Tree-T-Pee Shark Tank Update

Tree T-Pee Shark Tank Pitch

Johnny Georges has worked with farmers in the irrigation business for 29 years. Johnny credits his father with teaching Johnny everything he knows and inspiring his business. In the 1980s, there were no water shortages, but today, farmers greatly demand efficient ways to water their crops so the crops can survive. Johnny created a product that mitigates these issues called Tree T-Pee, a dome that covers the base of a plant and provides water conservation and frost protection.

Johnny is currently only selling the Tree T-Pees in five counties in the state of Florida. Johnny has made 127,500 T-Pees costing $2.95 a unit, sells them for $4.50 each, and makes $1 per unit. Each T-Pee lasts around five to 20 years depending on the material.

The sharks pose to Johnny that he sells T-Pees for more, but Johnny says he is happy to make $1 a unit and feels pride in giving the farmers a fair price. Kevin doesn't want to split a $1 profit and goes out. John Paul DeJoria is moved by Johnny and offers Johnny exactly what he came in asking for. Johnny is grateful and plays no games being picky and choosy with the other sharks with further negotiation. The sharks are all happy for Johnny, and Johnny gives one more ode to his father and brings the sharks and viewers alike to tears with his family's story.

Tree T-Pee After Shark Tank

This is one of the most iconic pitches in Shark Tank history and my personal favorite. In 2021, Johnny Georges spoke on a YouTube

Johnny worked at a gas station six days a week from fourth to twelfth grade. Johnny learned how to build a truck by being around mechanically savvy people and brought his family's first car home in twelfth grade, to their delight.

Johnny's dad, Rick Georges, invented micro-sprinklers in 1970, then called the Geor-Jet. Johnny worked for his father for 20 years and watched and learned from how his dad worked and produced. Johnny said his rock bottom moment was in 2002 when his father died, he ended up homeless for about three weeks while raising his son, and his wife divorced him. Johnny gradually reassembled his business utilizing his knowledge.

Johnny was asked and obliged to select a few students from Florida State University to work internships for credits. One of the students filmed Johnny explaining the Tree T-Pee and sent the video to Shark Tank without Johnny's knowledge. The next day Johnny was at work when he got a call from a person he thought said something about fish tanks, so he hung up. The student overheard Johnny and told Johnny to call the guy back. Johnny knew nothing of Shark Tank but was given plane tickets and $1000 to fly to Los Angeles four days later, so he figured he would go and at least have fun and stay in a nice hotel.

When Johnny got to the studio, he went into a room with a bunch of people on computers who provided him with a script. Johnny replied that he was not an actor or a puppet, didn't need the money, and would fly back. They questioned Johnny's actions because they thought Johnny had six months to prepare when in fact, Johnny had only been called four days prior and skipped the long process every entrepreneur goes through to get on Shark Tank. Johnny had never seen the show before, so he was shown a few clips of the show, so he knew what to expect. He memorized his first line and winged the rest.

At the time Johnny filmed for Shark Tank, he had a crane company, and Tree T-Pee gave him steady sales with some years doing $1.5 million in annual sales and sometimes $2 million or $1 million, but it was all satisfactory for Johnny. He sold 7k Tree T-Pees the day before Shark Tank and made $7k.

Johnny has no evidence to back this up, but later, he heard a rumor that the producer of Shark Tank, Mark Burnett, was trying to get JP (John Paul DeJoria) on Shark Tank for five years, but JP wouldn't do it because he didn't feel as though the entrepreneurs and show would be authentic. When Mark Burnett saw Johnny's submission video, he called JP and said he found his man causing JP to come on the show. Johnny said Tree T-Pee was the most-watched segment in Shark Tank history. Not only did the viewers fall in love with Johnny, but they also grew fond of JP. JP's company, Paul Mitchel, supposedly sold $150 million in products the day after Shark Tank aired.

After signing a lifetime contract with JP, Johnny sold his crane company to go all in on Tree T-Pee. Johnny was initially stuck in his ways and disregarded JP's suggestions. Johnny was told he was the first person to tell JP "no" in 30 years, but JP appreciated that Johnny didn't just agree to everything JP said like JP often experienced as the person in charge. Johnny told JP his goal was to conquer the state of Florida. JP had a larger vision and flew Johnny to the middle east, where they successfully expanded Tree T-Pees into. Johnny eventually realized JP was right on many things and bought in as being mentored by JP.

JP was born one month different from Johnny's dad, so Johnny connected with JP in a way similar to his father. Johnny saw JP as a visionary who looked at what the world will be like in 10 years and planned accordingly. JP caused Johnny to be calmer in response to things that once bothered Johnny.

John Paul DeJoria had a documentary done on him in 2016 called Good Fortune. Johnny acted in a small role in the film and sat in front of John Paul at the premier viewing of Good Fortune. Johnny spoke highly of JP when interviewed before the showing, while other stars were more intent on plugging their own movies.

Johnny was invited to compete in an entrepreneur of the year competition against 2600 people, including Leonardo DiCaprio's son and a bunch of Harvard smart kids, which Johnny finished second.

Johnny keeps things simple so we can understand. Still, Johnny is extremely smart and can speak in great detail about agriculture, such as how pinpointed watering eradicated surrounding weeds, which financially hurts chemical companies. Water drops straight down, so the roots of trees grow down more than out, which makes the tree stronger. Tree T-Pee uses recycled plastic and prolongs the life of fresh water and soil by using less to improve long-term farming yields to provide food for 9 billion people.

As of 2022 the Tree T-Pee can be purchased at the companies website, treetpee.com

As of 2022, Johnny is married and has a blended family of five children. Johnny lives the same as he always has. He values his workers and shares the income to provide livable wages. Johnny loves what he does and is happy to wake up each day, talk to his kids, and get his hands dirty helping farmers. Johnny is active on his Instagram, @sharktank_treetpee

Johnny wants to leave a legacy not by people remembering his name but rather by him causing a real long-term positive impact on the earth. Johnny finds John Paul DeJoria, at age 78 to still be hard-working, sharp, in good shape, and most of all Johnny's inspiration and friend.