SHARK TANK - How it Happened
One day, we were dreaming in the office and the next day we were on a plane.
We never gave the idea of going on Shark Tank much thought, however a girl in our office, Lexi, really thought we should go for it. Doing a random Google search, she found out the only California auditions for Shark Tank were the NEXT day! So, a buddy hooked us up with a free flight and we hopped on a plane to San Francisco to go for it.
Hours of interviews, endless paperwork, and months later - we got the call. We made it to the final round and would be pitching to the Sharks in June. Our initial goal for Shark Tank was to find a national outlet to help share our story and to partner with a Shark who would be as enthusiastic about our mission as we are.
Barbara Corcoran was out first which surprised us! She was so interested at first, along with Lauri, but they were both out quickly. Mark Cuban was out because he thought our story might be too complicated to tell, which obviously was hugely important to us.
Mr. Wonderful, who is normally the most aggressive, was incredibly nice to us. He didn't drill us the way he does to everyone else. This freaked us out at first but then he offered us what we asked for, except as a loan instead of equity. We looked at each other and instantly agreed to dive in.
We think Mr. Wonderful is a crucial partner for us because he sees the value in getting press and is always highly enthusiastic about his businesses. He is stoked on our story and wants to share it with his infinite amount of connections. Plus, we're hoping after he wins Prime Minister of Canada that he will make every Canadian buy a bag too. ;) We can't wait to party with him.
We are endlessly thankful for the emails, texts, notes, Facebook shares, and words of encouragement from customers who have been with us since the beginning. Your support is what got us here and your enthusiasm for Rareform is what propels us to work hard to bring great gear to you every day. We are excited to be on this journey with you and cannot wait to see where Rareform goes through Shark Tank! You can view our episode here!
