Most Profitable Shark Tank Investment – (Scrub Daddy/Facebook) Scrub Daddy founder Aaron Krause and “Shark Tank” investor Lori Greiner celebrate the debut of Scrub Daddy products at all Staples locations.
“Shark Tank” investor Lori Greiner aggressively struck a deal with Scrub Daddy founder Aaron Krause during the show’s fourth season in 2012. She narrowed her offer to $200,000 for 20% equity and promised to make Krause a millionaire within a year.
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Krause has lured the Sharks with a live demonstration of the power of his smile face sponge, a scrubbing tool that he says cleans better and cleaner than traditional sponges. Investor Daymond John told Business Insider last year that it was his favorite pitch in six seasons, and it was like watching a live infomercial.
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In the two and a half years since Krause’s “Shark Tank” premiere, Scrub Daddy has sold more than 10 million copies and earned more than $50 million in sales. The product appears regularly on QVC and is sold at Bed Bath & Beyond, Walmart, Target and Staples locations in the US. It is by far the most successful company to secure a deal at the fair.
Krause, a resident of Cherry Hill, New Jersey, an auto industry veteran, has come into contact with household cleaning products.
He designed the original Scrub Daddy sponge – without the smiley face – in 2006 when he ran his auto detailing service and product development company, Dedication To Detail. One of the products his company makes is a urethane foam polishing pad, and on a whim, he asked the German manufacturer to make the pad as rough as possible, with “eye sockets” for finger cleaning and “hairy” ridges underneath for cleaning. fingernails.
He hopes this Scrub Daddy prototype can be a more comfortable replacement for the pumice Lava Soap that car workers use to wipe their hands of dirt and oil. He liked the products made by the German company, but he shelved the idea after selling its foam business to 3M in 2008.
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Krause said she needed to clean her garden furniture in 2011 and decided to break out the scrubber she had been putting aside. They did their job so well that he tried them on his dish. He added “smile” to accommodate the utility curve, and the current version of Scrub Daddy was born.
His good friend owned five ShopRite supermarkets in New Jersey and allowed him to display his products. When they didn’t sell, Krause tried to do live demos in stores. He quickly took over the presentation and customer interaction.
By April 2012, Krause had landed a weekend cover business article in the Philadelphia Inquirer and two QVC appearances; on his second appearance, he sold 4,000 sets of Scrub Daddies in eight minutes.
He said he remembers sitting with his wife watching his favorite show, “Shark Tank,” and thinking, “I could go through this and kill him.” He sent in entries and eventually landed on the show a few months later.
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“The Scrub Daddy is the perfect product for me,” Greiner told Business Insider. “It’s smart and unique. It’s different. It’s something people need and want.” And it’s consumable, meaning customers have to keep buying it.
Greiner — who has created more than 400 inventions, holds more than 120 patents and sold more than $500 million worth of products on QVC — likes to classify retail products as heroes or zeroes. He said he could tell right away that Scrub Daddy was a hero.
He also thinks that Krause’s tone will suit the commercial information and tells him that he will get it soon if they make a deal.
However, after they signed the contract, Krause told him he didn’t want to go the infomercial route. Not only did he have reservations that commercial information could damage his product image, but he also did not want to give significant control of his company to the infomercial production and distribution team and risk his products being forgotten, like the Snuggie or the ShamWow.
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Krause recalled Greiner warning him, “If you want to compete with the big players, you have to be in it for the long haul.” He will have to work tirelessly over the next few years building the brand if he wants to leave the infomercial circuit.
He was in long distance, just not an infomercial route, he told Greiner. He replied that he would too.
Before his appearance on “Shark Tank,” Krause had generated about $100,000 in sales through QVC, e-commerce and his partner’s five ShopRite locations. After the premiere, he received calls from Bed Bath & Beyond and ShopRite headquarters.
He signed deals with those outlets and Greiner made deals with Target, Ace Hardware and Staples. Krause said Greiner is working on several other large distribution deals to accelerate Scrub Daddy’s growth.
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Greiner has also helped Krause develop new products such as Scrub Daddy in color, a lemon-scented sponge and several new items to be released this year.
Krause said Greiner is available to discuss new ideas at any time of the day. “He’s not human!” he said. “I’ll email him at 2 in the morning and he’ll reply. I’ll have to say, ‘That’s actually meant for you to see tomorrow!'”
Krause joined Scrub Daddy full-time last May, but continues to work on creations outside of the company. He said his and Greiner’s passion for creating has allowed them to understand how others work.
He also respects that he’s been running the factory for the past 20 years and that he likes working alone at the QVC spot (even working with Greiner doubles or triples sales). “She’s not babysitting,” Krause said.
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They are now working toward Krause’s long-term goal of making Scrub Daddy a household name like Brillo or Lysol.
“Breaking into the retail world is almost impossible unless you’re a company like 3M,” or have a business partner like Greiner, Krause said. This article contains affiliate links to products selected by our editors. Mental Floss may receive a commission for purchases made through these links.
Since its premiere in 2009, Shark Tank has made businesses out of companies. The highly acclaimed ABC series allows entrepreneurs to pitch their product ideas to a panel of potential investors, including Dallas Mavericks owner Mark Cuban, the “Queen of QVC” Lori Greiner and the caustic Kevin O’Leary. Good products get encouragement and investment capital; questionable creations are met with scathing insults and long walks to the dressing room.
Of the hundreds of items featured on the show, a relatively small percentage became big hits. (Many deals even dry up during the due diligence phase.) Here are 25 of the most successful to come out of the show, including a few that would make excellent Shark Tank gifts for that special someone in your life.
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The Squatty Potty, a plastic stool intended to facilitate more efficient colon emptying, made a splash when it was featured on the show in 2014. The company moved more than $1 million worth of product within 24 hours of the broadcast — that’s in addition to Greiner’s $500,000 investment. In 2016, the company generated sales of $30 million. Creator Bobby Edwards cites his chronically constipated mother, Judy, as inspiration. Countless other “toilet poops” have followed and scientific papers have been written confirming that they do indeed help facilitate bowel movements.
In 2011, founders Randy Goldberg and David Heath noticed that socks were the most requested item at homeless shelters. This fact led them to create Bombas with the simple idea of making the perfect pair of socks and donating a pair to a shelter with every purchase. In
In season six, the founders pitch their company to the Sharks, asking for $200,000 in exchange for a 5 percent stake in the company. Daymond John eventually invested the amount for a 17.5 percent stake. Now the brand has expanded into making shirts and underwear and has donated more than 50 million garments to homeless shelters.
, creator Aaron Krause convinced Greiner to invest $200,000 in his smile face sponge. (Its mouth is great for cleaning utensils.) But the Scrub Daddy isn’t just a container for picking dried chiles out of the pan: Rinsed under hot water, it becomes pliable enough to use on the table. Refrigerate and it will firm up to handle the mess. In 2017, Krause sold more than 10 million sponges and recorded sales of $50 million.
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Ring’s doorbell camera hybrid recently sold to Amazon for $1.1 billion, but during a 2013 presentation, CEO James Siminoff faced a line of sharks who could barely open their eyes. (Only one, O’Leary, even bothered to bid.) Mark Cuban later stated that he would turn down the opportunity again if given the chance, citing high valuations as a stumbling block. The Amazon sale also paid off for Shaquille O’Neal, who agreed to be a pitchman for the product in 2016 in exchange for equity.
Looks like something like a skateboard released from existence