On the new episode of "Elevator Pitch," find out how much investors are willing to bet on first-time founders.
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00:00 (dramatic music)
00:02 - Today, three VIP titans decide the fate
00:08 of our rising entrepreneurs.
00:10 - Do you have anybody on this right now?
00:12 - So the answer is no, zero.
00:15 - Oh, Mark.
00:16 - Determined to prove their greatness in 60 seconds or less.
00:21 - It's not enough money.
00:22 - Unless you've already established yourself,
00:24 you're gonna be toast.
00:25 - Right now it's just a concept.
00:28 - This is Entrepreneur Elevator Pitch,
00:31 presented by Amazon Business with support from State Farm.
00:36 Meet our board of investors, Jonathan Hung,
00:42 managing partner of the Entrepreneur Venture Fund.
00:46 Kim Perel, serial entrepreneur and tech CEO of 100.co.
00:51 Mark Randolph, co-founder and first CEO of Netflix.
00:57 (dramatic music)
00:59 First in the elevator, an entrepreneur comforts families
01:05 with a user-friendly solution for virtual caregiving.
01:09 (dramatic music)
01:22 - Hello Delia, welcome to the elevator.
01:27 Your 60 seconds begins in three, two, one.
01:32 - Hi, I'm Delia Pasi.
01:35 I am the founder of myCabinet.
01:38 I'm a mission-driven entrepreneur with two successful exits
01:42 and I am delighted to share with you a breakthrough
01:45 in healthcare management.
01:46 We're dealing with a global pandemic
01:49 when it comes to medicine management.
01:52 To the cost of $350 billion a year
01:55 and to employers, 50 billion in productivity alone.
01:59 MyCabinet is patented in the US, the UK, EU,
02:04 pending in Canada and in India.
02:06 It is the one single source that is exactly
02:10 like your medicine cabinet, but in the palm of your hands,
02:13 where you store all your medication
02:15 for your family, friends, et cetera.
02:17 We are integrated now with Walgreens,
02:20 with online pharmacies across America,
02:22 community pharmacies and we're seeking 500,
02:26 I'm sorry, $250,000 with a $5 million cap.
02:30 We've raised $700,000.
02:33 Hope you're part of the jigs.
02:35 - I bet she did a good job and honestly, two exits already.
02:38 I love seeing first-time entrepreneurs,
02:41 but what I love even more
02:42 is seeing third-time entrepreneurs.
02:44 - It's pretty clear that once you've done it once,
02:46 the odds of being successful a second time
02:49 is really, really pretty good.
02:51 - Immediately, I could see all three of us
02:53 straighten up a little bit.
02:54 - You know, when I hear someone's been
02:56 a two, fourth-time founder, I always wonder,
02:58 well, how did they do?
03:00 'Cause just because you got out of it
03:01 doesn't mean you were successful.
03:03 And also, like, this stuff, I mean, I've heard of it.
03:05 There's PillPack, there's all these other things
03:07 out there already, what's so special about this one?
03:09 - Yeah, I don't know. - Is it hardware?
03:10 - Is it app? - I don't know.
03:12 - To your point, she led with her successes,
03:14 hopefully, Jonathan will see, to date,
03:17 which actually started with Instant Street Cred.
03:19 But the fact that we have lots of questions
03:21 means maybe it wasn't a perfect pitch after all.
03:24 - Ready to vote?
03:25 (dinging)
03:29 (dinging)
03:31 (dinging)
03:33 - Attention, Delia.
03:35 Your pitch has been
03:38 approved.
03:41 - Thank you.
03:43 - Delia!
03:46 - Hello, thank you so much.
03:48 - Welcome to the boardroom.
03:49 - Thank you, thank you.
03:50 - We unanimously voted you up, I think a lot,
03:53 because of your previous successes of your company.
03:57 - Thank you, thank you.
03:59 - Third time founder, that's amazing.
04:01 - I started this venture at 60 years old.
04:03 So you're never too late to fill another dream,
04:07 to do more good in the world,
04:08 so thank you for the opportunity.
04:10 - So you said before you had two exits.
04:12 - Oh, I've had other companies, or ran other companies,
04:16 but two exits to two publicly traded companies.
04:19 - Boom, mark!
04:20 (laughing)
04:21 I agree with you, it's never too late
04:22 to become an entrepreneur.
04:23 - No, no.
04:24 - So good for you.
04:26 This is a crowded market.
04:27 What makes my cabinet different from your competitors?
04:30 - Well, my mother had a heart attack.
04:32 I'm here, I am working, running a company,
04:34 which is actually being sold to a publicly traded company.
04:38 And I'm like, how do I manage her
04:41 being hundreds of miles away?
04:43 And so, look for every possible product, app, everything,
04:48 and honestly couldn't find anything that worked.
04:50 - So it's an app?
04:52 - It's an app.
04:53 So you have an entire family healthcare network
04:58 in the palm of your hand.
04:59 - You know, I know how my mother is.
05:01 - Yes.
05:01 - You know, she owns a lot of PayPal shares.
05:03 I asked her to send me some PayPal.
05:04 She doesn't know how.
05:05 - I don't need my mother to do anything.
05:07 I could do everything for her.
05:10 - So how many subscribers have actually signed up
05:12 to use the app?
05:13 - We just went into beta in March,
05:15 but we already have lots of pilots.
05:17 So we're integrating nationally with Walgreens.
05:19 - So you're in beta,
05:20 but how much revenue are you anticipating to have
05:22 by the end of this year?
05:23 - By the end of this year, a couple hundred thousand.
05:24 - Okay, how about next year?
05:26 - Yeah, next year, over two million.
05:27 - So I'm sitting here with this kind of blank look
05:30 in my face because I don't get it.
05:34 I just don't get it.
05:35 - Okay.
05:35 - I mean, it seems too simple.
05:38 - Where's one place where you can have all of your meds
05:41 in one place where you can click to refill
05:44 from that one place and it runs all your drug interaction.
05:48 - You connect to all pharmacies?
05:49 - Not all, but we're working on it.
05:51 - I actually love what you're doing.
05:53 I mean, perhaps it is just so simple
05:55 that nobody else is doing it.
05:56 - People said to me,
05:57 it's impossible to aggregate everything.
05:59 We're doing it.
06:00 - You're doing it.
06:01 For me though, this is so early.
06:04 That is really dependent on getting those deals
06:07 to ensure that you can get success and scale.
06:11 And so for that reason, unfortunately I'm going to pass.
06:13 - Yeah, and the deals are through strategic alliances.
06:18 Monday I have a call with Mark Cuban's team.
06:23 They've already vetted us out.
06:24 They want to talk about integration.
06:25 - Well, you'd rather have Mark Randolph.
06:27 - No, no, Mark, of course.
06:28 I love Mark, but what I'm saying is it does take these--
06:31 - He has the health care.
06:32 - These level of relationships does open doors.
06:37 My usual sense is that if it's an obvious idea,
06:41 why hasn't it been tried before?
06:45 And which means it's been tried before.
06:47 Why doesn't it exist?
06:49 That there must be some good reason it doesn't exist
06:51 that I don't understand.
06:52 - There's tons of medication management tools out there,
06:55 but none of them that makes the caregiver in control.
06:59 - The only question I have is,
07:00 do you have anybody on this right now?
07:02 - Yes, yes.
07:03 - How many people?
07:05 - Well, no, no, no.
07:07 We did our beta test with several hundred people.
07:09 The results were through the roof.
07:11 Now we're launching with a health plan in Georgia
07:16 with a number of--
07:17 - Signed deal.
07:17 - Signed. - The answer is no, zero.
07:18 - So we have the agreements.
07:21 - I heard enough, and I'm afraid it doesn't give me
07:25 this warm, fuzzy feeling.
07:27 I love the confidence.
07:28 I love the track record, but I pass.
07:33 - Okay.
07:33 - I totally see what you're doing.
07:36 I totally get it, because like you mentioned,
07:38 Clover Health, my biggest problem with that,
07:40 how it's not even bigger now,
07:41 was, as Mark mentioned, the government.
07:43 And then you deal with the healthcare providers
07:45 and the insurance companies, and it's just such issues.
07:48 It's not an easy sell.
07:49 The company I passed on was you would tend
07:51 to buy and sell stock, and you get a fantasy score
07:53 every week, and I was like, why would anyone
07:55 play this game in a $20 million valuation?
07:58 Why would they call it Robinhood?
08:00 (laughing)
08:02 - Right, right.
08:03 - Not that saying that we should be in a gaming company,
08:05 but, or a stock company, but with this,
08:08 I just think you're still too early for me.
08:10 - Yeah. - I'm back.
08:12 I don't think right now.
08:13 - But I'm so grateful, and it's so nice
08:15 to know all three of you, so thank you.
08:17 - Thank you. - Well, good luck.
08:18 - Yes, good luck.
08:19 - Yes, thank you very much.
08:20 Bye-bye now. - Bye-bye.
08:21 - I'm feeling actually really good.
08:26 I love the affirmation that they felt
08:29 that my product was unique and really extraordinary.
08:33 It's breaking ground, so it's a little scary
08:37 for some people, and we're early,
08:39 which I totally get is one of the reasons
08:42 why most investors like to stay and wait,
08:45 so I get it.
08:46 - Some people are scared of heights.
08:48 Some people are scared of dogs.
08:49 I am scared of healthcare.
08:51 Oh, God.
08:52 - She's just too early, so once she gets traction, maybe,
08:55 but right now, it's just a concept.
08:57 It's very hard to put my money in something
08:59 that I actually have no idea
09:00 if it will ever turn into anything.
09:02 It would have been more fun
09:03 if she actually showed us the app.
09:05 I don't think she has anything, really,
09:08 just these app sketches.
09:09 - Well, I think she has something running,
09:11 but you put your finger on the important thing.
09:14 She has not had real customers running through.
09:17 Maybe opinions are through the roof,
09:20 but I wanna see the metrics go through the roof.
09:22 - Maybe the next pitch.
09:24 - Entrepreneur Elevator Pitch is presented
09:28 by Amazon Business.
09:30 For every organization at every stage of growth.
09:33 Next, an entrepreneur enhances maternity apparel
09:43 with a versatile romper.
09:44 - Hello, Kelly.
10:00 Welcome to the elevator.
10:02 Your 60 seconds begins in three, two, one.
10:07 - Hi, my name is Kelly Garcia.
10:12 I'm the owner and creator of Momper Romper,
10:14 the original mom romper.
10:15 A momper is a one-piece stretch-on, stretch-off jumpsuit
10:19 that I designed when I was pregnant with my daughter
10:21 to replace all traditional maternity clothes.
10:24 So just one momper grows with you
10:26 all nine months of pregnancy and beyond.
10:29 You don't have to be a mom or a mom-to-be to wear my romper.
10:33 Most of my customers love it
10:35 just for the waistline-free comfort, the versatility,
10:38 and it fits all shapes and sizes.
10:41 Best of all, it has pockets.
10:43 Since established in 2018, I've sold 17,000 units.
10:47 I've grossed over 1.1 million in total sales.
10:51 And last year, I was featured on Oprah Daily,
10:53 top luxury gifts for moms.
10:55 Today, I'm seeking $100,000 for 10% of my business.
11:00 And I, investors, I'm ready,
11:04 and I hope that you'll join this maternity market with me.
11:09 - The Momper Romper.
11:12 - It's a mouthful.
11:13 - It's a mouthful.
11:14 - That's cute, good branding.
11:15 - I think so too.
11:16 And I think, you know,
11:17 this was something where she described it,
11:19 and I immediately could picture it,
11:21 and I was immediately jumping to the fact
11:23 that this actually could be pretty useful.
11:25 - But that's my problem.
11:26 It's only one product.
11:28 What has she got going on?
11:29 It seems like a one-hit wonder.
11:30 I'll be the Snuggie.
11:31 - You don't think this could possibly be
11:33 this first start of a much larger brand of maternity wear?
11:37 I mean, any big category needs an entry point.
11:40 - I'm a little concerned that she's a first-time founder,
11:42 it seems like, 'cause 100,000,
11:44 that goes like that for marketing.
11:46 - I don't know, maybe she just needs a break, to be honest.
11:50 And maybe you're the one that might give her it.
11:52 - Well, I guess the first step to deciding
11:53 if I'm gonna give her a break
11:54 is deciding whether we even wanna bring her out.
11:57 Shall we?
11:57 - Let's vote. - Should we vote?
11:59 (dramatic music)
12:02 - Attention, Kelly.
12:09 Your pitch has been denied.
12:14 - Oh, man.
12:17 Little disappointed.
12:20 I think I fumbled a little at the end.
12:22 Probably could've done a little better,
12:23 but it is what it is,
12:25 and still a great experience being here.
12:27 - I thought you guys were gonna be dreamers.
12:30 Aren't you supposed to see opportunity
12:32 rather than disappointment?
12:33 - I'm telling you this, Marc,
12:34 fashion is a hit-based business, and it's not a hit.
12:37 - I know, I love the momper romper,
12:39 but I'm looking to invest in businesses
12:42 that have significant scale.
12:44 And my concern here is that I haven't seen the traction,
12:46 and she's been in business for quite some time.
12:49 - Well, you guys have found my character flaw.
12:51 You know, I am not glass half full.
12:53 I'm overflowing, and I see these small companies,
12:57 and I don't see where they are.
12:58 I see where they could be.
13:00 - Last in the elevator,
13:06 an entrepreneur plans to spice up the boardroom
13:09 with his mouth-watering salsa recipes.
13:12 (dramatic music)
13:15 Hello, Danny.
13:27 Welcome to the elevator.
13:30 Your 60 seconds begins in three, two, one.
13:35 - Hello, my name is Danny Mayans,
13:39 and I'm chief amigo and founder of Salsa God.
13:41 Salsa God is a better-for-you snack brand food company
13:43 specializing in restaurant-style salsa
13:45 and inventor of the chips and salsa combo pack.
13:48 Salsa God salsa can be found in premium retailers
13:50 such as Whole Foods, HEB, Harris Teeter,
13:52 Meijer, among many others,
13:54 and in 2020, Men's Health Magazine
13:56 named our Hot Fire Roasted Red Salsa
13:58 one of the top 100 best foods for men.
14:00 Our combo pack is an innovative new product
14:02 creating its own product category
14:04 because there really is no one else
14:05 making a grab-and-go single-serve product
14:07 that has both chips and salsa together.
14:09 Our product has a two-ounce bag
14:11 of crunchy white corn tortilla chips
14:13 and a three-ounce cup of salsa.
14:15 Last year, after launching the product,
14:16 we sold more than 160,000 units in less than four months,
14:20 and we are currently in advanced discussions
14:22 with two large airlines.
14:23 Last year, we did $620,000 in revenue,
14:25 and we are currently seeking up to $1 million
14:27 at a $6 million pre-money valuation.
14:30 Please come join us and be a Salsa God with us.
14:33 Thank you.
14:34 - Very interesting.
14:36 - Gotta love the energy, too.
14:38 - But listen, I'm always scared when someone says,
14:40 "We invented combining chips with salsa."
14:44 - I'm so curious.
14:45 I've heard "better for you" all the time,
14:47 but "better for you" means you have to pay more.
14:49 So I'm curious what he's asking his customers to pay.
14:52 - Well, and is it really better for you?
14:53 I mean, it seems like it's just chips and salsa.
14:55 So I like the packaging together,
14:57 but is it really uniquely differentiated?
15:00 - I think it sounds like that's what he was saying
15:03 was the big deal.
15:04 He was putting them both in the same package.
15:06 - It's like peanut butter and jelly?
15:08 (laughing)
15:09 - Let's take it to a vote.
15:10 - Great.
15:11 (upbeat music)
15:14 - Attention, Danny.
15:20 Your pitch has been
15:24 approved.
15:27 - Yes!
15:28 - Welcome, Danny.
15:32 - Wow.
15:33 Thank you so much.
15:34 Wow.
15:35 Great to be here.
15:36 - Yeah.
15:37 - First things first, I have to know,
15:39 salsa god, you only eat this on Sundays?
15:41 What's going on?
15:42 (laughing)
15:43 - No, we just wanted to have a real bold, memorable name
15:46 that everyone would always remember.
15:48 And we think our salsa is so delicious
15:50 that we let our name do the talking for us.
15:53 - Well, I think I know why Kim wanted you to come up
15:55 'cause she hoped it'd be free chips and salsa.
15:59 But I actually have a question about your positioning here.
16:01 - Yes.
16:02 - I mean, what I heard was it's all about
16:05 combining the chips with the salsa,
16:07 which doesn't seem so distinctive to me,
16:09 but not about the taste of the salsa
16:12 or the taste of the chips?
16:14 - Right, so we have two separate product lines.
16:16 We have our retail salsa line,
16:18 which has, we're all Non-GMO Project Verified,
16:21 and we do things a little bit differently.
16:23 So we use lime juice instead of vinegar
16:24 to have a fresher flavor.
16:26 We also have no added sugars,
16:28 and we're combining the chips and salsa together
16:30 to create a combo pack.
16:32 And there's no one else really doing that
16:33 in the market right now.
16:35 So we think that this is a completely new product category
16:37 that's gonna set us apart from everybody else.
16:39 - Well, Danny, how much does it cost?
16:41 - So our retail salsa line,
16:43 we have a suggested retail price of about 499.
16:46 And then our combo pack,
16:47 we have a suggested retail price of 349.
16:50 - So I heard 600,000 units sold in the last four months.
16:53 - 160,000 units of our combo pack
16:56 sold within the first four months upon product launch.
16:58 - And how has that been sold?
17:00 - So initially we launched with two,
17:03 partnerships with two airlines.
17:05 And because of that,
17:06 we were able to get really high volume.
17:07 Now we're starting to launch into retail.
17:10 And we're also looking to get
17:11 into the hospitality channel as well.
17:14 - And then what's the gross margin on the product?
17:16 - So right now we've experienced some margin compression
17:19 due to the inflationary pressures that are in the market.
17:21 We were in the high 20s, low 30s,
17:23 but now we're at about 20%.
17:25 - Let's talk about your marketing.
17:26 - Yeah, so initially we've just basically
17:28 been doing viral marketing.
17:29 People find it on the shelf, they like it.
17:31 Now we're starting to launch our direct-to-consumer platform
17:34 so we're gonna be doing some influencer marketing,
17:36 some marketing on social media, et cetera.
17:39 - And what are your projected sales for this year?
17:41 - So our projected sales are between one and two million.
17:44 And like I mentioned in the elevator,
17:45 we have advanced discussions with two major US airlines.
17:49 One of the airlines, if that comes through,
17:51 is worth about two million annually in revenue.
17:53 - Wow.
17:54 I'd love to try the salsa.
17:55 - Absolutely, I'd love for you guys to try.
17:57 Here we go.
17:58 - All right, Mark.
17:59 - Mark first.
18:00 - Mark first?
18:01 - Yeah, give him the spicy, spicy one.
18:02 - What the hell?
18:03 - I'm gonna go for the spicy.
18:04 - Yeah.
18:05 - I'll go for this here.
18:06 The grab and go.
18:07 Okay.
18:08 - Next.
18:09 - Oh, I think she got the mild.
18:10 Did I get stuck with the spiciest?
18:11 - I have the spicy.
18:12 - Ah, mild as well.
18:13 - It's really good.
18:19 - Thank you.
18:20 - How is the heat for you, Mark?
18:24 - It's not too hot, it's good.
18:25 - Okay.
18:26 - It's just right.
18:27 - Perfect.
18:28 - There are so many sauces.
18:30 It's the largest category of all, isn't it?
18:33 - It's a very large crowded category.
18:35 Definitely mature, saturated, which is why we launched the combo pack, because there
18:39 really is no one else in the market doing this.
18:41 - Well, so you're looking for one million.
18:43 Where does that take you from this year to the next?
18:45 - That'll help me hire a head of sales.
18:48 It'll allow us to buy some manufacturing equipment to automate the assembly of our combo pack,
18:52 which will significantly reduce our labor costs.
18:55 And I think that can definitely help us scale to go international.
18:58 Our product has a lot of--
18:59 - International?
19:00 Wait a second, guys.
19:01 International?
19:02 There's a huge market in America, right?
19:04 - Absolutely.
19:05 - Like a million bucks is not gonna get you international.
19:08 - We are sold in Australia.
19:09 We just recently launched our first order to Taiwan.
19:12 And we've had some interest from European distributors about our combo pack most recently.
19:17 So we think that there's a huge international market, but again, there's definitely a tremendous
19:20 US market.
19:21 - I give you high points for innovation.
19:23 Great, you've combined chips and salsa in a box.
19:26 But I'm afraid I'll give you a low score when it comes to defensibility.
19:31 This isn't something that novel about this.
19:34 Just a matter of time before the big brands come and get you.
19:38 When Procter Gamble enters the space, unless you've already established yourself, you're
19:42 gonna be toast.
19:43 I pass.
19:44 - Okay, I'm gonna piggyback on that a little bit.
19:50 It's not enough money.
19:51 You have to raise more.
19:53 Like in this market right now, a million dollars, you'll burn through that.
19:56 Forget about cost per click, all these things you have to do with marketing.
20:00 I mean, also production.
20:01 I get it.
20:02 A lot of this money's probably gonna go to production too.
20:04 And it's gonna tie up your cash flow.
20:05 It's not like tech.
20:06 It's not like SaaS.
20:07 A million dollars gets you a long way, but not in an actual product like this.
20:10 So I'm gonna have to pass as well.
20:14 - When you told me that you wanna do international expansion, just because I really want focus
20:20 at such a young, early stage of a company.
20:23 Like there is enough money here for you to really knock it out of the park.
20:27 So that concerns me and makes me nervous.
20:30 I'm gonna pass.
20:32 - Okay, well, thank you very much for your time.
20:35 Well, sorry that you couldn't get a deal.
20:38 I'm elicitly wishing you the best of luck with it.
20:40 - I'm definitely gonna see it on the airlines.
20:43 - Definitely.
20:44 Thank you so much.
20:45 - Well, good luck to you.
20:47 - Well, the investors didn't make an investment, but they seem to love the product.
20:51 So I'm very happy that they enjoy the product, but I'm a little discouraged that they didn't
20:56 make an investment.
20:57 Although I'm just gonna double down, try harder and keep on striving.
21:03 - Too many times entrepreneurs tell me they want to expand internationally.
21:08 I just don't get it.
21:10 As an investor, I wanna know you can nail it right here at home in the US and then you
21:16 can scale it beyond.
21:17 So if you're looking for me to invest, tell me how you made it here before we're gonna
21:22 go anywhere else.
21:26 - While one entrepreneur couldn't get past the elevator, two made their way to the boardroom.
21:32 In the end, neither were able to secure a high-flying deal and both were sent back down
21:38 with nothing to show.
21:40 Whether it's a unique invention, a new way of living life, anyone could be 60 seconds
21:45 away from rising to greatness or fall from glory.
21:53 Tune in next week as Entrepreneur Elevator Pitch continues.
21:57 - My issues are with your numbers.
21:59 - I'd love to try 'em.
22:01 - We are a dysfunctional family.
22:03 We do not talk to each other.
22:04 - I mean, actually, I'm back in.
22:08 - To apply for the next season, go to entrepreneur.com/elevatorpitch.
22:15 Investors personally styled by celebrity stylist Kim Bollefe.
22:19 (upbeat music)
22:22 (upbeat music)
22:27 [BLANK_AUDIO]