With 4 of the Sharks “out” it was down to just Barbara Corcoran, who was one of the Sharks that I had been hoping to do a deal with.
I had come into the tank with a conservative valuation, hoping that I wouldn’t have to fight too hard to justify it. But boy was I surprised when she threw out an offer that was so crazy ($250,000 for 40%) that I was left momentarily speechless.
But I knew Barbara was really interested, so I pushed back. She’s an avid-cyclist herself, had invested in other bicycle companies in the past, and she had volunteered to test ride The Original electric cargo bike at the beginning before I could even ask her to.
I countered, but she barely budged and only came down to 33.3%. I knew I wasn’t going to give up more than 20% under any circumstances, so the pressure was on to quickly figure out a way to make the deal a win/win.
I threw out a counter that was a mix of $100,000 equity investment and a $150,000 line of credit. It was supposed to be the other way around, but my words got mixed up under pressure, and once the offer was on the table, I didn’t dare change it, for fear of how the other "Sharks" would react.
While it wasn’t the valuation I had initially hoped for, I didn’t want to leave the Tank empty-handed, and after a little back and forth, Barbara and I made a deal, and did some air high-fives. We are so excited to have her on board!