Update: Copa Di Vino
Last season, James Martin walked away from an offer from Kevin O'Leary for his wine-by-the-glass business. That's because Kevin was only interested in the patents, while James was interested in it as a brand. Copa Di Vino has gone to $5 million in sales in a year. Business is booming. They are in some of the largest retailer in the world. The company is growing so fast that they are putting all their revenue back into inventory. He needs capital and that's why he's going back into the Shark Tank.
ENTERPRENEUR: James Martin
PITCH: Copa Di Vino
ASKING FOR: $300k for a 5% stake
BEST PART OF THE PITCH: James's wine-by-the-glass requires no corkscrews, no glasses. Just open and enjoy. The Sharks are shocked to hear that James is on track for $5 million in sales. He just can't keep up with demand. He has twice the amount of orders than he can produce. He needs money to open a second bottling line. Kevin said he'd drink a thousand-dollar bottle of wine to weep at the missed opportunity last time around. This time, James has bottled a thousand-dollar wine in his Copa glasses to toast the deal they will hopefully make the second time around.
DO THE SHARKS BITE? Kevin wants to know is James has repented from his madness from the last time he was here. He claims James could have made $500 million instead of $5 million if he had taken his initial deal regarding the patents. He offers him $600k for a 51% stake. That happens to be the same offer as last time. Mark wants to know if James is willing to move the needle on the evaluation of the company. He is. That has Kevin changing his offer to $300k for a 12% stake. Mark asks James to take a break so they can figure out a strategy. When he steps out of the tank, James makes a call to Jim Koch, founder of Samuel Adams Beer. Jim says that people only gave lowball offers when he started, but his passion made him a success.
