I totally get what you're saying and I think you're right on. My thinking was more along the lines that the Hoodie Pillow was just such a bad product it wouldn't matter how much experience you have.

I just thought they saw the most value product-wise within the one you wear on the plane.

That's not fair at all. It's a pretty common reaction for entrepreneurs to believe so strongly in their product that they take it a little personally when the idea is criticized.

Also, it's pretty stressful to be pitching because most wannabe entrepreneurs feel like this is their big shot. Afterwards, it's also pretty common for the body to discharge the stress by crying.

My take is that this was Barbara's way of saying that something just didn't feel right to her.

Also, in previous seasons Barbara has taken on lots of projects. She'll invest in "ideas" from unpolished but motivated entrepreneurs that can use her coaching. sushi probably just isn't an area that she could provide much expertise, and these "polished" sushi guys don't need her coaching.

ya girls cry in the exit interview all the time.

I'm a super indecisive guy... choosing sushi options would be a terrible idea for me but I'd be open to the experience and piss off the people behind me trying to choose between the options.

The Smart Wheel seems like a terrible idea but as the sharks pointed out, it might have use for truckers or a market not directed towards teenagers.

The padded room is an awful idea... as it was pointed out, the least competent people would be involved. You could probably get more useful advice out of OTT.

Depending on what kind of patent(s) the kids have for the smart wheel, I think it could be very big. I could definitely see some sort of distraction warning becoming somewhat standard in the future, similar to the obnoxious beeping when you don't have your seat belt in. Obviously it won't be anything like the very crude product they have now though.

It was nice to see a local place get on that I am familiar with. I am not a big Sushi guy but I have watched "How do you roll?" come up in Austin, TX and was always curious how they were doing since seemed like a great, unique idea.

My big sushi idea from few years back is very small drive thru Sushi locations with a few twists to just being standard drive thru....who's in?

Na the smartwheel thing is/was ridiculous, and frankly the big car manufacturers would have done it already if it was viable.

For starters some someone mentioned, you can spend a ton of time driving safely with one hand. If you drive manual (more than half the world does), you may need more than 5 seconds delay. If it does give you 5 seconds delay, you could be looking/texting during the 5 seconds if you wanted. If you're in a car with 2 teenage buddies, you can just say "dude grab the wheel for me with your left hand" while you check your phone, to trick the wheel. If you pass the 5 second delay, you can easily tell your parents (who get the report) that you were picking a radio station or whatever. And at $200, it sounds like it won't even be connected to the engine, so really you could also say "we were pulled over). But if all that wasn't bad enough, really all it's doing is getting you to keep your hands at 10-2. Ok so you can do that and still turn and talk to your friends and be distracted.

Frankly if this thing was just supposed to keep you from texting, why not just have the parents install a device to jam the cellular signal inside the car when they choose to?

Also why is it that when it's a few young kids, with 0 sales, the 300k valuation is fine on a prototype? But for others it's insane and they need to be ridiculed out of the tank? One of those kids is crazy connected (to meet Obama, MIT, etc...), and perhaps owns the TV station, knows the owner, is paying someone's salary...

911 emergency service

jamming is illegal...
the signal can't be contained within the car, also..

Key2SafeDriving is a device that is plugged into your vehicle and once activated will prevent texting, emailing or making calls in the protected car, SUV or truck – unless Bluetooth enabled. This device prevents driving distractions and if the driver removes the device, you’ll receive an alert on your cell phone and incoming texts receive an auto response that person is driving. It’s easy to install and you’ll know whoever is driving is safe. If a call is received, it will be diverted to voice-mail unless the vehicle is Bluetooth enabled. Be safe protect your family and install this device in all vehicles.

i thought the "OMG they treated us like adults!" quote at the end was pretty funny. no, no they didn't. if they treated you like adults they never would have made an investment in your useless product.

i could see something with a similar concept having commercial applications for evaluating truck/bus/cab/etc driver safety but it would have to be built into the vehicle and be a whole lot more intelligent than counting the number of hands attached to your steering wheel.

Ya see this is way smarter than a beeping wheel.

that wheel idea sucked and the kids were obnoxious. i tend to think even parents would find a beeping wheel annoying for their child. who doesn't drive with one hand?

meh given the political endorsements it seems like the kids have a decent shot at getting a car company to bite on it. w/o that i agree its pretty worthless but thats what got the sharks interested imo.

If I owned a large truck shipping company, I might be interested in a much more sophisticated version of the idea. Something that would keep drivers focused/awake in the evening. But I'm glad most of you think their idea sucked, because it did. And I still don't get how some people with prototypes get no valuation at all, and these kids could just claim 300k on a prototype and get kudos. Not consistent.

The Smartwheel might be a great idea. Or a terrible idea. Commercial trucks/vans/insurance companies might love it because it makes it easier to defend cases when ambulance chasers find someone who was in a car accident. Or they might hate it because it makes it harder.

But if I were on Shark Tank, I would have done the deal, without ever hesitating. Those of you who think Mark Cuban invested because they are kids are just being silly.

Every televised "deal" is a free option to invest. You can kill the deal later. Heck, if you think the TV airtime will help the company, you could even "do the deal" and then see what the reaction is once Shark Tank airs before deciding to invest. Mark Cuban takes advantage of this concept way more frequently than any of the rest of them.

This is wrong. The psychiatrists/counselors/whatever are just likely to be new to the field or not good at marketing. Counseling belongs to a class of careers where you can make significant money, but it takes a long time to build the practice. Eg, financial advisers, chiropractors, real estate agents, exterminators, etc... even doctors/dentists/lawyers if they start a solo practice.

So it actually makes lots of sense as a business if you could find enough clients who don't mind online counsel.

if there's value in the smartwheel it's in the patent, but we don't really know what that might potentially cover. it might not be an awful investment, for that reason only.

i suppose taking the option to examine the patent can't be a bad idea, but i'm pretty sure you're wrong that mark cuban is doing this with any intention of potentially vetoing on these kids.

can someone explain the quick convo cuban had with mr wonderful on the sushi roll shop? something about the discount rate of his share of the distributions?

I think you guys are all fundamentally missing the play here. This has maybe maybe 15% to do with the wheel, but is mostly predicated on the kids.

Cuban was planning to back that deal the whole time. The reason he wanted Robert in is because he knows Robert is a good family man, is a good mentor, and personable.

He did the deal because of those kids. You are getting an insane option for the next 20-40 years on those kids by being one of their first investors. They are obviously brilliant and super entrepreneurial for their ages, and they will know bring everything they do to you for a first option for the next who knows how long. Cuban (and Robert by default) are playing a long game here. They're putting in $100k in this one which is likely a dud in order for the chance to put $5M in a deal which is a superstar.

Ezra

Edit: The wheel literally doesn't matter here. The only thing that matters about the wheel is that the kids prove they can consumerize a product to some degree and prove that they do market research before creating stupid things. I just read more responses from you guys, and I think the best proof to what I'm saying is Cuban's demand that they strike the contingency. Did you actually listen to his reasoning? It made no sense. He wants a relationship with these kids.

Huge LOL at the idea that Marc Cuban would spend $300,000 to build a relationship with some 15 year olds. With that kind of money he can attract 5-10 MIT engineering sophomores for a summer internship, or just fund their projects, he doesn't need a bunch of 15 year olds.

Cuban has shown repeatedly that he has a strong long game and wants to have a huge rolodex of sharp, creative people (think I want to Draw a cat for you guy).

With 300k he could hire maybe 1.5 MT engineering kids, and he'd have to deal with their ego and manage them.

For 100k, he just needs one of these kids to actually be brilliant to have a huge ROI longterm. Trust me that's what he's doing there. If someone knows him, feel free to ask and report back to the forums.

Ezra

i think ezra is right, pretty sure cuban even alluded to it on the show.

no need to give them $100,000... he could have simply said 'give me a call next time you have an idea, here's my number.' and he'd have the same result. The kids droll over working with Cuban. They are a bunch of nerdy teenagers, why did he need to give them $100,000 for a ****ty idea just to have them in his rolodex? I'm sure the kids would give up their contact information immediately and would welcome any advice Cuban would give.

The kid snap called $100,000 for 30%, they would have accepted any deal. Cuban could have said 50% and they'd still snap call.

I think Cuban and Robert think they can use the patent on the device towards another market and were just rolling the dice for the benefit of the kids.