Don’t get eaten by the sharks

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One of the biggest flops I’ve ever seen on Shark Tank happened in 2016.

Geoff Woo and Michael Brandt from Nootrobox went on the show to pitch ‘Go Cubes,’ a nootropic coffee chewable meant to boost brainpower.

But these founders got laughed off the stage.

They claimed the human body is like a computer; you can ‘biohack’ it with the right mix of ingredients.

Now, I have to admit this idea was pretty ahead of its time since the whole fasting and keto craze didn’t take off until around 2019 (thanks LeBron James and Kim Kardashian.)

So sure, these guys were real visionaries.

BUT…

On a show full of family-run businesses and basement entrepreneurs, these futuristic bio-engineers were totally out of their element.

They couldn’t sell the idea and had the wrong strategy, so the sharks tore them apart.

Here’s what they did wrong:

Woo and Brandt asked for $2 million in exchange for a 5% stake in Nootrobox, valuing the company at a whopping $40 million.

At the time, this was the highest valuation ever pitched on Shark Tank.

The thing is… they had no real proof to back up that valuation for what the sharks perceived as SUGAR GUMMIES.

This made them look both arrogant and clueless.

But the biggest issue was their lack of a story.

They pushed a gimmicky product with questionable scientific claims. Their pitch was full of lingo, with no proven benefits for consumers and no clear target market. They didn’t even have a backstory for how they came up with the product. Their ‘biohacking’ idea got lost in translation.

Their pitch was so bad that even Lori suggested they hire a salesperson to promote the product in simpler terms. Ouch. To go on Shark Tank only to be schooled on how to sell.

Worst of all, they missed the chance of a lifetime: to go on prime-time TV and tell a story that could connect with a huge audience.

Bottom line, it doesn’t matter how complex or advanced your tech is; you need to explain your solution in a way a third-grader can understand.

But I get it; it’s hard to tell a good story.

Sure, there are literally millions of free YouTube videos that ‘teach’ you pitch storytelling. But they use a backward and convoluted method that mechanically takes you from deck to oral… and trust me; the results aren’t good.

So, before you go into the spotlight, do yourself a favor: test-drive your pitch and save yourself from–ahem–embarrassment.

I have put together a few pitch practice sessions for my peers and other entrepreneurs, and wow, the value we get from each other's feedback is worth every second.

Would you be down to join one of our pitch practice sessions?

All you have to do is just shoot me an email.​

Keep pitching 💥

Alejandra Copeland​
​Founder, Ok Yes Pitch Storytelling​

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