Can Ka-Pop Save Its Pitch From The Sharks? | Shark Tank US | Shark Tank Global

[Applause] next into the tank is a modern snack made from an ancient grain [Music] hello sharks my name is Dustin Finkel and I'm the CEO and founder of ancient and grain no not these guys again stand back sharks I'll handle this wow oh my God gluten not this time yeah allergens get out of here didn't go that far calories huh nice try GMOs never wow that's fantastic I'm sorry about that sharks I've made it my life's mission to defeat bad guys like that and I've done what I can but I need your help I'm here today asking for 350 000 and in exchange I'm willing to offer five percent of the strongest weapon we have K-pop ancient grain pop chips powered by sorghum sorghum is an ancient grain unadulterated since the times of ancient Egypt it remains in its original form having never been altered in any way it is loaded with whole grain fiber protein antioxidants and minerals all you need to make are delicious flavors like our number one selling rosemary garlic our salt and vinegar vegan cheddar and olive oil and sea salt we are vegan non-GMO gluten-free and allergen free but we're not taste free sharks now with our powers combined we can make a pop a true snacking superhero I will now pass out samples it's very good thank you here we go so if you want to take one of those we have four flavors vegan cheddar salt and vinegar fantastic I'm gonna go cheddar and garlic Fantastic Mr wonderful thank you thank you Barbara how are you I'm good Dustin I'm good because I'm a growing boy to all of them I got cases after cases for you no doubt all we are is literally sore gum with no fillers we air pop it add cold pressed oil and seasoning nothing else so I can tell you a little bit about my background I've spent 13 years in the food industry before that was investment banker Goldman Sachs I went to General Mills where I launched the first Nationwide gluten-free product ever I worked on numerous Brands but this is my first startup I did this because I wanted authentically healthy snacks that delivered authentic nutrition that's what you're eating here I want to tell you something I've tried a lot of this GMO no carb blah this is good thank you very very good really good great product thank you so much Rohan it's going to be fun because it's one of the first times in Shark Tank history where we have an actual investment banker and a crazy valuation explain why you're worth seven million dollars so our sales were 150 000 as we just got going last year this year we're on Pace to do about 1.2 million dollars wow the last any profits I'll come back to profits in a second I don't like that well fifty thousand dollars three months ago 60 70 we're in place to do 70 plus this month the reality in the food space unfortunately is it's really a gross margin game so we are doing outstanding on a gross margin front where High 40s low 50s on our gross Market is that off to trade spends after trade spent yeah I have Game Changer type of investors so I have the ex head of Whole Foods Grocery I'm the founder of Boulder Brands the founder of Pacific Foods they're investors one of the reasons that I've been so successful so far where a thousand Doors 100 selling rate is they open the door you put me in front of someone I will sell them how much have you put in personally and how much have you taken in investment so I initially put in fifty thousand dollars to start what about Investors so investors my first pre-revenue round took on 943 000 including my money wow that's a lot to take in that's your first Revenue round it's not expected I was going out there selling hard hustling it was the hardest thing I've ever done was prerequisite okay so let's put that aside because we your grinder we know it you're smart you've been there how much more have you taken in and how much of the company do you own right now so I just started another round most of my first round people want to come back in which is a great size we have some Forbes 400 people that are also interested in coming in in this round at this point I still have 100 because they're all convertible notes yeah but you know what I'm saying right after the first round 67 how much are you trying to raise I'm trying to raise about a million dollars okay what you're really here for is strictly cash no not at all what else not at all I have plenty of cash actually and I have plenty of interest from this round I like to know what's at stake here for you if you don't get a deal I believe what being here with partnering with you guys adds fuel to the fire in no other way I can get from any anybody else this is an incredible opportunity sincerely since the day the show came on air if you ask my wife my family this has been literally my dream I was standing back getting ready for this and and mind blown that this was happening I mean this has literally been my dream I never had my own idea and then I had a great idea and I came here wants to stop pop chips great brand name well known saying hey we're going to launch an ancient grain line this is about perseverance and execution in The Branding and food space every single brand I've ever worked on I've had success on I've had one failure to date I'm going to do the same thing here Dustin I believe your real gift is you're one hell of a Salesman thank you and you look the part you look like you're an ancient grain man you know okay so I like the whole Imaging but there's not a thing I feel I could do for this business and I like to feel like I make a difference in anything I step into so my congratulations when I'm out I'm very very sorry to hear that you were one of the sharks who I think could actually add a lot of value to my business Justin let me jump in look yeah you are a good salesperson but you oversell you didn't talk about what your challenges were going to be it was like you were trying to pitch us why we need you right you just sometimes you got to stop selling and say look here's where you can help me because that's where true confidence comes through seems like a great product but for those Reasons I'm out appreciate the feedback it's good feedback thank you I would hire you by the way I kind of disagree a little bit with my fellow shocks on the other end uh I'll take you up on that one this thing doesn't pan out just come to me I'm telling you I would put you in to run any one of my companies so you know obviously I'm in the snack business it's not an easy business so my problem is you're very early margins are good but this industry has crushing trade spend that will just Jam your margins down and as you scale up you're gonna have to Manpower up etc etc and while I like you and I'll take you anywhere I'm concerned the journeys to audios so unfortunately I'm out that's very sad to hear I like the product I am your Market the thing is I kind of like jumping in where I know that I can really help people and I think you've got a lot of people with you that can do that so I'm sorry Emma I'm crushing you've heard all the other sharks talk about the wrist I get all that I don't have Ancient Grains in my portfolio right now so it's interesting but there's risk in there's reward of course all right five percent I don't even get out of bed for because I know with certainty I have to participate in every round after that to keep this tiny position regardless what the valuation is the only way I would do this is turn back time I'd give you the 350 I want 17 and a half percent that's a two million valuation because otherwise I'm just going to get diluted into Oblivion because you're going to have to raise so much money the bottom line value that we've talked about as a company for this round has been five million dollars from a cap perspective I don't want to screw you up on that but when you say you have a shark and it's Mr Wonderful there are sharks and then there's Mr Wonderful what about 500 for 10 percent no no you know you're stuck at that five million I get it I understand your problem our universes are not aligned I'm a superhero too and we're fine this is still wonderful arm wrestle you for my valuation and we'll see who wins it I think you'd win oh go for it do it it's going to be heartbreaking to walk out of here without miles apart and there's no middle ground that's the problem the lowest I think I can go from evaluation to be fair and Equitable to everyone is four million dollars it's 100 more than what I'm willing to pay sometimes the valuation Gap is too large I'm a shark you are I do shark deals so do I except now I guess you know what you will before you go don't forget to subscribe to the Shark Tank Youtube channel and ring the notification Bell to keep up with everything that's bubbling in the tank

Channel: Shark Tank Global

Views: 556,080

Keywords: Shark Tank, Shark Tank US, Shark Tank Australia, Kevin O’Leary, Barbara Corcoran, Daymond John, Robert Herjavec, Mark Cuban, Lori Greiner, Dragons’ Den, Money Tigers, Entrepreneurship, investment, reality tv, kapop shark tank, ka-pop snacks, ka-pop cheddar puffs, ka-pop shark tank, ka-pop ancient grains, ka-pop shark tank net worth

Id: 0j3gzmDRL10

Length: 9min 20sec (560 seconds)

Published: Mon Dec 19 2022