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Shark Tank has been witness to numerous entrepreneurs who have taken it upon themselves to pitch their innovative products to angel investor sharks. More often than not, the majority of such pitches have been turned down by sharks on Shark Tank for a variety of reasons.
Indeed, business isn't an exact science, and even the most seasoned financial advice and opinions on the part of the sharks are not infallible. Over the years, there have been several instances where start-ups and companies that were rejected on Shark Tank have made it big in terms of business.
The Lip Bar, Hammer and Nails, and Xero Shoes are just a few among a long list of such companies that failed to impress the sharks on the ABC show but nevertheless ended up as success stories.
A brief look into the Shark Tank rejects that turned out to be success stories
Here's everything we know about the seven companies that became successful despite being rejected on Shark Tank.
1) Copa Di Vino
During the second season of Shark Tank, vintner James Martin made a splash by serving single-serve wine in a plastic container. None of the sharks took up his offer of 30% ownership in exchange for his $600,000 investment.
Martin's remarkable success meant that, despite a rare second round in the tank in season three, he was never able to work it out with the show's investors. The winemaker came out as conceited because he knew he had a successful product. Without the sharks supporting him, Copa di Vino is now bringing in $3.5 million annually.
2) Kodiak Cakes
Kodiak Cakes was founded in January 2014 and went bankrupt in April of the same year. Co-founder Joel Clark predicted that the whole-grain pancake mix which was made by his family and was high in protein, would bring in $20 million by the year 2018 when he offered 10 percent ownership in exchange for a $500,000 investment.
Clark departed at that moment without a contract. In the present day, the business generates over $160 million in revenue annually and has significantly broadened its range of products.
3) Hammer and Nails
Michael Elliot's plan to put the "man" in manicure proved unpopular with the sharks, even though he was invited to Shark Tank only five weeks after he opened his first store.
In 2014, his optimistic offer of a $200,000 investment for a 20 percent share in a Hammer and Nails salon business was rejected.
The now-thriving Hammer and Nails chain was valued at around $100 million by mid-2017, having started with a seed investment of $200,000. They claimed to have increased revenue from the previous year by 270% by 2021.
4) Xero Shoes
A 2013 visit to Shark Tank gave owner Lena Phoenix no fresh investment money for Xero Shoes, but it did support the idea that negative publicity doesn't exist. After the show, Phoenix and her husband and co-founder Steven Sashen received an overwhelming amount of orders, used crowdfunding to earn over $1 million, and in July 2020, officially joined forces with USA Artistic Swimming.
5) The Lip Bar
When one of the Sharks referred to the vegan, gluten-free, and paraben-free lipsticks in front of them as "colorful cockroaches," things appeared hopeless.
Since then, despite the rejection, founders Melissa Butler and Roscoe Spears have had success; this was further confirmed in 2018 when actor Taraji P. Henson wore their product to the Oscars. Every Target store in the country carries their product, and The Lip Bar brings in $1.6 million a year.
6) Rocketbook
The company's creators, Jake Epstein and Joe LeMay, produced a notebook that was compatible with smartphones, had instant cloud-sharing capabilities, and could be used again by just heating its pages in the microwave.
Although the concept was perhaps too radical for the sharks at the time, customers appeared to think it worked just as well. The original Rocketbook received $1.2 million in funding from Indiegogo and went on to become an Amazon best-seller. Their net sales in 2020 amounted to $32 million, a 35 percent increase from 2019.
7) BedJet
All five sharks disapproved of Mark Aramli and his BedJet in 2015. However, the sharks' statements are not infallible. Aramli invested himself by using his life savings, credit cards, and a house that was mortgaged.
Sales increased 300 percent from the previous year by the end of 2016, and they doubled in 2017. With almost $30 million in total sales to date, the company's current yearly sales are roughly $5 million.
