ENTREPRENEUR: Eric Corti
PITCH: Wine Balloon
ASKING FOR: $40k for a 30% stake
BEST PART OF THE PITCH: Eric has created a product that will preserve wine inside the bottle after it's opened. The balloon inflates inside the bottle to remove the air from being in contact with the wine. Eric has a patent pending. He's invested $65,000 and has sold over 700 units at a $22.00 retail price.
DO THE SHARKS BITE? Kevin offers $40k but wants to go with Eric to an outside company to replace their product with this one. He wants a royalty deal where he gets a 30% stake in what they make in perpetuity together. Lori doesn't believe Eric should license the product. She feels he should go directly to the consumer. She wants to buy him out for $500k to own the company. Mark offers to partner with Lori to up the offer to $600k for the business. Eric wants a 2% royalty which has Mark going out. Robert is out, too. Daymond follows suit. Mark comes back in with Lori, but the deal is now for $400k.
THE RESULT: Eric's hesitation cost him $200k, but a deal for $400k still isn't bad. Lori and Mark buy his company for that price. Eric and now go home to celebrate with a nice bottle of wine. Hopefully, he kept at least one Wine Balloon for himself.
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