“I wish you owned more:” When Shark Tank investor Kevin O’Leary questioned Toygaroo’s entrepreneur about her equity share

On Shark Tank season 2 episode 2, Toygaroo's founder, Nikki Pope, was seeking $100k for 10% of her business. During her pitch, Nikki explained that Toygaroo was Netflix for toys, in which parents had access to a monthly subscription where they could choose toys for their kids. They can also exchange their toys by sending them back and selecting another bundle.

Nikki mentioned that the membership cost ranged from $35 to $89 and had launched their products to 500 members who were willing to pay $42 a month for the toys. Kevin O'Leary was interested in investing in the business; however, he was surprised when Nikki revealed she owned 10% of the company. He said:

"Nikki I wish you owned more but nevertheless i would like to make you an offer ill give you $100,000 for 35%."

---

Shark Tank investor Kevin O’Leary made an offer to Toygaroo’s founder

Shark Tank investor Mr. Wonderful was interested in the business idea and mentioned he could help the Toygaroo's founder scale her business. However, he was unsure about Nikki's valuation as she didn't have a "million-dollar business yet." According to O'Leary, investing in this company was a "leap of faith" for him, but he was ready to take a risk as the idea was unique. He said:

"For every million dollars of sales, how much do I have to put into buying inventory of toys? Okay, Nikki I've heard enough. The problem is you don't have a million-dollar business yet you are asking me to pay you as if your business is worth a million when it's not but I want to be an investor in it you have a good idea this is interesting."

While asking more questions about the company, Kevin asked how much Nikki owned and who her partners were. The Toygaroo's founder revealed she worked with her husband, two online marketers, and a web designer. The Shark Tank investor questioned:

"So this is a leap of faith for me because I have to think you're going to grow this thing do you have any partners or are you doing this on your own? how much do you own?"

Nikki stated she owned 10% of the company while her husband owned the bigger share of 50%. Upon hearing this, Daymond John backed out from placing an offer, mentioning he didn't have a good experience working with people who didn't have control over their business. Nikki explained that initially, she and her husband had equal shares, but eventually as the business grew, things changed.

Then, Shark Tank investors Kevin and Barbara continued questioning why Nikki and her husband didn't give up an equal amount of shares. The Toygaroo's founder was unable to give an answer that satisfied the sharks. Kevin stated:

"Why would you who came up with this idea give so much to your partner? why? and you sold your piece to all these others and you didn't take any from him?"

In the end, Nikki ended up accepting Kevin O'Leary and Mark Cuban's joint offer of $200,000 for 40% equity. As of 2023, it has been revealed that the execution of the business while scaling it simultaneously wasn't working out for the founders, eventually leading to hardly any success for the future of Toygaroo.

All episodes of Shark Tank are available on ABC.