Top 10 Worst Shark Tank Pitches

Top 10 Worst Shark Tank Pitches

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Any aspiring entrepreneurs out there? Here are a few pointers on what not to do. Welcome to WatchMojo.com, and today we’re counting down our picks for the top 10worst “Shark Tank” pitches. For this list, we’re looking at the absolute worst products or services pitched on the U.S. version of “Shark Tank,” but we’re also taking into consideration the quality of the pitches themselves.

Have you ever thought to yourself, “man, I really wish I had a device that could attach post-it notes to my laptop”? No, you probably haven’t, because - well... post-its are already perfectly capable of sticking to things. It’s kind of a big part of their job description. Mary Ellen Simonsen, the woman pitching this wonderfully useless product, was asking the Sharks for half a million dollars in funding. Can you say delusional? To top it all off, she had made zero sales and didn’t even have a patent on her invention - which if you’re a regular “Shark Tank” viewer you’ll know is a recipe for a quick rejection. However, inexplicably, the Flip-N-Notes are still available online.

#9: No Fly Cone “Episode 408” 

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Top 20 Worst Shark Tank Pitches of All Time

You know you’re off to a bad start when your pitch involves feces. Entrepreneur Bruce Gaither had an idea that involved using dog poop to attract flies to his trap. To bring his idea to life, he asked for $25k for a 15% stake. Sure, he gets points for bringing his adorable golden retriever onto the show with him, but a cute pup isn’t enough to change the Sharks’ minds. Aside from the fact that this product can only be marketed to dog owners, the Sharks made the legitimate point that no one would want to use the device in their homes because, you know, poo. Even “Family Guy” creator Seth MacFarlane’s endorsement couldn’t save this doomed pitch.

Any pitch that involves electrocuting harmless woodland creatures deserves a great big NO, and that’s exactly what this one got. Michael DeSanti markets his product as the world’s first “interactive squirrel-proof bird feeder.” The “interactive” bit is what’s key here. You see, the bird feeder isn’t exactly “squirrel proof” so much as it’s an opportunity for sadists to torture the small fluffy-tailed animals. Animal cruelty aside, the obvious problem here is that you’d need to be sitting around all day holding your zapper at the ready for this product to work. Unless this is a pitch exclusively for the unemployed or infirm, it didn’t really make a whole lot of sense to anyone. Don’t worry: no squirrels were hurt in the making of this episode. We think.

There’s something about the idea of selling packs of three socks that seems more creepy than practical. What do you do with the extra sock until you need it? We’re kind of torn on this one because on the one hand, the mysterious loss of individual socks is a real problem in our contemporary society. On the other hand, though, a simple solution to this problem would be to man up and buy your socks in bulk at Costco so that they all look the same and the concept of “pairs” becomes irrelevant. While Edwin Heaven’s presentation is certainly magical, somehow this product seems like it would cause more problems than it would solve.

#6: Track Days “Episode 424”

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Pitching a feature length film to the Sharks seems ambitious to begin with, but when it sounds as bad as this, the creators are bound to get eaten alive. Making up the pitch team are a former stuntman, a writer and a producer. When they make their pitch, they have no script, no actors and no financial backing. The guys make sure to stress that this is not a movie about the popular sport of motocross, since they were told there’s no viable U.S. market for a motocross movie. No, this is a film about Moto GP, a lesser-known sport that’s given little to no attention in the United States. They also mention that there’s never been a movie made about the sport but... maybe there’s a reason for that.

#5: The Sullivan Generator “Episode 311”

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If we’re being completely honest, we’re just as baffled by this guy’s pitch as the Sharks were. He claims to have invented an electric generator that harnesses the spin of the earth to create electricity. Conveniently enough, the waste that this machine supposedly produces is...gold? Entrepreneur Mark Sullivan (who also markets himself as a songwriter and ladies clothing designer, among other things) says he has invented over 1000 products that make over a billion dollars a year in profits. Even so, it looks like the Sharks have a hard time believing anything this guy says, because it all sounds straight up crazy – especially if you know even a little bit about science.

Because what the world really needs is another energy drink... especially one with such a small – and kinda derogatory – target market. Not to mention, women between the ages of 35 and 55 hardly seem like the prime demographic of energy drink consumers. Also, how many women can there possibly be out there who self-identify as cougars? Okay, in case you’re unclear on the concept: this is an energy drink for women of a certain age who like to date younger men. The inventor, Ryan Custer, claims this is “the industry’s first gender specific functional beverage” but even that doesn’t seem to be true. This product pretty much has nothing going for it. And it really doesn’t help that according to Barbara Corcoran, the drink tastes like chalk. 

Didn’t Michael Scott have this one covered? When you want to wake up to freshly made bacon you just set up a George Foreman grill at the foot of your bed...right? Clearly this inventor isn’t a fan of “The Office” because he came up with a pig-shaped device with the exclusive purpose of bedside bacon making. This is the first idea on our list that actually seems kind of appealing...until you think about the logistics of it. You have to put the bacon in before you go to sleep, and leaving raw meat unrefrigerated overnight seems like a recipe for disaster. Not to mention the whole thing seems like a serious fire hazard. But those problems notwithstanding, Matty Sallin should keep working on this one… We ARE intrigued.

Aren’t doctors supposed to be smart? Well, brothers and doctors Albert and Richard Amini manage to give a bad name to a well-respected profession – at least in the eyes of Mark Cuban. Their idea for a mobile app that connects doctors and patients isn’t fundamentally stupid in theory, but their pitch was so bad that there’s no way anyone would trust their business sense. They keep throwing in buzzwords like “social media” without an actual plan to back any of it up. It sounds like what they want to do is create a LinkedIn for physicians, but they have no idea how to get doctors to use their app or how to monetize it. The Sharks are understandably a bit harsh with their criticism. Before we unveil our top pick, here are a few honorable mentions: - Kymera Body Board “Episode 507” - ARKEG “Episode 412” - Fitness Stride “Episode 203”

The worst of the worst comes from “Shark Tank”’s very first episode all the way back in 2009. Apparently, back in the old days, Bluetooth earpieces were the must-have tech gadget, but this guy took it one step further so that you and your Bluetooth would never have to be apart. Pitching a surgically implanted Bluetooth device that’s inserted into the wearer’s ear canal, Darrin Johnson manages to creep the Sharks out and get some of the fastest “I’m outs” in the show’s history. The fact that the device has to be charged nightly by inserting a large needle into one’s ear definitely doesn’t help his cause. And neither does the fact that he didn’t actually get any doctors to approve his product. Surprise surprise, this product never took off.