MY SHARK TANK STORY

UPDATE DOWN BELOW

So where do I start..... I know. Let's start at the part where I thought I could get on the SHARK TANK.

My goal was to submit an application to SHARK TANK the show on ABC. I was going to resubmit once a week until I got notified that they wanted me on the show. Well they did notify my, but it was to tell me to stop submitting after my 7th submission. So, I stopped and waited.

Two weeks later I get a call that SHARK TANK is interested in me and THE BEST BBQ SAUCE YOU'LL EVER TASTE. So I get to speak with the casting department of the show and they ask me a gazillion questions. That all went well.

Then the producers of the show call me and ask for product samples. It seems the jars of sauce that I mailed to the casting department never made it to producers. Hmmm. What a shock. So, I send another package of 8 jars to the producers. They loved the sauce.

Then I am asked to fill out a 25 page contract with the show that says a few interesting things.

1. If I strike a deal with the Sharks then the production company of the show gets either:
                                a. 5% equity in my company or
                                b. 2% royalty on my product that I am pitching
and they get this amount as long as the product/company exists

2. If I speak about this to anyone before air date, it's a $5 million dollar fine.

3. If I strike any deal with any of the Sharks within a year of the air date then the production company gets the above choice.

So now I have to keep my mouth shut and I have to re-evaluate my pitch. I can't allow the Sharks to get more than 44% of the company, if the production company is getting 5%. This is for fear of the Shark and the production company combining their shares to sell the company out from underneath me.

So I told the producers that I wanted $100,000 for 20% of my company and in my head I was willing to give them as much as 44%.

The producers had me film my pitch and send it to them. They loved it. Here is the video: https://vimeo.com/43305636

Great. Now I just need my film date.

The producers told me I'd be filming in July. So the producers and I practiced every week on my pitch and I nailed it every week.

Then the producers ask me tough questions like the Sharks might ask, to see how I would answer. I passed that with flying colors. The last thing the producer's asked me was, "This is just hypothetical, but if MARK CUBAN offers to buy your entire company, what would your price be?"

I answered, "$4 million" without missing a beat. They were surprised I had such a firm number in my head. I told them that has been the price since the day I started 12 years ago.

So a few week go by and then I am told they have pushed me to the September filming group. Okay, I am patient. I will start practicing my pitch at the end of August and strike a deal with the Sharks in September.

At this point I have no doubt in my mind that I will get a deal or get bought out when I get on that show. I am sure they will realize that I have many promising factors that will make my sauce #1. In fact, in my back pocket I was keeping the information about my Walmart meeting. I am going to be meeting (God still willing) with Walmart in the fall about taking my sauces nationwide.

The other thing I was holding in my back pocket was that I have the COOKING WITH JACK SHOW that promotes my sauces in over 95 countries and I have been seen over 8 million times. I would only tell them about these promising aspects if it looked like the Shark deal was falling apart.

Now, let me tell you what happened today.

I am getting my haircut at Mt. Zion barbershop telling my barber Scott that I have some big things coming and that God's will will be done. I tell Scott that if God doesn't want me to have what's coming he will take it away from me.
Not 2 minutes after I said those words, my cell phone rings. It's the producers of SHARK TANK calling. They tell me that they are sorry to inform me, but the show is cutting a lot of the September people and that I would not be going on the show. Now comes a really long awkward silence.

Since, I am no longer on the show, I can inform my barber Scott what just happened. His jaw hit the floor. Poor guy didn't know what to say. I tried to keep a smile on my face as long as I could, until Jack Jr sitting in the barber chair next to  me said, "What happened, dad?"

Now the lump in my throat had erupted, my heart hurt and my brain started screaming in my head to "hold it together and be a positive example for your son on how to behave when you lose." So I told Jack Jr. what happened and said that I was okay. 

Jack Jr then said, "Sorry, dad."

I replied, "As long as I have you in my life, my life is already heaven."

I drove straight home and went to this blog to share with everyone what just happened.

I started typing this blog post hoping it would help me get over the pain of rejection. I am now done typing.

It didn't help.

UPDATE: 12/14/12

I flew out to Walmart and met with them in Arkansas. They flipped over all my sauces and I will be going into Walmart starting April 2013. I will be in California Walmarts to start. I should get at least 100 stores. Then if it does well, I get to grow across the USA. I am very happy and it all turned out for the best. Thank you God. You know better than I do what's best for me.


UPDATE: 3/22/13
My first and biggest order ever just shipped out to Walmart. I will be in 180 stores on the west coast. I will be on shelves the week of April 7th. Here is a list if anyone cares: http://TheBestSauces.com (just click on the Walmart logo). Thank you God for your will being done.

UPDATE 7/30/15

So I was asked to appear on a show called West Texas Investors Club. The new show launches on CNBC August 4th at 10pm. Not sure what episode I am on. Funny thing is, 1 week after I signed to do this show, SHARK TANK calls me to invite me back to appear on the show. I turned them down and went with this show because they reached me first. That is just how I work. 

The Internet is Unpredictable

Some governments have tried to control it. People are getting rich off it. Music and movies are stolen from it. Taxes can't efficiently be collected from it. No one can stop the growth of it.

I was apart of the Internet from the beginning. I had a service called PRODIGY.
I would sit for hours with Prodigy waiting for a flashing square to alert me that someone wrote me an email. It was very much like Google+ back I'm the day. It was an incredible service, but nobody was there so it took awhile to find another person to write you.

My brother Charles and I have tried to understand how to market yourself and get noticed on the Internet. We have yet to nail down a formula for success. We believe there is no rhyme or reason for how some things become big and others don't.

I do know this. Money breeds money even on the Internet. Take the successful KICKSTARTER project OUYA gaming box. The details don't matter. What matters is that once the project started earning money, more people jumped on for the ride. The faster it grew, the faster it grew. It's a snowball effect. The problem is how to start a snowball.

My favorite thing to hear is when clueless companies say, "we need a website" or "let's do an online promotion. Millions of people will see our product". No one sees you! Your in a universe of millions and yet no one knows you exist. You have to cultivate whatever you do on the internet. Share with people. Post on websites that care about what you do. Scream your full head off until a few people say, "Hey. Look at that guy jumping up and down on the internet. Let's take a peak and see what is has."

When you do have a few eyes on the internet, you better have something worth while to show them, whether it's a product or blog or show. You need to always be on the top of your game.

I tell every one that asks that it will take a full year to get a small audience together for whatever your working on. If you can't put that time and energy into your venture then don't bother starting.

This is just the beginning of this discussion.

I'd love to hear what your thoughts and feelings are about become someone or something on the internet. How do you think people get discovered on the web?