This article is a high level outline of what we discuss in detail on Gronk'd Up Episode 3: The Shark Tank Experience. If you have not yet listened to the Gronk'd Up podcast, you are in for a treat! Gronk'd Up is motivational, inspiring, educational, and FUN! In addition to hearing about what got me to this point in life, learn about what we are currently doing at Ice Shaker to continue to grow the business. We'll discuss marketing strategy, new product development, website optimization, ad strategy, email marketing, plus much more!. YOU WILL come away with knowledge that can help you start and grow your own business.
Gronk'd Up Episode 3 is all about The Shark Tank Experience. I get asked all the time about how I got onto the show, how I prepared for the show, what the business was like before and after the show, what the actual day of experience was like and how much I work with the sharks on a daily basis after the investment.
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These are all amazing questions that I will be answering but first just a quick reminder that This podcast is Free, and the goal is to bring you value, motivation and knowledge so that you can live a happier, and more successful life. Because it is free, I ask that you share our podcast with family, friends or anyone you know that could also benefit from this podcast. If you post on social media, please tag me at @chrisgronkowski as I would love to share your posts. If you love this podcast and it brings you value, I ask that you please leave a 5 star review as this greatly helps out and keeps us motivated to work hard and bring you more valuable content.
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So Let’s get started:
-How did it come about - what were the first steps to get onto Shark Tank
-Email from 2013 while I was still playing
-Reached back out in 2017
-Had to submit a video - most ridiculous video every because I knew it was all about entertainment
-Got a reply back but still didn't know
-Had to follow up every week, submit booklets of paperwork
-Had to prepare a pitch but still didn’t know if I would get on the show
-Preparing for the show:
-Watching every single shark tank episode
-Getting a couple extra workouts in
-Practicing the pitch with friends and family and in the mirror
-Making sure I knew all of our numbers
-Practicing my flip cup skills
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The Day of:
-In a hotel waiting
-May or may not pitch that day
-Walk out and stand there for 2 mins
Were you nervous at this point?
-Feel like I was talking to my friends at that point
-The pitch lasted almost an hour - but then it gets cut down
-Asked everything about where I grew up, college life, what I was doing before Ice shaker, really everything
What was the most surprising question that the sharks asked you?
-I was getting drilled on why I didn’t call it the Gronk Shaker
-Didn’t understand this as it would greatly limit our customer base
What were you asking for and what did you leave with?
-asking for $100k for 10% of the company. Left with $150k for 15% of the company.
-offers from all 5 sharks
-How did it change from before the show to after?
-Had $80k in sales, within the first year after the show we had over $3 million in sales.
-Went from 1 bottle and invested all the money back into the company
-After the first year we had about 80 different SKU's and 3 different bottles
-Huge increase in sales but also a huge increase in work.
-Marketing, website development, shipping, engraving, customer service, product development, packaging, sales and outreach, unloading and packing the trucks.
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How long did the shark tank effect last for?
-We saw a massive wave of sales the night of and then the next day, but it didn’t just end there.
-Now days, everyone records or watches through Hulu so the wave went really strong for about a month.
-We aired in October and this really drove sales for us right into the holiday season. It was a perfect time for air for us.
- 1 year update and re-runs have been huge for us as well.
-But it wasn’t just the airing, how else did the fact that Ice Shaker received investments on the show continue to help?
It was an immediate proof of concept for us and customers. By having the investment of the Sharks, it validified the product and gave us immediate trust with customers.
-How much do you communicate with the Sharks now?
-What is awesome is that Mark Cuban has built out an entire team to help us out.
-huge help for negotiating contracts
-huge help for high level decisions
-huge help for networking, going to events and also connecting with other MCC companies.
-New Member of the Ice Shaker Team
-Rob invested into the company
-All about living a healthy and active lifestyle
-Bought out Alex Rodriguez
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What’s Next for Ice Shaker
-New Lids, new colors and new retailers. Working on some amazing collaborations.
Please listen to the full episode by clicking HERE. If you like what you hear, please subscribe and leave a 5 star review. We welcome any and all feedback so we can constantly improve our podcast.
