The cat guy from Sharktank update

[Rawr]

Seems he didn't think he could really make it....

http://www.reddit.com/r/tabled/comments/2s9pso/table_iama_terrible_artist_who_has_sold_18794/

 

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[Fenix]

This reddit ama seems to me with a value for the reader really near to zero:

1. In order to market your product build a personal relationship with your audience with Facebook an Twitter.
   Nothing new under the sun. It would be interesting if he explained how he does it, but he didn't.
2. The most valuable lessons he learned are "Be yourself" and "Do things".
   They are the same very worthless lessons my female friends gave me when I asked them how to pick up girls when I was at high school. If you do the wrong things and if your personality sucks, you won't go very far.
3. Is the rest of the interview useful to anyone?

 

[MitchC]

This reddit ama seems to me with a value for the reader really near to zero:

1. In order to market your product build a personal relationship with your audience with Facebook an Twitter.
   Nothing new under the sun. It would be interesting if he explained how he does it, but he didn't.
2. The most valuable lessons he learned are "Be yourself" and "Do things".
   They are the same very worthless lessons my female friends gave me when I asked them how to pick up girls when I was at high school. If you do the wrong things and if your personality sucks, you won't go very far.
3. Is the rest of the interview useful to anyone?

He got a deal with Mark Cuban and still didn't succeed what did you expect

 

[Vigilante]

This was in the top few stupidest deals ever done on shark Tank. This guys 15 minutes of fame are over.

 

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[Phones]

Gmail for personal, Zoho for business

 

[csalvato]

Sounds like a big money waster to me.

I suppose I've probably grossed over $300k on stick figure cat drawings. But when things were really busy, I was renting office space and paying several employees to help with fulfillment. I was also spending freely on other creative projects, none of which really took off.

I've been creating things for a long time - often at the expense of other creatives who volunteer their time and energy. This gave me an opportunity to pay these people for things. So I had more logos designed, songs created, etc. in an attempt to give back to folks who had supported my projects.

This project helped me purchase a mini-van when my third child was born, and also made it easier for my family to move into our first house.

I'm no good at math - but that's how I measure the success of this venture.

 

[Damage Inc.]

This interview (edit: AMA) really is full of gold.

"Thanks!! Being on Shark Tank was awesome. It was my dream to be on a game show - I would apply to them constantly. And Shark Tank was the only one to write me back."

"But I have a hard time seeing things in business terms. For me, it's an insufferable draw on my time and energy, and a cause of much stress - so I have to let it go."

"Green is my favorite color. I don't like cats or dogs."

"I also have a very stable day job that pays pretty well."

I think when it comes down to it this guy is just really not an entrepreneur in the least.

 

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[Vigilante]

I can't figure out why Mark Cuban gave a shit. The guy is a freak.

 

[Damage Inc.]

Yea, I'd guess Mark Cuban saw creative marketing potential with this guy. Like, "If this guy can make money and get onto Shark Tank by selling stick figure cat drawings he must be a marketing genius." The guy mentions in the post that Cuban saw it as an "aquihire" and wanted more products and services out of him. Maybe Cuban was just taking a chance on this guy being a creative self starter who could hit it big with a few more quirky fad products.

 

[The-J]

The only thing I learned here is to not be an idiot when dealing with a billionaire investor.

This guy seems to have no business mind, just yet another 'starving artist' type who only wants to create. I don't even think money is a motivator for the guy. If it was, then he would have done everything Mark told him to: he would have quit his job, he would have merchandised to all hell, he would have drawn until his hands were sore...

Mark thought 'wtf, these drawings are so bad and yet people pay for them... this guy must be special.' Mark was wrong: he's not special, just someone who likes to make odd projects. He went viral by accident. He didn't even ditch his job when doing this despite doing 6 figures in revenue and having a billionaire at the helm.

I don't feel sorry for the guy. He was probably happier before the whole Shark Tank thing, which shows how much of a businessman he's not.

 

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[Rawr]

Well, how would you guys scale his cat drawing business? I am curious where Marc saw the gold. Was he looking to create a brand around a stickfigure cat and license it out? I don't see one guy drawing cats, or even 10 drawing cats as being the business he went after.

 

[csalvato]

I think Cuban saw the next Oatmeal or XKCD...that's all I can think of

 

[csalvato]

his new project looks pretty horrible as well

 

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[The-J]

I think Cuban saw the next Oatmeal or XKCD...that's all I can think of

Yup. He saw the Oatmeal guy (background in SEO and IM). He got a guy who likes to draw and make websites. Womp womp

 

[GreatestManEver]

I remember watching that episode and thinking why the hell did Cuban make a deal with him, he didn't bring any real value. Entrepreneurs create value, they make life better for humanity, imo this guy was just some dude who had a hobby of drawing stuff, and wanted some attention.

 

[Vigilante]

Mark Cuban, like most entrepreneurs, had several failed jobs and businesses until he finally hit it big. That said, you don't have to impose superior intelligence on his decisions. Speculating as to what he saw in this dipshit is a circle jerk. There was likely no ulterior motive, insight, or strategy. Mark liked the guy, and dropping $25k on him would be like you or I dropping $25 bucks on him. It's a write off.

The one thing to keep in mind is Mark Cuban did a lot of things wrong, and a lot of things well. Yes, he's a super billionaire today, a function of being in the game. He made his own "luck." He won the grind. He made it happen. Smarter than you? Time will tell. However, in a game of picking winners and losers, he rolled the dice here and lost.

 

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[Damage Inc.]

Mark Cuban, like most entrepreneurs, had several failed jobs and businesses until he finally hit it big. That said, you don't have to impose superior intelligence on his decisions. Speculating as to what he saw in this dipshit is a circle jerk. There was likely no ulterior motive, insight, or strategy. Mark liked the guy, and dropping $25k on him would be like you or I dropping $25 bucks on him. It's a write off.

The one thing to keep in mind is Mark Cuban did a lot of things wrong, and a lot of things well. Yes, he's a super billionaire today, a function of being in the game. He made his own "luck." He won the grind. He made it happen. Smarter than you? Time will tell. However, in a game of picking winners and losers, he rolled the dice here and lost.

True, no way to know what/if he was thinking. For all we know the producers of the show said Mark your viewer ratings are going down make a deal or you're out.

 

[daivey]

True, no way to know what/if he was thinking. For all we know the producers of the show said Mark your viewer ratings are going down make a deal or you're out.

yeah that;'s a good point. dammons not been on in some time.

 

[Vigilante]

Damon and his world recognized brand FUBU (that nobody's ever heard of...)

 

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[daivey]

Damon and his world recognized brand FUBU (that nobody's ever heard of...)

lol

 

[Damage Inc.]

Damon and his world recognized brand FUBU (that nobody's ever heard of...)

You don't like any of these guys do you? Do you at least have a crush on Lori?

 

[csalvato]

Damon and his world recognized brand FUBU (that nobody's ever heard of...)

Never heard of FUBU?

FUBU was huge when I was growing up in Brooklyn. Almost everyone I knew owned multiple items from FUBU.

There were even some SNL skits about it, like this one from 1999: http://snltranscripts.jt.org/98/98qupdate.phtml

FUBU paved the way for a whole new class of clothing which turned into "urbanwear" for young men such as Rockawear, Sean John, and Ecko.

As far as being worldwide, though, I don't know about that.

 

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[Iwokeup]

Damon and his world recognized brand FUBU (that nobody's ever heard of...)

Ummmm, I'm pretty white and I used to see FUBU stuff all over the place...

 

[daivey]

Pretty sure he was being sarcastic guys, calm down.

But to be fair, pretty sure most 40+ year olds (white people) don't know or care about FUBU. Not trying to be racist or anything, but it's like ECHO brand and all that stuff.

 

[Vigilante]

I actually like Mark Cuban a LOT. More than I should. I just wanted to point out the fact that he's not always right. He'd agree.

Damon was on an episode where he started crying (literally) about when he was down and someone gave him a break. He told his story, relating it to the entrepreneurs standing in front of him. He then turned them down flat. Nice sob story, a$$.

I don't think Damon and I would hang out in the real world. Lori is about the only one I could do a deal with (other than a pure financing play) that could help my business. However, now the "Shark Tank" brand is enough to get phone calls returned, so they all probably have value. Even Damon.

 

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