Gould and Sheldon stepped into the “Shark Tank” in an unusual way that already had the Sharks on edge—seemingly distracted by their mobile devices. Of course, it was all part of the gimmick to portray the global obsession with smartphones, which, as Gould explains, they first noticed while at a bar.
With their product unveiled and the energy in the room charged with intrigue, Gould and Sheldon faced an uphill battle to convince any of the five Sharks to invest $250,000 for 25% of a product that they, themselves, described as being “not intended to be used for anything.”
The duo was given the opportunity to tout their $42,000 in sales, and while that figure surprised the Sharks, the pitch took a turn when Daymond John asked if there was a patent. When they affirmed that they did apply for a provisional patent, Mark Cuban immediately dropped out, stating, “There’s only one thing I hate more than people staring at their phones, and that’s dumb patents.”
From there, the rest of the dominos fell. Though Robert Herjavec admitted the idea was clever, he showed concerns over the growth opportunity and bowed out. John, Laurie, and Mr. Wonderful were blunter as they backed out, with the latter calling the product “nothing,” effectively ending the pitch.
