'Shark Tank' fan recap: Cell phone or public toilet?
By Marcus T. Wright, Community Contributor Feb 1, 2015 | 5:21PM
Season 6 | Episode 16 | “Victoria’s Kitchen Almond Water, Greenbox, Tycoon Real Estate, and Phonesoap” | Aired Jan 30, 2015
The Sharks: Mark Cuban, Lori Greiner, Robert Herjavec, Barbara Corcoran, and Kevin O’Leary
After our bonus episode of Shark Tank on Tuesday, we return to our regularly scheduled hour of wheeling and dealing. Let’s get right to the recap:
Pitch 2: Greenbox Treps: Jennifer Wright-Laracy and Ned Kensing (Based in NY) Seeking: $300,000 for a 10 percent equity stake
We start off and everything is well and OH NO NED CAN’T REMEMBER THE PITCH!
Ned: Sharks, based on our consumptions … Sharks, based on our consumptions …
But the Sharks are really cool about it and share a laugh with Jen and Ned.
The Greenbox is a pizza box made completely from recycled materials. The box easily tears apart into four disposable “plates,” and the bottom of the box folds to become a storage container for leftovers. Brilliant! Their largest customer is Whole Foods, and they have sold over 10 million boxes through direct sales, with $1.7 million in sales the past year. Good so far.
But Kevin asks the big question: Will this help companies sell more pizza? A company like Domino’s would have to pay a fraction of a penny per box to convert to these boxes. Mark points out that even a fraction of a cent more per box will end up being costly over time, and quickly bows out.
Kevin makes an offer contingent on getting a licensing deal with one of the major pizza companies: $300,000 for 10 percent, plus he gets the first $300,000 back from royalties (which essentially makes the $300,000 a loan). Lori and Robert make an offer also contingent on one large pizza company coming on board: $300,000 for 30 percent, and Lori assures,
“We will be with you the whole way …”
Jennifer and Ned confer … and they accept Kevin’s offer. The 30 percent equity ask from Lori and Robert was too high. Still, the rest of the Sharks express their shock that anyone ever does a deal with Kevin.
Result: Deal: Kevin