Psi Bands before Shark Tank
Psi Bands is a product created by Romy Taormina who wanted to solve the problem of nausea. Romy faced nausea herself during pregnancy and used other bands in the market that solved this issue by putting pressure on the pressure point near the wrist. However, Romy did not like any of the products on the market as they lacked traits that she felt were needed. This inspired Romy to create a product of her own and she separated herself from the completion by adding unique features to her bands such as being adjustable.
With great marketing and a proven demand for the product from previous similar products, Romy was able to grow her company and get into numerous retailers even before coming on Shark Tank. She had been in business five years and had proven demand which the Sharks normally love. With the likely intent to help her company grow even further, Romy applied to be on Shark Tank and was invited for season four.
Psi Bands on Shark Tank
Romy entered the Tank seeking $250,000 for 10% equity in her company. Romy began by selling the Sharks on the huge market for her product by mentioning common people who face nausea such pregnant woman or someone going on a cruise. Romy showed the Sharks about her solution in Psi Bands and how the product was different than competitors such as being water proof and adjustable. She finished by mentioning her company was profitable before handing out samples to the Sharks. Robert was wondering if there was proof on the product actually curing nausea. Romy mentioned there were clinical studies done and that the product had FDA clearance as acupressure has been practiced for thousands of year, but Mark and Robert felt that those claims didn’t really prove the product worked.
Robert moved into the numbers and Romy mentioned she had almost $1,000,000 in sales in the past twelve months. Roby mentioned the product was in over six thousand U.S. retailers and that she also had international distribution. However, she was only netting $110,000. This concerned Robert as the products retails for $15 and Roby had 60% margins. Robert wanted to know what happened to the remaining profit. Romy later mentioned she was taking a salary of $100,000 and had $600,000 in debt which is from salary not taken in previous years.
Barbara mentioned she was impressed with Romy’s passion, but could not imagine any investor putting money into a business and watching the owner write themselves a check for work done years ago before paying the investor back. Because of this, Barbara went out. Mark was skeptical about the product itself and asked Romy what percent of people does the product not work on, but she did not have a direct answer. This upset Mark as he mentioned “there are a lot of products that sell that do not work.” He brought up his common concerns with products like these as he felt Romy was trying to solve a major problem, but was doing it without clear proof that her product works. Because of this, Mark went out as well.
Robert jumped in and also mentioned his concern with the product’s claims. Because of this, Robert also went out. Daymond was the first person to actually believe in the product, but was skeptical of Romy because she mentioned the company was profitable when she came in, but later mentioned she had debt. Because he felt he could not trust Romy, Daymond went out. Unlike the other Sharks, Kevin was actually interested in the company because it was making money. He offered Romy the $250,000 for 40%. However, Romy immediately declined because it was so far off her original offer and did not even want to counter. Kevin told Romy that no investor would give her the valuation she asked for and also went out.
Psi Bands After Shark Tank
Despite not getting a deal, Romy has been able to grow her company drastically since appearing on Shark Tank. She has been able to get her product into numerous other retailers such as Toys R Us and Amazon. Mark Cuban’s opinion about products like this did not change after the show, however, as there is a video of him throwing away another product in the Maverick’s locker room that the NBA signed an agreement too as that product also made debatable claims.
Although there are still skeptics about the product, Psi Band’s growth has definitely shown that there are more believers, backing how the company has become so successful. Psi Bands was also able to get on the Jeff Probst Show under the episode for “Million Dollar Mom Ideas” where Romy received positive feedback about her business. As Barbara mentioned, there is no doubt Romy has the passion and commitment that has helped lead to her successful business.
Romy’s pitch has some great details that future entrepreneurs can learn from. Despite getting such negative feedback from the Sharks, Romy did not get nervous and stood behind her product which is very important as it shows that one is trying to build a business and sell a successful product rather than trying to make money unethically. Like other entrepreneurs, however, Romy did not answer many of the questions directly such as why her profit was not high, but eventually, the reasons came out. As shown with Daymond, this makes the Sharks feel uncomfortable as they do not want to work with someone who will not disclose everything needed to invest. Although this was not the deal-breaker as many of the Sharks were skeptical about her product from the get-go, one should always try to be direct and address any concerns the Sharks have rather than creating more.
Psi Bands Now In 2024 – After Shark Tank Update
Romy might not have scored a deal with the sharks but that didn’t stop him from growing the business. Since gaining FDA “clearance” (meaning that they’ve proved the product is substantially equivalent to an already legally marketed device for the same use), they’ve started selling their products both on their website and Amazon.
Not only that, but they also got the bands into Target, CVS, Walgreens, and REI. They were also been featured on USA Today, The New York Times, Chicago Tribute, CNN Money, and Buzzfeed. Needless to say, the company is a success.
As of 2024, PSI Bands is still up and running. Currently, they offer the product in six different colors and patterns from black to light blue with flowers (“cherry blossom”), all of which are allegedly effective at relieving nausea due to motion sickness, chemotherapy, morning sickness, and anesthesia. Unlike before, however, they can no longer be purchased directly from their website. They must be purchased from Amazon instead.
Currently, they’re listed for $12.99 each. They’ve also amassed a fair amount of ratings. As of now, they have a four-star rating out of over 2,700 reviews. If anything, the general consensus is that they do work. People also like the fact that the bands come in various patterns and are waterproof (they recently upgraded the bands to include this feature).
Having said that, it does have its drawbacks. For one thing, many people have mentioned that unless the size of the holes fits exactly, they can be painful to wear, especially if you leave them on for more than a few hours. Not only that, but others have pointed out that the instructions aren’t clear—that it’s hard to know for sure whether or not the band is on the right spot on your wrist.
Regardless, the product seems to be selling well. The last that we checked, they were raking in $5 million every year, which is pretty impressive seeing as how they did everything on their own without the sharks’ help.
For those who’d like to learn more about how the bands work or would like to read some customer testimonials, you can check out their website here. They also have a Facebook account (@psibands) that’s updated on a regular basis. If you want, you can even send them a message through the site. Their Twitter account, however, hasn’t been updated for several years now so following it might not be the best choice.
Good Idea!