“You’re a secondary product:” When Shark Tank investor Mark Cuban backed out of investing in Kettle Gryp

On Shark Tank Season 13, Episode 14, Daniel Sheppard and Andrew Thomas were seeking $300,000 for 10% of their business, Kettle Gryp. During their pitch, the founders explained that their product was a dumbbell attachment designed to make working out easier. Daniel and Andrew shared that they had made $3.6 million in total lifetime sales, with $600,000 in the past few months.

All the sharks were impressed by the numbers and were interested in learning more about the business. Mark Cuban and Lori Greiner questioned why the Kettle Gryp founders felt that having a shark was important in their entrepreneurial journey. The founders explained that they needed help building connections and scaling the business further into new marketplaces.

Despite Shark Tank investor Mark Cuban being impressed by the business idea, sales, and overall structure, he felt that the product was limited to consumers who already had access to dumbbells. This made the target market smaller, leading Cuban to back out, stating that Kettle Gryp was a "secondary product." He said:

"So guys the challenge I have is that you're a secondary product. You have to have somebody who already has dumbbells that means you're limited in the number of consumers that you can have so for those reasons I'm out."

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Kettle Gryp founders secured a deal with Shark Tank investor Lori Greiner

The Shark Tank investor Mark Cuban why the Kettle Gryp founders needed a shark by their side to run their business. While he was impressed by their sales, Lori also posed the same question. Daniel Sheppard and Andrew Thomas admitted that they weren’t marketers and needed guidance from a shark to make "connections into new marketplaces."

Robert also praised the founders; however, he decided to back out, as this wasn't a business he could see himself investing in. He said:

"You're amazing guys take the money and run. keep going as long as you can as an investible business to grow beyond that, I don't see that it's not an investment for me I'm out."

Kevin O'Leary was the first Shark Tank investor to place an offer. He shared his experience of working alongside PRX and mentioned that he could give the brand more exposure. Mr. Wonderful offered $300,000 for 20% equity of the company, saying:

"So guys listen I'll make you an offer I'm in this space in a big way PRX is way bigger than you and that's great and we learned a lot in terms of how we did social I've got a great team on that we built that business direct to consumer if you want to go to retail, I don't got any problem."

In the end, Lori gave a "creative offer" of $300,000 for 20% equity as preferred stock. The founders asked if Lori Greiner could lower the equity to 15%, to which she agreed. As of 2023, Kettle Gryp is one of the best-selling products on Amazon and has made more than $3.6 million in lifetime sales.

New episodes of Shark Tank are available on ABC.