Our Shark Tank Experience
(Want to see what really happened and the aftermath? Read about it here.)
Yep, we’ll be on Shark Tank on Friday, May 14! It’s been a long journey to get here. It was so long back when… *harps and water ripple effect glosses over you*
… they first called us
We were contacted back—way back—in 2018 by the Shark Tank team, asking if we’d be interested in being on the show. They found us in a print publication that featured our still-novel concept: pillows crafted for you based on what you tell us about yourself.
It sounded exciting, but two concerns gave us pause: first, we were just getting Pluto started and still figuring out the pillow market. Second, we didn’t know if we could manage the demand caused by the “Shark Tank effect” at that time.
So, we weren’t sure if our idea of a custom pillow would have much demand, and we were also concerned of what would happen if we had too much demand… it was a weird position to be in.
Instead, we opted out and doubled down on focusing on making and shipping your pillows.
Well, you’re still here now so...
Leap a year forward, and we have an answer to our first concern—it looks like we’re here to stay for a good bit. (Thanks to you!) We reach out to the Shark Tank team to see if they’d still be interested in having us on the show, and we get a yes.
What were we aiming for? Primarily, we just wanted to get a chance to speak with the sharks and talk about our idea and product with them. If a deal made sense, we were all for it.
A secondary goal was scoring a signed Luka Doncic jersey from Mark Cuban, which (spoilers) we couldn’t get done :(.
Getting the pitch ready
We started the work in 2020, just about when the world stopped. In the months leading up to the recording date, we practiced a lot.
(This is where we show you a practice session, but we’re too embarrassed to make this public.)
By August 2020, it was time to record. This was still when the pandemic was at its peak. Kudos to ABC—they pulled out all the safety stops to make sure we were good to go. Recording took place in Las Vegas, and they created a bubble for us at the Venetian. We were quarantined for a week-and-a-half, and we took this final opportunity to practice, practice and practice. We also binged on Shark Tank during this time. We knew nothing but our lines and Kevin O’ Leary’s spectacular criticisms.
Our time in the Venetian flies by and it’s recording day. It’s scheduled for 2 p.m. and we’re amped. Getting amped wore us out, so we had some coffee. The coffee got us too amped. We tried to meditate. Now we weren’t amped enough.
This vicious cycle of amped, tired, coffee, too amped and meditating went on until finally, we’re at the double doors that open up to the stage and the sharks.
The doors open and…
