Shark Tank and the deals they make as investors are always astonishing, especially when it comes to people in your own neighborhood signing deals! Very few can say they walk out of the tank becoming INSTANT millionaires!
Alyssa and Zach Brown came into the tank asking $150,000 for a 5 percent stake in Moki Door Step, a simple-yet-effective vehicle invention for short people, like Alyssa, to reach the top of the car. “At a mere 5 feet tall, I’ve always been vertically challenged,” she said. “Most of the time it doesn’t seem to hold me back. Being short even has some perks like being the champ at limbo, or a prime front-row spot in the group photos.”
One thing she especially struggles with is getting gear such as a bike or kayak onto the roof of their car. The Moki Door Step fastens to the striker in the door of most vehicles, giving the user a foot holder to reach the top of the car.
“The ingenuity in America amazes me,” said shark Robert Herjavec, while Lori Greiner as she was testing out said, “who would have thought someone would think of this?”
Alyssa is an emergency room nurse and Zach is a firefighter from Newington, Connecticut. While working as a firefighter, Zach realized a vehicle's striker could withstand 2,200 pounds of pressure, able to easily hold a human being.
Daymond John's offer was $450,000 for 20 percent, but Alyssa said they weren’t willing to give up that much equity.
“For that amount of equity, I think we would be better just selling it outright,” Zach said, explaining they are expecting their second child soon. “I came here with a $3 million valuation, so I would probably stick around that.”
Daymond then changed his offer to $3 million for the entire company. In which the couple quickly accepted. This outright sale of a company has happened fewer then 10 times in the show's 10-year history.
“How does it feel to be a millionaire?” shark Mark Cuban asked.
“I don’t know yet,” Alyssa said. Outside the tank she tells the camera, “We’ve enjoyed running the business, but we really enjoy our jobs and being with our family. We can make money off of it and go back to our normal lives.”
Photo: Getty