Shark Tank Update
Shark Tank Pitch
Bzbox Shark Tank Update
Published:
5m
Chicago, IL
| Name | Bzbox |
|---|---|
| Main Presenters | Kaeya Majmundar |
| Presenter Image | |
| Product Image | |
| Last Known in Business | 1/1/2015 |
| Main Location | Chicago, IL Loading Map |
| Order Shown in Episode | 4 |
| Final Deal | Deal was made on the show with sharks Lori Greiner for $50k for 40% of company. |
Bzbox Shark Tank Pitch
Kaeya Majmundar grew up in a traditional Indian family where her parents were doctors. Kaeya's family pushed her to focus on education and become a doctor. Kaeya was helping her friend move during freshman year of Emory University when the cardboard box she was carrying busted open. Kaeya did not want to follow her parents' predetermined path and saw an opportunity to create a better box business.
Kaeya built Bzbox, a cardboard box that is easier to assemble and sturdier than traditional boxes. When she told her parents about her plan to diverge from being a doctor, she said her parents disproved of her desire, and all heck broke loose. Kaeya signed up for an entrepreneurship competition and won, which helped persuade her parents to be more open-minded.
Kaeya had the Bzbox idea less than a year ago and is now a sophomore in college. Kaeya has prototypes for Bzbox but zero sales. Kaeya projects Bzboz to cost around double what traditional boxes do. Kaeya said she had a Lowes sales rep give her encouraging words about getting Bzbox into Lowes when the product is further along.
The sharks believe Kaeya is attempting to solve a problem that doesn't exist anywhere but in her mind. Current boxes are cheaper and more established. Barbara asked Kaeya permission to be blunt and told Kaeya she was not an entrepreneur, and then the editors cut what Barbara said next. Kevin alluded to Barbara mentioning Kaeya's inability to listen to reasonable criticism.
Three sharks go out. Kevin makes an offer for 50% of the business, saying the only hope is to get Bzbox down to 56 cents per box to compete with the current boxes on the market. Kaeya begs Lori for an offer causing Kevin to go out. Like the other sharks, Lori sees Bzbox as crap but sees that Kaeya is desperate to build something successful and might be smart enough and willing to work hard enough to find a route to success, so Lori makes an offer for 40%, and Kaeya accepts.
She would've benefited a whole lot more by going through this herself because she's so smart she would've learned more by figuring it out.
Sometimes it's better to be able to learn from a good mentor than to fall on your face.
Kaeya is in tears and grateful to Lori for taking a chance on Kaeya, validating Kaeya's risky entrepreneurship endeavor. Kaeya's dad was happy for her when she gave him the news about getting a deal with Lori. Kevin and Barbara feel Lori is taking on a very hard task.
Offers
| Made By | Label | Sharks Part of Deal | Summary |
|---|---|---|---|
| Company | Offered | $50k for 20% of company | |
| Sharks | Out | Robert Herjavec | Out |
| Sharks | Out | Mark Cuban | Out |
| Sharks | Out | Barbara Corcoran | Out |
| Sharks | Offered | Kevin O'Leary | $50k for 50% of company |
| Sharks | Out | Kevin O'Leary | Out |
| Sharks | Deal | Lori Greiner | $50k for 40% of company |
Mark Cuban
Out
Barbara Corcoran
Out
Kevin O'Leary
Out
Lori Greiner
Made Deal
Robert Herjavec
Out
Updates in Shark Tank Episodes
| Update Season | Update Episode |
|---|---|
| No Episode Updates | |
Bzbox After Shark Tank
Kaeya went on the Meet Mediocrity https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/poised-desperation-and-the-birth-of-a-rising-star/id1498116894?i=1000496590699 podcast in 2020. She said her Shark Tank pitch was kept for the season's final pitch due to the emotion involved. When it aired, Kaeya went viral on Twitter. The power of social media in driving traffic to her website was eye-opening to Kaeya.Link Preview
Meet Mediocrity
After listening to several podcasts with Kaeya, it is hard to know the nature of the deal between Lori and BZbox, but my impression was that Lori was mainly a role model and never exchanged money for equity. The website for BZBox, thebzbox.com, allowed people to place preorders in 2014, but the website went down in 2015, and the product never seemed to materialize. However, Kaeya mentioned on her Facebook in 2017 that BZbox was manufactured and sold in many retail stores. As of 2023, there is a product on Amazon https://a.co/d/c75m34D called BZBox with very few sales.Link Preview
Amazon
In 2015, Kaeya was a senior at Emory University. Her focus appears to have shifted from BZBox to monetizing publicly, as she experienced firsthand through Shark Tank. Kaeya worked with brands and influencers to help them launch products. In 2015, Kaeya attempted to raise $25k on Kickstarter https://www.kickstarter.com/projects/680570144/ziptank-a-patented-tank-top-that-zips-into-a-bag?ref=profile_created https://www.kickstarter.com/projects/680570144/ziptank-worlds-most-useful-top/description for ZipTank, a tanktop with a zipper at the bottom to double as a bag. The campaign only raised $2k and failed. Kaeya launched another Kickstarter Link Preview
Kickstarter campaign later in 2015 for ZipTank to raise $8k and raised $8k, which was the end of that venture.Link Preview
Kickstarter
Kaeya went on the Just Raised https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/s2-ep13-how-swaypay-is-bypassing-the-cold-start/id1527306713?i=1000567837533 podcast in 2022. Kaeya learned from BZBox that the economics of the business made it unviable to pursue. She got a degree in economics and moved forward with high awareness of economic viability in her businesses. Kaeya became both a student of entrepreneurship and considered Lori and others significantly helpful mentors. Kaeya became a mentor to others, doing speaking gigs and being heavily involved in entrepreneurship.Link Preview
Just Raised
Kaeya Majmundar went on the Not Boring https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/kaeya-majmundar-swaypay-s2e5/id1527421931?i=1000555564450 in 2022. In 2021, Kaeya started an influencer marketing app, SwayPay, to create a marketplace for advertisers and influencers of any size to make money. Kaeya started SwayPay herself but eventually built a team and improved their business plan over each iteration.Link Preview
Not Boring
According to Kaeya Majmundar's LinkedIn https://www.linkedin.com/in/kaeya https://www.facebook.com/kaeyating https://x.com/swaykaey, she is running SwayPay in 2023. She is also active on Facebook Link Preview
LinkedIn . In 2017 she posted that Barbara was right about saying she wasn't an entrepreneur, but Kaeya said entrepreneurship is a learned skill, and she has been learning the crap out of it. Barbara emailed Kaeya after the show to say she was wrong about saying Kaeya was not an entrepreneur. Kaeya is also active on her Twitter, @swaykaey Link Preview
Facebook , as of 2023.Link Preview
@swaykaey
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