HOME / ENTERTAINMENT / TV

Father-son duo who lost everything in a wildfire win over ‘Shark Tank’ judges with genius flood solution

Maurice Huffman and his son Miles have a new way of tackling storms after the duo from Palisades had lost everything in a wildfire.

Maurice Huffman and his son Miles introduced their product to the sharks as an alternative to sandbags. After losing everything in a wildfire, the father-son duo came forth with Stormbag, a dry, flat bag that has the ability to swell with water in just minutes. Introducing their product on ‘Shark Tank,’ they aimed at preparing people for floods with a quick and clean method. Asking $200,000 for 10% equity, Maurice and Miles were seen getting emotional on the tank. “Sharks, when the flood is on the way, the last thing that you want to be doing is shoveling sand,” they explained.

Further detailing the hassle, Maurice and Miles explained, “Traditional sandbags require backbreaking labor. Not to mention thousands of pounds of sand. But what if we were to tell you there is a much easier way to keep the water at bay? That in a matter of a few minutes, you and you alone can build a wall like this with no shoveling and no sand required.” During the demonstration, they picked a flat bag and simply dipped it in water. “When the stormbag is dry, it weighs one pound, but in three to five minutes it weighs a whopping 30 pounds,” they explained.

As they discussed the product, Miles and Maurice also showed pictures of how their home was affected by the wildfire. Telling the sharks that they come from Pacific Palisades, California, the duo explained, “We sort of faced a disaster of our own.” Miles showed the pictures and mentioned that he and his father lost their homes, adding, “The business burned down; all of our employees lost their homes.” Both Maurice and Miles were seen holding their tears back while recalling the unfortunate event. 

Mark Cuban asked how they approached customers. Miles replied that they sold Stormbags online. Talking numbers, the company had done $90,000 in business a year before filming the Season 15 episode. The duo said each bag sold for $5.50 and cost $2 to make. According to Shark Tank Recap, they aimed to lower the cost to $1.75 when they scaled up their business. This was when Kevin O’Leary jumped in with a serious question. Mr. Wonderful asked why anyone would buy a Stormbag when they can get a sandbag for free. Citing these reasons, he dropped out of making any deal. 

However, Lori Greiner and Cuban asked the duo about other potential uses of the product. When Maurice and Miles told the sharks that it could be used for gardening and plant watering, Greiner encouraged them to target other niches as well. However, this was also when guest shark Daniel Lubetzky was seen getting up from his seat and whispering in Daymond John’s ear. The pair made the first offer: $200,000 for 40% equity. This made Greiner and Cuban team up and offer $200,000, asking for only 30% equity. The two sharks also offered to help the duo with repackaging and expanding into other niches. Trying to match the offer, John and Lubetzky offered $200,000 for 30% equity. The father and son, however, went ahead with Greiner and Cuban’s offer.