The Sharks Want Proof That Sparketh Can Become Profitable? | Shark Tank US

[Applause] first in the tank is a business seeking to spark creativity in [Music] kids hey sharks I'm Dwayne and I'm Tim we're childhood best friends and co-founders from Atlanta Georgia and we're seeking $100,000 for 8% in equity and our company sparketh a child's mind is like a blank canvas there's no limit to the magic they can create they're filled with curiosity ideas and emotions but with art not being a priority in schools they really get the opportunity to explore them and that's why we created spark it an online art education platform for kids and teens where they can learn art anywhere and everywhere East spth membership comes with access to our library of over 1,000 art video lessons taught by engaging mentors within their specialized Fields spark at this build from the ground up with awesome featur Fe that cater towards kids and teens such as 5 to 10minute bite-size video lessons and a virtual art portfolio that they can create and share with our Global Community with sparkus creative spark budding artist from blank sheet of paper to complete Masterpiece you have us [Music] curious wow that's cool that is cool wow so sharks who wants to help make the Next Generation the most creative Generation by investing in Sp working our work of [Music] art I definitely wanted to do a quick activity with you guys yeah okay we're going to draw a very quick and easy stepbystep feather take the toothbrush and you're going to swipe away going left to right just like that so you're going to go from Top blend them as you're coming down just like that damn I'm talented okay okay at the end you're going to take the back of your toothbrush you're going to start at the top and you're going to slide all the way down to create the stem so I actually call this piece man's inhumanity to man what is that Mark it's a self-portrait it's a self I have a tornado I like that that's the most abstract beautiful one in here you say that to all the girls come on so how do you sell it who's your audience and for how much so to start off we started off with the homeschool market and over time it branched off into any parent who who is struggling to teach their kids creativity how do you reach those parents the homes School Market is really like closed off and tight knit so it's hard to get into so we kind of like infiltrated ourselves into it we went to Expo so when we started spark we started off by going to one Expo and to get into that Expo we literally had no money we were broke college students we started with $500 and after we built the website which we didn't have the best technology so I worked at a graphic design job and so I snuck him into the office after hours for days I love it yeah and we taught ourselves phsp CSS and HTML just enough to build out the MVP I taught the courses he filmed and edited them that's my passion filming video so he's the artist here he can exp so where did you guys go to college kenesa State University in Atlanta Georgia Atlant Georgia but we ended up dropping out when the business was uh you know as it started growing so how good is the business if it's enough for you to drop out for me I think that personally I just love entrepreneurship and I realized that that was my passion early on and also I was born with CLE cell disease so that's been like super tough on me cingle cell disease is a blood disorder and so the average lifespan of someone with CLE cell is 30 years old and that's when it really clicked in my mind that I was like I don't really have time to take the traditional path or anything I have to go for what I want what I'm passionate about and that's entrepreneurship I truly feel like I'm very gifted in it and even if I wasn't making a single dollar or I was a billionaire tomorrow like some of you guys I would be getting up every day and doing entrepreneurship so how old are you now I'm I'm 25 years old now yes wow you look like a baby how did you guys meet what's your story man so so we actually met as kids growing up through a mutual friend and through magic tricks actually yeah we love magic yeah do you guys actually want to see one real quick for sure all right cool so you know we did go through a lot of dark times in life but you know this is a very bright [Music] [Laughter] situation oh nice there you go it was black before right yeah it was black before good one all right what are you doing in Revenue so last year we did 300K in Revenue all direct to Consumer all all all online art classes yeah it's a subscription model business so a parent will sign up and pay $25 a month and then they get two student accounts so you have to acquire that customer and then you've got to keep them there what does it cost you acquire a customer and how many actually stick with you past 12 months yeah so right now no one's sticking with us past 12 months this about more around like $160 is the lifetime customer value which is about like 6 to 7 months is around the time that people are staying and $51 and 50 cents to acquire a customer wow hey Dwayne you mentioned you made $300,000 last year was that your first year in business no it wasn't our first year in business we actually started in 2015 we're not profitable though say last year comp or the last two years how did they compare last year we did 300K the year before that was 75k and then the year before that was 110k so some did happen in there um what happened is 2018 we pushed ourselves so hard traveling nonstop we were going to homeschool xos we started with one then the next year we did three then we did 11 then we did 22 and the SLE cell and just not getting a break every weekend selling and being on my feet we I ended up like putting myself in the hospital like and Dwayne also ended up putting himself in the hospital we were both hospitalized at the same timeit at the launch of the website so we went you guys will do anything for a vacation what's the 100 k for how are you going to use it so the 100K is for content and to build out a better version of the platform another quick question so you're how much are you burning per month we break even so we just you're not making money but you're not really losing money exactly we could be profitable if we wanted to we just are spending so we don't we decide to be profitable is this a business or is this a hobby so this is this is a business makes no money we haven't tried to be profit you haven't even told us what you're tracking so far for 2021 yeah 2021 we're on track to do 500k this year well listen for me I love creativity I love opening up kids' Minds to be inventive and to create but for me I'm not really the app person so for that reason I'm going to go out okay thank you so much Lor thank you so much guys I I look at it and say how as an investor because I I like what you're doing and I think there's there's Merit in it um $100,000 for 8% and so $1.25 million valuation for business that is let's call it what it is it breaks even right I give you $100,000 how would I get that back listen Kevin I'm going to tell you this I'm be honest this is more than just getting a quick Buck back this is more about a true Vision we want to impact the world K team around the world should set aside my traditional demands for returns of money and get something else in and you see to impact it change the world I can't invest in this I know yeah all right totally understand guys look I I see where where you're going with this the real challenge I see in this as a business you don't have that one thing to hang your hat on you need something that says this is why we are different this is what makes us unique why am I going to do this instead of just watching free YouTube videos you don't have that one marketing thing for you guys to that's an accelerant and and that's unfortunate so for those Reasons I'm out you guys are so charism atic and endearing and I listen to you and I'm looking for a reason to invest and you keep using the same phrase if we wanted to make money we could we can but you really have to convince an investor how to make money but cuz I really love you I'm going to make you an offer no I'm going to offer you $100,000 for 20% of your business ouch but it's contingent on you proving to me after 6 months that you've been able to make a profit if you don't make the profit you don't get the money if you make the profit you get the $100,000 mil guys I'm struggling enormously because I can tell that you're actually holding it inside and I can tell that the struggles are probably even greater yeah they are knowing the CLE cell disease that you have and standing up and continuing to work and not give up on your dream I'm getting chill just thinking thinking about your journey and at the same time you're treating this as a charity rather than with the seriousness and respect of an entrepreneurial Vision well said so I would like to partner with Barbara if she's up to it and I'd like to Mentor you together with her but give you the 6 months to turn into a business if you'd like me as your partner I would it depends Daniel I mean it's only 20% for 10% Equity you willing to jump in here for these guys yes okay I respect that I think that's a great idea I I think that's a great idea you guys partner up together and we'll show you I truly believe that we can accomplish anything we put our mind suit together as a team and can we have and you're willing to take a contingency deal as an entrepreneur there's no better deal we could have gotten here than a contingency deal so then I would say yes you have the offer on the table okay all right we'll take it we'll take it we got it congratulations are helping so many young kids so much yes we congratulations guys fourway hug yeah come on come on got congrats guys congratulations guys Well [Music] Done Got Two Two when I think about where I've started and being sick in the hospital so many times and doubting my potential just to be here on Shark Tank and to get not one but two sharks Daniel and Barbara I realized real that I've always had this potential within me and Dwayne were Unstoppable

Channel: Shark Tank Global

Views: 99,675

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, sparketh shark tank

Id: AudWaKG3i50

Length: 11min 3sec (663 seconds)

Published: Fri Apr 12 2024