“Light years ahead of this”: When Shark Tank investor Lori questioned Amber founders Kyle and Bill’s product

Shark Tank investor Lori Greiner is known for being honest with aspiring entrepreneurs mentioning whether their product is a "hero or a zero." In the ABC series' season 6 episode 1, Amber founders Kyle Byrd and Bill Shuey appeared to pitch their business idea. However, investors, including Lori, weren't fans of the business model.

During their pitch, Kyle and Bill stated they were seeking $200,000 in exchange for 20% of Amber. Their device was to be used for charging up to seven phones in public places through protruding cords. The users will have to register a thumbprint for free but the venue owners were to pay $150 a month or a one-time payment of $2,000.

Lori didn't question the business model, she said;

"I mean why does anybody really need this? I think there's so many personal charging devices and actually I'm in this space right now we're creating something that is light years ahead of this. I'm out."

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Shark Tank investors stated why they backed out from investing in Amber

The Shark Tank investor Daymond John didn't understand the business model and the product's requirement in a person's everyday life. He told the Amber founders that their idea was something people could do for free. According to John, it didn't make any sense for the bars to pay $2000 to Amber founders when they could "issue it for free." He elaborated:

"Why would a bar pay you $2000 when you go to the airport those guys who have the big charges, they issue it for free because they want to do their advertising. Why wouldn't a bar put one of those free devices behind the bar?"

Kevin, on the other hand called out the founders for having a "horrible" business idea. Meanwhile, Mark Cuban could empathize with Kyle and Bill who had "put in a lot of blood, sweat and tears" into their start-up.

However, the pre-revenue business model had errors which Cuban pointed out. He said that making the majority wait in line to charge their phones isn't the best, the Shark Tank investor said:

"The cost is horrible guys I mean you've got this down under $100 and you're so far away and I feel bad cause you put in a lot of blood, sweat, and tears. When you have a lot of people, one of the things you don't want to do is create a reason for them to congregate in one spot waiting for something."

He continued mentioning the issue of having a "clean environment." Cuban further said:

"All you doing is creating more lines and then the finger scanner, someone's wet, someone's grimy, you're at a festival it's not going to be a clean environment. This is definitely not for me."

Lori was against the idea and stated it was the "shortest pitch" she had seen as the other investors criticized the business.

"I think it was the shortest pitch."

After that, Amber's social media presence declined, which led the Shark Tank viewers to assume that the business had shut down. There has been no update from Bill Shuey, but his partner Kyle Byrd, in 2022, co-founded The Uncertainty Project, became Head of Product at Dotwork, and was a partner for a firm called Adventure Fund.

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New episodes of Shark Tank air exclusively on ABC on Fridays at 8 PM ET/7 PM CT.