Inventor’s bacon-smelling alarm clock wows ‘Shark Tank’ — until safety concerns sizzle the deal
Entrepreneur Matty Sallin made the idiom "wake up and smell the bacon" come alive with his unique innovation. Sallin created the 'Wake n’ Bacon,' an alarm clock that wakes users with the smell (and taste) of bacon, initially as a project for his intro electronics course at NYU. He pitched the working prototype model on 'Shark Tank' Season 2 and gained widespread publicity. Sallin sought $40,000 for 20% equity in his venture. "I canvassed my fellow students, asking them what their ideal way to wake up was now, I can't say what the number one answer was on television, but the close second was the smell and taste of bacon," he explained to the amused investors.
Sallin then demonstrated how the wooden device worked. He explained that users place pre-cooked bacon in the alarm’s built-in chamber the night before, set the timer for around 7 a.m., and drift off to sleep. A few minutes before the alarm, the inner compartment heats the bacon until it’s crisp, filling the room with the smell. "The smell is really strong and can wake up any bacon lover. You can then actually just roll over in bed, open it up, and eat the bacon yourself," Sallin described.
The entrepreneur was seeking investment to take his innovation into mass production. However, he couldn't lure the sharks into cracking a deal. Mark Cuban rolled his eyes when Sallin revealed it took nearly 10 minutes to reheat the bacon. Kevin O'Leary had a valid point when he pointed out the safety hazard of the gadget: "What happens when we've sold 10,000 of these and the first 10,000 catch on fire and burn the couple to death in their bed?" Sallin didn't have a satisfactory answer to that question. "I'm going to ask you, do you think they want an oven cooking bacon next to a bed?" O'Leary continued.
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After that, Cuban led the young entrepreneur through the estimated profit margins in the event that his product proved to be a success. "Interesting, you got no projections whatsoever, you got a pig box that's going to catch on fire and kill somebody, and I'm going to be sued into the Stone Age. I'm out," O'Leary sarcastically continued, but before ending his deal, he offered $100 for the 'pig box.' Barbara Corcoran criticized the product, saying that in reality, people only wanted to smell bacon in the kitchen and not next to their bed. None of the sharks seemed sold on the novel idea, and Sallin had to return empty-handed. After the disappointing appearance, his innovation took a back seat and eventually fell through without making much progress despite the initial blockbuster response from the public, as per Shark Tank Recap.
