Grind Before Shark Tank
GRIND was created by Thomas Fields, who fell in love with basketball when he was just seven years old. By the time he was in high school, he was super competitive in the sport and had played against some of the best.
As it is, he had come up with the portable basketball machine in 2017. At the time, he had just recovered from his second ACL tear injury. During the recovery process, he had switched to a new high school coach, who purchased the school’s first basketball shooting machine. Fields quickly grew in love with it.
That morning, his coach had promised to open the gym for him so he could get some reps in but had ultimately no-showed. This led Fields to practice on the cement sidewalk instead, in front of the gym’s double doors. To pass the time, he also took pictures and posted them on Instagram.
It was then, under the pale moonlight, that he realized the possibility of bringing his own basketball shooting machine- one that’s affordable, accessible, and portable. He immediately jot down the idea and began sketching a design. Before he knew it, it had turned into somewhat of an obsession.
Several years later, he used his college refund check to create the first prototype. Things were difficult and he did everything by the bootstraps, but he knew that it would be worth it as the machine would be a godsend to the basketball world.
It took him a while but he eventually finalized the design of the machine, which he called the GRIND. One thing that sets it apart from others is the fact that it comes with a 12-foot net around the outer rim, which forces players to “put more of an arch on their shot.”
Grind on Shark Tank
Fields proudly stride into the tank and introduces himself as the founder and CEO of Grind. He tells the sharks that he’s seeking $250,000 in exchange for five percent of the company.
With that, he begins his pitch by mentioning that millions of kids dream of playing in the NBA each year. However, he points out a problem- that coaches expect their players to shoot up to 500 shots every day and that it usually takes up to six hours at a time, and that it’s a big hassle catching all the rebounds.
He explains that’s why he created the Grind Machine, the world’s first portable shooting machine. As he’s saying that, he demonstrates by grabbing a ball and shooting it into net. Continuing, he tells them that it captures all made and missed shots and will automatically pass the ball back to the player. He also adds that it collapses down into the size of a duffel bag within 90 seconds, which surprises the sharks.
The camera then zooms in on the TV display, which shows the shooting machine in action. Fields explain that it rotates 190 degrees and is capable of manually passing to five positions on the court so that players can train from anywhere along the arc.
He then emphasizes the difference between the Grind Machine and professional machines- that the former is made for the consumer and is also the lowest-cost machine on the market today.
His pitch comes to an end as he asks which of the sharks are interested in helping Grind develop interactive, game-changing products.
With the pitch out of the way, he asks Mark if he’d like to try out the machine. Mark says yes and walks up to the Grind Machine, ball in hand. A few dribbles later, he throws the ball. To everyone’s surprise, however, he misses the target.
The ball is caught by the machine’s net and is automatically tossed back to Mark from the bottom. Mark attempts to shoot again but misses due to the large rim. Fortunately, he makes the shot on his third attempt. The rest of the sharks cheer and Mark returns to his seat.
Barbara goes on to ask about the machine’s retail price. Fields tell them it costs $1,495 retail.
Guest shark Alex then asks about his backstory. Fields explain that he has always wanted to be an NBA player growing up, one of the reasons being that it would help his family out financially. Continuing, he reveals that his goal was to get a D-1 scholarship and go to the NBA but that his dreams were cut short when he injured his ACL four times before graduating high school.
He also explains that during that period, he often found himself knocking at the gym’s doors at 5:00 a.m. in the morning to try and use the shooting machine that the school had purchased, as it wasn’t very accessible at the time. He reveals that he had thought of buying one of the houses but was quickly taken aback by the $6,000 price tag.
The sharks look on as he says many companies are overlooking the basketball market. With that, he reiterates the fact the Grind Machine sells for $1,495 and that they’re also the first company to offer payment-plan solutions for individuals.
Barbara asks about the amount of money that he’s put into the business to “get it off the ground”. Fields reveal that he’s put in $15,000 of his own money, which he earned from working at the YMCA and shoveling mud.
Barbara then asks about their sales. Fields explain that they launched on March 1st of 2020 and that they presold $215,000 worth of units in five months. Lori assumes that they launched on Kickstarter but Fields tells her that they launched pure e-commerce on their website.
Asked how they were marketing the product, Fields explains that they started “completely word of mouth”.
Kevin goes on to ask whether or not the products have already been shipped. Fields answer that they’re preorders; he also clarifies that they’ve already received the payments for the units.
Alex asks about the number of units that they’ve sold for the preorder and Fields tells him it’s 125 but that none have been delivered yet. Pointing at the display in front of him, he tells them that the one in the tank is their testing unit. He also adds that they were able to make it through the pandemic with $215,000 with no working capital, all with one unit.
Kevin asks about their manufacturing costs and Fields tells him that the Grind Machine costs $977 to make. The sharks are noticeably surprised at the high price.
With the pitch out of the way, he asks Mark if he’d like to try out the machine. Mark says yes and walks up to the Grind Machine, ball in hand. A few dribbles later, he throws the ball. To everyone’s surprise, however, he misses the target.
The ball is caught by the machine’s net and is automatically tossed back to Mark from the bottom. Mark attempts to shoot again but misses due to the large rim. Fortunately, he makes the shot on his third attempt. The rest of the sharks cheer and Mark returns to his seat.
Barbara goes on to ask about the machine’s retail price. Fields tells them it costs $1,495 retail.
Guest shark Alex then asks about his backstory. Fields explains that he has always wanted to be an NBA player growing up, one of the reasons being that it would help his family out financially. Continuing, he reveals that his goal was to get a D-1 scholarship and go to the NBA but that his dreams were cut short when he injured his ACL four times before graduating high school.
He also explains that during that period, he often found himself knocking at the gym’s doors at 5:00 a.m. in the morning to try and use the shooting machine that the school had purchased, as it wasn’t very accessible at the time. He reveals that he had thought of buying one for the house but was quickly taken aback by the $6,000 price tag.
The sharks look on as he says many companies are overlooking the basketball market. With that, he reiterates the fact the Grind Machine sells for $1,495 and that they’re also the first company to offer payment-plan solutions for individuals.
Barbara asks about the amount of money that he’s put into the business to “get it off the ground”. Fields reveal that he’s put in $15,000 of his own money, which he earned from working at YMCA and shoveling mud.
Barbara then asks about their sales. Fields explain that they launched on March 1st of 2020 and that they presold $215,000 worth of units in five months. Lori assumes that they launched on Kickstarter but Fields tells her that they launched pure e-commerce on their website.
Asked how they were marketing the product, Fields explains that they started “completely word of mouth”.
Kevin goes on to ask whether or not the products have already been shipped. Fields answer that they’re preorders; he also clarifies that they’ve already received the payments for the units.
Alex asks about the number of units that they’ve sold for the preorder and Fields tells him it’s 125 but that none have been delivered yet. Pointing at the display in front of him, he tells them that the one in the tank is their testing unit. He also adds that they were able to make it through the pandemic with $215,000 with no working capital, all with one unit.
Kevin asks about their manufacturing costs and Fields tells him that the Grind Machine costs $977 to make, which puts their margins at 35 percent. The sharks are noticeably surprised at the high price. Fields defend the product by saying that they believe it can bring the margin down at scale.
Mark goes on to ask whether or not the machine requires power. Fields explains that while their current model needs to be plugged in, they’re currently working on a version two will not require power. Mark notes that it’s a challenge as it makes it more suitable for the backyard as opposed to the park.
Fields surprises him by saying that many parks actually have power. However, Mark feels that the price of the machine is too high; he also mentions the rim, which had prevented him from landing a shot earlier.
Fields continue by giving them a comparison- while it usually takes a player six hours to get 500 shots in, the Grind Machine allows an individual to do that within an hour.
Kevin is the next shark to speak. He is impressed with their presales and applauds him for the machine and ultimately goes out as it’s “not a product for him.”
Lori also applauds it as a cool product but goes out as she’s not a “sporty girl”.
Alex also loves the product and idea but doesn’t like the margins and price and therefore goes out.
Barbara is interested in investing in the product but says that she will only do it with “one of the sports guys”. She asks Mark if he’s willing to invest in the company together for 20 percent equity.
Mark says it’s not enough and asks for 30 percent between the two of them instead. Fields make a counteroffer- $300,00 for 25 percent, but Mark counters again with $250,000 for 25 percent.
After thinking about it for a moment, Fields agrees to the offer.
Grind Now in 2024 – The After Shark Tank Update
Unfortunately, the deal with Mark and Barbara never went through. They did, however, receive a huge amount of exposure from being on the show. Not only that but they also managed to deliver 80 percent of their preorders.
Between 2021 and 2022, they also raised more than $1.6 million in seed funding, which allowed them to move forward with the manufacturing process. While they were behind on orders initially, they have since caught up with inventory and there are no longer any back order issues.
