Jiggy Puzzles Before Shark Tank
Jiggy Puzzles is a New York City-based company that creates uniquely designed puzzles. What makes these puzzles so unique is that the art is designed by female artists. For every puzzle sold, the artists receive a cut of the sale. Each beautifully crafted puzzle tells its own story or conveys a certain message based on the artistry it displays. Additionally, Jiggy Puzzles offers tools that ensure that the consumer can keep and frame the art piece once it’s finished. In fact, the company has launched its own Jiggy Glue that helps hold each piece tightly together. If you thought that was fun, wait until you see their handcrafted puzzle-piece picture frames! Currently, a Jiggy Puzzles puzzle can be purchased on Amazon for $29 to $49. Though the company does have a monthly membership program that costs $29, This membership ensures that consumers will receive a special 500-piece Jiggy Puzzles puzzle each month.
The creative mastermind behind Jiggy Puzzles is Kaylin Marcotte, an entrepreneurial marketing specialist. Prior to launching Jiggy Puzzles, Kaylin studied at Barnard College, where she graduated with a bachelor’s degree in economics, psychology, and political science. Following her time at college, she became an intern with Weil Gotshal and Manges for four months. After that, she moved on to CGK Partners, where she worked as a political consultant and analyst for two years. In August 2012, Kaylin got a job with IBM. There, she was responsible for being a business strategy and change management consultant. Then, in December of 2013, she went to work as the director of marketing and community for the Skimm, where she resided for 3.5 years. In July of 2017, she founded her first business. This business is called Village Strategies, and she is still working with it. Kaylin co-founded Project Plastick, a sustainable plastic company, after her job at theSkimm ended. 
After Kaylin’s many years of experience, she launched Jiggy Puzzles in November of 2019. The founder, a fan of completing puzzles, often realized that most puzzles were just too easy. While they may still be relaxing for consumers, they’re not always fun. And that’s what Kaylin believes should come with a puzzle—fun! She eventually found herself researching puzzles, trying to find newer designs to complete; however, the majority of the art pieces seemed to be much older designs. What she was looking for was a new, more creative design. Nonetheless, when the founder couldn’t find one to match her desires, she chose to try to create her own! Though, to make her puzzles more unique, she decided to reach out to female artists around New York City.
Once Kaylin found a female artist to create the designs for these Jiggy Puzzles, she was able to begin selling them. She officially started selling them during the Christmas season of 2019, right before the COVID-19 pandemic struck. Now, fortunately, the pandemic didn’t affect her business; instead, it increased her sales by 550%! This was likely due to people having to stay home more during the lockdown. Kaylin noticed that her highest sales numbers happened during March and April, which led to her inventory selling out entirely. It took the founder about two months to restock the Jiggy Puzzles. Given her sales, it may not seem that Kaylin would need some outside help with her business; however, she is interested in getting a shark’s investment to further grow the Jiggy Puzzles brand.
Jiggy Puzzles on Shark Tank
Kaylin Marcotte made her appearance in the Shark Tank, asking for a $500,000 investment in exchange for a 5% stake in her puzzle business, Jiggy Puzzles. She begins her pitch by telling the sharks a little bit about herself and her business. She also mentions the social mission she’s created along with her business and reveals that she’s working with a female artist in New York City on designing the puzzles. Already, the investors appear to be impressed by the entrepreneur’s pitch, but they’re interested in her sales data now.
The founder states that she did $2.25 million in sales throughout 2019, not long after launching Jiggy Puzzles. She then adds in that she has not experienced any debt with her business, nor has she had any loans given to her for the business. That said, she is just hoping a shark can help her grow Jiggy Puzzles further. So far, her sales are going great; however, the sharks are expressing some concern that those good sales may have only happened due to the pandemic hitting during her launch. They are questioning whether she will be able to keep those sales going throughout the coming years.
Robert Herjavec and guest shark Daniel Lubetzky drop out of the deal immediately, and Robert mentions that he doesn’t like the business. Nonetheless, Kaylin quickly gets an offer from Kevin O’Leary, who loves the idea of Jiggy Puzzles. He presents her with a $100,000 deal in exchange for 15% equity in her company. He is also offering to add on a loan for $400,000 with a 10% interest rate. Immediately, Kaylin focuses her attention on Mark Cuban after seeing how interested he was in the business. She asks him what equity he would be willing to give if he decided to make an offer. He responds, saying 15%. Daniel chimes in to advise the founder to take Mark’s deal before she asks if Mark would be open to matching donations for $50,000. Mark agrees, and Kaylin accepts his deal for $500,000 in exchange for a 15% equity stake in Jiggy Puzzles.
Jiggy Puzzles Now in 2024 – The After Shark Tank Update
In a short recap of Kaylin Marcotte’s visit to the Shark Tank, she landed a deal with Mark Cuban for $500,000 in exchange for 15% equity in her puzzle company, Jiggy Puzzles. Since her appearance on the show, Jiggy Puzzles got some good free advertising, and the founder worked with Mark on increasing her sales. As of January 2024, there is no evidence of their deal closing as of right now. Due to the possibility of the business’s sales slowing down soon, Kaylin decided to launch her monthly Puzzle Club membership for $29 in exchange for sending consumers a 500-piece puzzle each month. Now, as of 2024, the most recent sales information revealed an annual revenue of $2.5 million in September 2022. 
