Lucas Lane, 13 years old when the episode was filmed in May, was understandably a bit tired when Startup News met him and his Mum Breanna the day after their appearance had gone to air on the Channel 10 reboot of Shark Tank Australia.
Having been up doing TV and radio most of the day, the last 24 hours had been a bit of a whirlwind.
Had he been nervous or stumbling a bit when the TV cameras were on, for real? After all, there are banks of lights and cameras glaring at you. Not a bit of it.
It had been a bit nerve-wracking going up the escalator, he admitted, but once the pitching started, he and his Mum went into a well-rehearsed presentation. And the sharks were wowed.
Glossy Boys, the nail polish for boys product (the box comes with 2 applicators, instructions, some stick-on graphics and a couple of small heating devices) retails for $49.95, and he’d already sold more than a thousand of them. Made in China, the products have a nice little mark-up.
Their ask was a relatively small $25,000 for 5% of the company. This was a deliberate ploy to ensure some interest, said Breanna, and that having secured a deal, airtime would be assured.
Bidding war
Three sharks were immediately bidding for a slice of the action.
One wanted $25,000 for 10% equity, while another chimed in with $50,000 for 20%. A third then decided to gazump the other two agreeing to the original gambit of $25,000 for 5% equity.
After a bit of discussion between mother and son, the two came back combining the first two offers for $50K at 15%, plus the $25K at 5%.
Now, at this stage, you might have thought the whole deal could fall apart. Why would one shark be in a ’round’ at a worse price than the other two? Amazingly, though, they all accepted, and the deal was done.
So, having asked for $25K for 5%, they walked away with $75K for 20%, and 3 sharks in tow.
Of course, it’s not the deal in itself – it’s the PR, promotion, TV exposure, credibility, and what the 3 sharks can bring to the table. Due diligence is still continuing.
Now, the Western Australian schoolboy (he’s since turned 14… yes 14!), the youngest ever to get a deal on the show, is the talk of the airwaves and socials, and you get the feeling their world, and their business, is about to blow up.
A clip from Tuesday’s show can be seen on the Youtube viewer below…
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Glossy Boys website: https://www.glossyboys.com.au/
