"She's a gold digger" - When Shark Tank investor Mark Cuban called out Simple Habit owner Yunha Kim

During her appearance on season 9 episode 1 of Shark Tank, Yunha Kim, the founder of Simple Habit, sought a $600,000 investment for 5% equity in her meditation app, valuing the company at $12 million. Investor Mark Cuban made a controversial statement on Shark Tank, implying that Kim was seeking exposure rather than funding.

“But from an investment perspective, you don’t need the cash… she’s a gold digger,” he said.

The segment, marked by disagreements among the sharks, brought significant attention to Simple Habit and its founder.

---

Simple Habit on Shark Tank: Metrics, criticism, and controversy

Yunha Kim highlighted the growth rate of Simple Habit when she pitched on Shark Tank. She said that in just one year, the app had attracted more than 500,000 users and had generated $750,000 in revenue. Yunha Kim emphasized that the app was going to hit $90,000 in monthly revenue and projected $5 million in annual revenue.

She said Simple Habit is not yet profitable; however, it has an existing $2.3 million in prior funding. That came from investors in the form of Foundation Capital and the CEOs of Dropbox and Gusto. This was a concern for Cuban when Kim said she was looking for investment.

Kim said that funding would be used to expand marketing and grow faster, citing that she would like the strategic guidance that the sharks could help her with.

Guest shark Richard Branson disagrees with Cuban's opinion; he feels that the program should promote the most creative-thinking entrepreneurs. The argument soon became too heated, causing Branson to splash Cuban with water.

Despite offers from Branson and Robert Herjavec for $600,000 in exchange for 20% equity, Kim declined, explaining that she could not justify diluting the company’s valuation further due to existing stakeholders.

---

Post-Shark Tank: Exposure and development

After the episode aired in October 2017, Simple Habit experienced a surge in user engagement. Kim highlighted the positive impact of the "Shark Tank effect," which brought 75,000 downloads on the night of the broadcast and over 1 million downloads within a month.

By 2020, the app had grown to serve more than seven million users.

However, the increased visibility brought challenges. Joe Burton, founder of Whil Concepts, Inc., accused Simple Habit of replicating business models and features from competitors in a public letter published by Observer.

Kim did not publicly address the allegations, and no formal actions were reported.

Despite this, Simple Habit continued to expand its offerings and received accolades, including the 2018 Google Play Award for Best Well-Being App.

During the COVID-19 pandemic, Kim announced that Simple Habit would provide free access to its premium features for users facing financial difficulties.

---

Current status and Yunha Kim’s new venture

In March 2023, Ingenio, a marketplace focused on spiritual wellness, acquired Simple Habit.

Ingenio’s Chief Corporate Development Officer, Bryan Leppi, explained in an interview with TechCrunch that Simple Habit would remain a standalone product and integrate into Ingenio’s broader wellness ecosystem. He stated:

“The meditation and audio wellness content from Simple Habit may be added to apps like Keen to expand access to healthy habit formation and balanced lifestyles.”

Following the acquisition, Kim shifted her focus to her new app, Sleep Reset. The app leverages Cognitive Behavioral Therapy for Insomnia and pairs users with sleep coaches to improve their habits. In a March 2023 interview with TechCrunch, Kim explained:

“In the nine months since we came out of beta, we've more than doubled our subscriber base and our revenue.”

She highlighted that Sleep Reset users reported an average of 44 additional minutes of sleep per night.

---

Catch all the new episodes of Shark Tank air on Fridays at 8 PM on ABC. Stream them anytime on Hulu!