Nerdwax Before Shark Tank
Nerdwax is a beeswax-based “ointment” that comes in a container similar to chapstick. The wax is meant to be unrolled and applied directly to the bridge or nose pads of a pair of glasses, and it allows the spectacles to remain stuck to your face for an extended period of time. The idea was great, but Don and Lydia’s execution was somewhat flawed. Early on during their process, they contacted a manufacturer and had a great deal of units made. However, they all ended up being defective. The couple spent a long time trying to recover from this incident, which put them months behind schedule and cost them a significant amount of inventory. At this point, they had resorted to cranking out all of their units from their homes. Entering the tank, they were seeking a shark to act as a mentor for the young entrepreneurs, allowing them to get back on track and stay there.
Nerdwax on Shark Tank
The biggest think that hooked the sharks? Nerdwax’s profit margins. Early on, the two disclosed that they sold a their product for $10 online and for $30 to wholesalers. When Troy Carter, a guest shark, asked how much it costed to make Nerdwax, the sharks were blown away by the response. It only cost $0.35 per tube. With such a genius product and with such incredible margins, some of the sharks couldn’t understand how the couple could possibly need an investment. Mark asked the couple about their total sales, and they said that within about a year, they had earned around $136,000, with $65,000 of those sales being profit. The Hejnys bragged about how their product was receiving a lot of attention from online news outlets like Mashable and Buzzfeed, which was largely responsible for their success early on.
Not all of the sharks agreed on this point, however. Lori agreed with Kevin, and said that Hejny would be a lot more profitable if he reduced the size of the product. Mark, on the other hand, thought that it would be a huge mistake to reduce the size of an already-profitable product. Daymond interrupted the debate to tell the couple that the company was too early in its development, and that he felt like they didn’t really need an investment to begin with. With that being said, he dropped out. Even though there was no bringing Daymond back, the Hejnys clarified that they were seeking an investment for a very specific reason. They wanted to use the investment to create more working capital. Daymond wasn’t impressed.
Troy, who had remained quiet for the majority of the pitch, felt similarly. He said that the business was small, but he also explained that he liked to be a part of businesses in their infancy. He extended them an offer of $80,000 as a loan, which would be repaid with $120,000. He also wanted 10% in equity on top of that. The key difference between this deal and Kevin’s deal is that Troy was more willing to be a partner with the Hejnys, whereas Kevin was pretty much just giving them some seed money. Although they were flattered by the interest, the couple explained that they were proud of how the company had remained debt free throughout its entire existence. They said that they wanted to keep it that way. With that, they declined both offers.
Nerdwax Now in 2018 – The After Shark Tank Update
So, Nerdwax didn’t ever end up getting a deal in the tank. How are they doing today? Well, fans of the product should be happy to know that the company is still around and kicking. They seem to have chosen to forgo advice from Lori and Kevin, and they continue to sell their product as $10, long-term tubes. The Nashville-based company remains active on social media, and they’ve recently deployed a large marketing campaign to help push their product during the summer months. Not only that, but according to the Nerdwax website, but they can currently now be found in retailers all around the world. (You can even buy Nerdwax in Thailand!) Although Don and Lydia Hejny may not be rolling with the likes of Kevin O’Leary or Troy Carter, they’re still doing really well for themselves.