The Pitch

David Mayer was sick of seeing the inside of his water bottle looking like a science experiment, so he invented a water bottle that opened at both ends for easy cleaning.

David used low-budget, guerrilla marketing to gain fast exposure. He dressed in a giant, branded water bottle costume and ran along the road of one of the largest bike races in the world.

Within a few months, David sold 150k bottles for $750k in revenue and is in many of the relevant retail stores.

David revealed the man in the mascot to be a famous NBA player, Bill Waldon, who he met at a basketball game and is happy to be a testimonial for the product.

David wants the money to buy the equipment for a stainless steel bottle. The sharks feel unincentivized to participate in the minuscule 5% equity offered.

Um? Shut up? David practically got on his knees and begged to save 1-3%. He was disrespectful to Robert. This guy thought he was some hot-shot company evaluator. David negotiated so hard the shark probably won't ever feel a desire to do David any favors.

Update After Shark Tank

According to seoaves.com

In 2012 David created a Kickstarter campaign to create their square stainless steel version with a goal to raise $20k which ultimately received $126k.

In 2016 Clean Bottle launched a Kickstarter campaign to create a larger bottle with a fruit infuser.

Split Peak acquired Clean Bottle in 2018 for an undisclosed amount.

In 2022 Clean Bottle is in 5000 retail stores and does $4 million in annual revenue. On its website, cleanbottle.com