0:03

Hey

0:07

everyone, and welcome to another bite where

0:09

we rewatch the most innovative and intriguing

0:11

pitches from Shark Tank. I'm Jory, and

0:14

I'm joined by the ambitious, the affable,

0:16

and the adventurous Ariel. Hello.

0:19

If there's one life lesson to

0:21

be learned from Shark Tank, it's

0:23

donut stop believing in yourself entrepreneurs.

0:26

And today's product will leave you simply

0:28

a glaze with all this one woman

0:30

show has managed to accomplish. I won't

0:33

sugar coat this. Some sharks

0:35

are going to love this pastry product

0:37

a whole lot, and others will find it

0:39

a bit of a weirdo. It's

0:41

going to be delightful after this quick break.

0:44

Today in the tank we have donut, and I

0:46

promise viewers I'm going to try to say that

0:49

right. It's donut, but

0:51

like oat. So it's donut.

0:53

Anywho. Donut is brought to us by founder

0:55

Kimi who's asking for $100,000 for 10% in her business, which

0:59

is a million dollar valuation. Now

1:02

donut is interesting. It is sugar

1:04

free. It is gluten free, dairy

1:06

free, low calorie, and it is

1:08

a donut that is made from

1:10

oats. So essentially

1:12

instead of all of the extra filler you'd

1:14

see in your Dunkin Donuts donut. Had to

1:17

go after Dunkin. Yep, had to from the

1:19

beginning. So it is like

1:21

an oat based donut that is only

1:23

90 calories. And if you believe the

1:25

sharks is totally tasty. So

1:27

this business as of the shark

1:29

tank is a retail store that

1:31

is selling. The founder is the

1:33

baker, the marketer, the everything. And

1:36

yeah, it's a donut brand, but it's

1:38

oats. So thinking about our pitch,

1:40

our founder, and our product Ariel, what were

1:42

your thoughts of donut? Oh my

1:44

gosh. The sharks loved this. Yes.

1:47

Which I feel like is such a

1:49

strong selling point because we've seen them

1:51

not like products in the past. Like

1:53

having that sound clip was just very

1:55

shocking to me. Anytime that a product

1:57

is positioned as healthier for

1:59

you, better. for you more organic. I

2:01

just have this natural association that it's

2:03

just gonna taste bland. Yeah. And for

2:05

something like donuts, which are sugary and

2:08

you know kind of what to expect

2:10

when you have that treat, as

2:12

a concept, I think having healthier

2:14

alternatives for desserts are fine. I

2:17

think it's interesting the way that

2:19

they're positioning donuts and some of

2:21

the emotion-based tactics that they are

2:23

leveraging to drive folks to having

2:25

this be a simple swap. I

2:27

think there could potentially be a

2:29

bit more positive connotations associated and

2:31

less of like, you need to

2:33

do this because you have a

2:36

big back. What do you

2:38

mean a big back? You

2:40

need to have this because it's better for

2:42

you. You've never heard that term before? No.

2:45

Wait, what did you just say to me?

2:47

A big back? I'm just gonna come out

2:49

and say like this shouldn't be positioned as

2:51

a diet food. You should be positioned as

2:53

a I love myself and I want to

2:55

treat myself and my body like a temple

2:57

and give it something good while also enjoying

2:59

it. So I think the approach is interesting.

3:01

What were your thoughts, Jory? Okay,

3:03

so here's the thing. I am

3:05

so over this like you should be

3:08

guilty for dessert sort of framing. I

3:10

think it's very 90s. I think it's

3:12

very outdated and I understand that like

3:14

eating culture ebbs and flows, but I

3:16

just think that the real benefit here

3:18

is that it's actually a pretty

3:21

healthy alternative, right? And I think that

3:23

that's a far more compelling talking point

3:25

of like getting your fiber

3:27

and getting your nutrients as well

3:29

as it tasting totally delicious. That

3:32

I think will sell. I think

3:34

that the fact that this is associated

3:36

with like an LLC that's called Kimmy

3:38

Gets Skinny is like you tried to

3:41

tell me that this was not like

3:43

a diet narrative before I watched this

3:45

and it totally was where it's just

3:47

like you never have to feel guilty

3:49

for a bite again. I wish

3:51

that business entrepreneurs would tweak that out

3:53

of their marketing because I think it

3:56

is an artifact of a

3:58

different generation. And I think that millennials,

4:00

Gen Z, Gen Alpha, I could be

4:02

wrong here, is just like over

4:05

that kind of we feel guilty for eating narrative.

4:07

So that's just like my one point. So

4:09

towards mid-pitch, she does start to talk

4:12

about how the ingredients are really simple.

4:14

And I think simple eating is another

4:16

really good narrative to lean into. I

4:19

think that these days consumers are

4:21

a lot more conscientious of what they're putting

4:23

in their bodies in terms of ingredients. So

4:25

I think that there were just a lot

4:27

of ways that she could spin it. So

4:30

I just had like some small qualms with

4:32

her first branding and narrative. You know what

4:34

was interesting though as I was talking about

4:36

it? So what sets this apart is that

4:38

she gets her oats and they're not pre-milled.

4:40

Essentially she gets the whole oats and she's

4:42

like grinding them up and milling them in

4:45

her own bakery. The one

4:47

thing that did kind of like come up

4:49

to mind because I have very eclectic interests

4:52

and I'm on strange Reddit groups is what

4:54

the implications of pesticides getting into her ingredients

4:56

or heavy metals if it's like pre-milled. This

4:58

was not a discussion disclaimer that at all

5:01

got covered by Shark Tank. I thought it

5:03

was really interesting because her whole thing was

5:05

like that's where a lot of the nutritious

5:07

benefits come from. So that

5:10

was just sort of a worm in the

5:12

back of my head. But I do like

5:14

that this is something that she can count

5:16

on her hand how many ingredients she's using

5:19

on the daily. I think that level of

5:21

like, this is what you're consuming. This is

5:23

what goes into it. That transparency is delicious

5:26

to be punny. I also

5:28

thought it was really fun that she had

5:30

like cutesy pink branding and like donut brand

5:32

because I associate that kind of color with

5:34

sweet treats. And then in terms of her

5:37

cost to make, it's costing like 70 to

5:39

80 cents to make. She's selling them for

5:41

350. In terms of the numbers

5:43

game, the only thing that kind of concerned me

5:45

is like she's in a retail space in

5:48

California, I believe, and her sales this year are

5:50

just $50,000. We don't really get the why. Is

5:52

it her

5:55

location? Is it an awareness issue?

5:58

Sharks didn't seem to be too worried

6:00

about that. But again, we see a business owner come into

6:02

the shark tank with about $70,000

6:05

in debt. That is not the 1.5 million

6:08

we saw on our previous segment of

6:10

sugar dough, but it is something to

6:12

keep in mind. The difference being here

6:14

too, that I feel like this is

6:16

very much a one woman team. So

6:18

she's had to do this all herself

6:20

from the ground up. So much like

6:22

the sharks wasn't the most concerning element

6:24

of this segment. Yeah, I

6:27

think you brought up a good point. I

6:29

feel as we look back on marketing and

6:31

we look back in the early 2000s, there

6:33

was this whole focus of guilty eating

6:36

to kind of guilt you into eating healthier.

6:38

And I love the shift from guilty to

6:40

simple eating. It's less about the oats itself

6:42

and focus on the five ingredients or less

6:45

piece. Have that be your main anchor

6:47

or reason to believe in the brand. I

6:49

think that's a much stronger selling point.

6:51

I know she's very much so focused on

6:53

brick and mortar, but again, sometimes founders will

6:56

want to scale and be like, I need

6:58

to be in a bakery. There are so

7:00

many considerations, even for things like peanut

7:02

contamination. So that adds so much more from

7:04

a cost perspective. So I actually think, and

7:07

this will probably be one of the only

7:09

times that I'll be pro keep your brick

7:11

and mortar. Because we see other brands do

7:14

this. Foodoo donuts comes to mind in Oregon.

7:17

They have a few locations that are

7:19

really popular. They're only at that physical

7:21

brick and mortar store in a hyper

7:23

local region that you can't really get

7:26

anywhere else. And they really focused on

7:28

having this distinctive, imaginative donut that you

7:30

can't really get anywhere else. They're like

7:32

their designs. And I think that five

7:35

ingredients or less value prop

7:37

is enough to bring folks in, even if

7:39

it is a more regional play, but I

7:41

don't think she should be thinking about blowing

7:43

this up to e-commerce or anything. Like to

7:45

ship. She has to stay within a brick

7:48

and mortar. Yeah. Because I was kind of

7:50

with its branding, wondering if she was trying

7:52

to go in like the crumble cookie esque

7:54

sort of space where I feel like it's

7:56

the same where they have physical

7:58

locations, but you. we see online

8:00

influencers unboxing my crumble cookies and

8:02

that kind of trend. So I

8:04

was wondering if that's where she

8:07

was going in terms of trying

8:09

to scale. But if

8:11

she is kind of tied to the

8:13

one physical location, and granted she could

8:15

either franchise out or she could expand,

8:17

what's your ideal campaign here? She's starting

8:19

at $50,000 in sale. I would just

8:23

hypothesize that might just be an awareness thing,

8:25

but how are you blowing this

8:27

up? I would make this into

8:29

a lifestyle brand and the fact that you

8:31

are a positive girly, feeding positive

8:33

foods for your body, putting in foods that

8:35

are still enjoyable. But then I don't know

8:37

why I'm leaning in. I think it's because

8:39

of the pink, honestly. I shouldn't say girly.

8:42

Everyone can enjoy donuts. For sure, but okay,

8:44

girly. I think it's a very specific target

8:46

persona that I have in mind. Sure. There's

8:48

nothing wrong with also having a targeted persona,

8:50

by the way. So that's fine. Thank

8:53

you, Jory. I think that affirmation kind

8:55

of based a little bit. It could

8:57

be something very simple of just like every

8:59

time you get a donut, it has a

9:02

positive affirmation. Like you are beautiful, you are

9:04

worthy. Okay, dove chocolate. Yeah, I think having

9:06

something like that will just, I don't know,

9:08

it makes a difference. I like

9:10

the franchising idea because you think about

9:12

donut franchises right now and all you

9:14

have are like Dunkin Donuts, Tim Hortons,

9:16

but having a clean offering

9:19

that is franchised, I actually think would

9:21

do really well in a few test

9:23

markets to roll out into. So I

9:25

think continue focusing in California, get the

9:27

proof of concept there, be in

9:29

the areas and neighborhoods in which there are

9:31

more health conscious folks that may be willing

9:34

to spend a little bit more or that

9:36

get coffee every morning. And

9:38

have foot traffic. Yeah, exactly. And just

9:40

kind of roll out that proof of

9:42

concept, but really lean into the this

9:44

is a feel good experience, not

9:46

a something you should feel guilty about or that you

9:49

have to count your carbs for or that we need

9:51

to break that mind shift a little bit because I

9:53

think it was so prevalent in a certain point in

9:55

time that so many people were kind of burned by

9:57

that diet fad kind of culture a

10:00

bit. that I think this would be a breath

10:02

of fresh air for them in some ways. You

10:04

know, and I think to your point, we get

10:06

very select sharks that see the vision of this

10:08

brand. Halfway through, maybe even

10:11

sooner than that, Mark shoots up

10:13

from his chair, does

10:15

a little gander to Lori, and I thought it

10:17

was a little rude if we're honest, but they

10:19

are just talking to each other as this

10:22

woman is pitching. Like you just see Mark

10:24

walk past the camera and like go for

10:26

to Lori, but you could

10:28

tell there was some early interest

10:30

which is also kind of good

10:32

because Kendra Scott, even though there

10:34

was like this inspirational story that

10:36

Kendra Scott Booth inspired this founder

10:38

to keep going, Kendra's like, that's

10:40

nice, I'm out. And then

10:43

Damon is like, I like it, but I

10:45

don't do this food wheelhouse thing. And

10:47

Kevin was like, it's too much. Not

10:50

to fear though, because Lori and

10:52

Mark came together for a team

10:54

up for $150,000 for 30% of this founder's business.

10:56

She countered for 20%. I think it was just

11:04

a really big equity ask if we're honest,

11:06

but it is, but you're getting two sharks,

11:08

two really. That's true. See, I was like,

11:10

okay, two for one deal, but Mark was

11:12

able to bump up the cash in the

11:14

offer. And I think that was specifically to

11:16

help with her debt, but ultimately

11:18

offered $200,000 for 30%.

11:21

And that's when this founder said, Delio, so

11:23

walked away with a Shark Tank deal with

11:26

Lori and Mark for $200,000 for 30% of

11:28

her business, which considering this business is just

11:30

her, herself

11:34

and her to have those as

11:36

your partners. What a stellar crew. I think

11:39

the fact that in the post credits, Mark

11:41

was like, I think this was just our

11:43

biggest deal ever just shows me

11:45

that there is some promising things probably in

11:48

the works for Dontnut. So while this might

11:50

be a California based brand for now, I

11:53

think we're going to see some really big moves

11:55

from this company in the future. Yeah,

11:57

I'm excited to see where this goes and kind

12:00

of how they pivoted out. Definitely instilled in

12:02

me though after the pitch. I definitely wanted a

12:04

donut afterwards so I'd be like, that's successful

12:06

marketing. And like you can definitely go to donut.com

12:11

to get

12:14

it. You get

12:16

slapped in the face with healthy, never

12:18

tasted so guilty. Oh

12:20

no. Yeah, we need to change that

12:22

narrative guys. Oh yeah. Nope.

12:24

I see the website. Oh yeah. It's too

12:27

bad because I love the little sprinkles. I

12:29

love the pink. They have these gorgeous photos

12:31

of these delicious donuts. So I think they

12:34

have a lot of the components, raw and

12:36

simple ingredients. Jory, you weren't kidding about the

12:38

Kimmy Gets Skinny. It's literally the first thing

12:40

on the website and on the building too.

12:43

Holy crap, that's so bad. Oh my gosh.

12:46

Jory, you're being sensitive. And I'm like,

12:48

it literally says get skinny. I've done

12:50

everything I've ever said. There's not enough

12:52

pink in the world to wash that

12:54

taste out of my mouth. Yikes. But

12:56

here's the thing. I'm also

12:58

not the target for this brand because I hate

13:01

donuts. I hate them. I do not like them.

13:03

They always make me sick. So I wasn't gonna

13:05

eat it anyway. So maybe it's just not for

13:07

me. Even if it's lighter

13:10

and simpler. I hate donuts. No, I'm

13:12

not a big pastry person. Who

13:14

knew? Shocking. I used to have a really big

13:17

sweet tooth and this was something that I was

13:19

known for. It was a personal Jory Lore branding.

13:21

So how'd you get over it? I don't know

13:23

what hit, but I hit 27, 28. Do not

13:25

like sweets as much anymore. And I'll have an

13:30

occasional brownie. I love soda, that's

13:32

my thing. But all these tasty

13:34

treats, cupcakes and stuff, toss

13:37

it out. It's not for me. Discipline. The

13:39

Jory discipline. No, I just don't like it

13:41

anymore. I wish I could be like, oh,

13:43

I'm so disciplined. Ariel, be like me. But

13:45

it's really just like something happened in my

13:47

taste buds and now my body is like,

13:49

do not put frosting in your body for

13:51

the love of God. So anyway. Good for

13:54

your body for keeping you alive and doing

13:56

its job. I know. Anyway,

13:58

so yeah, very much in business.

14:00

We'll see how Laurie and

14:02

Mark take this, coming to potentially

14:04

a mailbox near you. Production

14:13

for today's episode was brought to you by Ari

14:15

Dzarma. Editing comes from Robert

14:17

Hartwig and support from Alfred Schultz. Subscribe

14:20

on Apple Podcasts, Spotify Podcasts, or wherever

14:23

you subscribe to the greatest podcasts ever.

14:25

That does it for me. See you

14:27

next week in the tank for another

14:29

bite.