"Not a 'have to have' product"- When Shark Tank's Mark Cuban pulled out from SplashZen in season 15

On season 15 of Shark Tank, which aired in 2023, the couple Rooney and Tanya Rasmussen came with their "Bath-splash guard" called SplashZen. The couple came up with the idea of developing this product out of personal experience; having three boys, their bath session was nothing sort of chaos, leading to long sessions of cleaning afterward.

The couple asked for $100k for a 10% stake in their company SplashZen and presented the innovative detachable spool with a suction strip at the end which ensures no splashing of water. The spool's structure was reliant, sturdy, and useful. The founders also advocated the multiuse of the spool, by using it in converting the bathtub into a doh wash.

The sharks' panel loved the fun idea of the product. However, sharks had their share of doubts before they offered a deal to Splashzen founders. Kevin O'Leary felt that the product needed an explanation about its utility, citing that rebranding it could help. Herjavec remarked that the product was not solving any major problem and pulled out of the deal.

Mark Cuban agreed with Herjavec and remarked:

"I think the issue is this is a nice to have, not a 'have to have'. Obviously there's a market for it and you just have to figure out the right ways to market it but it's not a fit for me. So for those reasons I'm out."

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Did SplashZen crack a deal in season 15 of Shark Tank?

The SplashZen founders, Rooney and Tanya Rasmussen, came all the way from Seattle to grab a deal during Season 15 of Shark Tank. With their solid product, made to simplify the mess during the children's bath time, Rooney and Tanya were also looking for expertise and guidance to cut the cost of their product, making it more lucrative for the customers.

While all the male sharks, Mark, Kevin, and Robert could not see the potential of this bath-splash guard, Shark Tank investors, Lori and Barbara almost started a bidding war for the product. Lori Greiner was the first to give an offer to Roonet and Tanya. She offered $100k for 20% of the equity in SplashZen.

Barbara offered $ 100k for 15% of the equity along with an extended line of credit of $100,000 because she believed SplashZen required more capital to get a market boost. After Barbara's offer, Lori cut down the equity percentage and offered 17.5% with a $100,000 line of credit to match Barbara's offer.

Surprisingly, Barbara further reduced her equity percentage to 14.5. The couple had to make a decision, and they decided to counteroffer Barbara and ask her to reduce equity to 14%, and it was a deal for SplashZen.

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Shark Tank Season 16 is available on ABC to watch.