How I Got $14.5 million Investment PAYDAY! | Kevin O'Leary Groove Book Acquired by Shutterfly
To a breakthrough real-life success for Shark Tank, in a first for the ABC hit show, one couple's app invention has been acquired by a public company: a multi-million dollar deal! Wow! ABC's Rebecca Jarvis has a story next.
Into the tank is a couple with an affordable solution for all those digital photos stacking up on our smartphones. They are the husband and wife team that jumped into the Shark Tank and not only lived to tell about it, but came away with a deal that changed their lives and made Shark Tank history.
Billions of photos are taken every day from smartphones. Who doesn't have a phone with hundreds, if not thousands, of photos?
"It's extremely intense when you're in the Shark Tank. You have five extremely sharp people, thank you, trying to get to the bottom line of why they want to give you money."
Brian and Julie Whiteman's app lets subscribers upload 100 photos a month for $2.99. Oh, and they get a bound book in the mail with their photos.
The Groovebook! Mr. Wonderful, Kevin O'Leary, do a good thing when he saw it. "I'm a photographer, and I'm passionate about it, and I love the idea of what they were doing." A deal was struck, and in nine short months, staggering growth: more than 1 million people have downloaded the Groovebook app, more than 200 million photos have been uploaded, and subscriptions have grown 1,400 percent.
But that's not all! Shutterfly CEO and President Jeffrey Housenbold took notice. "I was pretty impressed with their presentation and also their business idea." And in a Shark Tank first: a mammoth acquisition, publicly traded Shutterfly acquiring Groovebook for 14 and a half million dollars.
"Since airing on Shark Tank, we could have never imagined how it would have doubled, tripled, and multiplied. It's been incredible, proving to all you dreamers that a little idea can turn into millions. All it takes is hard work, a little luck, and the right shark."
"And I'm here now as Shark Kevin O'Leary. I guess I should say congratulations! You saw this one early."
"Yeah, thank you! I was very passionate about it because I loved photography, but I loved what the product did. It captured your life, chronicled it, sent it to you in a book every month. So simple for $2.99. America loved it! They saw it on Shark Tank, and Julie and Brian are multi-millionaires."
"But even you couldn't predict this kind of breakout success?"
"No, we had no idea this was going to happen, but it's shown and taught all of us what a platform Shark Tank is. I'd have to argue today it's the most extensible, successful venture capital firm on Earth. We've got the audience, we have unlimited capital, and we have fantastic ideas like Groovebook coming on. Everyone just brings in more and more great ideas every week. It's amazing what happens; we're just thrilled to death."
"So is it sad for you when it finally sells out?"
"Okay, oh, like this? Shutterfly's the right home for this product, Georgian. There's no question about it. This is going to grow much bigger within the context of all the other products Shutterfly has. My biggest job as a shark is to make the investment initially, help mentor them during the execution process, and then I really add value. I think every shark does at the end, helping to make their deal."
"This young family has just proven the American Dream is still alive. That's a great, great story. Kevin, thanks for coming in."
"Later this week, Shark Tank's are going head to head to make the most money, to see who can make the most money live right here on GMA."