' founders provoke Mark Cuban with a rival NBA team — still land a deal (and bragging rights)
Mark Cuban may have bid farewell to the high-stakes arena of 'Shark Tank,' but his legacy continues to live on. Cuban, who debuted on the show in 2011, has made big bucks by investing in companies like Nuts 'n More, Prep Test, and others. However, there have been moments on the show when Cuban lost his cool. In one such instance, the billionaire was so pissed off that he rejected the founders in less than two minutes, and the reason is linked to his NBA team.
The business in discussion is Ride FRSH, a Los Angeles-based car air freshener company co-founded by brothers Donovan and Trey Brown, which was on track to generate over $750,000 in annual revenue at the time of their 'Shark Tank' appearance. But their pitch hit a problem early on when they gave Cuban, owner of the NBA's Dallas Mavericks, an air freshener featuring the Golden State Warriors' logo, per CNBC Make It. "You got to read your room," Cuban said, tossing the product aside, while adding, "Wrong move, wrong time."
The brothers later revealed to CNBC Make It that this wasn't a mistake but a calculated move. Since they didn't have a Mavericks version at the time, they deliberately used the Warriors logo to get a reaction from Cuban, referencing the Mavericks' playoff loss to the Warriors in 2022. "We felt the moment would catch eyes or, even better, go viral," Brown explained. Their strategy worked, at least in terms of attention. While Cuban stayed quiet and visibly annoyed for the rest of the pitch, the other Sharks remained interested in the business. Ride FRSH entered 'Shark Tank' boasting $1.1 million in revenue over three years.
During their pitch, the founders revealed they were in talks with AutoZone to land a major retail deal. Lori Greiner was the first to back out, saying, "This is very male-skewed," adding, "I think you need to have an entire female-based line." Robert Herjavec also declined, stating the product brought back bad memories. Kevin O'Leary criticized the valuation, pointing out that the founders were valuing the company at $4 million, but only brought in $540,000 in 2021 revenue, according to CNBC.
Only Barbara Corcoran remained. She congratulated them on the sales, but was curious why they pivoted to retail. The brothers countered, explaining, "That was always the plan," explaining that they did it to offset their customer acquisition costs. Corcoran was finally convinced, and she offered $200,000 for 25%, contingent on their pending partnerships becoming official. After negotiation, they settled on 20% equity and sealed the deal. As they left, the brothers apologized to Cuban and responded, "It's all good."
Reflecting on the experience, Trey told CNBC Make It, "When Mark flips, you can actually see me smiling because I knew at that moment what we had. How many people can say they baited a Shark… even better, the biggest Shark, and came away with a deal?" The successful closing of the deal with Corcoran resulted in a $2.1 million order, with their product available across 2,000 AutoZone locations at the time, per Shark Tank Recap.