Season 14 of Shark Tank is here and Kevin O’Leary has given a lot of interesting insight into his investments, so far. The multimillionaire revealed that 75 percent of his returns have come from companies owned by women (via CNBC).
It’s an interesting statistic, aided by the fact that Kevin tends to be very thorough when choosing who to work with. The shark is known for unapologetically tearing into entrepreneurs, especially those he believes are making bad pitches. But which have been some of the worst pitches on the show, so far? A couple of presentations go south every season, but Redditors have picked a few that top the irredeemable charts.
His & Her Bar
Lovebirds Jennifer and Michael Gallagher came up with a snack that they claimed could boost the sex drive of anyone who ate it. BigBoutros thinks the husband’s story about “finding a rock at a gas station that spoke to him about transforming into a butterfly” was ridiculous.
While drifting off into Fantasy Land, Michael did sound strange and incomprehensible, but his breakdown came out of nowhere for viewers. It was triggered by the fact that the sharks hated the bar's taste and began opting out in quick succession. Furthermore, the lack of sales was bad enough, but what was even worse was Michael’s failure to paint a good picture of himself. Instead of focusing on his strengths, he tried to trigger sympathy by telling the sharks about how he failed at the fire academy. The fact that Jennifer never seemed interested in taking saving the sinking ship didn’t help either.
RoloDoc
Doctors Richard Amini and Albert Amini came up with an idea for a social media site to connect doctors and patients, but failed convince the sharks. Redditor bruin805 hated how “they just kept saying 'Social Media.'"
Mark Cuban, who is generally one of the nicest sharks on Shark Tank, walked up to the doctors to tell them it was the worst pitch ever, which said a lot. While the idea was good, the doctors showed a lack of dedication by coming in without a plan. They neither had an idea of how doctors would be verified nor how the site would generate revenue. Their hope was simply for the sharks to buy into it and do the heavy lifting for them. That didn’t work.
Haven Lock
Alex Bertelli and Clay Banks presented their door security wedge, Haven Lock, as an alternative for ordinary doors which they claimed could easily be kicked down. Snakesnthings recalls the awkward moment when “the door wouldn't open no matter how many times Alex kicked it.”
Claiming that ordinary doors can easily be kicked down and then struggling to actually demonstrate this is indeed problematic. This was bad enough but then came the failure to communicate. By the time Alex managed to kick the door down, he was so out of breath that he couldn’t even talk properly. As expected, none of the sharks made an offer.
Sullivan Generator
Shyle12500 can’t forget “the guy who had pitched the idea for a machine that can harvest gold from ocean waves.” The Redditor is referring to the scientist Mark Sullivan, who pitched a generator that could produce both electricity and gold.
The problem with Sullivan’s idea is that it was too complex and advanced to be believable. In addition to the procedure being too confusing, Sullivan would go on to ramble about his grandeur, telling the sharks how he had 36 patents and an amazing educational background. Generally, he sounded more like a popular mad scientist in a movie, even scolding the sharks for not buying into his idea. And the golden moment? When Kevin implied that Sullivan might be an extraterrestrial being.
Unpack
Aaron Liskov and Andrew Zahornacky's business was all about delivering rented clothes to peoples’ travel destinations to free them of the burden of carrying heavy luggage. But Redditor ac0027 felt that it was “such a terrible business idea when people can just bring carry-on luggage.”
The Redditor isn’t the only one that feels it’s a bad idea, as every single shark castigated the duo. Mark even felt their business name was terrible. Walking into the tank was also audacious on their part since they had 37 clients in six months. In a show where numbers mean everything, the statistic clearly didn’t help. As such, they walked out without a deal.
Tail Lightz
Kyle Rainey needed an investor for his LED embroidery patches, which clients could stick on their jean pockets. Redditor megmp48 thought it was funny how the entrepreneur itted he “needed a deal because his wife had been the money maker/funding his dumb ideas for years.”
True to the Redditor’s statement, Kyle’s pitch screamed “I need the money!” which wasn’t a convincing enough reason for the sharks to jump in. The entrepreneur also shot himself in the foot by stating that he had 80 inventions, which meant most of them had failed, hence the reason he was trying something new. This track record served as the much-needed motivation for the sharks to go out. Nonetheless, the Tail Lightz segment could be considered one of the funniest Shark Tank pitches, thanks to quotes like “these lights bring attention to your greatest assets.”
Amber Charging Station
Bfish1 reminds everyone how the Amber Charging Station “was one of the shortest pitches, and it got torn apart so fast." The pitch involved a self-locking charging station which could prove useful for people when they were in public spaces.
High production costs and no profits meant no shark was ever going to invest in the product. The unanimous feeling that Amber could never work showed just how bad the presentation by the inventors, Bill and Kyle, was. And there was no leaving on good either. An angry Bill had viewers laughing when he stepped into the hallway and declared he’d love to “rail Herjevac in the teeth.”
Ionic Ear
Darrin Johnson had a Bluetooth device that could be planted into people’s heads. Incandescentink found it strange how “the product didn't even exist yet, and it required surgery.”
The major issue with Darrin’s invention was that it was a complex solution for a minor problem. What bothered him is that ordinary Bluetooth earphones fell off the ear rather easily. The solution? Put them permanently in the head via surgery. Even scarier was that, for an update, s would be required to get another surgery. After Darrin was hit with a couple of Kevin O’Leary savage quotes, all the sharks came into agreement that no one would ever undergo a surgical procedure just to listen to music.
Elephant Chat
Amanda and Jason Adams felt that communication between spouses was hard with kids around, hence they came up with an idea of an elephant model in a box as a way for someone to indicate they wanted to talk privately. DrGeraldBaskums argues that “Paying 80 bucks for a stuffed elephant to save your marriage might be crazier than ionic ear (maybe).”
While the idea was creatively born out of the “elephant in the room” saying, the sharks agreed that it was completely unnecessary because couples that feel the need to talk privately always find a way to do it. The Redditor's words also mirror those of Kevin who felt that paying so much for the model of an elephant would make people feel ripped off.
Be Somebody
Kash Shaikh’s motivational app was meant to help connect people to those who were already skilled in fields they wished to pursue. About the pitch, JayNotAtAll comments: “when asked about the product he goes into this long life story... it was bad.”
The most unfortunate thing about the pitch is how well it started before going downhill. In the opening minutes, Kash brought Bollywood dancers, a soccer star, and a world-famous ninja all into the tank to demonstrate their skills. The entrepreneur messed up everything when he started talking, with the sharks labeling him abrasive and vague. His inability to defend himself would drive him further and further into the hall of rejects.