Daymond John, fashion mogul and FUBU Founder and CEO discusses the roller coaster ride in episode four of The Shark Tank. In his post, he includes his thoughts on other entrepreneurs that came on before COVERPLAY, how much he loved Allison and Amy’s idea and business savvy, and why he wasn’t able to negotiate his “better deal” with the COVERPLAY owners and now Shark Tank Entrepreneurs in his blog below.
Wow! Sunday night’s episode of Shark Tank once again gave me hope in the American dream. It made me scratch my head about things people come up with and made me yell at the TV screen in the battle of the sexes…and all within one hour! It was a roller coaster ride to say the least. The funny part about it is that I was actually there and already knew the outcome. But seeing it from an outsider’s point of view for the second time was just as engaging as the first time for me.
I clearly remember when filming the show, entrepreneur Kwame (Kuadey) had such pride, such confidence and a warming smile as he presented his “Gift Card Rescue” to us. We were all truly inspired and felt grateful to have all lived the same American dream that he was clearly pursuing. His ability to close the deal with the toughest shark on the show was a prime example of how he’ll never let anything get in his way!
I then was stumped and amazed how a guy that claimed to have a 25-year sales history (Coffee Brand Gifts) could go through years of patent research, product development and the branding of his company to lack the only thing that shows a true demand for his product… SALES!
The finale of the show really took me up and down! The COVERPLAY women had such a great idea. I loved the idea and I loved their spunk! But then all of a sudden, we found out the patent wasn’t put into the deal. All sharks immediately dropped their original deals when we realized this important issue. In a blink of an eye, the patent was in and the deal was back on! Barbara, with limited knowledge of the product to store business, cut a great deal with the girls and played on their heartstrings with “girl power”. This angle put Kevin, Robert and I in a bad position to negotiate what I think was truly a better deal, due to my experience in this space. The bottom line is… Barb did a great job of out sharking the sharks!!!! And that’s what it’s all about! Even I learned an important lesson in this episode. Throw in more human aspects to making deals and become a better “SHARK”.
