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Shark Tank season 14 introduced Parting Stone, a company with a unique concept, last week in episode 19. Founder Justin Crowe’s business turns ashes into polished stones so that mourners can keep their deceased family member’s memory with them forever. All the sharks/investors in the show’s panel were impressed with the concept. However, Mark Cuban didn’t want to strike a deal with the company.
Mark loved the idea and explained that he might have invested in Parting Stone only if the company was not his competitor. In the episode, the billionaire mentioned that he has already invested in a firm that works on a similar concept.
Mark added:
“I invested in a company called Eterneva. We’re a direct competitor with you.”
Eterneva turns cremated ashes into diamonds, instead of polished stones. The Austin-based company appeared on Shark Tank in October 2019 and made a deal with Mark.
Mark Cuban claimed to be taking Parting Stone’s idea to its competitor
Despite liking Parting Stone’s business pitch, Shark Mark Cuban rejected Justin Crowe’s offer. The reason behind the rejection was that the businessman was an investor in Parting Stone’s competitor company, Eterneva.
Mark Cuban not only refused to make a deal with Justin, but he also claimed to take the latter’s business idea to Eterneva’s CEO Adelle Archer.
In Shark Tank season 14 episode 9, Mark said:
“I like the idea so much, I’m going to take it to [Adelle] and see if she can do the same thing.”
Only time will tell whether the competitor company will give Justin a run for his money or vice-versa.
While he didn’t get Mark on his team, Justin bagged the other sharks. Lori Greiner and Kevin O’Leary were super impressed with the pitch. They decided to join hands and invest together in Parting Stone.
What deal did founder Justin Crowe accept on Shark Tank?
The Parting Stone founder Justin Crowe came into the tank on Friday with a deal of $400,000 for 5% equity in the company.
Lori Greiner and Kevin O’Leary offered a combined deal of $400,000 for 20% equity on Shark Tank. Justin would have gone with the two sharks’ initial offer, but Barbara Corcoran intervened and put another deal on the table.
She offered $400,000 for 10% equity, along with a “$20 royalty per sale” until she gets her invested money back. After hearing about her offer, Kevin and Lori decided to match her deal. However, Justin rejected all the offers, stating he would only pay consumer royalty.
Following this, Lori and Kevin gave their final offer — “$400,000 cash for 10% equity, a $20 consumer royalty, and a $12.50 business-to-business royalty.” In the end, Justin accepted the offer in Shark Tank season 14 episode 9. In his backstage interview, the founder said:
“Now that we have Lori and Kevin on board, we’re going to utilize their teams [and] expertise to blow this up and make sure everyone in the United States knows that when you choose cremation, you do not have to receive ashes. There’s a comforting alternative.”
After the episode aired, Kevin took to Twitter and compared “death” with being “recession-proof,” leaving fans disappointed, who slammed the shark online.
In addition to the regular sharks, the episode also featured actress and entrepreneur Gwyneth Paltrow as a guest shark. Viewers can rewatch the episode on Hulu or on ABC’s website.
Shark Tank season 14 airs new episodes every Friday on ABC at 8:00 pm ET.
